90 Gt Vert, The Bananna Spider

[Dontknowchit]

New build thread! Picked up this 1990 GT vert off craigslist. It runs, has some clutch or trans issues that need mended, T5. Interior has alot of issues. Someone really hacked thru the wiring to put in a system. Windows stuck, front quarters out of alignment, and rear quarter windows are flopping all over. I think i may keep the wing. Plans include the GT40 head & intake swap. Home porting, nothing revolutionary. Would like to make the interior something clean and nice for sunshine crusing with the old Lady.

 

[Dontknowchit]

 

[Dontknowchit]

 

[90sickfox]

Nice score man !!! Convertible GT cars are at the top of my list....like 4 eyed coupés with t tops.

 

[General karthief]

Nice, I miss my vert
Sent you a pm

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Nice score man !!! Convertible GT cars are at the top of my list....like 4 eyed coupés with t tops.

Damn straight....

 

[Dontknowchit]

Degreased the engine bay, started tear down by trying to remove the midpipe to pull the drive shaft and trans. Due to a rusted on and fused clamp had to cut it. The electrical in this car is a total poop show. I had not planned on a new harness but I may have to considering the level of cut, frayed and missing wires. I am all in on this build now but I definetly did not get the "RIGHT" car. The bananna spider has been heavily molested. I had to stop as I did not have a 12 pt socket so will be stopping at harbor freight on the way home. Any other "must haves" you all can suggest I get while I am there?

 

[imp]

Good-looking car! First year w/ air bag. Had an '89, and '90, kinda liked that little round doughnut center hub in the steering wheel of the '89, easy to find the noise-maker! imp

 

[General karthief]

Wiring getting hacked is a sore spot with me, some people just make a cht show spaghetti pile out of an easy fix, glad your up for the long haul on this one, they are worth saving.

 

[Dontknowchit]

Yeah, some kid must have owned this. Already pulled out hack stero power wire and Fozgate dynamat.

 

[90sickfox]

I usually use a 12 mm wrench on the axle bolts. Learned how to stack wrenches and never looked back. Remember some blue loctite for the driveshaft bolts when going back together.

PB blaster is a must. A decent pry bar set is also very handy. Oh....and don't forget to order a Haynes repair manual for 79-93 mustangs. They sell them at advance auto but I'm sure they can be found online...

I know where every nut and bolt is on that car and sizes. I only drove convertible foxes for a long time. I've got all the info needed to work on the top frame and properly align everything.

Check the rear torque boxes where the control arms attach to the body of the car. Also, check the inner fenders by the struts under the hood. Pull the front seats and check the floors for cracks and rust.

The only factor that makes me condemn a car is major rust or cracks in those areas.

My last convertible actually cracked up at the passenger side cowl and firewall area. Very hard area to see without pulling the right front fender or the dash. Launching and not tying the 10 point cage to the strut towers probably helped to cause this. I also had cracks where the transmission tunnel met the front of the back seat sheet metal. ( that was before the cage - drilled and welded them up )

Convertibles will twist....twist enough and metal will crack. Stiffler sells the best system to stabilize a convertible that I've ever seen...

 

[Dontknowchit]

Thanks for the information. I will check out the body, torque boxes looked ok when I bouight it so far rather rust free except for the trunk floor. There was a hole in the trunk lip that allowed water to drip and rusted the trunk. I have a chiltons manual on my wish list for my birthday next month....ive been told im hard to buy for so im trying to make it easy. I will definetly be welding on subframe connectors for stiffness. I need to focus on pulling the trans so my buddy can take a look and assess. There are some new bolts on the trans support and I thought I saw a colored clutch so may be in for some aftermarket suprises already installed. How hard would it be to convert this car from power to manual windows?

 

[mikestang63]

Damn straight....

cant argue with owning a 4 eyed T top and a vert.....

 

[Dontknowchit]

Didnt have the energy to get dirty after work so I thought I would revisit the wiring. After reading on here and checking the diagram....I

got nothing. Anyone got any ideas what goes where on here? Fuse and breaker look good.

 

[Dontknowchit]

Looks like a red, blue and black wire belong in the back of this switch from the drivers door but I cant find a picture or diagram that has this part listed. And this is just the start. This mess is the kick panel......oh my!

 

[Davedacarpainter]

It will help you considerably to get a set of shop manuals.

I bought a complete set for my '83 from eBay. I paid about $75 for them. They cover everything on my car.

 

[General karthief]

Didnt have the energy to get dirty after work so I thought I would revisit the wiring. After reading on here and checking the diagram....I

got nothing. Anyone got any ideas what goes where on here? Fuse and breaker look good.

That resembles the drivers door window switch connections.

 

[Dontknowchit]

Thanks, I was going to order a chiltons manual, or haynes. Is that what you mean when you say shop manuals or do you mean the massive binders that repair shops have? Yes it is the door switch. Funny story, found a mini bottle of 99 banannas in the door.....so even more fodder to call this the bananna spider lol.

 

[General karthief]

I got what I call an assembly manual for my 89 years ago, it's a ford thing, never cared for the hayes or chilton books but most times thats all you can get without spending large dollars, I have access to alldata now too but thats pay-to-play for repair shops. Veryuseful.com is a source for some wiring and vacuum stuff, but a repair manual is better than nothing.

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Haynes or Chilton are ok. I was speaking of the Ford service manuals though.

It will have 6 to 8 different manuals covering the various aspects of the car.