1984.5 Mustang GT Turbo Convertible Restoration

[Gemini1999]

I love this thread...I'm living vicariously through it!

[ChristmasGT]

Congratulations! The car looks GREAT!!! I just noticed it was a non-AC car. It's cool to see no left side passenger air vent. (No pun intended). I really admire how the few mods have been so tastefully done- nice upgrades. Since you even plan to redo the interior with the correct fabric ($$) from SMS, do you plan to keep those wheels? I like the use of the later style taillights on your car and I think a set of chrome or white Ponys would really finish the look & style off great. Just wondering and great save! I hope to see this car in person this year!
Attachment 83549

Thanks! Trying to keep the car as stock as possible but still be sporty. To me the PiMP and new wiring harness were necessities.

I decided to go stock-ish for the radio, it should look perfect (http://thumbs2.picclick.com/d/l400/p...With-Mount.jpg). Got to keep plugging away at it, really hoping to get the top put on on the 20th if everything goes well!

As for wheel, I go back and forth. White ponies are my preference since I love the look of them. Really I'd love to go for a set of TRX's, but good lord the tire cost is crazy.

[ChristmasGT]

Still etching a long today. Got the quarter glass weatherstripping and well liner molding painted and the new Well lining gasket in place. Quarter glass is all painted, just need to work on adjustment.

Also worked on cleaning up the wiring for the interior, still needs a bit of work, but it's going along pretty well. Once the seats / door panels get re-upholstered it'll look so so much better.









Got a bit of a problem here, the original convertible top and molding was in absolutely awful condition (as you can tell!) The front guide hole for the well molding on the passenger side was completely broken away, I've got one made up with some JB Plastic weld, hopefully that will do pretty good.





SO, with all that said, since the seats are getting completely redone, I'm thinking of SVO foam and going with the factory materials over that, thoughts?

[Travis T]

Car has come a long way. Since you're redoing the seats, I'd go with the SVO foam. I plan on doing that with my 84 when the day comes.

[ChristmasGT]

Whoo boy, still rolling!



Fuel filter bracket mounted in the top center of the rear





I've got a bit of touching up to do, but looking very good so far!

[ChristmasGT]

Got the radio all wired up, the one bare wire here is just a temporary remote wire to make sure everything's working well. I actually swapped the face to red...I would not recommend it, it's insanely difficult to do properly due to the adhesive used to keep the Green filter in place, it can be done though, just not easy. Mine came out OK, not great, but not too bad. The area around the clock is a bit screwed since the green filter also provides the backing for that section (added that picture to the album if you're interested). Looking for a replacement bezel, but not very high priority right now.



Been re-soldering the entire radio to get things going, ignore the bare wire as that's just the temporary remote wire to make sure that everything's working properly, that'll be soldered and shrink wrapped pretty quickly. The factory bezel was already cut up when I received the car, going to be really interesting to try and mount this thing...



Got the AMP all set up and ready to go as well!

[ChristmasGT]

Was able to get around the rear brake line issue!

Found out an 84 F150 uses the same cable but longer, went ahead and picked it up and routed it along the frame rail, have a significant amount of clearance now. The F150 cable is on the left, the Mustang on the right.


With the rear end compressed I've got about 3-5" of clearance, so all's looking well now! The perspective is a bit weird as the cable's a lot further back then the pipe


Was able to bleed the brakes and do another test lap around the neighborhood and was definitely feeling good!

[82GTforME]

Was able to get around the rear brake line issue!

Found out an 84 F150 uses the same cable but longer, went ahead and picked it up and routed it along the frame rail, have a significant amount of clearance now. The F150 cable is on the left, the Mustang on the right.


With the rear end compressed I've got about 3-5" of clearance, so all's looking well now! The perspective is a bit weird as the cable's a lot further back then the pipe


Was able to bleed the brakes and do another test lap around the neighborhood and was definitely feeling good!

That's a great idea, I'm going to look into that! It seems that this could solve my issue with an easy way to adding duals to one or more of our earlier cars. Thanks for sharing!

[ChristmasGT]

Good day today! Took the car out to get the alignment and tire balancing and took its first picture "in the wild".

Dropping it off Monday morning at the exhaust shop so I can get the hangers welded in and everything else done. The top should be REALLY soon too.

My main problem is I still have no idea how to mount that radio. The previous owner (not who I bought the car from) did a real number on that mounting area...going to work on that during the course of this week.

[ChristmasGT]

kk, quick update. I unfortunately decided to go in a different direction regarding the radio. There was so much material cut out that there was next to nothing so I ordered a sheet of ABS plastic from Amazon in order to make a new bezel entirely.

I also ordered a Pioneer MVHX560BT receiver. I've always been partial to Pioneer's as they've done me well. The 560BT is fantastic! Super light and super short since it lacks a CD player. Audio quality is fantastic as well, the rears will be powered by the head unit while the front components will be powered by the Rockford Fosgate Amp.

Here's a picture of the Stereo for you:



I cut the ABS plastic to mount in the center hole then cut the section in the center to fit the metal sleeve. Once done, I used some JB Plastic Weld in order to hold the ABS plastic "Frame" I made in place. Next I installed the Metal sleeve then bent the tabs back which created a solid mounting seal for the radio. Even without fully curing the Radio was definitely fitting snug, so it shouldn't pop out or anything.







I've been worrying for weeks about how I was going to mount the Radio in this thing being as cut up as it was. The ABS Plastic texture matches the dash perfectly and was as close to a factory-type install as I could get away with.

Pretty happy with the turnout!

[Travis T]

Looking good, you're in the home stretch now.

[mustangmania]

Just found this thread. It's great.

[ChristmasGT]

Busy weekend! Got a ton of miscellaneous stuff done

I was able to install 6.5" components in the doors without any cutting at all. I ran the woofer in the factory "house" shaped cut which fit without any issues, just needed to drill a few mounting holes for it to fit



The tweeters I ran up into the dash with a cardboard backing.



And here's the shot behind the door, nice and neat!


I'm running a Rockford Fosgate 2 channel amp to the front components, and it sounds absolutely fantastic. I really didn't want to have to cut anything, which thankfully I didn't. Plenty of clearance for the window rolled down as well.

I cleaned up and painted the factory cluster as well. It came out a bit "Brighter" then I would've liked, but looks really good.




Also got an 87-93 Rear view mirror so that I can have courtesy lights. Need to get a pigtail to run for it, should turn out great though.


Lastly, I scored a center console insert at the yard yesterday from an 85 and got it painted. Probably going to try and nab the dash as well from that one as well just to have a backup dash.


Overall good stuff!

[ChristmasGT]

Forgot to add in, I was also able to pick up a set of Mach 1 pedals as well.

[TopGear85]

Good idea with those speakers. I would have thought they wouldn't fit behind the door panel, or the window would have hit them...obviously not. That's a great way to improve the sound system without hacking up your door panels.

I really like what you did with the gauges btw. Yes, the grey is brighter than stock, but I think it looks great. Well done all around...your car is awesome!

[Gemini1999]

I liken the dash panels as well. While they are lighter in color, they look great. I had a feeling that your door speakers would work out, mainly because they're pretty much in the same location as the ones my car came with. A previous owner had cut the door panels and installed aftermarket speakers. I did want to ask about the door panels you're using - did they come with the car? They look like panels from a coupe/hatchback. You could buy aftermarket carpet panels if you wanted to make them look closer to stock.

Keep up the terrific work!

[ChristmasGT]

I liken the dash panels as well. While they are lighter in color, they look great. I had a feeling that your door speakers would work out, mainly because they're pretty much in the same location as the ones my car came with. A previous owner had cut the door panels and installed aftermarket speakers. I did want to ask about the door panels you're using - did they come with the car? They look like panels from a coupe/hatchback. You could buy aftermarket carpet panels if you wanted to make them look closer to stock.

Keep up the terrific work!

I've actually got the ones that come with the car, those will definitely be the ones I'm using. Unfortunately the cardboard is completely warped on them so I've got to get them redone. I really didn't want to cut the panels either, that's why I think the component method is the way to go if you don't want to hack up your doors. Definitely sounds great!

[Gemini1999]

I've actually got the ones that come with the car, those will definitely be the ones I'm using. Unfortunately the cardboard is completely warped on them so I've got to get them redone. I really didn't want to cut the panels either, that's why I think the component method is the way to go if you don't want to hack up your doors. Definitely sounds great!

You can buy aftermarket backer board for your door panels if the original fiberboard is warped. The aftermarket pieces aren't made from the same.material, so you shouldn't have the same.problem once you have them.redone.

[ChristmasGT]

You can buy aftermarket backer board for your door panels if the original fiberboard is warped. The aftermarket pieces aren't made from the same.material, so you shouldn't have the same.problem once you have them.redone.

Oh really now? They pretty difficult to put on?

[Gemini1999]

Oh really now? They pretty difficult to put on?

Installation...I don't know about that...yet. here's a link to the backing board replacements:

http://www.foxresto.com/1981-86-Must...-p/3381003.htm

I'll see what I can find about installation and get back to you.

Edit: I found a thread with some text in the first and last posts that should give you some idea of the process:

http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...g-board-build!

[Eyelawdoc]

WOW!!! I really like what you have done, Chris, to bring my old 84GT Turbo back to life! You have done and are doing an outstanding job!!!

For those who can't remember the car, here's a thread with pics discussing the car shortly after I bought if from the car's second owner in Mesa Arizona back in 2008.

http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...-decode-please

The car was sold new to a man who lived in the Camarillo area on California's Central Coast. He's the one who repainted it red and then later sold it to his sister and her husband. A few years later they moved to Mesa, AZ where the car sat for a few years before I bought it on eBay in early 2008. It moved to a friend's place for a year in Bullhead City, AZ. Then in 2009 I moved it to storage in my garage in Palmdale, CA. It stayed there, untouched, for four years until ChristmasGT bought it from me in May 2013 and shipped it back to his home in Missouri to start his restoration.

Keep up the great work, Chris!!!

[TopGear85]

Seeing those old pics really makes the job you've done that much more impressive. It's crazy where this car has been in its life...back and forth and from state to state. Kudos to you guys for saving it, and bringing it back to life. Not many GT Turbo verts out there anymore and this one could have ended up as scrap. Well done guys!

[ChristmasGT]

Thank's for the props guys! Waiting for some of the licensing to get finished up so I can have it on the road. Should be this coming up week if everything works out OK

In the meantime, I went ahead and installed courtesy lights in to the car so it's not so dark in the evening. I found a rear view mirror from a convertible 92" and was able to pull that plus the entire pigtail to the body. Went in absolutely perfect, no splicing at all, simply plug and play!





I'll work on getting the footwell lamps at some point in the near future. I replaced the lights in the Mirror with the spare dash LED's that I had, looks pretty good!

In order to get the top installed I need to get a replacement "Trim Stick" then I should be good to drop it off at the top shop!

[ChristmasGT]

Got some more dink and dunk stuff here.

A few days ago I grabbed the lighted rear view mirror and its harness, this harness had an extra plug going to the passenger side door switch, so I spliced in to the Black / Blue wire and made footwell lights!


At NAPA I found a pairs of plugs that were for license plate sockets that I used to splice in to the above's bare wire (Link to the sockets!)

Brown went to the Black / Blue wire and the Black wire went to a ground on the metal frame


Also decided to ditch the LED lights in the rear view mirror and it didn't seem like they fit the tone of the car. So everything is now running the stock 197 bulbs


Finally, until I get the SVO's wheel re-done, I went ahead and swapped it out with my spare 87-89 Wheel, which looks MUCH nicer (ignore the flasher on the right side, haven't permanently mounted that yet)


Since I cut the carpet too short, it's going to need to be replaced. Really thinking of going with Black since it would compliment the interior much nicer I think. Thoughts?

[Gemini1999]

Did your car not have the footwell lights to begin with? My 84 Turbo GT has them, but maybe there's a light group option...who knows... Personally, I'd stick with the Canyon Red carpet. Black floor carpet darkens the interior so much and shows wear, dust and dirt worse than anything. Not to mention the fact that you would have to change the carpet on the door panels and rear.quarter trim panels to make it look uniform. Just my opinion, of course.