Sebring 5000/MX Saxon

Hello,

not sure if this forum is still active, looks like most of the posts I've been able to see on here seem to be a few years old but figured I'd try anyway.

I have recently been gifted (is it really a gift? not sure yet...) a Sebring 5000/MX Saxon from my father in law who purchased it in 1990 but never built it. He started it and has lots completed on it. Donor car has been stripped down, gas tank and lines are installed, suspension and steering completed, brakes and brake lines complete and run, fire wall and hood hinges installed....looks like that is about where he stopped.

So my question is, this has been literally sitting in his garage for over 25 years. Is this something I can still likely build? I have many boxes full of parts, he is confident that everything is still there.

I also have two manuals that he gave me. One is Sebring/Saxon/MX assembly manual and the other is Sebring 5000/MX Saxon. Not sure if I should be looking at one or both of these manuals? Any ideas on that?

Finally, this kit came from Classic Roadsters LTD out of Fargo, ND and as best as I can tell (not surprisingly, 25 years later) they are no longer in business. Are there any resources for assistance in a build like this? Their manual says to call their customer service/technical department for any assistance during the build, but that no longer exists. Just wondering if there is a place I can reach out to should I become stuck.

Finally...Finally, how long should a build like this actually take? I can devote a fair amount of time to it, but I don't want it to consume the next 10 years of my life either.

Any thoughts on any of this would be much appreciated!

Good evening Millertime, yes this forum is indeed still active, although around springtime every year people seem to go into hibernation and don't participate as much.

As far as resources go for the car itself, there's basically this forum, the Yahoo group that can be found at: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and a few sebring owners that frequent the ClubCobra Forum. After that, depending what drivetrain you end up dropping in, different resources can be used to solve tech stuff related to that particular engine setup.

As for feasibility. The advantage you have is that your father in law knows what was done, and can hopefully help point you in the right direction. It's hard to give you a time estimate without knowing your skills, available tools, shop space, how good of a job you want to do, what kind of upgrades you'd like, if you're going to make it a social activity and get some buddies to help, etc, etc. If I was starting from scratch with a kit I know has all the parts, I'd say it would take me about three years until I get the car up and driving with a solid engine. I've known people to take 1 year, i've known people to take seven years, i've known some to give up after two. Be warned however that these things are never "done". You'll always be finding something to improve and play around with. That's half (if not most) of the fun.

Hope that helps a bit...

Sincerely,

David-AHR Forum Administrator

Welcome to the forum.

The first thing to do is to inventory what you have.  Spend as much time as you need and be very thorough.  This will determine what kind of shot you have at finishing the car and about how long it will take.

Body parts and trim that was specific to Classic Roadsters will be difficult to come by, but not impossible.  Bumpers are MGTD parts and reproductions are available.  Some parts are available from Sebring International in Britain, but they can be expensive.  If you are missing any body or trim parts, your biggest hurdle will be locating them.  This will take as long as it takes and cost as much as it costs.  No way to tell.

Mechanical parts such as suspension, brakes engine/trans are still readily available.  There are many upgrades available for the suspension and brakes that were not available when your kit was built by Classic Roadsters.  This is due to the street rod and kit car industry's use of the Mustang II front end.

Some parts are beginning to get into the "unobtainium" category.  These include pretty much anything needed from a Chevette.  The gas tanks are available from the aftermarket, but the fuel senders are scarce.  The same goes for the window regulators.  Chevettes are very hard to find in most modern salvage yards. These issues can be solved with aftermarket or custom parts, but you will be on your own.  There are some universal street rod power window kits that could be fit fairly easily (probably easier than the Chevette parts).  I would recommend a custom fuel tank and aftermarket sender.  You can get a larger capacity tank this way.  You may already have these parts, but I would inspect them closely as to condition. 

Also, if your car has rear leaf springs, it is a 5000.  If it has a triangulated 4 link in the rear, it is a MX.  There may have been an overlap, but that is generally the difference.

The Mustang 4 link has upgrades available, too.

Good luck.

Thanks for the reply guys. I will dig in to the boxes and get an idea of what is there. Hopefully everything is intact.

That car does have leaf springs, so appears it's an MX then? I know it is built on a Ford Mustang II Chassis....gas tank is installed already as well...so hopefully that is good.

I guess I will see how it goes....thanks again for the replies and I am sure there will be much more from me to come as I get more into the project.

Leaf springs means it is a 5000.

Check the gas tank for rust inside even if you have to pull it and remove the sender. If it was a used part that was installed 25 years ago, I'll bet it has some rust. If the fuel sender is good, then I would replace the tank with a new one. Rust in the tank will cause lots of headaches with the carb and filter.

Be sure to keep us posted on your progress and take pictures. There is a build section where you can start a thread on your car.

Welcome and please post up a location.

Thanks for the tip on the gas tank, I will be sure and check that out.

Also, I've updated my location information on my profile.  I am in Franklin, TN (Nashville).

So here are a couple of pics of the car as it was given to me....will try to keep updates of the progress as I go.

Since this thread is in the wrong section, i'll move it to the "New member's" section tomorrow. I recommend you post future updates in the build thread you've started. That's a good way for us to follow along

Welcome to the forum. I'm in a similar situation, I've been building my car since September last year, looking forward to the summer where we can have the garage open and get moving on the build. As the others have mentioned, if you have the tools, and all the parts, the build is pretty straight forward, although there is the odd head scratching moment! This forum is great to get help and advice, I've posted the odd question and got nfo back, sometimes pretty quickly.

My build while, following the manual has taken a turn for "upgrades", figured as we're building from the ground zero, might as well add in some new hardware and technology to the old frame (mine is 1990, frame #318) so we've changed the front end from the standard heavier mustang ii setup to QA1 coil overs with tubular upper and lower control arms, manual steering rack, 5 lug 11" rotors on front, changed out the mustang 8.8 rear axles from 4 lug to 5 lug and dropped in 11" discs front and rear. Also dumped the 4 link mustang doner upper and lower arms and went with SR performance on the rear end, new hardware and mounts as needed. New fuel tank from CarID, Chevette is the one we went with, re tank straps, the stock Chevette ones won't fit so I had to fabricate my own (looks great and solid).

Re build time, I spend most weekends in the shop on the car, some evenings now its warmer, I have a full shop of tools, compressor, MIG welder etc etc, and my son helps when i get him out of bed! I have high hopes to have the car on the road by the summer.....we'll see.

Engine I'm using is a stock 89 Ford 302 5.0HO EFI, its actually at a engine shop getting torn apart and rebuilt at moment, then back to me for some "upgrades", transmission came back yesterday, all rebuilt and looking new, then we can drop them into place.

I source my parts from multiple suppliers; Jegs, Summit Racing, Speedway, CarID, and some local suppliers for stock mustang stuff, all have decent deals, although the shipping and duty to Canada, kills me.

Good luck with the build.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. I look forward to getting it going and finished so I can enjoy the ride.

Ok, so here is a question....my father in law who I got this kit car from skipped a step...it is the differential breather tube. How important is this, can it be skipped? Can anyone provide any details on completing this step?

Any help will be appreciated...Steve

Reasonably important. Basically when you're driving, the inside of the diff heats up, and air expands. That air needs to go somewhere, so the breather tube lets it go in and out as much as it wants. Somewhere on your differential housing (varies depending on model) there will be an air outlet. Usually it gets connected to a rubber hose that dead-ends somewhere and is capped by a one-way valve.

Basically, if you just plug this opening in the diff up, air pressure changes over time may cause your diff seals to fail prematurely. If you just leave it open, water and crud can get into your diff. In practice you could probably just run a hose up to somewhere clean and dry under the car and you'd be fine, but if you really want to do it by the book you can buy those little one-way valves off ebay or even NAPA/pepboys, etc

If you don't want to use the hose type vent, there are self contained vents on some rearends.  A quick walk around a U-Pull It salvage yard should turn up several.  Some screw in and others just push in with friction holding them in.

I will most likely be using something like the ones on this page:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

They're industrial oil tank breathers. I've used the bronze filter type on a rear end in one of my cars. It worked fine with no leaks, but the rear end housing had to be tapped to fit it.

Thanks for the feedback, I think I've got it figured out now....much appreciated!