v8stang289's 86 GT build thread

[v8stang289]

I also decided to try something. The headliner was missing when I bought the car and I cant 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. Now I'm going to get some material and cover it. It may not be perfect, but it seems like it will work and is much cheaper than buying a new one.

[86foxvert]

Very creative and brave let us know how it comes out as I will try the same with my T Top!

[4EYED85GT]

Nice progress so far! Keep the pics coming!

[v8stang289]

Hey guys, This projects been on the back burner for a while. I just got burnt out on cars again and had to take a break. I'm planning on getting a cowl hood, tires, and a few other things over the next month. Then finishing the body work and getting a coat of epoxy primer on it when it gets warm enough. The engine runs good and all mechanicals are fine, i just need to finish the body and put the interior together.

I developed some idle/running issues after the H/C/I and mass air swap. I finally figured out that I had put one of the pins in the wrong place when converting (DOH!). Put the wire where it was supposed to go and everything was great.

I did get the headliner material for about $15 but have yet to cover the headliner board, much less install it. Hope to get to that soon.

Hopefully I'll stay on it this time and at least get it road worthy.

as it currently sits

[86 50CPRI]

so far so good, a lot of progress. Eager to see more!

[2camsam]

A coat of paint and your ready to roll !

[Quicksilver]

Looks close to being on the road and with a coat of paint, it will look like a totally different car.
Looking forward to seeing more pictures.

[85GT-79FJ40]

I recovered an old headliner board with $15 worth of vinyl and some spray adhesive in my Capri. It's held up fine. Not quite the right color but for $15 it looks fantastic. It's good to see you back on it. Now get some paint on it!

[4eyed85gt1]

Looks like my 85 gt. Coming along nicely.

[4eyed85gt1]

Attachment 67990my gt as it sits now

[4eyed85gt1]

Some reason i cant upload pics

[v8stang289]

We've gotten about 9 inches of snow over the last few weeks, Which is insane since we usually get less than an inch a year. It's put a damper on my being able to work on the car since I don't have a garage at home. The good thing is the snow finished melting yesterday and the weather cleared this afternoon so I could get back to work on the Mustang.

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've got a Derale temp switch coming from summit that will turn the low speed on at 190* and I plan on wiring the other so that it grounds when the A/C is turned on. I may also put in a manual override switch but I'm not sure yet. Since I don't have the temp switch yet I grounded the circuits manually to test function, and everything worked great. I drove the car around the yard a bit, and let in run about an hour altogether. The fan ran on low the whole time and the temp needle stayed around "o" in normal. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do a little more tomorrow, as I have to work next weekend.

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"

[v8stang289]

Well it's serious now I just spent $1800 on parts for the stang.

-All new weatherstripping and dew wipes
-MM Subframe Connectors
-headlights
-Fan switch
-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

It sure adds up fast!

I'm going to get all this stuff installed over the next couple of months hopefully. Then pick up a cowl hood and get a coat of paint on her. Hopefully I'll be cruising in this thing blasting 80's hair metal before too long

I did get a little more done on the car today. Got the hvac controls freed up and operating properly, with the exception of the vacuum operated switching. The vacuum line that's supposed to run from the check valve to under the dash is missing. But i'll rectify that when I pull the dash for the heater core and evaporator install. The interior is all to pieces, but I am excited that things are starting to come together.

[v8stang289]

Made some more progress today. Took the wheels to work and got my new tires mounted and balanced. Painted the pony wheels while I was at it. I need to get the orientation of the center caps right, I just put them on real quick to see how it looked.



Then I dove in head first and pulled the dash. I also pulled the heater-a/c box out to replace the evaporator and heater core, that was actually an easier job than I was anticipating. The hvac box is back in the car, but I have to do some repairs on the dash. It's gonna be fun to put the dash back in.

[v8stang289]

Now, for some reason I can't fathom, one of the po's hacked a huge hole in the dash where the radio goes.



I don't have the funds for another dash right now, plus this one is in pretty good shape other than the radio hole. 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.



Hopefully it'll be warm enough one afternoon this week to get a coat of paint on the dash and interior pieces, so I can start putting it back together.

[Telmaer Hinton]

That's too bad to hear about the dash. It seems people tend to drill and cut out these dashes to fit newer radios. It's never good!

[v8stang289]

Beautiful weather here today, 70* and blue skies. I got all the interior pieces cleaned and painted and got the dash back together. My heater control unit was broken in the back where the position selector slide is, but I was able to put it back together by "welding" the plastic with a soldering iron. Now the switch works and switches between defrost and floor like its supposed to.

The dash install was really aggravating trying not to crack or skin it up while I fought to get it in place. 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. I do still need to put the small running horse on the passenger side dash plate.

[v8stang289]

I also covered the headliner today. It was pretty simple really, I got the material from Joanne's fabrics on sale a few months ago, and just used 3m spray adhesive to attach it to the headliner board. I haven't cut the sunroof part out yet, I'm going to wait until I have it in the car so I can get everything right.





Unfortunately, It's supposed to drop back below freezing tomorrow with sleet and freezing rain. So I'm not sure when I'll be able to make any more progress. Hopefully next weekend.

[86 50CPRI]

keep it up...looks great!

[TopGear85]

I agree with Pete...great work! Do you have any close-up pics of the radio opening? I would really like to see how that came out.

Keep up the good work, this car is going to be awesome when you're done.

[v8stang289]

Here's a close up of the opening. Not perfect by any means but functional, and better than a gaping hole. I could have gotten it better but its tough sanding smoothly in those tight turns and I was ready to move on. It's not very noticeable in person unless you look closely.



I was hoping to get the headliner and plastics installed yesterday but I hit a snag. I saw a few black ants in the car and when I pulled the carpet back, there were ants everywhere. They were all under the carpet and rear seats. I stripped out everything except for the dash and set off one of the "bug bombs" in the car. I'm going to let it air out for a few days then vaccum it out and hopefully get the interior put in on friday if the weather cooperates.

I had a similar thing happen last year with ants in my truck. Ants were all in the computer and under the dash and carpet in it. I took out the interior and bombed it and I had to disassemble the ecm and blow it out with compressed air. I hate ants.

[v8stang289]

Got a lot done yesterday. I replaced the weatherstripping on the door, hatch, and sunroof openings, the door runs, and the outer dew wipes/ belt molding. I have to do the dew wipes on the door panels and I'll be done with the weatherstripping. Also did a little work repairing the small crease on the passenger door and quarter, and installed the rust free hatch I had along with lift supports.



I also finally got the headliner in. It turned out pretty well I think. A couple of little wrinkles but nothing too bad.


Also got the interior put back together for the most part (don't have the door panels installed) and I'm missing a clip.




Does anyone know where I can get one of these clips? searched a few websites with no luck. there are 2 on each side holding the trim panel above the door. You can see it missing in the headliner pic. One of my clips is broken so I can't install that piece. I know I can probably get one at a junkyard, but it'll be a while before I can make it out to one.

[magnum517]

Looking good. Try CJ pony parts for the clips. Usually have a good assortment of new and they also have a lot of good used inventory. Prices tend to be fair.


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[huck01955]

It going to be an outstanding car when your done

[v8stang289]

I checked CJ's and LMR and mustangs unlimited, but I just found them at NPD for $4.