Evening all,
New to the forum, but not to Fords. I'm coming from the FTE forums (been a long time 87-97 F-Series fan) and recently gave up all my trucks after getting a taste of working on mustangs. I recently completed restoring a '98 Chrome Yellow GT Auto car with a PI swap (It will need engine #5 soon - the new engine already has rod knock!) for a family member and wanted in on a Mustang.
Here are some photos of the '98 before & after:
I had built up a '92 F250 7.3L, and I knew that I couldn't bring home another vehicle without upsetting the missus. I devised a plan - get rid of her car, my truck, and get a Mustang. I can still hear her words before she went to take a nap that sunday afternoon - "Don't let me wake up and find out you bought another car! Try me!". So, while she slept, I found a rough 97 GT on Craigslist AND Facebook Marketplace for 1200$. I quietly slipped out of the complex and went to look at the car - it was luckily just a few miles down the road. The car was fairly rough - dings, dents, and scrapes all over, interior smelled weird, seats worn out, steering wheel peeling, engine is knocking - but, it runs. I didn't have a way to get it back home quick enough by myself - so I enlisted the help of a coworker & mustang enthusiast ( he owns 4 Cobra 'Stangs - ( 94, 98, 01, 04 ) to get it home. Parked it at the shop, and ran back home. I was positive I had gotten off scot-free - but right as I was opening the door to the apartment (with new keys, title, and shame in my hands) she was walking into the room. Awesome.
The next day, We were at the dealership trading in my truck and her car for a new Focus. Guess who won that argument?
Anyways, here's the car:
It's a real hooptie. Certainly something wrong in the engine - oil in the coolant, coolant in the oil, knocking, sputtering, coolant leaking from the back of the intake manifold. They had replaced the throwout bearing, clutch cable (looks like Steeda?) and pretty much everything in the A/C for the car, which is a necessity here in Texas. I pulled an OASIS report on the vehicle, and looks like everything that was in the car was largely original.
Born July 27th, 1997, as an Ultra White, GT 4.6L w/T45 manual. 2.73 LSD rear end, Med Graphite cloth interior, and fairly stripped down beyond that - no Mach 460 sound, no leather seats, but a basic GT.
I've purchased a used 5.4 4v and had it shipped to the shop, but it arrived quite a bit rougher than pictured. That's fine, as I'll be going through the engine and cleaning/painting as I go. That's it for the first post!
New to the forum, but not to Fords. I'm coming from the FTE forums (been a long time 87-97 F-Series fan) and recently gave up all my trucks after getting a taste of working on mustangs. I recently completed restoring a '98 Chrome Yellow GT Auto car with a PI swap (It will need engine #5 soon - the new engine already has rod knock!) for a family member and wanted in on a Mustang.
Here are some photos of the '98 before & after:
I had built up a '92 F250 7.3L, and I knew that I couldn't bring home another vehicle without upsetting the missus. I devised a plan - get rid of her car, my truck, and get a Mustang. I can still hear her words before she went to take a nap that sunday afternoon - "Don't let me wake up and find out you bought another car! Try me!". So, while she slept, I found a rough 97 GT on Craigslist AND Facebook Marketplace for 1200$. I quietly slipped out of the complex and went to look at the car - it was luckily just a few miles down the road. The car was fairly rough - dings, dents, and scrapes all over, interior smelled weird, seats worn out, steering wheel peeling, engine is knocking - but, it runs. I didn't have a way to get it back home quick enough by myself - so I enlisted the help of a coworker & mustang enthusiast ( he owns 4 Cobra 'Stangs - ( 94, 98, 01, 04 ) to get it home. Parked it at the shop, and ran back home. I was positive I had gotten off scot-free - but right as I was opening the door to the apartment (with new keys, title, and shame in my hands) she was walking into the room. Awesome.
The next day, We were at the dealership trading in my truck and her car for a new Focus. Guess who won that argument?
Anyways, here's the car:
It's a real hooptie. Certainly something wrong in the engine - oil in the coolant, coolant in the oil, knocking, sputtering, coolant leaking from the back of the intake manifold. They had replaced the throwout bearing, clutch cable (looks like Steeda?) and pretty much everything in the A/C for the car, which is a necessity here in Texas. I pulled an OASIS report on the vehicle, and looks like everything that was in the car was largely original.
Born July 27th, 1997, as an Ultra White, GT 4.6L w/T45 manual. 2.73 LSD rear end, Med Graphite cloth interior, and fairly stripped down beyond that - no Mach 460 sound, no leather seats, but a basic GT.
I've purchased a used 5.4 4v and had it shipped to the shop, but it arrived quite a bit rougher than pictured. That's fine, as I'll be going through the engine and cleaning/painting as I go. That's it for the first post!