V8stang289's 86 Gt That's Taking Way Too Long -progress Thread -

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

I bought this car in March of 2010, on my wife's birthday of all days. I intended to get it running and driving within a few months, and play around with it. It snowballed a little, got put on the back burner a few times, and now is finally getting close to completion.

I never started a build thread for the car on this site, but I have posted pics of it a few times through its stages. So I decided to start this thread to document the progress (and lack of progress) over the last 6 years.

I bought the car from a friend for $400. The engine was intact but had a rod knock, and the trans was missing. Car was a factory black 86 GT with gray interior and 5speed. High mileage and in kinda rough shape, But with no rust underneath and very sold floors and chassis.

This is a pic of the car the day I went to look at it.

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

After I purchased it and took it to my dads house. This is what I started with.

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

Then I dropped in an 87 GT engine that I had put new rings and bearings in, and a T5 that I had to get it moving under its own power,

Just a stock engine with mildly ported e7's and flowtech shorty headers.

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

After that it I changed jobs and it kinda got pushed to the side. Over the next 2 years I worked on it a little at a time and installed 87-93 front brakes with Hawk HPS pads, a new master cylinder, and new shoes and wheel cylinders out back. I also put on a Flowmaster cat-back and a set of Pony wheels I picked up.

The hatch turned out to be shot. Full of rust and rusted through in a couple of places.

But the guy I got the car from, gave me an extra one with the car.

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

This is how it sat in April 2012

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

I was slowly collected parts over the whole time

picked up a Performer EFI for $150

and a Motorsports 67MM EGR spacer for $40

A TFS stage 1 camshaft and springs

Picked up a complete 96 explorer 5.0 for $150. Cleaned up and sold the explorer intake for $150, and modified the TB linkage to use the 65MM TB on my car. Also cleaned up and did a bowl blend on the GT-40 heads to use on my car.

Picked up an A9L and fiveology racing Mass Air conversion Harness along the way, along with a stock MAF. Also got the stuff to do a 3G alternator upgrade, and an electric taurus fan.

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

near the end of April 2012, I did a 3G Alt conversion, and a Mass Air conversion. I wanted to do the Mass Air conversion before the HCI install, just so I wasn't changing so many things at once.

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

A few weeks later I finished up the heads, cam, and intake install.

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

Then in August 2012 I finished repairing the cracks/tears in the bumper cover and got it re installed.

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

I also decided to try something. The headliner was missing when I bought the car and I couldn't justify spending $200 on one. So I went to the junk yard and picked up a headliner board from a hatch for cheap, and cut out the hole for the sunroof. Then I got some headliner material from the local fabric store and covered it. turned out pretty good

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

After that I changed jobs again, life happened, got tired of messing with the car, etc. The car got sidelined again for a while. Started back on it in February 2014

I mounted the Taurus fan to the radiator and wired it to a Volvo controller. The controller is pretty cool as it has two inputs that when grounded turn on their respective circuit. I've got one circuit hooked to the low speed and the other to the high speed on the Taurus fan. I got a Derale temp switch from summit that turns the low speed on at 190* and I wired the other so that it grounds when the A/C is turned on.

Here's a shot of the fan, I should have cleaned it before I installed it, oh well.

Volvo controller mounted on the shock tower, Disregard the "performance pine straw"

Then I spent a bunch of money on
-All new weatherstripping and dew wipes
-MM Subframe Connectors
-headlights
-Heater core and hoses
-A/C Kit (compressor, condenser, evaporator, and hoses)
-Black Epoxy Primer and body supplies
-Misc pieces, bezels, clips, etc
-Hatch lift struts
-Dash Pad cover
-Tires

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

Then I pulled the dash for the heater core/ evap core install

one of the po's hacked a huge hole in the dash where the radio goes.

I didn't have the funds for another dash. So i set out to fix it. I have a few panels laying around from various aftermarket install kits. I found one that was close to the opening and trimmed it till it fit.

Then I took some of the 3M flexible bumper repair epoxy that I had left over and filled in the gaps.

After a bit of sanding and a coat of filler primer. Needs a little more sanding and a coat of SEM but It doesn't look too bad. Not as good as factory but way better than the gaping hole anyway.

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

I installed a dash pad cover while I had everything apart, and painted the cover and the dash with SEM 15303. I also painted the gauge surrounds and passenger dash plate dark graphite metallic, but it looks almost silver in the pics for some reason. I think it came out really well overall.

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

In April 2014, I got it epoxy primed, and got the interior together. The car was actually roadworthy for the first time since I'd had it

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

Door locks, I'm a gun guy

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

Drove it a little and enjoyed it. Had some overheating issues that I eventually tracked down to a faulty radiator cap of all things.

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

Then Life got in the way again
I started having some driveability issues, bucking, low power, etc. I checked several things and found I had a burnt signal return in the ECM. I replaced the ECM and it helped but there were still some issues. Then the real fun started...

In September 2014 My pregnant wife went had to have an emergency c-section due to high blood pressure, followed by an emergency hysterectomy for uncontrolled bleeding. My newborn son was diagnosed with Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension and a partially collapsed lung, and life flighted to Duke. He ended up spending the first month of his life in NICU but everything turned out all right and he is now doing great, perfectly healthy and developing normally.

Understandably the 86 got put on the back burner for a while. I started back on it in July 2015. It would crank but wouldnt idle when cold, and would break up when revved. I found I had a bad IAC valve, and that my fuel pressure was 19psi. I pulled the vacuum line off the FPR and gas shot out of it. After replacing the IAC and the FPR It would idle but I still only had 19psi. So I put in a new Walbro 155lph pump and fixed the issue.

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

A few weeks later I got the condenser, compressor, and lines installed, then got one of my buddies (a dealership tech) to pull a vacuum and charge the system. It was awesome to be riding in A/C

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

Then I put in ford racing 3.73 gears and carbon fiber clutches in the rearend, and changed the u joints, rear shocks, and wheel bearings while I was at it. Then I took it to the track for the first time.

Ran it a few times, low MPH and ET for what I was expecting out of the combo(14.3@94 mph). Went home sad and started a thread asking for some help/tips. Finally figured out I had the timing too low at 12*, bumped it to 17* and went back to the track, ran a 13.7@101.4mph. Much more inline with what I was expecting.

I drove it a little over the last year, once every week or two. A couple weeks ago I decided it was time to paint it.

v8stang289 · Oct 22, 2016

I didn't have the extra cash to sink a few grand into a paint job, so I decided to do it myself. I've primed a couple of cars before but never painted one so It was a learning experience. I'm not a body man by any stretch, mainly because I lack the patience, so the car is far from perfect. There are some imperfections showing through where I didn't do a good job sanding or prepping. Also some orange peel, one run in the clear on the pass door, and some trash in the paint since I basically painted it in my backyard with my "booth" consisting of a pop up canopy, tarps, and plastic sheeting. I'm pleased with how it turned out considering the investment. It should be a solid 30 footer once I get the trim and wheels painted. Might even be better once my brother in law helps me wet sand and buff it.

At any rate, It has finally got color on it!!! haha.

My "Booth" (I use the term very loosely)

few pics of the car, masking came loose from the wheel while spraying, got a little on the tire..

V8stang289's 86 Gt That's Taking Way Too Long -progress Thread -

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