Just bought an 81 ghia for $500

[Tony Raine]

Hi, my name is Tony and I live in Jonesboro Arkansas. I found an 81 Ghia and an 81 parts car for $500. No motor or trans, and it missing a few other things, but its a solid car with very little rust.



I have already traded the parts car for an extremely rotten, wrecked, no title 86 svo that has been gutted. But it has the axles and suspension, which will be going under the Ghia.

I bought the ghia because i have an extra 302 laying around that i pulled out of a 77 bronco, along with a ford aluminum 4 barrel intake from (i think) an 85 mustang. Been wanting to shove it into something, and here it is.

The car came with all the trim for the fake vert top, but no top. The previous owner started doing the body work to make it a regular notch, which i will finish out and eventually repaint the factory yellow.

[onetrackrider]

Nice score, love yellow notches...

[mustangmania]

Very cool. Like seeing 81 Ghia's out there. Good luck on the build.

[82GTforME]

Congrats on the score and welcome to the site! Too has they pulled the vinyl roof off. I don't think they were that common but black and yellow would be nice! Maybe the buck tag is still on the car and post it up. It can tell you a few things about the car. I like the old "I have a spare 302 lying around so I will buy a cheap car" excuse

[STANGMAN116]

congrats on the purchase!! love the coupe!!

[Tony Raine]

Thanks everyone! Pardon my ignorance, but what is a buck tag? I would really like to learn more about the car.

I'm about to go borrow my wife's camera and take some better pics. My flip phone has a crappy camera.

[onetrackrider]

A buck tag is a metal tag about the size of a business card that has stamped codes about the car's build. It's usually found
on the rad core, see picture, tag is in yellow circle..Foxchassis can use this along with the door tag to de-code your car..

[dburdyshaw]

From one Northeast Arkansan to another, WELCOME to FEP!!!

[Tony Raine]

Ah, I get it now. Here it is:


Here are some pics of the car today:












The PO really goobered up everything on this door. I have the panel, but no armrest or switches.



And the 81 parts car:








And the 86 that my friend traded with me:














I am stripping the parts I want from both cars. the parts he wants will be loaded into the orangish car and taken to him for saving and scrapping.

After a couple hours, here is how the orangish car sits:

[Tony Raine]

Since I am posting a bunch of pics, here is my main project. My first vehicle, dug it out of the woods behind my parents house when I was about 11 or 12. been driving/wrenching on it ever since.



Currently has a 5.0 out of a 94 F150 (converted to carb), an np435 trans from something, transfercase from a 77 bronco, axles from a 79 fullsize truck, and about 8-9 inches of lift (i think)

how it started out (my first day of kindergarden, 198


high school


First time i built it up


My DD, 06 f150 work truck


mother/son project 65 mustang. base model 200 six/stick shift. yes, my mom loves working on old mustangs


and her mustang. 66 v8, auto, factory air car with about 70,000 original miles

[82GTforME]

Just a heads up that the sail panels on the SVO are worth something if they are in good shape as well as if that is a still decently leathered SVO steering wheel. I see that the rear still has Koni shocks on it too. Nice score.

Good luck with everything.

[Tony Raine]

Just a heads up that the sail panels on the SVO are worth something if they are in good shape as well as if that is a still decently leathered SVO steering wheel. I see that the rear still has Koni shocks on it too. Nice score.

Good luck with everything.

not sure what a sail panel is, but I will be pulling everything i can off that svo thats in good shape. the pics are misleading as to the condition of the car. looks like someone put a paint job over some heavy rust. didn't look at the steering wheel that close, but i think the leather is in decent shape.

my plan is to swap the entire front subframe from the svo into the ghia. looks like a few bolts, unbolt the shocks, and the whole piece drops out. same with the rear. i figure i may have to drill some holes for the rear swaybar and the quad shocks, but thats a small price to pay for an 8.8 with 3.73 gears and a limited slip. since the svo front end is meant for a 4 banger, i assume I will get some drop in the front with the weight of a v8, but thats ok with me. the petal assembly will also be swapped over, because i am not putting an auto trans back in the ghia. stick shift is too much fun.


btw, I've only been a member of this site for a day or 2, and I already feel at home. I am very thankful to all that have posted up, and sent me private messages. My Bronco II is probably very jealous of the wrench time I've spent on the mustangs, haha. But when all the parts just swap around, this is almost too easy. The Bronco II is all fab work, since almost nothing on it is Bronco II stuff (body and frame, and a little bit of wiring is all thats left of the stock stuff).

[tonysilver82]

that svo shell looks mighty good in the pictures I would hang on to that one

[82GTforME]

not sure what a sail panel is, but I will be pulling everything i can off that svo thats in good shape. the pics are misleading as to the condition of the car. looks like someone put a paint job over some heavy rust. didn't look at the steering wheel that close, but i think the leather is in decent shape.

The sail panel is the molding behind the rear quarter window. See the difference between the SVO one and the one on your orange (red?) car? Some people will buy them to upgrade on their non-SVO hatch backs. Of course they only made SVO's for three years so they arent as common as they used to be.

btw, I've only been a member of this site for a day or 2, and I already feel at home.

Glad to hear. I find it a different atmosphere than other forums (in a good way). Not that I stray...

[dburdyshaw]

Dang dude. I wanna see that backyard ---- and that Bronco II ---- and the vintage Mustangs, and and and.

The PO really goobered up everything on this door. I have the panel, but no armrest or switches.

Yeah boy! You're from Arkansas.

not sure what a sail panel is.

[79Coupe]

Looks like a whole lot of potential awesome in that back yard!!!

[BigWillie]

not sure what a sail panel is, but I will be pulling everything i can off that svo thats in good shape. the pics are misleading as to the condition of the car. looks like someone put a paint job over some heavy rust. didn't look at the steering wheel that close, but i think the leather is in decent shape.

my plan is to swap the entire front subframe from the svo into the ghia. looks like a few bolts, unbolt the shocks, and the whole piece drops out. same with the rear. i figure i may have to drill some holes for the rear swaybar and the quad shocks, but thats a small price to pay for an 8.8 with 3.73 gears and a limited slip. since the svo front end is meant for a 4 banger, i assume I will get some drop in the front with the weight of a v8, but thats ok with me. the petal assembly will also be swapped over, because i am not putting an auto trans back in the ghia. stick shift is too much fun.


btw, I've only been a member of this site for a day or 2, and I already feel at home. I am very thankful to all that have posted up, and sent me private messages. My Bronco II is probably very jealous of the wrench time I've spent on the mustangs, haha. But when all the parts just swap around, this is almost too easy. The Bronco II is all fab work, since almost nothing on it is Bronco II stuff (body and frame, and a little bit of wiring is all thats left of the stock stuff).

I hate to burst your bubble but the rear end in the SVO is the stock 7.5 NOT a 8.8 rear end. You can tell by the cover that it's a 7.5 but it should still have 3.73 gears and a limited slip diff. Take a pic of that medal tag that is on one of the bolts that hold the cover on and it will tell what size the rear end is and the gear ratio also. Another note,those front fenders are specifically for a SVO because of the unique SVO front bumper cover. Notice the brackets at the bottom in front of the tires.

[Tony Raine]

Danny, you are welcome to stop by sometime when you are in town. The 60's stangs are in my mom's shop on the other side of the state though. When i visit her, we work on it together. Its also easier to get them both into shows when they are together. More fun that way.

Also, i am getting much better at blending in down in the south. I'm actually from upstate New York.

Guess i should have looked over that rear axle a little more. I just checked the gear ratio on the tag (3L73) but not the type. Not too worried about it, with all the rest of the upgrades that come with that axle. Plus, my bronco had a 7.5 stock, and i beat the snot out of it with 33 inch bias ply swampers on steel wheels. Heck, i broke a spindle OFF the front axle one time.

The rest of the svo specific stuff is going to my friend. He has somewhere around 5 or 6 foxes, and all but one are turbo cars. A couple i think are kinda rare.

[Tony Raine]

Went out with a flashlight to check. 7.5 in the svo and ghia, and a weird square diff cover on the orange car. I assume that one is the 6.something that also came on the 83 ranger when it was first introduced.

Oh yeah, the ghia has a weird amp switch under the dash. Since it looks like someone cut out the radio mount with an old screwdriver and a hammer, i assume any kind of factory amp is gone. I got out of the big stereo stuff when i started college, so i am open to ideas of what to use that switch for.

[84specialed]

The amp pull switch is for a factory amp that came with a premium sound car. The square diff sounds like an 8.8. They are square on the sides where a 7.5 is more round. The orangish 81 should have been factory equipped with a 7.5, sounds like someone swapped it out with an 8.8.

[84specialed]

Oh! Welcome to FEP by the way! Looks like you've got a pretty cool project in the works.

[BigWillie]

Went out with a flashlight to check. 7.5 in the svo and ghia, and a weird square diff cover on the orange car. I assume that one is the 6.something that also came on the 83 ranger when it was first introduced.

Oh yeah, the ghia has a weird amp switch under the dash. Since it looks like someone cut out the radio mount with an old screwdriver and a hammer, i assume any kind of factory amp is gone. I got out of the big stereo stuff when i started college, so i am open to ideas of what to use that switch for.

The 8.8 has a square type rear cover also. Someone may have changed it out at one time. Post a pic of it and we should be able to tell from that what it is. Here's a couple of pic's of a 8.8 cover to compare with.

[Tony Raine]

The orange car definitely does not have an 8.8. Its a little bitty diff cover that is very square. There is a black f150 in some of those pics that i am stripping/scrapping, and it has an 8.8. I'll shoot a round of pics tomorrow.

[BigWillie]

The orange car definitely does not have an 8.8. Its a little bitty diff cover that is very square. There is a black f150 in some of those pics that i am stripping/scrapping, and it has an 8.8. I'll shoot a round of pics tomorrow.

Oh yea,while your taking pics, i'm sure some of these guys would like a pic of that SVO buck tag before the car gets junked.

[Tony Raine]

Alright, after of a weekend of mowing, wrenching, and getting attacked by red wasps, here are some pics of my progress

svo tag


orangish car tag


and rear axle


one ready to go


since the trailer is also his, i just made one big "care package"


svo is slowly disappearing




a little bit of my spare parts collection


sneak peek of the motor. btw, dont throw out those old shower curtain liners, they last a lot longer than a cheap tarp


the intake and carb, and some stuff that came with the intake that i wont be using.



i was really tempted to take the motor that came from this (now in the bronco) and put in the mustang. 94 f150, 280,000 miles, but motor rebuilt about 20,000 ago. but its getting a holley 2 barrel and staying in the bronco.