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  1. #1
    FEP Member dlgourn's Avatar
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    Default 1986 Saleen 86-0177

    Hello, I would like to share with you, guys. Here is the story and the pictures from the day I found it up for sale. I had always hoped to some day own a white/blue combo 86 Saleen. It had to be an 86 because it was the first year of the 5.0 EFI and I like that style of air dam on 86's and GT dashboard (with allen bolt on corners). I searched for a while and found it on an owner's myspace page. He had three 86 Saleens up for sale at that time. He had a red 86-0081(originally charcoal), black 86-0049, and white 86-0177. The red one had everything and was in good shape and the black one needed some work. The white one, well as you can see in the pictures it was wrecked in the rear and front panels were from different mustangs, all the saleen ground effects were missing and 3 of the riken rims were bent. It was missing the original momo steering wheel, shifter, whole stereo system, various other parts on top of all that it was not running because of the missing intake manifolds. I made the decision to buy white one because I wanted to own a white Saleen and it was a lot cheaper than the other two Saleens. I spoke with the owner and made a down payment to hold the car for two months. The car was located in Medford, Oregon.


    This is first photo is when I found it up for sale on owner's myspace page.





    I requested the owner to send me some more photos before I made the decision to purchase.











    My plan was to drive there and pick it up with my truck and while I was there to stop by and visit my sister near Salem, Oregon. She just moved to there from Arizona. I realized as the time went by, I really didn't want to drive that long of a trip there and back, because it is 1,800 miles away and I have 3 young daughters who needed me at home. On top of that my truck had poor MPG so it would cost a lot to drive there and back. I asked my friend if he wanted to join me and fly there and fix the car to get it running then drive it back home? It will save alot of time and money also it will be nice to visit my sister too. My friend and bought our airline tickets, and I informed the owner of the Saleen that we would be flying out and driving the car back home. He suggested that I trailer the car back home because he hadn't drove the Saleen for 5 years. That worried me but I stuck with my plan. I packed tools and everything that I would need to make sure the Saleen would run again.

    When we arrived at the Portland airport my sister picked us up. Then we borrowed her car and drove to Medford to pick up the moving truck and trailer then went to pick up the Saleen. The owner had A LOT of Saleens and mustangs at his home. We had a good time chatting with him while he help me load the Saleen on the trailer and gave me the parts that the Saleen needed to run again and some body panels too.









    We brought the Saleen to my sister's place. When my sister saw this car, all she could say was "why did I want buy this car? Because it's not a pretty car." But she's was so kind to rent this garage for us so we would have a place to work on the Saleen. We replaced the water pump, spark plugs, dist cap n rotor, did an oil change, installed intake manifolds etc... to get it running. I was kinda embarrassed to drive it all the way to Kansas like that so I went to the store and bought cheap flat white spray paint and painted the fender and hood. I left the front and rear bumper the way it was because it would only be more work for me when I started working on the body for the new paint job.










    We are ready to hit the road to Kansas. We discovered that the tach and speedometer were not working. Thank God, we had brought a GPS in case! Fortunately the power outlet, water temp and fuel level gauges in Saleen all worked. We enjoyed our view of the beautiful scenery in Oregon.










    Arrived home safe. After we drove 1,800 miles in 31 hours. We only stopped to get fuel in the tank, grab some food and use restroom. When we were somewhere between Idaho and Utah I noticed the Saleen felt like it was missing fire when we were up the hills. I had already put new spark plugs in so I pulled over and switched some spare spark wires and the problem continued, since we were in middle of nowhere and the Saleen was still running we kept going all the way home. My wife and family was worried about us crossing half way across the county with my rickety Saleen. Everyone was relieved we arrived home safe. My wife was wondering why I went to Oregon to get that Saleen because it look ugly to her. I told her, yes it is ugly car but it will be one of the most sexy fox mustang someday after its restoration.






    I found the problem it was number 1 and 2 cylinders had lost compression. I thought that the head gasket was blown. So I didn't drive it anymore and it sat in my driveway waiting for a full restoration. While my Saleen was parked, I scored nice original factory white painted front bumper and hood which I put on the Saleen. I also scored brand new real 86 Saleen ground effects from Florida Craigslist for super cheap and since I had no place to put the ground effects I went ahead put them on the Saleen.



    Between selling our old house and looking to buy another house. I went ahead and started working the on Saleen a little but had to keep it all in one piece and drivable too. I straightened the original quarter panel, replaced the deck lid, and repair the spoiler then painted it with white primer. And this is last picture of Saleen at our old house.



  2. #2
    FEP Member dlgourn's Avatar
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    Here is the Saleen at our new house. I had pulled the engine and transmission out, stripped whole interior and started with the body work.







    Painted the engine bay and all door jams, and expoy primer painted on the ground effects.







    Getting ready for a new paint job.







    I've never been good at putting new vinyl decals on any cars. The vinyl stripe decals take a lot of time to put on and cost 200 dollars for the new decals. I was afraid that I would mess up when I put the big decals on the car. So I did it my own way and that cost me around 50 dollars and the stripes will last forever.






  3. #3
    FEP Member dlgourn's Avatar
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    Paint job is done. And I just finished with wet sanding and polishing. Pulled out of garage to take some pictures.






    The old rotors were shot. I happened to have some nice 87-93 V8 drilled rotors laying around. So I replace the 87-93 V8 spindles. I wanted the Saleen to have good brakes.




    The engine bay is ready for engine to be dropped in, but the engine had not been rebuilt yet.




    One perfect shape wheel always looked different from other 3 bent wheels I didn't know what it was. After stripped the paint off of all 4 rims thats when I found out one wheel is machined and other 3 wheels are unmachined. I went ahead and sent the 3 bent wheels to a rim shop for repair and polishing on the lips. The machined Riken wheel had no damage. I would like to find one to replace it but you can hardly to see difference between them after the centers had been painted.




    Started work on the interior, painted some interior panels, cleaned up the factory carpet and GT seats and put all piece together.





    I made the clear headlight covers myself and they look great! And painted white in center of Riken rims. The last thing to do was to rebuild the engine.





    Here was the answer, blown head gasket on number 1 and 2 cylinder. I'm glad it held out for around 1,000 miles so we could arrived home safe. The engine is rebuilt and has been dropped in the Saleen.







  4. #4
    FEP Member dlgourn's Avatar
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    Here the progress is completed and I hope you enjoy a view one of the most sexy 4 eyed mustangs.














    My Saleen came with a Kenwood stereo system. Correct # for 86 Saleen is KRC-6000. I only saw 2 of them up for sale in past 2 years and they sold on ebay for around 400 and 500 dollars. I don't have that kind of money just sitting around. So I got one that was as close as I could get KRC-6000. But I did score something that is impossible to find that most 86 Saleen don't have anymore and thats the Kenwood speakers





    Now my wife understands why I bought this Saleen from Oregon. She has grown to like it and she does enjoy riding with me to car show events. My wife and Steve (bluesfannoz) shoot pictures of each others cars on way to car show. In one picture Steve's black 85 Dominator (my old car) is shown parked next to my Saleen.







    Guess what, my friend who flew with me to pick up the Saleen and drove together to home. He is big fan of aero mustangs. After we worked hard together on the progress, he really began to fall for the 4 eyed Saleen too. A few months later he bought the black Saleen 86-0049 from the same owner in Oregon and had it shipped to him. So his story was not the same as mine.

    New pictures of the Saleen will coming soon. I need to find a good place with a nice background to take pictures. Hope you enjoy reading this thread.

  5. #5
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    WOW, cool story! Keep up the good work!
    '86 GT - weekend driver
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  6. #6
    FEP Senior Member SVOKip's Avatar
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    Stories like this is what makes this such a great hobby. Anyone can go out and plunk down their signature and drive anew car off the lot. It takes someone with real passion and a love for Mustangs to accomplish what you did. It is a shame that car show judges don't give me more credit for work like this than they do. Instead they find it easier to hand out a prize on a car that is probably still under warranty and has never been driven any where other than shows. I'll have to subscribe to your thread and look at it whenever I need some motivation.
    1985 SVO 4e
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  7. #7
    Moderator wraithracing's Avatar
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    Awesome find and Awesome job repairing and restoring the Saleen!

    You have one of my all time favorite Mustangs! I am truly envious!

    I hope to someday find a jewel like this myself!

    Keep the pictures coming!

    Trey
    ​Trey

    "I Don't build it hoping for your approval! I built it because it meets mine!"

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  8. #8
    FEP Power Member 02Z06's Avatar
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    Absolutely outstanding work Dan, I can't say it enough!
    Chris Lott
    '81 Cobra T-Top - Black
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    '86 Texas DPS Mustang (Unit # unknown) - undergoing resto

  9. #9

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    What a great story & documentation. Best of luck.

  10. #10
    FEP Power Member RichV's Avatar
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    That is really cool. What was the resto timeframe? And cost, if you don't mind my asking. I remember seeing that car f/s, it had very little Saleen about it.

    Kinda makes me miss my old #97...
    85 SVO
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  11. #11
    FEP Member 85_GT's Avatar
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    All I can say is WOW.
    _________________________________
    1985 Mustang GT 20,162 miles

    1982 Mustang GT in progress

  12. #12
    FEP Senior Member subsGT's Avatar
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    Man I love stories like that....and kudos for braving a drive that far with a car you had no idea it's history or if it would make it. And another one saved!!
    I love the white too...

    Just an outstanding job!

  13. #13
    FEP Super Member JTurbo's Avatar
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    Very awesome. I especially like the fact that you drove the car to get it home - that took some really huge balls.....

    Thanks for posting the story!!!!
    1979 Indy Pace Car Mustang 302 / 5spd
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  14. #14

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    This is awesome. Very nice work.
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  15. #15
    FEP Super Member 69clark's Avatar
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    Wow! Impressive, and great job!
    Tom

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  16. #16
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    Awesome story. Awesome work. Awesome car!
    '85 GT

  17. #17

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    Really great work man.. congrats on the car looks great.
    86 GT T-tops hooker headers, o/r h-pipe, 2 chamber flows,4.10 Gears, E-cam, Mass air conversion. Explorer GT-40 intake
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  18. #18

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    Very INSPIRING !!!! I have no other words than WOW WOW WOW.
    1993 SAAC MKII Convertible (Supercharged)

  19. #19
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    Bravo! Awesome! Wow! Great stuff thanks for sharing.

  20. #20

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    Truly an excellent job! You should be proud of saving a piece of history, as all the four-eyed Saleens are!

  21. #21
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    Very nice work. I don't know how anyone could let a car like get into such poor condition. So glad you saved it.
    85 GT vert

  22. #22

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    Awesome! Wow, great story and resto!
    Matt
    1984 Thunderbird -- 1989 302 HO, GT40 heads w/ Trick Flow springs, E303 cam, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Edelbrock 600 4bbl, 85 Mustang dizzy, Jegs o/r h pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Mustang AOD & shifter, Mustang 8.8 w/ 3.73s, Mustang front & rear sway bars, KYB 87-88 TC struts & shocks, and Mustang 11" front brakes.

    1988 Mustang GT hatch -- Explorer intake, GT40 heads with Trick Flow spring kit, Crane 1.7 rrs, E303 cam, 70mm MAF, 70mm throttle body, o/r H pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Kirban Kwik shifter w/ Pro 5.0 Deluxe handle, clutch quadrant & firewall adjuster, and 3.27s
    (86 Mercury Cougar 5.0, 89 Lincoln Mark VII LSC 5 speed, 80 Mercury Zephyr 4 door) sold

  23. #23
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    Thumbs up

    WOW!!! That is simply AWSOME! That is the true meaning of dedication. Congrats on a job extremely well done!

  24. #24
    FEP Power Member bluesfannoz's Avatar
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    Awesome work Dan! I had the pleasure of seeing the car before, during, and after and your work is just simply amazing! There seems to be a black Dominator in there that looks strangely familiar as well!
    Steve
    "Taillights in Your Face Jack? You've just been Dominated!"
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  25. #25
    FEP Power Member 85Coupe50's Avatar
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    Awesome..
    Only 1 Four eye left now and it is a 64 fairlane 2 door post! Think 408W with Griggs GR350 suspension!

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