Progress Thread 1989 GT Hatchback Restoration

JasonRP · Dec 12, 2018

DSB88GT said:
Wow...nice score! Where exactly is this guy located with all the Fox parts? I'm in PA and would be interested in seeing what he has.

Sorry for the late reply @DSB88GT, the parts guy is located in Rising Sun, MD. "Mike's Ford Parts" is the name of his Facebook site- which has address. Hopefully this is pretty close to you- I felt like he had a good selection.

DSB88GT · Dec 12, 2018

Figures...he's on the wrong side of MD!

JasonRP · Sep 8, 2019

I'm BACK! It's been a while (you guys will know the dynamic well: Moved house, got slammed at work, etc. etc. etc.)

Finally I got to the point where I had a couple days off, and wanted to start reducing the clutter of boxes of stockpiled parts in the garage/closet/kitchen table/under my pillow, and actually do some work on the car and install this stuff!

Here's what's been done so far:\
->Cleaned up the floorpan and trunkpan metal.. Put in spare tire, jack, lug wrench, and spare tire cover:

New to me Red fender installed, painted and installed ground effects brackets (yellow rustoleum was on sale!)

Body ground effects kit put back on:

Those last pics were pre-house move. Now, after moving dust has settled, I did the seam sealer, and finally opened that box of Noico sound deadening mat, and installed it on the floorpans:

Now for the carpet install. I don't know why I put this off so long- it was SO much easier than I had thought it was going to be. Seriously, for anyone that is putting this off because it seemed like it would be hard to do and have it look right- have NO fear! Just take your time, and cut small first! I had already thrown away the old carpet- so I had nothing to use as a guide for the holes. It still wasn't hard! Made small holes for the shifter and emergency brake- then enlarged as needed once the carpet was laying in the car. Seat bolts were VERY easy- simply press down on the carpet on top of the bolt stud sticking up, and run a razor blade on top of the stud back and forth until you have a slit just big enough to press the carpet down over the stud. Perfect hole! Here's the car with basically everything done but the seats installed:

(Notice the ratty looking seat belt receivers.. I have better ones to install- just didn't have them handy at the moment this pic was taken.)

(hit my pic limit. Continued in the next post)

JasonRP · Sep 8, 2019

Ok, so here are a couple of more pics of the carpet after install. This REALLY transformed the car!!!
**I forgot to mention- before I put in the sound deadening mat, I put in all new rubber plugs in the floor pan holes.. CJPonyParts has a kit that includes them all- which was probably overkill for me, LMR sells individual plugs...**

Next: Radio install. In a previous post, I shared the pics of the radio components I'd bought here and there when the price was right.. Many times, I was tempted to open all the boxes and set up the system on floor at home, just to check it out- but I was lazy and waited until the car install. I don't have any pics of the Pioneer 6x8 rear speakers without the grills, but they fit perfect, and are installed in the pic above. New speaker wires, which wasn't too bad to route inside the rear interior panel, under the scuff plate, inside the interior kick panels, under the dash, to the radio area.

I set up the radio with just the rear speakers at first.. Sounded GREAT! Much better than I'd thought. In fact, for me, it would be ample with just those speakers, except for when driving with the windows down, and not quiet exhaust, you can't hear the music. This factor (rear speakers are almost enough alone) along with my sizing up the speakers I'd bought for the doors (and finding that previous speaker installs had modded the doors such that those speakers would not mount without me pulling a MacGyver with some sheet metal), and I decided to go a different direction for the front speakers- not use the door speakers at all, and get some different/decent dash speakers (also shown is a bluetooth mic kit, 5 bucks from amazon, and works GREAT with this radio!):

New speaker wire used here too, and this could not have been easier to route... All speaker wires soldered to radio harness/connector that came with the head unit. The soldered joints were protected with shrink tube after solder, and finally the harness was made nice with wireties.. These 3.5" speakers were the perfect dash mount fit! Here is one of the speakers installed, before the grill was put back on:

(continued in next post)

JasonRP · Sep 8, 2019

Here's how the interior currently sits:

Oh, and I forgot to mention, I also installed fresh and gapped spark plugs, new wires, to new cap & rotor. Also changed the oil and filter, and the fuel filter had been done when the fuel lines were done. I also installed the door weatherstrip seals too. Did the write-up of the seal comparison ever get finished on this forum? I think I just used the good quality ones from LMR, and they fit great.

From a junk yard- I got some tag light lenses. These came off a 90's Taurus I believe, and look/fit perfect. The junkyard threw them in for free, as my buddy was buying some rear doors for his work van and I think they felt we'd paid enough? No complaints from me- as these go for what, 60 bucks for repros, and my original ones were destroyed. I also got the car legally tagged. In Maryland, you can get "historic" tags, with no need for state inspection. I keep thinking, perhaps the inspection would be a good thing here?

Observations:
Radio sound quality= better than expected. Clear, lots of EQ adjustability.
Radio loudness/power= ample for me. Gets easily more than loud enough (loud enough to hurt my ears, which for me is too loud) I'm sure some audiophiles will want more juice- but since I'm using the onboard amp in the radio- and am not driving any subs, just the front 3.5's and rear 6x8's, I can tell you for my opinion, the radio has enough power to reproduce the sounds and frequencies well, with no clipping, no distortion. Even pretty good bass.
Radio hands-free phone= surprisingly good! I can hear the phone with no problem. Using the little mic (mounted just to the right of the steering column, on the lower side of the gauge pod- under the switches) I've been told it sounds like I'm using a normal hold-it-up-to-your-head phone. Can't beat that for 5 bucks!
Other Radio features= fantastic for a single din, inexpensive radio! This radio is a solid buy for the low price. Although there's no CD player (anyone still using CDs?) this keeps the price down. The head unit syncs to my phone, where I keep a ton of music. It also has Pandora, Spotify, and iHeartRadio apps built in if you use any of those. Otherwise, it has AM/FM (with the radio data capability) too, and can be used with an add-on XM receiver if that is important to you. Yes, there is no nav, but, I'm sure I could just use the nav on my phone, and have it speak through the BT/car speakers.

NEXT on the project list:
Here's a couple of things I've noticed, that I think I need to work on next, in order of priority:
-Noticed one of my brand new fuel lines is leaking! Right behind the front right wheel, where the rubber line is joined with the metal line, it is leaking- I don't believe there is any fix for this other than a new line... @$%&!!!!!! While it's not leaving a puddle, it is getting wet with fuel. I'm gonna have to fix this. Any of you guys know how possible it is to replace a fuel line on a fox mustang with subframe connectors, without the use of a lift?
-Noticed while I had the car jacked up, there seems to be a bit of play forward-to-backward in the rear wheels.. There's no noise from the axle bearings that I can tell, but this may not be a good indicator? How much play is "within spec"? Any? What is typically the cause here? Axle bearings?
-I noticed some oil weeping out of the valve cover gaskets, on to the headers. P U!!! When I drive the car, I can smell this burning oil, and it doesn't smell good! I'll have to change these gaskets. I'm guessing felpro are the ones to get for stock heads/valve covers?
-I need to finish putting in the interior screws. The interior screw kit was on point for this car- a tiny bit pricey, but, considering I bought this car and the interior was not installed, I was missing most screws, and would not know what went where/what type either. The kit has all screws nicely separated/labeled.
-I'm still missing the 4 bolts that hold the arm rest to the rear of the tunnel, and also the two outer hinge bolts for the rear seats. I might have a bead on these, or I might need to post here looking for them if I can't get my hands on them.
-got a lot of cleaning to do. Quick test of simple green and paper towel on door panel vinyl and plastic shows promising results. Gotta really spend some time and CLEAN!!! Need to clean the panel vents too- I don't really like to run the fan when I'm in the car until I do.
-I ordered some repro speaker covers for the doors. David Carpenter brand I believe- for around 20 or so bucks. I'll install when they come in.
-I've tried multiple times to replace the bulb in the map light- no luck, no light. I wonder if the switch is not switching... Gonna have to take it off, take it apart, and see what I can figure out.
-Still need to change out one bulb in the cluster, then will put steering column plastic back in place.

Gonna tackle those fuel lines ASAP- before I drive the car more. Which sucks, because now that the carpet and radio is installed and the car is MUCH more civilized, I really want to drive it!!! First world problem, eh?

Olivethefet · Sep 8, 2019

Nice tread. You're doing a lot of great work to that car! Nice to see one being rescued. Looking forward to seeing you get it on the road.

90sickfox · Sep 9, 2019

For valve cover gaskets get the neoprene blue felpro gaskets. They'll be the only set you'll ever need...and reusable.

To check rear bearing play you need to be able to jack the car up and but a pry bar under the wheel. When you lift up on the bar there shouldn't be any play. Rear wheels can be pushed in and out slightly ( very little ). Turning play is pretty normal...if your talking about turning forward and backward. I wouldn't worry about it unless you have noise coming from the rear....or if you are getting a one wheel peel when accelerating.

Might not be a bad idea to pull the rear cover off so you can get a look inside the rear and change the gear oil. Perfect time to paint it up a bit.

JasonRP · Sep 22, 2019

Ok, update time...

Both fuel lines were defective- at joints where the hard line meets the rubber part. I wish I could remember who I ordered those lines from- they were the non-stainless type (the thought being stainless might be too rigid, and steel was what OEM used, and might be a little easier to get to seal up if they aren't too rigid? Silly me, they freakin leaked anyways!) All I know is, the hoses say "Made in Czech Republic" on them. This isn't a dig, and I know there's a lot of great things made in Czech Republic.. It's just these fuel lines must be not too great if BOTH leaked at infancy.. A friend of mine has all the tools to make fuel lines, so he doctored up some new fittings, and we were able to fix both lines so they no longer leak. Now that I'm no longer leaking raw gasoline, on to other tasks.

(I know in the perfect world, the preference would be new fuel lines.. BUT, these are dry as a bone so far. I will frequently keep an eye on them. Thoughts?)

Also, while we were under the car- we noticed the blown out struts. They've been replaced now.

(pretty gross, eh? New ones look non-descript black. And, while I'm happy they're new now, I must say, I can't notice any difference while driving. I believe these are only to keep the axle from hopping on hard acceleration, which I've not been doing yet in this old soldier)

So, first, while looking at my back seat, which is all back together for the first time that I've owned the car, I noticed some various stains. Not sure if mud, grease, oil, BigMac from 1990, etc. I bought some foaming "Shout!" upholstery cleaner- which comes with a little scrub brush as part of the cap from Advanced Auto.. I hit the stains on the back seat, and was happy to see what appears to be a 95% reduction. I'll keep hitting it again from time to time, but wanted to space it out so that the fabric and cushion foam don't get too wet. Plus, the cleaner foam appears to have a deodorizer- which made my whole car smell like wash day at granny's house. It's not bad, but a little too non-car smelling. Don't have any pics of the stain removal here at the moment.

Next, I wanted to install the remanufactured door speaker covers- as my current stereo install isn't using the door speakers, and they were nasty looking holes for any casual observer to see. To install the speaker covers, you gotta take the door panels off to fasten the speaker covers to the back side of the panel, so I used this opportunity to use the "Shout!" special cleaning sauce and then re-assemble:

Before:

After:

I don't know how easy it is to tell from the pic, but this made a HUGE difference!

JasonRP · Sep 22, 2019

(Continued)
Then, I turned my attention to finishing the interior. If I may, let me stress: If you get a mustang like mine- which came with the interior completely out of it, you really should get yourself a complete interior screw kit from LMR (or wherever you buy your parts).. This has been so valuable, as 97% of my fasteners were missing, and the ones that were there were rusty or nasty.

I installed the coat hanger hooks, I FINALLY replaced the bulb socket under the fuel gauge, so that my instrument cluster FINALLY is 100% lit, and put the steering column plastics back in:

(PS: The car does not overheat- never seems to go above the A in NormAl.. When you run the car, then turn it off, then turn on the lights, the cluster shows like this pic- if I turn the car back on and either start or don't start the motor, the temp gauge goes back to A in Normal.. I'm guessing this is a characteristic of the car's electronics?)

And, notice: We now have bluetooth handsfree calling from this old machine!!! Here's where I mounted my mic. I am totally digging the single DIN, Kenwood BTT322U. I got it for like $69 bucks on sale, and I was at first mad at myself for cheaping out/not getting a double DIN touchscreen NAV number. BUT, this has left me with cash to do other things, and, all things considered is totally more-than-adequate for the car.

(PS: D00d! I gotta clean those vents! Seems like they might be a bit brittle to remove.. Q-tips and simple green?)

JasonRP · Sep 22, 2019

Ok.. Here's the special upholstery cleaning foam spray I was telling you about. Anyone used this?

So, here's the backseat again- before cleaning:

..and, after cleaning (still need to hit it one or two more times, but this is after perhaps 3 cleanings with the Shout!):

As for my front seats.. You may remember, an earlier post I mentioned I'd bought recovered seats from the guy who has a mustang junkyard- $75 bucks. They look pretty good- no tears, but, they don't match the grey plaid like my original seats do. The original passenger seat is great- no tears, not too stained up (I'll need to use the foam cleaner on it, but, overall I think it will clean up and look fine!).. The driver's seat however, has a tear in the bolster vinyl, and also is twisted (the replacement seat is twisted too- must be common? I know I mentioned this before, and in this thread someone mentioned it was their floorpan cracked. However, I've just put in new pans, and also new/reconditioned seat reinforcement panels to match stock, top and bottom.) Here's a couple pics of my seat- the top-view so that you can see the twist...

(Yeah, I gotta clean it up too!)

(see that twist?)

Wonder how that twist happens- broken seat frame? I may call around a couple upholstery shops to see what they'd charge to recondition the seat.. I saw a guy selling mint seats like this- same color and pattern, but he wanted $500.00 for both. I'd rather fix mine if I can do it for cheaper. The whole theme of this project has been, keep this car close to stock, and make it as nice as possible without just blindly spending $$$$..

Which brings me to paint: once the interior is 100%, the engine compartment is cleaned up a little bit more (and valve cover gasket leaks fixed), and the suspension and wheel bearings are 100% verified/fixed where needed, the car needs bodywork and paint. I'm weighing out DIY, but only if I'm sure I can do it right. I don't have any real paint equipment, nor do I have a big enough compressor for that. So, I may take it to a pro for spray- but, I wonder how good of a job a non-body professional can do with bondo, primer, etc. AND- if any of the DIY bodywork is compatible with pros and the paint that they'd use? I'm looking to approximate the original paint- so, single-stage black, no flake, no stripes/flames/greek gods throwing spears, etc.

It might even be fun to do a forum meet-up, if any of you pro paint guys are interested (and I'd pay!), I do a road trip to your place, we make a pictorial for the forum of bodywork/prep/paint/reassembly, and then I drive home. I know this is a pipe-dream? but I bet it sure would look cool on the forum! I'd have to send lots of before pics, so I could be instructed what supplies to get, what moldings/emblems/seals to stock up on, etc. My timeframe would be perhaps 6-months/12-months down the road, so I can save up/stock up.. Any takers?

Jason

Davedacarpainter · Sep 23, 2019

He’ll Jason, I’d love to come out there, but.......Maryland!?

95BlueStallion · Sep 23, 2019

That carpet did make a big difference. I will now be buying new rather than spending the time cleaning my original carpet.

JasonRP · Sep 28, 2019

Davedacarpainter said:
He’ll Jason, I’d love to come out there, but.......Maryland!?

Well, yes, Maryland isn't Vegas exciting! That's why I'd come to you car painters!!! Also, my painting setup is pathetic! 6 gallon pancake = not enough for real paint guns.. I'm very fortunate to have a garage, but it is so packed full of stuff, I can just barely squeeze my mustang into it at night.

While I'd totally take one of you guys up on it if you were willing to paint it (and pay ya!) I'm realistic too- and know we're all busy with work and then our own projects.

95BlueStallion said:
That carpet did make a big difference. I will now be buying new rather than spending the time cleaning my original carpet.

It made an amazing difference! All the mustang parts vendors seem to carry the same carpet- ACC brand. If you find it on sale like I did, I think it was just a hair over 100 bucks- totally worth it, high bang for the buck! Like I said, I put mine off for a long time, because I was worried I'd not be able to get it to look factory. Now after doing this once, I gotta say- it seemed to me to be MUCH easier to do than they make it look in the CJ Pony Parts and LMR videos.

Of course, now the rest of my interior looks like it needs some attention!

I gotta say- I've been driving this car to work for the past few days, and I'm really enjoying it! Comfortable, LOTS of torque, and I've been surprised to realize it is a pretty decent ride quality as well.

I need to start making my list of the next things to fix.

91TwighlightGT · Sep 28, 2019

Just an FYI - the seat is an easy fix, but a bit time consuming. Remove the seat covers that are held on with hog rings. I HIGHLY recommend throwing the covers in the washing machine, it cleans them excellently. Remove the foam (consider replacing if it is too far gone - however it isn’t particularly cheap) and once you have exposed the seat frame you will see where the spot welds have separated. Fix these areas (reinforcing welds on both sides) clean up any rust and repaint, then put it all back together. You will have to buy hog rings, they are not reusable and you will destroy them in disassembly.

There is a good write up with pictures that walks you through here...

1986 Mustang GT Build and How To's

Progress Thread - 1993 LX-Cobra Conversion Project

I've been working on this project since 2011, and have a build thread going over at the corral... but frankly, that place is so dead these days that I have been kicking around moving it to where people would actually see it. I probably should have done it years ago, but seeing as how the...

www.stangnet.com

That’s a link to how my seats turned out after washing them. Hand washed for the major dirt, then through the washing machine.

JasonRP · Oct 12, 2019

Time for an update!

Last weekend, I went to a junkyard in Baltimore, which had 4 foxbody mustangs, and an SN95. I couldn't believe it! I also couldn't believe- there were 3 aero-style convertibles (two with the 2.3 liter engine), and 1 old 4-eye, perhaps an 84 or 83.. I went with a friend who has an '89 convertible, and we scored some serious parts. Unfortunately, the thrill of the junkyard score was tempered by some dirtbag guys- who were hanging around the cars we were working on (but not really seeming to be getting anything), and then next thing we know, my buddy was missing his cordless impact and a breaker bar. Gotta love B'more.... I guess maybe I don't get out too much, but, I have NEVER experienced tool thieves at a junkyard before. Anyways, the neighborhood was so bad, we both considered ourselves lucky we didn't get worse treatment, and high-tailed it outta there.

Parts I scored: gas door (my original has a deep scratch and slight dent), dash speaker grill (my original had a tab broken off), the pivot bolts for the back seats (yeah!! some dude on eBay wanted 19 bucks for these.. Ouch!), the retracting hatch luggage cover mounts, a new condition cigarette lighter (I don't smoke, but want the car to be 100% stock), an A/C HVAC controller (in case I ever switch to A/C, my car is a factory A/C delete!), and some misc. bolts, screws, plastics, etc. A good haul for sure!

I installed the rear seat pivot bolts after wire-wheeling them clean, and then I lubed up the back seat pivots- they move up and down freely now. Is there anything that holds them in the up position, other than the panel on each seat back that latches into the back? Mine latch, and look OK, but, seems there ought to be something stronger holding them up? I sat back there, and it didn't feel flimsy- guess this is how it is? I'd also ordered from LMR new tail lights (the car had already been converted to LX tail lights, which I like better than the cheese graters, but they were cracked up..) I'd put this order off for a long time, as these aren't too cheap, but, they made a huge difference. And, got the LMR center console mounting bolt cover plugs too. These are all installed.

Here's the old tailights (what the picture really doesn't show is- yellowed, dried & cracked lenses, badly broken stop lamp section, broken off mounting tabs, etc.):

In progress:

Tailights done:

Gotta hand it to whoever makes these taillights- supposedly original tooling, made in USA? They look great! The main difference I could tell is, my originals were black on the top (which you cannot see once the hatch is closed..) These new ones are grey on the top. The lens portion appears identical (but new of course, and un-broken). They appear to be sealed up well, and they fit great- literally plug and play. I'm not sure if the pictures do them justice- but they really look MUCH better, and look fantastic. If you are on the fence about these (like I was), I highly recommend them- no buyer's remorse.

JasonRP · Oct 12, 2019

Ok, this brings me to today's work on the car.

Remember when I showed you how my dash vent louvers looked like they had syphilis?

Well, I took them out, and cleaned them with simple green, soap, water, and scrub brushing.. I then dried them, and armor-all'd them. They look great now, but, I broke the clips on some of them when I was removing them.. Online searching for these clips yielded nothing (not surprised!) and replacements can be bought online but I'm trying to not spend a ton of money to fix everything via replacement (replacement vents- which are hella expensive, and not smoke grey like my interior...) So, I decided to think about this for a bit, and while I had the vents out, I turned a few paper towels black with the dirt that I removed from the interior of the vents.. YUCK!

While I was searching online for the vents, I stopped by this forum, and read for a bit- ADD took over, I admit! BUT! I read someone here asking how to make the seatbelt light on the instrument cluster not light up. Wait?! What seatbelt light? I check mine (I looked at an old spare broken cluster I had bought months ago for parts, and confirmed- there is a seatbelt light. I consult my "Ford Electrical & Vacuum Trouble-Shooting Manual" scored off ebay many moons ago- and it turns out, the seatbelt light, and my non-functioning "chimes" are part of the same circuit. I like chimes! (In the voice of Arnold Schwarzenegger: "GET TO DA CHIMES!") Seriously, I know this might sound cheesy- but I want the seatbelt light, I want the chimes.. I want this car to be 100% (or as close as practical) to what woulda been in service in the early '90s when my buddies all had these cars..

So, after confirming at the module connector power, ground, and key in ignition signal, I took apart the chime module itself. a busted varistor and a chip that was split in half, as well as a large burn mark made me realize- the chime module let out the magic smoke long ago! (I have no idea how this could of happened- someone shorted part of the car, but wouldn't a fuse have saved it? OR, perhaps someone welding on the car without disconnecting the battery?) I decide to go BACK to the ghetto junkyard in Baltimore, because I know there are 4 fox cars there, and that would be my best chance of getting a chime module cheap. Also- I can see if any of those cars have the dash vents without broken clips. They had a chime module out of a same year 'stang, so I gravved it. Also they had many vents, but none the right color. I grabbed some anyways, with good clips- hoping I could make the clips work with my original vents.

I made it home from Baltimore without any stolen tools or bodily injury, (gracias a Dios!) plug in the chime module, and the seatbelt light and chimes are now WORKING! Yeah! Now for the vents:

Here's what I'm working with: clips I salvaged off wrong color vents with good clips- you just have to shave off the little plastic beads in three places on each clip- and then it comes off the vent. Just a standard razor blade seems to be the right tool for this.

I borrowed my daughter's glue gun, put three spots of hot glue on each clip (one hot glue blob on each clip hole- on the side of the clip that goes against the vent), and then hold it in place (I degreased both plastic clip and vent with simple green first). A little bit of the hot glue goes through each hole in the clip with the pin from the vent, and dries on the other side. The unbroken clips seem to be fastened pretty well to the cleaned vents (yet it is "serviceable" if the clips ever get broken again. This is why I used hot glue and not epoxy or super glue..) Awesome!

I did this to each original, cleaned vent where there was a broken clip, trimmed off the excess hot glue with a razor blade, and then gently/carefully installed them without breaking them. If you're patient- it appears to install without breaking every time (or at least on all of the ones I had to repair).. Here's the finished product- cleaned, re-clipped, installed.

Now- near term next steps:
Assess suspension- figure out why it clunks when I go over a bump (the clunk comes from the back right corner), and replace any worn out bushings/links. I should probably replace the shocks (already did the quadra shocks) and also the springs.. I need to clean the rack, and probably reseal it. I need to address the whining power-steering pump. Then, I will get the front end aligned.

When it gets cold and snow/salt is on the roads, I'll park the car in the garage, and pull the trans to check the read-main seal, tailshaft seal, remove the upper intake so I can put on new valve cover seals- and may even remove the heads to check on the valves. If the cylinder walls look OK- I might do valve seats/stem seals/guides and lap in the valves (the car burns a little oil- I believe it may be the original motor still @ 247k miles!)

And, also I will still think about body work and paint. For now, researching, and saving pennies...
Until next time- chime on!

91TwighlightGT · Oct 13, 2019

Looks good! Clever way to fix the vents - although I'm curious to see if the hot glue holds up in the summer. A dab of JB weld might be the better way if you have to redo them.

The power steering pumps are notorious for whining, even when new. I don't recall if people have had better luck with the Motorcraft brand recently, but every parts store Cardone reman will likely whine. It will still work, but they aren't quiet typically. I would look at your current pump and see if it is a reman. If it is making good pressure but just noisy, you have to decide on whether it is worthwhile to change it.

The rack is also a common problem. Parts store Reman's are often valved differently and will give a very light steering feel (think Lincoln Town Car) so if you have a shop that specializes in rebuilding racks that could be a good option. There is also the ability to change to a later model SN95 rack, with (rare) 03-04 Cobra racks being the most sought after (after the practically unobtainable 00 Cobra R rack) but it does require a bit more modification to make it work.

Pretty universally on any car if I hear a clunk in the suspension I check the sway bar links first, as they are easy to change and commonly wear.

JasonRP · Nov 17, 2019

Slight progress report:
It's getting colder in MD! I took the car for some great drives, and then changed the oil- it's sitting in my garage, and I'm trying to decide if it is IN for the season, or if I should still tool around in it- I mean, there's no salt on the roads yet!

I did take it to two body shops now: One had a lady estimator, literally turning her nose up at the car, acting like I just brought her some super smelly gym socks: "Uhm, this is going to need a LOT of body work. I'm gonna say 10 thousand dollars, and we'll obviously have to have this on the back burner here- maybe 2 or so months to do the work.. we'll probably need to up the estimate too- as we get parts from the dealership, like moldings, etc." I flat out asked her if the estimate was so high because she didn't really want to do the work. I mean, why would you tell ANY customer that it would be on the back burner? Again, I think I'm butting up against the insurance-only shops, and I've insulted them by possibly interrupting their gravy train. You'd think that someone paying cash instead of dealing with all the paperwork of insurance/adjuster/etc. would be refreshing?

The other body shop actually looked at the car in detail, took a couple of pics with his phone. Said he'd get back to me. That was a week ago, no contact. I think I will take the car to the "eastern shore"- where the pace of life is a lot slower, it's mostly retiree's living out there. Maybe they'll be happy to take my money? If this fails- I will have to do all the body work myself, and then take to Maaco I guess. Sorry for the rant- I know I probably sound like a whiny little B1tch right now, but, this is greatly frustrating to me. Now you guys know why I was half-jokingly asking if I could travel to someone's place and pay them to paint the car for me.

I should specify: I'm looking for the car to be a "driver" when I'm done. Not looking for fancy/candy apple/flames/airbrushed dragon skulls/etc. This car will never be at SEMA. I just want it to look like it did perhaps when it was a year or two old, all-one-color, no dents, looks nice.

This brings me to several, non-rant considerations:
1) The hatch lid- has a bit of rust underneath the rear lip; You cannot see it with the hatch closed, but, when it is open- where the tag lights bolt in, all across there is rust starting- in some cases just coming through. I believe my strategy with this will be, just buy a new-to-me lid without any rust.
2) Same with the doors- but this one is more thought provoking: Driver's door has a slight through-rust underneath the door molding, where there was a small dent. I can either try to have that portion re-skinned, or much more cheaply I've found some doors. My car is an 89, these are from a 90, different color, power window (my 89 has manual windows), and not sure if it is LX or GT (I think the molding is different)..... I'm assuming I can convert it over to manual, but will have to get it painted (whole car needs paint though) and I need new moldings after paint anyways. BUT, then there's the deal with the build sticker. I could pay a company like this one: http://www.ecsvin.com/order.php BUT, 150 for door, plus paint, plus sticker, plus molding, etc. etc. etc.... This crap adds up fast. Not complaining, just thinking out loud. I'm not turning my nose up at a bondo only repair- but since there is through rust- I'm thinking, it's only a matter of time until it comes back?
3) Sounds like no one does single stage paint anymore? That's what these things had stock.. Asking you guys who may know: Is BC/CC so much better now, it's not even worth considering reproducing the single-stage paint? Is the new waterborne stuff really good (better than or equal to the previous gen stuff?) Is the consumer version of Bondo good enough that I could do my own bodywork, and then a paint shop could paint over top of it without problems, assuming I did a good enough job? Or do pro body shops use "real" body filler, and Bondo is analogous to trying to paint my car with Rustoleum -vs- real 2K paint?

PS: Notice how I'm all over the place with this car project! As I sit back and think about it, there's so much I want to do with it: Seal up those oil leaks, fix that suspension, fix that rusty bit here, fix that seat tear there, make it all one color, etc. etc. etc. Part of the fun I guess- there's always something to do...

91TwighlightGT · Nov 17, 2019

You are making the right call on the Hatch. I went Fiberglass on my two cars because of rust. If you are seeing it on the outside, it is all over the inside.

The doors aren't a big deal. They are the same from 87-93, everything can be swapped around. Unless they are T-top or convertible doors, but that's pretty easy to tell! You can swap window regulators and interior door panels for going from power to manual, so don't worry there. The rust is an issue, although if it is in a spot that isn't visible I don't really think you have to scrap the door. Don't bondo over a hole, though, you need to weld it up at the minimum.

As far as single stage paint, yes it still exists. I don't really recommend it for a variety of reasons, but it isn't the end of the world if you are one a budget I suppose. You need to be religious with your wax, though.

If you go the Maaco route, just take a little time to examine their work. It will really come down to their particular painter's skill level.

90sickfox · Nov 17, 2019

Maaco is a joke. Their paint only lasted ( maybe ) two years on my car. The bondo brand body filler in most parts stores isn't the best at all and does shrink over time. It will work but not on anything more than about 1/16th thick. A 1/4 if you're lucky. You've got to give it a long time to cure and must be kept away from humidity or moisture. A good primer and sealer is a must too. I'm no body man but I've done a bunch of body work over the years. NAPA has the best over the counter body products that I've found. If you use Bondo get the gold class stuff. It shrinks less and is a little easier to deal with.

What yard do you go to in Baltimore ? The Crazy Rays... well... LKQ on Erdman Ave is a little scary.

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