Every path leads, and every path wends, but even the best are destined to end. Such was the case Ford's 1979 Fox-body restyling of the classic Mustang shape. Throughout its production run, the Fox and its SN95 derivative went through a number of design evolutions, some better executed than others. By the 21st century, though, Ford had pretty much exhausted every usable permutation of the squared-off Fox-body design path. But before going back to the well with the 2005, Ford managed to recapture a bit of the original Fox's squared-off cool with its still-relevant, 1999-to-2004 "New Edge" ponies.
Set the parking brake and kick a pair of chocks behind the car's rear wheels. Lift the front end with a floor jack and set it on jack stands. Plug a memory saver device into the car, according to its manufacturer's instructions, and disconnect the negative battery cable.
Slide under the car and locate the starter. It's bolted to the back of the engine block, and its fasteners run horizontally instead of the usual vertical orientation. Use your ratchet and socket to disconnect the ground cable nut, the large terminal nut and the small S-terminal -- side terminal -- nut. Pull the wires off, and be sure to keep track of any washers that come off with them.
Remove the starter bolts, and lower the starter from the motor. Lift the new starter up, and hand-thread its bolts in. Tighten them to 17 foot-pounds with a torque wrench. Install the wires and nuts. Tighten the ground cable nut to 17 foot-pounds, the terminal nut to 106 inch-pounds and the S-terminal nut to 53 inch-pounds.
Lower the car and reconnect the battery cable. Test-start the engine.
