Progress Thread Getting In Over My Head: '89 Gt Hatch: End Of The Road

LiquidStangs

Well-Known Member
Dec 13, 2015
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Indianapolis metro area
So, in my Welcome Wagon thread, I mentioned that I had gotten miffed that my wife got to drive our '05 GT, while I got to drive a Toyota. Getting something as nice (or even somewhat nice) wasn't in the budget, so after watching Craigslist for a while, I found my project in mid-October: a 1989 Mustang GT hatchback that had definitely seen better days.

I managed to drive it home, but am not sure if driving it back then was such a good idea. It's since had some work done, and is now driveable, though not terribly pleasant, and I know it's slowly tearing itself apart in spots. The body has turned out to be worse than I thought rust-wise. But the engine runs mostly smooth, and pulls strong; I think a tune-up should fix up the last bits, as well as a run-through of one of @jrichker's awesome checklists.

For now, here are a few pics. Here it is in the parking lot just before purchase:

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And here are a few pics in the driveway, after getting it home:

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I have no idea how far I'll be able to get with it, between my noobishness and the state the car is in. But it's already been fun. I've learned a *ton* since getting it, fixing a bunch of things in the process. And when I let out the clutch, hear the engine roar, and feel it lurch forward, I can't help but smile.

I'll follow up soon with more history, current state, and plans. Then you can all have a chuckle at my expense. :D
 
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we all love build/progress threads. You'll thank yourself later for all the nifty pics you took and documentation you made. Hope everything goes as planned, although we all know that's not gonna happen :D
 
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Thanks all for the encouragement!

My plan has three guiding principles for this initial phase:
  • Cheap
  • Quick
  • Functional
I want the car to be driveable, and to be the go-to car for around-town driving, errands, short jaunts, and joyrides. That's what will keep me motivated, so this doesn't turn into a years-long driveway ornament. Body work and upgrades will be in this car's future, but first it needs to do the basic tasks of "moving forward" and "staying on the road" and "letting people in and out".

I've already struck out on my goals with the transmission. On day 1, it popped out of first but otherwise seemed solid. The current replacement transmission whines in all gears but 4th and grinds into third. Fortunately, I've still got the old transmission, which will likely become a project all its own over the winter, learning how to tear it apart and rebuild it. But this was not cheap, fast, or as functional as I hoped, although it at least stays in gear now.

Most everything else has been successful, though. Work already done:
  • The aforementioned transmission swap. Along with that, I got a new stock-quality clutch. Had this done by a shop. Also, the car had supposedly been fitted with a brand-new adjustable clutch cable and quadrant before I bought it, but the clutch was a bear to push. After getting it back from the shop, the clutch was much more manageable. (I'm used to my Toyota's hydraulic clutch, so there's still some getting used to.)
  • Tons of electrical. The turn signals didn't work because... the connector in the multifunction switch wasn't plugged in. Replacing one fuse got all kinds of stuff working. The parking lights and dash lights stopped working; turns out the headlight switch connector had melted into two pieces. Along the way, I discovered a few more connectors not plugged in, and about a quarter of the dash screws missing. But my only electrical complaint left at the moment is the missing sound system, which should be fun, since it looks like the previous owner decided he needed a subwoofer and partially rewired for it. (No, no actual subwoofer, amp, or head unit: just lots of weird new wiring and scary-looking existing wiring.)
  • Front brakes. They pulsed and ground like the dickens. Turning the rotors and getting cheap pads solved that problem nicely.
  • The glove box was jammed shut, which made that first tank of gas a bit entertaining since the fuel door release was in the glove box. Turned out to be a broken latch mechanism. Super glue to the rescue!
  • Gas dripping beneath the rear passenger quarter. You can just see the stain and rag in my third picture above. A new filler neck seal took care of that, though I can still smell gas in the same area, so there's something else.
  • Grinding from the front driver's wheel. This was the tire rubbing the front fender ground effect. That's been removed, and the fender itself bent back a little to keep it away from the tire.
  • Partial flush and fill of the power steering fluid. The existing fluid looked like milk chocolate, and it was low.
  • Replaced the HVAC vacuum line, which looked like it had been cut. Now I can convince the car to blow air someplace besides the defroster vents, if I ask nicely enough.
  • Regular maintenance items: oil change, oil filter, fuel filter.
This brings me to my top annoyances with the car as it sits now, both of which require spending more money, so suggestions on priorities would be helpful.
  • Rebuilding that transmission in my garage and swapping it back in. The current one whines in any real gears (i.e. not 4th), and grinds into 3rd. I've figured out a way to drive without 3rd: rev 2nd to about 3k before shifting directly into 4th. But that's annoying, and I don't know if the whine means the transmission is about to die or if I can drive it for a few months this way.
  • Springs and shocks all around. The suspension is terrible. On the highway, the car hits even minor bumps hard. I've also got a driver-side lean in the front, which I suspect may be related. I do want to go under there with a tape measure and see if I can find the specific part that's shorter on the driver's side. For now, I'm thinking KYB shocks/struts and Moog "stock" springs. Suspension upgrades can come later.
Of course, I'm sure you'll tell me if you think any of the above is off-base. This doesn't seem to be a shy group of people. :rlaugh:
 
Just keep it functional man. It's hard to stay attached when it's an ornament. Hardest part on mine was sorting through all the previous electrical hacks.
 
Great job so far!

Gas cap, there should be a thin 2-3 ft cable release in the trunk too, just kinda lays there on the right side.

I like KYB's, and eibach pro springs.

Some of the guys on here are trans pros so hopefully they'll chime in.
 
I hate wiring hack jobs. I still have to do some wiring for my fog lamps myself. Just as a FYI I have a set of eibach pro kit struts and shocks with very low miles(1-2k) on them. I'd sell if interested. 200$ for all of it. I already sold the springs(which you don't have to have but I recommend).
 
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Great job so far!

Gas cap, there should be a thin 2-3 ft cable release in the trunk too, just kinda lays there on the right side.

I like KYB's, and eibach pro springs.

Some of the guys on here are trans pros so hopefully they'll chime in.

Thanks! Didn't discover the cable release until after prying the fuel door open with a screwdriver. No permanent damage done, though.
 
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I hate wiring hack jobs. I still have to do some wiring for my fog lamps myself. Just as a FYI I have a set of eibach pro kit struts and shocks with very low miles(1-2k) on them. I'd sell if interested. 200$ for all of it. I already sold the springs(which you don't have to have but I recommend).

Something has been done with the fog lights on mine. I won't say it's the right thing, given the previous owner's rewiring track record so far. I'm nervous about using them until I get that checked out.

Thanks for the offer. Is this the equivalent to this kit on LMR? Eibach Pro-Damper Shock and Strut Kit

Also, I might have to wait until after the new year, as the budget has been allocated to Christmas gifts. That OK with you? If you get a better offer sooner, of course, feel free.
 
Something has been done with the fog lights on mine. I won't say it's the right thing, given the previous owner's rewiring track record so far. I'm nervous about using them until I get that checked out.

Thanks for the offer. Is this the equivalent to this kit on LMR? Eibach Pro-Damper Shock and Strut Kit

Also, I might have to wait until after the new year, as the budget has been allocated to Christmas gifts. That OK with you? If you get a better offer sooner, of course, feel free.
That's them. And no problem. They've been sitting in garage and I haven't listed them anywhere. Just contact me later I did offer them to another member but he hasn't contacted me in awhile so...
 
Winter mode for the project:

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I intend to start it at least once a week, and drive it if the roads aren't all salty. I'm terrified of salt, because the poor thing has enough rust as it is.

In other news, an unexpected windfall just dropped in my lap which may allow me to accelerate my repair schedule. So the either/or on suspension vs. transmission might just be able to become a both/and. I'm still curious if anyone has an opinion on whether my current tranny will last the winter with infrequent driving, though.

Some kind of garage heater might make it into the budget, too. Anyone have recommendations?
 
If you baby it the trans will last through winter. Mine would whine and did the 3rd gear grind for 2 years. It would still go into 3rd if I baby shifted it. Then it wouldn't stay in 2nd gear(or down shift into 2nd). Mine is on the work bench waiting for disassembly. Synchros are shot among other issues. When you do rebuild:upgrade-make sure you put in a good quadrant(steeda,maximum Motorsports,UPR are all good IMO). For transmission parts check out Astro performance
 
If you baby it the trans will last through winter. Mine would whine and did the 3rd gear grind for 2 years. It would still go into 3rd if I baby shifted it. Then it wouldn't stay in 2nd gear(or down shift into 2nd). Mine is on the work bench waiting for disassembly. Synchros are shot among other issues. When you do rebuild:upgrade-make sure you put in a good quadrant(steeda,maximum Motorsports,UPR are all good IMO). For transmission parts check out Astro performance

Ouch. Hope that rebuild goes well.

Supposedly, the previous owner put in an adjustable cable and quadrant. I need to dig under the dash long enough to figure out the manufacturer. The guy that put in the cable and quadrant apparently had it misadjusted; it was a bear to push in. The shop that swapped out my tranny adjusted it, and made it much better. (Though what do I know? Maybe that shop also screwed it up, and I'm lulled by the easier clutch. Is it normal to be paranoid about other people working on your projects? :hide:)
 
A little scared now.

Drove the '89 to Christmas shop on Friday. Mostly OK, but with one new little problem: it's now chirping under the hood. The chirp noise is pretty much constant, moving or not, except that it stops completely whenever I touch the clutch, even a little bit. From what I've read elsewhere, that sounds like a throwout bearing. If I'm right about that, this would be the throwout bearing that was supposedly replaced when swapping out the tranny and installing the new clutch last month. Which means, hopefully, that I can get the shop to take a look for free.

But that's not what scares me. It stalled while running on my way home, and really stuttered when getting close to home. I tried it a little Saturday, and more of the same: some moments of fairly decent running, followed by some moments of power loss and one more stall.

I do have one theory. I dropped the tank slightly to replace the fuel filler neck grommet; ever since then, the fuel gauge has been all over the place, with it sometimes going full and sometimes stopping at different places. When I turned it off last week, it was at a quarter tank, but immediately went to half a tank when I fired it up on Friday. This leads me to wonder if I'm just out of gas. I kinda expected that it would just stall and refuse to start if it were out of gas, but I haven't run a car out of gas since I had a carburetor back in the late '80s.

I'm really hoping and praying that that's all it is. Tomorrow, I'll take the Toyota and a couple gas cans to the station and see if that solves the problem.

As an aside: I had it pulled over in the neighborhood after the second stall with the hood open, checking oil and other things. A neighbor walks by with his dogs, says hi, kinda looks back, and asks "Is that a Mustang?" We chat for a bit, and he expresses his admiration for the car, even if he does say something about "those '80s Mustangs were great, especially the IROC-Zs". :doh: Still, it's kinda surprising to me to get that reaction with a car pulled over, hood up, faded paint and all.
 
Yup you out of juice. Ive done this several times. Even with a new sending unit my gauge is crap. I just force myself to fill up every 100 miles or so.
 
Get a code reader and the manual. This is a must with these cars. Run the codes and see what pops up. Did you have old gas in the tank by chance? Have you changed the fuel filter? that chirping sounds like the T/O bearing to me also.