Progress Thread LILCBRA's 87 GT vert project (now prepping to replace the left floor pan)

85GTStangGuy · Nov 10, 2025

This may provide a clue....

https://latemodel.cachefly.net/downloads/instructions/RAT-10006.pdf

GearHeadGuy · Nov 10, 2025

LILCBRA said:
Too rich for my blood.....

These are some good looking wheels. Pretty pricy though

LILCBRA · Nov 10, 2025

Noobz347 said:
Pinion Setting Tool?

What does one need this for? How does this tool 'set the pinion'?

85GTStangGuy said:
This may provide a clue....

https://latemodel.cachefly.net/downloads/instructions/RAT-10006.pdf

Or, for my non-smartass answer, I found this post last night to help visualize exactly how to use it.

Question on Pinion Depth Measurement Calculation - Ford 8.8.

grassrootsmotorsports.com

Scroll about 1/4 of the way down and find this post by GarageGorilla:

I think I'm going to use it as intended, but I'm also planning on setting up my depth mic in some way to double check it all too. I don't mind pulling the carrier out and setting up the ring gear, but I'd like to just set up the pinion gear one time and call it good. I'm planning on just using the original Trac Lok as it is, then replacing it in the future with a Truetrac. Of course, as all things, plans may change....

(Edit to add a "Thank you!" to GarageGorilla for sharing his experience and pics!)

LILCBRA · Nov 19, 2025

While work wasn't necessarily done on the vert, work was done for the vert! Spent most of my off-time the past 2 weeks working on cleaning my new garage and organizing my toolboxes. Decided to change gears tonight and finally built some wheel cribs. Now I should have an easier time working on stuff after I climb under the cars.

LILCBRA · Nov 22, 2025

Baby steps tonight....

Hooked up the new-ish code reader to the new-ish extension I bought for it and the extension kept pushing the connecting tabs into the housing.

So in an attempt to try to adjust the pins to keep them from pushing in, I pulled the housing apart and ripped one of the battery connections off in the process....

After some calming contemplation, I re-soldered the battery wire and hard wired the extension cord to the reader. I figure there's no reason it should have to come apart anyway, right?! Of course the housing wouldn't snap back together, so I zip tied it and called it good. Then I hooked it up to the car to see what kind of codes it'd throw (KOEO obviously, since the fuel pump isn't priming....) - here's what it gave me:

37 - system indicates rich at idle
82 - Air diverter solenoid circuit/supercharger bypass circuit fault
67 - Clutch switch circuit failure
82 - Integrated relay control module
10 - ?? (Googlefu says it's a separator....)
11 - System OK

I'm guessing those are from memory? Smog stuff is still there, so I suppose they could still be relevant, but.... Just for fun, I pulled the fuel pump relay and will be getting a new one just to see if it'll take care of it before I drop the tank. If it doesn't I already have the pump, soooo....

I'll probably wait til after Thanksgiving weekend before I deal with that. I don't have any big plans for the rest of the weekend, so it's possible the vert could get some more attention soon!

gkomo · Nov 22, 2025

Does your code reader say “C” (continuous memory) or “R” (for running) when displaying the code? I would focus only on the “R” codes.

Also, maybe you don’t have any “R” codes because you wouldn’t / shouldn’t get code 11 if other codes are present.

LILCBRA · Nov 22, 2025

You know, I'm not sure, it's the first times I've used it. There were some smaller letters on the screen, but I paid no attention to them to be honest.

AeroCoupe · Nov 22, 2025

How about this, check for 12V+ at the fuel relay from the ECU power relay. My guess is you will have power at the coil pin on the fuel pump relay from the ECU relay being you got codes. The battery power pin on the fuel pump relay come from the inertia switch which is powered by the ECU power relay. Being the ECU is providing codes you should have power at the fuel pump relay unless the inertia switch is tripped or bad.

Take a test light and put 12V+ on the alligator clip and use the probe to back probe the wire from the ECU that goes to the fuel pump relay. Turn the key on and if the test light lights up the you know the ECU is putting ground to the relay and the ECU is good in this aspect. So if you have power at the relay and the ECU is providing a ground for the coil then you need to check the output of the relay to see if power is going to the fuel pump. If you have power there then I would look for this connector just above the seam of the fuel tank behind the rear bumper cover. You can see the connector here albeit crusty:

And here you can see that it is supposed to be a red/orange color (this is a pic from Mustang5L5’s thread)

Disconnect this connection and make sure there is power here. If so then you know you have to drop the tank.

General karthief · Nov 22, 2025

AeroCoupe said:
How about this, check for 12V+ at the fuel relay from the ECU power relay. My guess is you will have power at the coil pin on the fuel pump relay from the ECU relay being you got codes. The battery power pin on the fuel pump relay come from the inertia switch which is powered by the ECU power relay. Being the ECU is providing codes you should have power at the fuel pump relay unless the inertia switch is tripped or bad.

Take a test light and put 12V+ on the alligator clip and use the probe to back probe the wire from the ECU that goes to the fuel pump relay. Turn the key on and if the test light lights up the you know the ECU is putting ground to the relay and the ECU is good in this aspect. So if you have power at the relay and the ECU is providing a ground for the coil then you need to check the output of the relay to see if power is going to the fuel pump. If you have power there then I would look for this connector just above the seam of the fuel tank behind the rear bumper cover. You can see the connector here albeit crusty:

And here you can see that it is supposed to be a red/orange color (this is a pic from Mustang5L5’s thread)

Disconnect this connection and make sure there is power here. If so then you know you have to drop the tank.

And I must point out he did not paint the tank vent valve.....just say'n....

LILCBRA · Nov 22, 2025

AeroCoupe said:
Take a test light and put 12V+ on the alligator clip and use the probe to back probe the wire from the ECU that goes to the fuel pump relay. Turn the key on and if the test light lights up the you know the ECU is putting ground to the relay and the ECU is good in this aspect. So if you have power at the relay and the ECU is providing a ground for the coil then you need to check the output of the relay to see if power is going to the fuel pump. If you have power there then I would look for this connector just above the seam of the fuel tank behind the rear bumper cover.

So I just got to this. What if the light lights up with the key off but then shuts down with the key on? So, backward as you've explained?

One of the first things I did check was the inertia switch to make sure it wasn't tripped, but that's not saying anything as far as it being bad now.

Another thing I did, though I'm not sure I did it right, was applied 12V and ground to pins 4 and 5 in the relay. I believe it should click with power applied to those 2 pins, right? It does nothing....

LILCBRA · Nov 23, 2025

So I think I checked the relay wrong. I'll try to go back to it all tonight again, but after looking at different diagrams, that's not where power should be applied, huh? That's the switch itself. I believe I should've applied power to 1 & 2 instead.....

nicholase · Nov 23, 2025

LILCBRA said:
Another thing I did, though I'm not sure I did it right, was applied 12V and ground to pins 4 and 5 in the relay. I believe it should click with power applied to those 2 pins, right? It does nothing....

"1" & "2" would be for switched power and ground to energized that coil. When the coil is energized it becomes an electo magnet and pulls over the contact. That's the clicking you would hear.

"3" would be your constant 12v from the battery. Visualize constant power from the "3" on your relay to the contact beteeen "4" & "5". The contact will always be touching one of them when the coil is not energized. Then when the coil is energized it pulls the contact over to the other one. So the little flapper on your image would move from 5 to 4 and direct the power to 4.

The image most likely shows that pin 3 is connected to pin 5 with no power and ground to 1&2. Know as normally closed.

When you energize the coil it will move the contact and apply power to pin 4. Pin 4 would be your normally open contact.

They make the 5 pin relays so thay can be used as normally open (NO) or normally closed (NC). You'll want to be using it as normally open. So it's open with power off. Then when energized it closes and allows voltage to pass.

AeroCoupe · Nov 23, 2025

For this example:
1 - 12V+ from the inertia switch which gets its 12V+ from the ECU power relay
2 - switched ground from the ECU
3 - Constant 12V+ from the battery via a fusible link at the starter relay
4 - empty
5 - 12V+ to fuel pump

"So I just got to this. What if the light lights up with the key off but then shuts down with the key on? So, backward as you've explained? "

I am not sure what you mean by this. I am assuming you tried the test on the coil side of the relay and with the key off the test light is on and with the key on it is off? If that is the case and you have 12V+ on the clip side of the test light and you probed the wire that comes from the ECU (Tan/Light Gree wire) then I would say the ECU has an issue.

If you can disconnect the wire from the ECU to the fuel pump relay, turn the key on, check for 12V+ on Pin 3 (Orange/Light Blue) as well as the Pin that has the Red/Black wire. If you have 12V+ at both of those then ground the Pin that had the ECU wire on it and see if you get 12V+ on Pin 5 or listen to see if the pump comes on. Report back.

LILCBRA · Nov 23, 2025

Just got up for the day/night....

AeroCoupe said:
For this example:
1 - 12V+ from the inertia switch which gets its 12V+ from the ECU power relay
2 - switched ground from the ECU
3 - Constant 12V+ from the battery via a fusible link at the starter relay
4 - empty
5 - 12V+ to fuel pump

"So I just got to this. What if the light lights up with the key off but then shuts down with the key on? So, backward as you've explained? "

I am not sure what you mean by this. I am assuming you tried the test on the coil side of the relay and with the key off the test light is on and with the key on it is off? If that is the case and you have 12V+ on the clip side of the test light and you probed the wire that comes from the ECU (Tan/Light Gree wire) then I would say the ECU has an issue.

If you can disconnect the wire from the ECU to the fuel pump relay, turn the key on, check for 12V+ on Pin 3 (Orange/Light Blue) as well as the Pin that has the Red/Black wire. If you have 12V+ at both of those then ground the Pin that had the ECU wire on it and see if you get 12V+ on Pin 5 or listen to see if the pump comes on. Report back.

So last night, I put 12v to the alligator clip of my test light. I then stuck the probe end into the tan/green connection in the connector since the relay is removed. With the key off, the test light lit up. When I switched the key on, the test light went out.

I spent probably a grand total of 5 minutes with it last night. I'm planning on spending more time with it tonight, so hopefully I'll be able to report back with better, more definitive news....

AeroCoupe · Nov 23, 2025

Do you have a digital volt meter? Is so take that and try this as well:

Select this symbol for audible continuity:

Take the black lead to a known good ground. Take the red lead and put it into the tan/green wire position on the connector. Turn the key on and if you do not get a tone then I would say the ECU has problems. Another way to test this is to pull the ECU and put it in the passenger floor board and do this same test and back probe Pin 22 on the ECU with the black lead of the DVM. This will eliminate a wiring issue.

LILCBRA · Nov 23, 2025

Ok, just spent some time with it and have a 10 second video of what it does when I have the clip on 12v and probe the tan wire at the connector.

View: https://youtu.be/FbOF8WvCJnU?si=4JDEP3Lsgn_y3Dme

But I tested the relay as it should be tested, it's good. I put the relay back in. I then checked the inertia switch. It wasn't tripped as I already knew, but figured it wouldn't hurt to double check. Pulled the connector, then pulled the switch and checked continuity, it seemed good and checked out at <1 ohm. I then smacked it which tripped it and checked again. It read as an open circuit. So I reinstalled it and went back to the relay connector. I hooked my test light alligator clip to battery ground and probed the pink wire while turning the key, it lit momentarily then shut down - as it should. I can't really check the pump connector since I can't really get back there in time once I turn the key, so I'm going to assume that it is indeed the pump - which wouldn't be horribly surprising.

AeroCoupe · Nov 23, 2025

So what is weird to me is the ECU doesn’t provide a ground until the key is in the run position and it’s just long enough to prime the pump. If it does not detect the engine cranking or running then it terminates providing the ground. To me this would mean the test light would not be illuminated with the key off and would illuminate for a short time when the key is moved to the run position and then go out again.

LILCBRA · Nov 23, 2025

I get it. Thought it was doing the opposite of what you were saying, but apparently this is how it's supposed to work? It seems like it anyway.... maybe it's a difference between SD cars and MA cars?

Found another "funny" thing about this car, now that I'm spending some time with it.... all 4 of the driveshaft retaining bolts were loose. Like "a couple threads were exposed" loose. And I had my mom driving this car! I've never done anything with them, so it had to be the p.o. I'm going to guess that they were going to pull the transmission and decided it was too big of a job for them so they sold it to some sucker - I won't mention my name or anything.....

Also found a few more holes in the floorboards. Not crazy about that either, but it is what it is I guess.

LILCBRA · Nov 23, 2025

Changing gears again.... pulled the stereo since there's a purple RCA cable ran through to the back of the car that I'm trying to get rid of now. Here's the mess I found there.....

Blackhawkxx · Nov 23, 2025

LILCBRA said:
finally built some wheel cribs.

So is each layer loose, as in you have to build the stack each time?

Progress Thread LILCBRA's 87 GT vert project (now prepping to replace the left floor pan)

Member

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

now i can hopefully expect to receive the shaft

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

lube between the nut and the face. I know my lubes

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

I lubed and pushed, until it was all the way in

lube between the nut and the face. I know my lubes

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

lube between the nut and the face. I know my lubes

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

lube between the nut and the face. I know my lubes

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

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