Progress Thread 89 Gt Wishlist

[89oem]

well crap, you made me do some serious research on the kit. Earlier I found nobody had bad things to say about the shocks. But I must have stopped short of that cuz I started in on reviews of the kyb gas adjust and 75% of the reviews were bad. I'm most concerned about them lasting a few years.

honestly I think I might just grab some cheap shocks n struts that match stock and wait till I can spend cash on a k-member, arms, and coil-overs.

what do you guys think? Only reason I was getting that kit was its cheap and I'm jacking up the car, pulling off the wheels and doing a brake upgrade.

heres my .o2, i have an 89 vert, around 2000 i put on eibach pros and kyb gax shocks. i really like the look the car has a slight rake to it, stock wheels look great, sits perfectly level left to right, it handles really tight with no body roll. things people dont like: it rides really really tight. i dont own my mustang to ride like a sedan though, i like the rawness of a mustang...100k miles on this setup and still same as day one....

guess like all mods, depends on what you like and want out of your pony..

 

[stang89bidges]

I modified my wishlist. See first thread for link.

1. I decided to buy a used suspension from another member when it becomes available. So that SVE suspension upgrade from latemodelrestoration is removed from list.
2. I decided to go with the alternator kit. I looked up the alternator for a 95, cabling, relays, and decided the benefit of having everything to spec and completely ready to snap in with new connectors for the mustang vs the cost benefit was well worth it to me. I think I would have saved around $50 with doing it myself.
3. I added something. Proform electric fan. My car has been overheating past couple of days and so I replaced thermostadt and that didn't do it. It's been blowing out/leaking around the overfill tank/reservoir. I think my water pump is going out. It's been a slow process but it's still the original water pump! So I decided to go ahead and take advantage. I have to remove the radiator to install the new alternator cabling anyway.
4. I havn't ordered the seat foam or headliner material yet. I am also waiting on the brakes from MM to see if I can find a discount.

 

[stang89bidges]

Nobody said anything about the brake upgrade kit from MM. Any thoughts? I gotta find new front rotor's too. Think I should just stay with OEM from latemodel or spring for something else?

 

[A5literMan]

MM kit! Nice solid improvement at a reasonable price. I have the rear axle kit for my car

 

[stang89bidges]

Update.

I got some parts in. Having overheating problems at the same time so I have car tore down right now.

Suggestions welcome if you see something needs to be done or changed.

New Cowl


Old Cowl


Got a nice side skirt


New alternator came in with power wire upgrade


Notice the new alternator pully is larger diameter. Is this going to be ok?




Still sporting the original 89 factory alternator!


Alt + Smog, relocation bracket for Vortech SC






Is this the original factory serpentine belt?


Pretty decent shape


Bought new one anyhow, got new water pump too


K&N Air filter, need to clean that up and re-oil


MAF sensor, still factory




Radiator, shrowd, fan, and MAF removed


FMU I'm hoping to dump soon with upgraded injectors and MAF sensor


New electric fan - Proform




Adjustable thermostadt on fan



Got a few other things too. Got the new seals and hardware kit for my sunroof. Already installed them. They were perfect and already got a huge rain overnight and zero leaks! Got my door hinges in but waiting for the springs.

More updates to come.

 

[TOOLOW91]

I had to put my fox pulley on my 3G to keep the voltage where it needed to be at idle

 

[stang89bidges]

That isn't very promising... Ugh.

Why would they do this, brand new, made for 87-93 mustangs specifically, AND it's supposed to be an UPGRADE!

 

[a91what]

if you are running underdrive pulleys it may be an issue if not you sould not have a problem. i have same size pulley on mine with no problems.

 

[stang89bidges]

if you are running underdrive pulleys it may be an issue if not you sould not have a problem. i have same size pulley on mine with no problems.

That's good news right there.

 

[TOOLOW91]

if you are running underdrive pulleys it may be an issue if not you sould not have a problem. i have same size pulley on mine with no problems.

good thing I saved mine for when I go back to standard pulleys when I do my blower install

 

[a91what]

to be honest if you never see rpms over 6500. i would not worry about it. we used to overdrive the alts on our audio cars when i was into stereos.

 

[Noobz347]

What he said

 

[stang89bidges]

I'm going to keep the pulley on the alternator it came with. Will let you know how it ends up working out. I couldn't imagine it being wrong since it's built for our foxes.

 

[stang89bidges]

I ordered the MM kit. It was the other part of my wishlist. It's really a must. The front rotor's are shot, stress cracking, and of course still the originals. This kit comes with new steel braded brake lines which i'm excited about as well. I'm going to grab some new cylinders as well for the rear drums.

Water pump bolts are on the way with the rest of my door parts. I got a new door latch for the drivers side. Got new moisture barrier and sound barriers. Got the molded heater hose from thermostat to intake. Couple of other things.

Will probably start installing next Monday. Will keep you update.

 

[Noobz347]

I would run the one that's on there until/unless you discover a need for it. Just make sure that you keep the pulley in case you ever do.

 

[smkshw]

I ordered the MM kit. It was the other part of my wishlist. It's really a must. The front rotor's are shot, stress cracking, and of course still the originals. This kit comes with new steel braded brake lines which i'm excited about as well. I'm going to grab some new cylinders as well for the rear drums.

Water pump bolts are on the way with the rest of my door parts. I got a new door latch for the drivers side. Got new moisture barrier and sound barriers. Got the molded heater hose from thermostat to intake. Couple of other things.

Will probably start installing next Monday. Will keep you update.

i have the mm kit sitting in a box i havnt installed yet.....hope you post back with good news!

 

[stang89bidges]

I have a ton of work to do yet. Once I get the engine back together I move on to the doors. Then I can start on the brake upgrade. I'm guessing I start on Monday and will hopefully get everything done by Wednesday.

But none-the-less I will certainly take more pics and post updates. I am praying the new MM kit will enhance the braking. I went ahead and just bought OEM replacement rotors since I don't do heavy racing or high speeds much. I have done a chit-load of research on brakes and I just didn't see the value for my needs. One day I will do it for looks maybe.

 

[stang89bidges]

Got some parts in. Finally able to re-assemble.
Water pump bolt kit from LMR:




Noticed after I cleaned up my timing cover plate the top has either been chipped or it was just formed like that. Wasn't too bad though so I continued.






New water pump. Duralast heavy duty.








I used the permatex2 and coated all my seals. The inside and outside seal for water pump and the seal for the thermostat.






I bought the fail-safe again. This time I got the 180degree instead of the OEM 192.






Water pump and thermostat installed.






I used Perm Anti-Seize on all the bolts for water pump and thermostat.




I installed the new 130 amp alternator and power wire upgrade. I have a larger battery than the mustang calls for so the relay just barley fit.




The other end with new plugs and terminals:




Installed new 2AWG Positive and Negative feeds to battery:




This is for all you Vortech SC folks out there. The Vortech plates re-locate the alternator to under the smog pump and the top bolt is actually attached to the smog pump lower bolt with a nice bracket supplied in the vortech kit. However with the new alternator being larger in diameter I had to shave off some of the smog pump that was protruding so that it would fit. Very simple modification.








A few extra pics to please the gods:








I put the last coat of paint on my cleaned up A/C compressor bracket before I quit last night. Tonight I will install the rest of the brackets for the vortech and A/C. Then I can start the install of my radiator and new electric fan.

 

[TOOLOW91]

Very nice progress !

 

[a91what]

what intake are you going to run with this combo?