Progress Thread Barn Find - Twilight Blue 1991 GT 5spd

idareu

Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
Jan 6, 2004
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Apopka, FL
It's time to start my first build thread on the Forums. About two weeks ago I got word of a 1991 GT roller that had been sitting for a couple of years with the 302 that came out it wrapped up. It was a Twilight Blue 1991 GT that was straight and rust free. The interior needed work but it was worth a look. I went down last week to look at it and was happy to see that it was as good as it had been described and that the engine wasn't seized. I knew this would make a great project car and decided to jump on it.

Today I went down and picked it up and it's now happily sitting in my garage. It's going to be a lot of work to get it back on the road but it's going to make for something for me and my son to work on during the weekends. I'm going to spend the week going over it and making a list of what I need to get it back on the road. Once I can get that organized, I can start figuring out what I want to tackle first.

Here's some pictures of it when I picked it up. Damn it feels good to be back in the game! :D

Rear
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Driver Side
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Passenger Side
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On Trailer
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Awesome find! Looks like it will be a great project! What are the plans? Restore? Race car? Resto-mod / street machine?

How does the under-body look? It looks like it was stored on cedar animal bedding - maybe that's a new trick for rust prevention! Also, is that a Knoi peaking out from behind the front right?
 
Awesome find! Looks like it will be a great project! What are the plans? Restore? Race car? Resto-mod / street machine?

How does the under-body look? It looks like it was stored on cedar animal bedding - maybe that's a new trick for rust prevention! Also, is that a Knoi peaking out from behind the front right?
Right now the plans are to restore it. It already has some basic modifications like off-road h-pipe and there is a set of shorty headers hiding out in the hatch. I figure since it has the stock intake (also hiding in the hatch LOL) I'm going to put that back on for starters. There may be some "go-fast" parts down the road but for now I'll be happy to have a Mustang back on the road. Once I get it running and the interior done it will be time for paint. I was originally thinking of having it all done with the Twilight Blue, but after looking at it in the garage, I may stick with the Twilight Blue / Medium Titanium. It starting to grow on me (and the wife/accountant likes that combo too). :D

The under-body looks good, there is some surface rust here and there but that's to be expected. No holes which is good, so a couple of sessions with a wire brush should do the trick. As far as the shocks, I think it is a set of Koni but I'll have to take a closer look. I'll be spending the week going over the car from top to bottom and see what all I'm going to need.

I wouldn't found this baby if it wasn't for General Karthief. He saw my post about a fox body that had rusted out shock towers and we started talking about this one. This is a great community!
 
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A little bit about that car. It originally was destined for a 351 swap.
I picked it up for a friend, I was supposed to tow it to his house, the three of us knew each other, a pending divorce forced the sale and it needed to be removed right away so I grabbed it an took it to my house with the intention of 'next day delivery', same color as the Junk Pyle and no sun roof, that night talking to the new owner about an expected delivery time he mentioned he already had several projects started and was not enthusiastic about another project. I poked fun at him about hoarding all the nice foxes and he said I could have it for the same money he paid, I put off the delivery for a few days and it just never left. I hid it in a big shed my neighbor has, years went by, my intention was to strip it and paint it original colors, 5 lug swap, all the usual stuff.
Life has a way of changing plans.
 
All this time I thought the dump truck was an actual dump truck.
noobz nicknamed it after suffering an evening of riding around the Orlando area in it, it's a ruff ride with nothing hanging off the back, and if your car is hanging off the back he says you've 'been dumped' (repo'd)
that and parking it takes 'style',
 
noobz nicknamed it after suffering an evening of riding around the Orlando area in it, it's a ruff ride with nothing hanging off the back, and if your car is hanging off the back he says you've 'been dumped' (repo'd)
that and parking it takes 'style',
I used to parallel park in my 1990 Grand Marquis. That was always fun. People were always impressed.
 
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I used to parallel park in my 1990 Grand Marquis. That was always fun. People were always impressed.
I got my drivers license in 1971 using my fathers Plymouth Fury III. This was when parallel parking was required..... I bet its got a foot or two more in all dimensions on your Marquis.......LOL
 
I spent most of yesterday afternoon after work in the garage going over my new toy. I know this is going to be a big project and there are quite a few things to tackle that I havent done before. It's going to be a challenge but I'm looking forward to learning some new things. I think when I'm done there won't be a piece of this car that I haven't worked on.

Opening it up (Note the "custom" hatch prop aka broomstick, I think I owe kartheif $5 for that one :D. Going to run up the AutoZone and get some new struts )
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Interior - The seat foam is actually in great shape, I just need to re-upholster the seats and get new carpets (cabin and hatch). The center console arm rest is crushed so I"ll be looking for a replacement. My plan is to pull all the pieces out that are showing their age and repaint or replace them. I'm debating on a replacement radio, going to need something to fill that hole eventually.
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Engine bay - I had originally planned on working on the interior first and taking my time with getting the engine back in but after pushing the car around the garage on the wheel dollies, I think getting it running has moved WAY up on the priority list. It's not hard to move once it gets rolling but trying to push it backward after moving it toward the wall was one heck of a workout. The dolly wheels were facing the side wall rather than the back wall and I couldn't get it to budge. I had to jack it up, reposition the dollies so that the wheels were facing the wall I was aiming at. I joked with the wife that I need to have a come-a-long on each wall. The good news is that I have all the parts/accessories for the engine (PS pump, starter, alternator, etc...) so when it is time to put it in, things should go relativity smooth. I need to go over the block while it's on the stand and make sure everything is okay but at first glance it looks promising. I haven't actually had to put a motor in a car by myself before so this will be an adventure. My other concern is the gas tank. This car has been sitting for a long time and if there is any fuel in there, I need to either get it out and clean it or think about getting a new tank and fuel pump.
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Radiator Core support - While I was crawling around under it I noticed that the lower section of the core support was banged up pretty bad. I'm going to have get taken care of before I think about dropping the motor back in. I've never had to replace one of these before so this will be a learning experience for me.
bSkKKIr.jpg
 
Ouch, looks like a tow truck pulled it by the core support, I hate that... You can buy a new core support from LMR and if you know how to weld it shouldn't be too bad to drill out the old spot welds and weld in the new one.
 
Ouch, looks like a tow truck pulled it by the core support, I hate that... You can buy a new core support from LMR and if you know how to weld it shouldn't be too bad to drill out the old spot welds and weld in the new one.
Unfortunately I don't know how to weld. I was pricing the support on LMR last night and it's not too bad, I just need to find someone to weld it in for me unless I want to do a crash course on welding. I'll have to think about that. I have always wanted to learn so maybe this will be my motivation to try. Granted I wouldn't put a torch to this car until I think I knew what I was doing. :D
 
Nice find and getting harder all the time to run across those deals! I've had great success hauling dirty seats to the carwash and spraying them with the high pressure wand. Just don't get to close with the nozzle, or you risk tearing the fabric. A few days of setting out in the sun during the summer will dry everything. Be warned, the seats will be heavy from the foam absorbing the water. You'll be surprised how well they'll turn out for a few bucks worth of quarters.
 
Nice find and getting harder all the time to run across those deals! I've had great success hauling dirty seats to the carwash and spraying them with the high pressure wand. Just don't get to close with the nozzle, or you risk tearing the fabric. A few days of setting out in the sun during the summer will dry everything. Be warned, the seats will be heavy from the foam absorbing the water. You'll be surprised how well they'll turn out for a few bucks worth of quarters.
Interesting thought. I'm going to be pulling them out this weekend so that I can pull up the carpet and take a look at what's underneath. It might worth a shot trying to clean these one way or another why they are out.
 
Before going through to much work of replacing that core support I would look to see if it would straighten out. If this is not going to be a show car that section is not going to be seen once the radiator is in place. I would put a piece of wood on your jack and position it in the center and jack it up to see if it would straight out. If it doesn't then you can replace it.
 
I would agree with Stanglx or possibly call that mustang salvage yard in Georgia and ask if they can cut a piece out of a wreck, there is very little structural integrity there, it could be cut out and another butt welded fairly cheap.
I'll forget about that $15 bucks you owe me for the zip ties, ratchet straps and wood you used since the car had hidden damage.