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Thread: '84 GT Overhaul

  1. #1
    FEP Senior Member Quicksilver's Avatar
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    Default '84 GT Overhaul

    So, further to my intro, I thought I would start a thread to share the changes I’ve made to my car over time.
    My ’84 GT originally came with the CFI engine, AOD and 3.27 gears.
    The car remained original for the first three years. Then, in 1987, when new TRX tires were on backorder for six months, I switched to CSA 5 spoke wheels and BFG 245/45/16s. The car later received other changes like upgraded 4 wheels disc brakes (’92 brakes up front and M2300-C in rear), stiffening, major tranny work, conversion to EFI and later a ’92 roller motor and 8.8” axle and gears.



    A motorsport supercharger and a cowl hood were added and it stayed that way until the fall of 2003. By this time, the original paint was not as shiny and was wearing out, especially around the rear spoiler.





    Then the fun began, taking the car apart and deciding how to route the main engine wiring harness to hide it. I chose to run it inside the car across the top of the firewall. To do this I modified the openings that go from under the dashboard into the wheel wells. With the fenders off and the dash removed, it was easy to mock up roughly where the wiring would go.







    At this time, I also figured out where I wanted the starter solinoid mounted in the inner fender well and started to mark off holes in the engine compartment that would no longer be needed.

    I'll post more in the next couple of days.

    Also, if you find the pictures are too big, please let me know and if you have any suggestions, they are welcome.

  2. #2
    FEP Power Member bluesfannoz's Avatar
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    Very Cool! Thanks for sharing pictures of your labor of love! Keep em coming!
    Steve
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  3. #3
    FEP Senior Member Quicksilver's Avatar
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    So, I got the car stripped down and started marking the holes in the engine compartment that I won't need anymore.



    I also stripped the interior out as well after mocking up where I would run the main harness.



    So, to do the body, I went back to the same guy who had done the cowl hood for me. I got the car trailered to the body shop for them to start the work (I've done body work on cars before but not a complete redo on a car).

    I took photos of the engine compartment and circled the holes for them to fill. I also marked up the engine compartment. I gave them the photos as a guide to make sure they didn't fill in any holes I needed. We talked all the time while the car was getting done and I was there all the time. We also changed a few things as we went along.

    In these pictures, they are working on the inner fenders.







    After welding up all the holes, they worked on finishing them up.









    When the inner fenders were being smoothed out, It was suggested to me that the firewall not be completely smoothed out as the body will flex to a certain degree. Having said that, they were able to trim down the seam on the firewall for a cleaner appearance.

    The body was taken down to bare metal, the hatch was smoothed out and redrilled for the rear wing. At the same time, the holes were drilled for the inner trim panel on the inside of the hatch. The key lock was removed from the hatchback and also the doors. I kept the door handles because I wanted to. It is also illegal to have a street car with no door handles around here.











    For the front and rear bumper covers and body mouldings, I switched to the 1985/86 style and I used LX mouldings behind the doors instead of ones with the "GT" logo. The FORD emblem was shaved from the front bumper cover.



    The body kit and body mouldings were prep'd and readied to be painted later.





    One of the things we changed was the gas door. i decided that I wanted a smoother look on the rear quarter panel. So, metal was welded in, sealing the opening. Metal was also welded in to fill the hole inside the hatch where the filler neck comes through.





    I'll post more later. I just found out that 20 images is the limit.

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    FEP Senior Member Quicksilver's Avatar
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    We took a look at the two inner fenders and decided to modify the passenger side so it would be the about the same shape as the driver's side in front of the shock tower.





    The rear fender lips were rolled to allow for wider tires and suspension travel.

    At this point,everything was getting into primer.










  5. #5
    FEP Member 86foxvert's Avatar
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    Nice work! Great detail and lookin for more pics!!

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    Wow lots of work for such a short time. The car looked awesome back in its days too

  7. #7

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    So how much power do you think that 2 stroke motor will produce?



    In all seriousness great work You are doing an awesome job and can't wait to see the final product!!!
    65 Mustang
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    FEP Senior Member floodstang's Avatar
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    Yes, very nice work. Can't wait to see it finished.
    2005 Mustang GT- 13.62 @102 All Stock- RIP 8-29-05 9:17 AM
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    1985 Mustang GT T-Top- Almost Done

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    FEP Power Member Hemlock's Avatar
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    Kinda wondering how you are gonna fill your tank LOL Also surprised you didn't go with a tubular K member while you had it all stripped and pulled out.

    Robert
    1984 RS 347 Capri, To many car parts to list, check out my car build page here for the story on my car and a full parts list/setup!:

    My RS in Action

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    FEP Senior Member Quicksilver's Avatar
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    Thanks for the comments.

    The timeline for the body work was actually late October 2005 until mid July 2006. I just never got around to posting the pictures before. The car has been sitting in the garage and slowly worked on since then.

    To get the car finished and on the road took until July 2012 and I still have a few things to do.

    As for the two stroke (that mighty little 1.5hp), well that's probably the most power the car had for a few years. But now that's it's done, it's got a little more.

    I thought about putting in a tubular K member when building it, but with the k member, control arms, coil overs etc. it would have added another $1K at the time. I'm still thinking about it along with either a torque arm or an IRS. I kind of like the IRS.

    For the gas tank, I'll show you pictures soon of what I did. The short version is that I fill it behind the licence plate. The gas tank was modified and the hole for the filler neck was relocated to the other side of the bump.

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    FEP Senior Member Quicksilver's Avatar
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    So, after the primer was on, it was time to start putting some paint on the car. When I was trying to choose a colour, I looked at everything from candy apple red to brandywine to different shades of silver, grey and charcoal. In the end, I choose Nissan "silverstone" and of the four variants, I chose the darkest. The paint is a metalic and after discussion and shooting a few test panels and seeing them in the sunlight, some additional metalic was added to the paint. The clear that was suggested to me and chosen after seeing test panels in the sun, has pearl in it.

    In this picture, you will also notice an extra hole where the licence plate goes. That is where the gas cap will go. It is off center so that it does not interfere with the bracing and the latch mechanism for the hatch.
















    So, after the car came out of the paint booth, some undercoating was sprayed in the front fenderwells, the doors were installed and the rear bumper cover was put on the car. You will also notice that there is paint on the car behind the doors. He wanted to make sure that all of the car would be painted, even under where the body kit attaches.









    Then, the hatch, fenders, hood and front bumper cover were installed and lined up. Afterwards, the front spoiler, side skirts and rear valance were put on the car.







    The next things up would be painting some of the other parts prior to assembly.

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    FEP Member huck01955's Avatar
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    You will have one real nice car when your done

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    FEP Senior Member Quicksilver's Avatar
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    So here are some of the parts getting painted before being reattached to the car.

    The hood is from Cervini and has a 2 1/2" cowl. But, this hood has an unfinished centre section when you get it new, so it was painted satin black where it is taped off.






    While the work was being done, I got the bodyshop to shave the logos in the door jambs.



    Soon the car will be back on four wheels and rolled in for paint.


  14. #14
    FEP Senior Member Quicksilver's Avatar
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    So now it's time to re-attach the k member to the car and get it rolling on four wheels again.







    In this picture,you can see that they masked the engine compartment off along the seam on the firewall. The painter didn't want any ridges that would have to be sanded out.





    This picture shows where the gas door used to be.



    At the same time the door handles, cowl grill, tail lights and other parts were painted. The wing was installed and the headlights were put back in.




    At this point, the bodyshop was almost done and I would be taking the car home to finish the build. As it went, it had taken nearly three years to get to this point.

  15. #15

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    I keep laughing because people don't read your posts and they think this is all being done right now.
    I love your car and you have some really great ideas and cool touches here. I don't own anything near this nice and probably never will. It is really well done. You haven't given us the final look yet but just based on what you have posted I just want to comment. I know what you were trying to do I think. You didn't want EVERYTHING silver so you left some satin black touches which I like a lot. But for some reason I like the SVO sail panels in body color. I know you don't care, I am just telling you my opinion because I assume you posted your pictures to get opinions. I understand you had to have spent crazy money doing this and if you wanted them silver, they would be silver so please don't take offense. I would have done black door handles and silver sails panels. That's what makes the world go around. People do things differently. Nothing wrong with that man.
    This is a really great transformation. Thanks for posting!
    Liberty once lost is lost forever.

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    July 7, 1775

  16. #16

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    Also, I think you might have shaved the wipers. This car is REALLY over the top. I can't wait to see how it ends up.

    EDIT: On second look maybe not. I thought the cowl grille looked smooth but I see it's not.

    Last edited by homer302; 02-03-2013 at 09:11 PM.
    Liberty once lost is lost forever.

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  17. #17

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    wow, that is quite a job, what does a paint job like that run will all the custom work if you dont mind me asking?

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    FEP Senior Member Quicksilver's Avatar
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    No worries, I like your idea. Sorry, don't know how to atach a quote yet. I think the car would have looked great with the sail panels painted body colour. That choice was on my short list. I also thought of painting the roof drip rail body colour to change the appearance of the roof line. The mirrors and door handles were also considered.
    I actually had a sketch book that I put together with a bunch of car silhouettes and used markers and pencil crayons to see what different paint schemes would look like. I actually came very close to painting the sail panels body colour.
    I went through about a dozen drawings before I ended up with the final paint scheme. I't so much easier to try different things on paper.

    As for the price of the car, no the body work wasn't exactly cheap (the cost was actually part of the reason the car took so long to build).But, because the rest of the work on the car was done by me, putting it together didn't cost me too much money, just parts and...lots and lots of time. I'll post some more pictures of the build as soon as I can get them uploaded into photobucket and then linked in.

    It's hard to put a price on something that has provided you with enjoyment for almost 29 years.

  19. #19
    FEP Member huck01955's Avatar
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    Its been a long project but well worth the wait .Can hardly wait to see it done

  20. #20
    FEP Senior Member Lubner's Avatar
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    Great Work
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  21. #21
    FEP Power Member bluesfannoz's Avatar
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    That is Awesome! Can't wait to see more of the project as it progressed. Thanks for documenting and sharing for us all to enjoy!
    Steve
    "Taillights in Your Face Jack? You've just been Dominated!"
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  22. #22
    FEP Senior Member Quicksilver's Avatar
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    So, Shortly after the last picture at the body shop, I got the car trailered home and put it in the garage. Now the real fun started. After emptying it out, I wiped down the interior and started to put Dynamat everywhere inside the car. This took about two weeks along some nice slices in my hands to get it done. I used the Dynamat extreme and you will see from pictures later on that I also used the black acoustic foam (1/2") inside the rear quarter panels, over the wheel wells (1/2"), roof (1/4") and hatch (1/2"). This has made a HUGE different in the sound level inside the car.












    While the car was at the body shop, I had the cylinder heads redone. A little port work, re-did valve job and springs.

    Once I got the heads back, I put them back on the engine, covered all the openings and went about grinding the heads and the block smooth.



    Once I finished, I ground the transmission casing smooth and then put them on pallets and took them to the body shop. I had both of them painted to match the body of the car.





    After this I looked at the possiblity of hiding the spark plug wires by running them under the headers. I drilled a small hole in each of the engine mounts so I could fasten the wires there to keep them away from the heat. his seemed to be fine on the drivers side but I couldn't get enough clearance on the passenger side to keep them away from the header. In the end, I decided not to do this because I would be driving it on the street and sometimes long distance. This would make things difficult if I ever melted a wire. I may try again another day but the wires would have to be covered in heat shielding. Maybe someone else has tried this and made it work. If so, it would be great to hear how it was done.


  23. #23
    FEP Member huck01955's Avatar
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    Wow

  24. #24

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    good looking project.......nice wrk
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    FEP Senior Member Quicksilver's Avatar
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    Here is the dashboard waiting to go back in the car. But I had to first install the wiring harness up behind the dash and get all the wiring in place.



    I had originally attached some of the wiring in place across the firewall for test fitting but then I took it back down in order to install the dynamat foam on the firewall. Then, I put the heater box back in place so I could route the wiring around it.



    You can see the in the pictures the connectors for the engine harness (the 10 pin connectors)and the distributor. These will be run through the transmission tunnel up to the back of the engine. The MAP sensor, the ECC test port and ignition coil will be mounted inside the car.




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