Progress Thread Daily Driver.... 89 GT - Front suspension rebuild

90sickfox said:

That radio install looks clean. I really like seeing this done without that ugly radio adapter that screws in the dash. I just remembered that years ago folks used to put a strap of metal from the back of the radio to the center rear of the cubby to keep it from tipping out. There used to be a screw hole ( for extra radio ground ) in the center of the back of the aftermarket radios. No idea if new radios have that anymore.

There's an angled bend in that cable that can get flipped around. It's in the wire end that connects to the flapper dilly.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I will keep it in mind if the cubby become loose. Currently the cubby fits pretty snug inside the console opening. Its all friction that is holding it in. This radio is pretty small and light as it has no CD player. Not sure if it has a screw hole but I will check when I do the final install.

I hope to take a closer look at the flapper cable in the next day or two.

It was dry most of the weekend so I got a bunch done. Saturday, after the rain stopped, I finished installing the tweeters in the dash then I tackled the HVAC blend door cable. What a pain that was. It fought me the whole time. First I flipped the cable up so it was out of site. The thing binded both directions this time. I took it apart again and straightened the cable out and cycled the door. Cable didn’t feel smooth so I lubed it with some graphite. Once it was free I put it back together only to find out the gear jumps a tooth on the knob. Took it apart once again to fix that. Once all back together I see the bulb from the bezel sitting on the shifter I put the bulb back in and stopped for the day. Pic attached for the cable looping up.

On a side note, the blend door cable on my 86 is hanging down as well. It was like that when I bought the car but previous owner did the heater core shortly before I bought the car. He used a stick on zip-tie holder thing to keep it up. I did the heater core again a couple years ago. I zip-tied the cable like he had it but shortly after the adhesive failed and now it is hanging down. Maybe someday I will fix it. But now I know to check the cable orientation before putting the dash back in.

Today I was greeted by a puddle of coolant under the car. One of the water pump bolts was seeping a bit so I tightened it and now it is leaking worse. The thread sealant must have let go even more when I snugged the bolt. I assume I am going to have to drain the radiator to fix this? This same bolt was leaking off and on when I bought the car. Was not this bad though.

I didn’t feel like fooling with that today so I wired my amp for the speakers since it was dry today. I cut the plug off the dead premium sound amp I have and used that to wire the speakers in. Both dash and door speakers work as well as the rears. I still have to tidy up the wires but for the most part it is done. Tomorrow I will tackle the sub amp after work since it looks like it is going to be dry for the next few days.

My stereo install is done. I am quite happy with how it sounds.

The water pump is still seeping. So a little back story with it. The pump on this car has seeped for years. My buddy I got the car from, replaced the gaskets a bunch of times, he did the timing chain cover as well with no luck in stopping it from leaking. He eventually gave up and would fill the radiator as needed. He did that for years till he eventually parked it and drove something else. When I bought the car it had sat for approximately 2 years. For the first few weeks, I drove the car it didn't leak and then it would leak off and on. I did the same thing and just filled as needed till the heater core puked its guts out. I decided to take care of it then and replaced it with a new pump. I used the right stuff on both sides of the gasket and the cover as well using thread sealant on the bolts. It had over a week to cure before I filled the cooling system. Everything was fine till last week when I noticed a puddle under the car. I maybe have 600 miles on the car since the work was done. At first I thought it was from the bolts as they were a little loose. Tightening them made the leak worse so I pulled the bolts out and re-thread sealed them. Ran the car for 45 minutes in the driveway. No leaks. Next morning, checked the water pump before I left for work. It was dry. I drove to work 26 miles and checked it when I got there. Dry again. Went to go home that evening and checked it before I left and it was wet. The attached picture show where the water pools up and drips from.

Any idea what is causing this? I do not think it is the pump as the old one seemed to leak in the same area. You can see the rust water stains below on the balancer from the previous years of leaking. I did read last night that someone said that the 90 deg hose kinks and can cause the pump to blow the gasket out due to it not being able to relieve the pressure? Sounds weird to me but I did replace that hose when I did the pump and it does look a little kinked but I do not think it is kinked to the point where the flow is 100% obstructed? It seems to leak when the car cools down.

I replaced the water pump on my Saleen when I bought it like 14 years ago and to this day, I never had any issues with it. I replaced the 90 deg hose then too but the hose on the Saleen has more of a smooth transition than the 89 does. Not sure it is work the time to try out the theory the other person had? Thoughts?