Progress Thread Fixing Up A '93 Gt - Project Done

I bought myself a Christmas present this year in the form of a red '93 GT. The paint is faded, but the black interior is real nice and it seems to be rust free. It's got a small dent in the front of the hood and another on the passenger door. It's got some modifications, but I am having to discover them as I go. PO didn't really know what he had.
Here's the car as it sits now.



And, the engine compartment



There is a black intake manifold on there, an aftermarket throttle body of some sort (PO thought it was 70mm), a CAI. There's a nice electric fan with a very hacky switch under the dash that turns it on. It's also got a monster exhaust system, I think it's 3". I am not impressed with the quality of the mods by the PO. The exhaust was held on by wire and didn't fit right. I took it to an exhaust shop thinking it just needed some hangers welded on. Instead I got hosed and could've bought a new catback for what they charged to fix the poor fitting exhaust. I think I'd rather have a 2.5" system, but was just trying to get by for a while before spending the cash.

My plan is to get some things fixed and daily drive it a while to see where I am. Punch list right now:

1. Definitely needs tie rods. We'll see if that fixes things or if there is more suspension work needed.
2. Brakes. Brakes work OK, but e-brake doesn't engage until the very top.
3. I will put a fan controller in and fix up the hacky electric fan wiring.
4. Saggy doors need fixing. Ordered hinge pin/bushing kit from LMR.
5. Clutch feel sucks. It's supposedly a new King cobra. I ordered a Steeda adjustable quadrant.
6. Radio doesn't work. Ordered a Kenwood HU. I have an amp/speakers/sub that were planned for another car that will eventually go in.

Once that is done and I make sure everything else is as solid as it seems, I plan to make a few mods and see where it goes from there. I bought some 5-lug 17" cobra wheels. A couple need some refurb, but I plan to go 5-lug with some larger brakes. I may autocross or do some track days with this thing, so some suspension mods will follow the brakes. I'd also like to paint it and maybe a cobra body kit.

Looking forward to hanging around here and learning.

I have two questions to get me started ... of course

First, the throttle body has two nipples on it that aren't hooked up. I'm not sure what they are supposed to be hooked to and how important is it that they aren't connected?

Second, my cruise isn't working. Is there a common problem there or can you tell from the pic if the PO took it off?

stykthyn said:

Sounds like you are on the right track. 3" if that's what it truly is is too big. Foxes came with 2.5 and he may have run 3" tails. That intake is the stock unit painted black.

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I've been looking at the exhaust a little more. Not sure, but looks like aftermarket headers and big pipes all the way back. Sounds awesome, but might not be the best. Looks like the PO welded an h-pipe into the header tubes. Not looking forward to messing with that.

mikestang63 said:

One is on the passenger rear lower intake pad and one is coming off the hard coolant line..Simply by some new rubber hose and hose clamps and hook them back up.

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Kind of looks like he bypassed it. There's a line you can see in the pic running under the throttle body that may be a bypass based on your description. Sounds like I should be hooked up, so I'll add that to the list.

a91what said:

Next see if it has subframe connectors if not it needs them.

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Needs 'em

Based on other stuff I've seen on this thing, I doubt the TB and intake manifold are port matched.

I looked a bit closer and the cruise control is gone. I'll have to decide what to do about that, prefer to have it.

Did a bunch of work on it today. My opinion of the previous owner hasn't improved.

First off, I thrashed on the loose steering. Right side had a bad ball joint and tie rod. I replaced all that. Driver side looks OK. I have the parts in case it's still wonky. I'll probably install the tie rods before I get it aligned. Still need to replace the end links and I think the front end will be good.

I put new adjusters on the rear brakes and adjusted them. Parking brake is good now.

Finally, I "installed" my Steeda clutch quadrant. I was surprised by what I found. It already had a ford racing quadrant and adjustable cable in it. PO didn't use the nuts properly on the adjustable clutch, so it had come loose. PO also left the clutch cover off (probably because he had to adjust his cable every day). So, I need to find a clutch cover. Bottom line, the ford racing clutch cable was less than smooth from weather at the trans end. So I put the new clutch cable and firewall adjuster in. Left the ford racing quadrant. Feels like a clutch should feel now.

While I was under there, I found this. Hopefully you can see. It's a round connector with two female sockets in it. Tied to the trans cross member. Anyone know what it is supposed to be hooked to?

Thanks old_blue. Definitely a marathon, just need to warm up with a few sprints

A lot of interesting stuff going on. I am even less impressed by the previous owner. Driving around the car would die at idle with too much electrical load. The electric fan required some throttle. Combinations of headlights, hvac fan, and other stuff could kill it. Bright lights were a no go. I installed a 130 amp alternator and it is better. I can at least run that stuff at idle. But the voltage doesn't stay very steady. The fan start surge is killer. Brights still drop the voltage. I ordered some new battery cables. I suspect grounds are my problem now.

Next issue caused by the moron ... Err ... Previous owner involves the reverse light switch wire that is hanging under the car. The neutral safety switch is installed where the reverse switch should be and vice versa. I was told a new clutch was installed, but this points to more than that. A rock grinder sound has also started when the trans is cold. Could be throw out bearing or could be internal. It's pretty bad when the clutch is released in neutral. But also makes the sound when first driven. Seems to stop after a mile or so. I hope this idiot didn't open the trans. I also hope I have found all the stuff this guy has screwed up. He didn't own it for long, so hopefully didn't have time to hose up anything else. So far, for everything I fix (or attempt to fix), I find a couple more things.
Don't think I mentioned the cat5 stereo system wiring, did I?

Rear of the transmission is leaking, less than a quart of fluid came out when I drained it. Probably explains the new rock crusher sound. I put a new rear outer seal on, but may have to dig deeper at some point. Sounds like it's usually the rear bushing, not necessarily the seal. That'll be fun, hoping the new seal does the job but not necessarily expecting it to.