wrecked 25k mile 83 GT?

[burntorange84]

Yep, yep!

It looks awesome. Thanks for submitting the photo!

-j

[grabbergreen84]

Man, that is a beautiful car! Glad it was saved!

[shook0002]

Love it! What a great find and history behind it.

[Matt1986gt]

Great story, so glad you were able to bring this car back to life.

[83GTJIM]

An update on this one. With the Mustang Club of America Grand National Show in Kansas City this year, I decided to pull some things together and enter the Concours Driven class. I don't really feel its a concours "restoration" because the car was mostly all original (except for repairs) but they said I had done too much paint work to enter unrestored. Here are a couple of pics of the car inside the Overland Park Convention Center being judged (it took an hour and a half!) Very happy to take home a Silver Award for the first time at a MCA show.

[Bryan Knebworth]

Silver at an MCA National? Very well-done, especially considering what the driver's door looked like only a few years ago

[STANGMAN116]

Congrats on the silver win!!! I hear our very own dan won gold with 001 asc. So thats amazing!!!!!!!

[83GTJIM]

Silver at an MCA National? Very well-done, especially considering what the driver's door looked like only a few years ago

Ah yes, back in the beginning- Thank Bryan!

[84StangSVT]

An update on this one. With the Mustang Club of America Grand National Show in Kansas City this year, I decided to pull some things together and enter the Concours Driven class. Here are a couple of pics of the car inside the Overland Park Convention Center being judged (it took an hour and a half!) Very happy to take home a Silver Award for the first time at a MCA show.

Well done and the silver is well deserved. I'm glad I got to meet you and see this car in person. For those that have not been able to see it in person, the pics do not do it justice. The work is simply amazing and this car needs to be seen by all.

It took me 3 trips into the convention center to finally get the pics of it because the judges were there FOREVER!

Congrats again Jim!

[noac]

Car looks great...what did they hit you on?

[83GTJIM]

Car looks great...what did they hit you on?

I had never participated in a MCA judged event and boy it was a real eye opener! They said judges sheets won't be available for two weeks.

Here is just a sample of the rules for those unfamiliar with a MCA judged show:

4. ENGINE COMPARTMENT
a. Battery Carrier and Hold-down: Must be proper for year and model............................2
Quality of Workmanship, condition and cleanliness....................................... ..................1
b. Battery: Must be correct group & size Motorcraft battery for year and model. 2 point
deduction for incorrect group in Concours classes. Must be original in Unrestored &
Thoroughbred classes or 6 point deduction. 6 point deduction for non-Motorcraft
battery, no exceptions .................................................. .................................................. .6
Quality of Workmanship, condition and cleanliness....................................... ..................2
c. Battery Cables & Starter Cable: Must be original Motorcraft. Battery to solenoid
cable must be red, all other cables black............................................. ............................4
Quality of Workmanship, condition and cleanliness....................................... ..................3
d. Starter, Solenoid (& Cover where Applicable): Must be correct Motorcraft for year
& engine. Starter semi-gloss black with natural aluminum tail housing. ‘90-‘93 cover
notched with airbag decal. ‘87-‘89 not notched with vacuum diagram decal. All other
models with cover no decal required .................................................. .............................3
Quality of Workmanship, condition and cleanliness....................................... ..................2
e. Alternator: Proper Motorcraft for year & engine.
‘79-‘85 fan & pulley: zinc dichromate (gold).
‘86-‘93 fan & pulley are black.
Natural aluminum case.
‘86-‘91 SSP cars have optional Lestek 130 amp.
‘92-‘93 SSP cars can have optional Motorcraft 130 amp............................................... ..3
Quality of Workmanship, condition and cleanliness....................................... ..................2
f. Voltage Regulator: Must be Motorcraft electronic.
‘79-‘81 Motorcraft ink-stamped on natural cover.
‘82-‘85 Motorcraft embossed on natural cover.
‘86-‘93 regulator internal on alternator.
‘86-‘91 SSP Lestek equipped, external regulator.
‘92-‘93 SSP with 130 amp Motorcraft alternator, internal voltage regulator.....................3
Quality of Workmanship, condition and cleanliness....................................... ..................2

[STANGMAN116]

Wow!!!!!

[bluesfannoz]

Congrats Jim! Very much deserved! Didn't get to see as much of the car as I wanted!

[dagenham]

Congrats on the award. Been there done that with MCA. It can be nerve racking and rewarding in the end if you are lucky enough. My wife has a 91 5.0 LX that we would enter in the ocasioal driven class. No matter what we did or how clean we had the car we have never did better than 2nd place. Still satisfing in the end though. If you keep going it takes several years to get enough points to get a grill medallion. It makes for a pretty big feather in the cap I think. Still not as big a feather as the end result of the job you did on this car.

[KevinK]

An update on this one. With the Mustang Club of America Grand National Show in Kansas City this year, I decided to pull some things together and enter the Concours Driven class. I don't really feel its a concours "restoration" because the car was mostly all original (except for repairs) but they said I had done too much paint work to enter unrestored. Here are a couple of pics of the car inside the Overland Park Convention Center being judged (it took an hour and a half!) Very happy to take home a Silver Award for the first time at a MCA show.

Looks like my buddies Chuck and Nelson doing the judging there. Concours is a tough class.. Silver is quite an accomplishment.

[sowaxeman]

Love seeing the staggered treads on the early run 1983 TRX tires! Talk about being Concours Correct

[foxylady]

Congrats! I saw the car at the show. I wish I would have gotten a chance to speak with you. The repair on this car is amazing.

[jlehma13]

Beautiful car! Would you happen to have a few pictures of the underside?

[83GTJIM]

Thanks for all the nice comments and compliments everyone. I went by your convertible Amy hoping to meet you but I guess you were out judging.

The car is still super original underneath but the car was Ziebart undercoated by the selling dealer when new...and they were not very neat about it either. So sorry jlehma13, pictures of the underside aren't going to be much help.

And kind of along those lines I started thinking about things after the show and actually emailed the original owner to see if he was interested in seeing the car back in his garage. I don't know if I am up for removing all the undercoating in order to take this car to the next level. I also don't know if that is the right thing to do. I like the idea of the car being as it was when the original buyer picked it up on day 1. And I kind of like the sloppiness of the undercoating to a certain extent, keeps the car "honest".

He asked me to price it and I guess at that point I realized that I am not ready to pass it on. I think if I were to go for the gold with a Fox, I probably need to start from scratch and build a gold standard car.

And Jason- bonus points for picking up on some of the details!

[79mustangcobra]

Hi Jim,

Congratulations on your Silver award at the GN MCA show. I love the story of how you saved it. Can you tell us, or maybe you have and I missed it, what was needed to repair your GT? Do you have any pictures of that process. Thanks!

[chazman]

Wow!!!! Great thread and nice save on a beautiful car!

[chazman]

Jim, is it possible for you to repost some of the in process pics again, they are no longer visible in your original posts.

[billkandi]

Jim, is it possible for you to repost some of the in process pics again, they are no longer visible in your original posts.

x2. Been a long time, but those pics would be terrific to see. When you can, of course.