1997 GT - 5.4L 4v Navi Swap / Build-Up Thread

MattMan02GT · Dec 31, 2019

Wow it looks like you and the car had a very busy spring! Thank you for sharing, can't wait to see the rest of the update

MR KROGOTH · Jan 1, 2020

Back to business now - got the car back together and driving in mid-May:

End of may, I came across a gentleman that was cleaning out his garage of SN95 parts, and received a Cobra R style hood (if you're interested in it, please let me know - im in Houston area) but it wont fit on the car without HUGE modifications. He also threw in a bucket of misc parts (FoMoCo Racing 3.73 gears, clutch pack rebuild kit and smaller stuff) for our cars as well. I didn't do too much to the car in the next few months - lots going on with work kept me out of the garage on this car, but working on my 98 Vert.

In early August I began preparing the car for Cleetus and Cars Houston - I initially wanted to paint the entire car before the event but couldnt make it happen. Got a few pieces done though!

Cobra folding mirrors:

And reassembled after the bases were sprayed hot rod black:

MR KROGOTH · Jan 1, 2020

Here's the car in early August, each marked area is a dent/defect/damage to be worked out. Worst of the damage was the damage to the drivers side rear quarter panel.

I ended up prepping the hood and working it out before the event, as a test of the paint and my ability:

And primered/blocked:

And sprayed: ( I am no painter!!! )

MR KROGOTH · Jan 1, 2020

After I got the hood back on the car, I went ahead and bladed/denibbed the hood for trash in the paint:

And cut/wet-sanded the hood:

And buffed:

Also experimented with making mystichrome leather/vinyl stuff for another small idea I had:

MR KROGOTH · Jan 1, 2020

I quickly ran out of time to prep for C&C - on the way to the event I swapped out the 315's for some junk 215's on the rear for the burnout competition.

Ugly as sin! Tagged the pillars on the car:

And here's my stint on the burnout pad:

View: https://youtu.be/yjY1MyzL_D0?t=1436

It was my first time in that kind of event, absolute BLAST to beat on the car - top of 2nd gear I was around 80 MPH wheel speed. So fun! Car was 1 of the 3 cars that drove off under its own power out of 12 that entered - that's a win for me!

Here's my favorite shot from the event:

screamin gt · Jan 2, 2020

Awesome thread. I actually have a navi with that tritonn 5.4 too.

Quick question... Are the bolt holes on that lower intake threaded into the aluminum or are they sleeved? I ask because I'm getting a vacuum leak after changing removing and reassembly. I know I need to tighten down the upper but it's such a pain to get to those rear bolts and I'm very scared to strip the thread if it's only in threaded aluminum.

MR KROGOTH · Jan 3, 2020

screamin gt said:
Awesome thread. I actually have a navi with that tritonn 5.4 too.

Quick question... Are the bolt holes on that lower intake threaded into the aluminum or are they sleeved? I ask because I'm getting a vacuum leak after changing removing and reassembly. I know I need to tighten down the upper but it's such a pain to get to those rear bolts and I'm very scared to strip the thread if it's only in threaded aluminum.

Just into the aluminum - no inserts.

MR KROGOTH · Jan 3, 2020

After Cleetus and Cars, I set back some time on the car some.

Committed a cardinal sin and lowered my car by the best method available - cutting the springs of course.

Haven't been terribly disappointed in the ride quality. Honestly don't get what everyone was on about it not riding smooth after the springs were cut, I don't think it was that bad?

Also fooled around with re-wrapping the ratty steering wheel:

Gotta say, it is NOT an easy task to make from scratch.

MR KROGOTH · Jan 3, 2020

Here's some shots of the stance of the car after the springs were reinstalled:

In November, I really began to kick off the body/paint work. I got married Dec. 7th and began really working on the car on November 8th. One month of evenings and weekends to get it done! Here's how the hood looked on the car:

MR KROGOTH · Jan 14, 2020

This is Nov. 9th, getting into the teardown process on the car.

MR KROGOTH · Jan 19, 2020

November 10th - working out prepping the jambs and extraneous areas of the car.

Noticed that my time on the skid pad at Cleetus and Cars did a number on my rocker moldings - the exhaust began to melt them!

Wicked!

MR KROGOTH · Jan 19, 2020

Continued of November 10th - snagged a replacement rear bumper for the torn one on the car.

Got the deck lid scratched primed up:

The seam sealer in the deck lid troughs typically begins to shrink/fracture over time. It's a very messy and time consuming endeavor to clean it out. Easy way, smarter way, is apply self-leveling seam sealer over the old stuff. Remains flexible, smooth, and quick.

Got some of the smaller stuff into primer too:

MR KROGOTH · Jan 25, 2020

November 13th:

Again, I'm no painter. I was fairly unimpressed with my first go at the car - oh well.

MR KROGOTH · Jan 25, 2020

November 14th I began laying down the 'Mystichrome' portion of the job. I had never sprayed any kind of metallic/pearl prior to this - my experience was limited to solid colors.

On the 17th, I prepared the doors on the car for the Mystichrome shoot.

And out of the booth:

I left the roof matte black. I didn't want to spend a bunch of time metal working the roof as it looked it like a fat b**** had danced on it.

Over the course of the next few days I let the topcoat cure up - I saw quite a few areas I wasn't pleased with AT ALL - I re-worked and primed/blocked the areas that concerning me, prepped the entire car again, and pushed it back into the booth on the 23rd.

MR KROGOTH · Feb 8, 2020

Took these on November 23rd 2019 - You can see some areas I re-primed after blocking them down to get them straighter. Re-prepped the car.

Back in the booth evening of the 23rd:

MUCH more satisfied with the car at this point. What do you guys think?

MattMan02GT · Feb 8, 2020

Damn, you are a perfectionist huh? It looks fantastic! Always loved the mystichrome color!

How's the car running?

1997 GT - 5.4L 4v Navi Swap / Build-Up Thread

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