My 1984 GT Refurbish/Upgrade Thread

[magnum517]

I have done the same repair on Jeeps over the years and it works well and lasts a long time!


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[84StangSVT]

I have done the same repair on Jeeps over the years and it works well and lasts a long time!


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Glad to hear that Bill, makes it a little better to hear from another person! It was not an idea that I really cherished doing but if it works, I will be pleased.

[homer302]

So do you still use rust encapsulator under that or does that go on the bare metal? Are you going to put anything underneath where the holes are to keep the elements off of the repair? I like the fact that it is flexible because as thin as these pans are, I am sure they flex when people get in and out.

[84StangSVT]

So do you still use rust encapsulator under that or does that go on the bare metal? Are you going to put anything underneath where the holes are to keep the elements off of the repair? I like the fact that it is flexible because as thin as these pans are, I am sure they flex when people get in and out.

On the rust encapsulator question, yes, it goes on beforehand so it can do its thing. Could this be used without it? Possibly but I never thought of asking him that.

As for underneath, I guess I didn't touch on that. What he instructed me to do is on the holes that penetrated through, clean the area with solvent/degreaser before the repair inside and then where the repair had seeped through upon application, spread it around until it covers the holes. It doesn't require the mesh on the outside, it just needs to bond to the metal.

Again, this is meant to be a temporary patch to seal out any moisture until it can be properly fixed, but it will be interesting to see how it works and holds up. If anything, I will be a crash test dummy and maybe be able to help someone else out with a viable, low dollar temporary solution for pinholes.

[84StangSVT]

I will say that I had thought about using the POR-15 floor and trunk patch that uses the powermesh fiber, but at the cost of the kit and talking to a couple of the guys at the paint supplier, I had second thoughts. The one guy used it in a couple cars and said on the one car, he did both areas in the trunk and areas in the floorpans. The trunk repair held up great but the floorpan did not hold up well. He thinks it had to do with the flexing in the floorpans as that repair sets up pretty solid. He didn't have a good second option for me so that is why I called my buddy. His idea made perfect sense since the stuff is flexible.

[84StangSVT]

Well, I think I can finally get back to work on the interior of the car. I have been waiting on the floor patch to cure out and dry. Honestly didn't expect it to take this long......5 days. Even though the instructions said 3-5 days, I hoped it would have been on the low end of that spectrum. Guess not, so I hope it works.

[magnum517]

Yeah that stuff does take a long time to cure. Don't think I have ever had it take quite that long but may not be using the exact same stuff. Another option to use in the future is the at home bedliner kits. I have coated the floors and undercarriage in a couple of my Jeeps and other vehicles w that and it works very well. Takes a day or two to dry but dries to a nice durable coating.


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[ashley roachclip]

The leak in the cowl seams , is caused from debris stuck in there .
I think there is also the same type spray on seam sealer you cleaned off , inside the cowl.
Do the best you can to get it as clean same you can , spray sealer inside the cowl / bulkhead , to stop more water coming in .

[84StangSVT]

Marching on in the name of Edison......or Tesla...or any alien lifeform that figured out how the heck electricity works.

Installing the EFI system has been interesting but not as hard as one could imagine it would be. FAST EFI makes it pretty straight forward with their kit and it is pretty much plug and play on their end. Since I will not be using their fuel system kit, I had to develop one from scratch and that was the hardest part. Not insanely difficult but time consuming.

Before anyone says anything......YES the engine will be fully cleaned before final commissioning.

Starting at the front, I installed the TB and ran the electrical trying to make it as neat and tidy as possible while retaining a somewhat factoryish look. I picked up a firewall grommet from a J/Y 96 Mustang to see if it would work. While not perfect, it seals good. I did have to split the grommet, as the harness is to large to fit through the grommet hole, but it will seal up fine.



Look back up at the little black box on the P/S cowl area by that dual solenoid thing....which I'm not sure what that is yet.

That little box with the black/yellow/white wires is the RPM Module for this system. It is a noise filter of sorts for stock and HEI systems. Since I'm running a stock ignition, I need this little important piece to send a clean signal to the ECU. If I was running an aftermarket ignition box that has the "tach signal" output, I would not need this as supposedly they produce a clean enough signal to send directly to this system.

It took me a bit to figure out where to mount the ECU and harness once it came inside, but I ended up mounting it cockeyed in the P/S kick panel. I think this location should work good for access and space. The carbed cars panel is a bit different from an EFI car as there is a difference in the design and space between the two.

[84StangSVT]

Next up is the fuel system wiring.

This was a total shot in the dark for me and not a lot of good information that I found. So feel free to comment, suggest options or what not.

I will be running the fuel pumps main power from a fused connection to the battery. The trigger comes from the ECU. Fast does include a pre-wired connector that is used with their fuel pump kit, but since I don't have a loose connector that matches, I will not use their function and leave it abandoned and intact for future use if needed.

For the main power wire to the relay, I ran a #14 wire. I chose this size as this is what both the relay and inertia switch have. I looked at the length of the run and I should be good to carry up to 20 amps continuous on this wire. I'm not sure how much amperage a pump pulls, but I would be surprised if it is that much.

Ran both the trigger and main power wire around the car utilizing the same route as the other wires and secured.



Got a lot of conflicting information on the internet about the way the relay and inertia switch should be wired. It was about a 50/50 split on which one comes first in the series. I dug up some schematics from both 96 and 87 and it appeared the factory had the inertia switch between the pump and relay. Figured that would be the way to go. Grabbed an inertia switch out of a J/Y 96 Mustang, bought a new relay and base from O'reillys and wired it in. Not knowing where to put this, I figured wiring the 2 up side by side in the spare tire compartment seemed like the thing to do. It should be protected and still easy to get to if I need.



Tested the functions of the relay and inertia switch and both work as intended. The best part is the inertia switch tripping when smacked with the wire stripper handle. This dude cost me $4 at the J/Y where it is $70-90 for the switch or $110 for the switch with harness from LMR. Since I don't have the rest of the factory harness to plug into, all I needed was this and the connecting pig tail.

SCORE!!!!!!!

[homer302]

Neat! Looks like you are making good progress. I have wanted to do that to my '84 5.0 for some time.

[84StangSVT]

Ashes to ashes
Dust to dust
This P.O.S. harness is nothing but crust!



Yup...its the engine/ignition control harness. Upon removing the coil for some needed R&R, the coil leads crumbled in my hands. Looking down further through the harness, the whole thing was toast. Every wire in it is missing insulation and there was more electrical tape on it than a 3M factory.

Now to make a decision. FMR sells a harness for this but it is $380. I'm going to see if I can make one cheaper. Not sure if I can or if it will even be feasible but what I do know is this one is done for. I would love to find a used one that is in good shape, but from what I researched this is a common problem on the 84s. I doubt I can find a used one worth anything.

Honestly it is even a wonder the car ran with this harness in the condition it's in.

[84StangSVT]

Neat! Looks like you are making good progress. I have wanted to do that to my '84 5.0 for some time.

Thanks! I'm hoping when all this is over, this system works as well as I have heard. Some good news will make this all worthwhile.

Progress has been slow but I think it will pick up here soon. I think the biggest problem is that I have been over analyzing some stuff and accidentally overwhelming myself. Hate when that happens.

[84StangSVT]

Does anyone know what the 3 wires that run from the ignition control harness into the distributor is for? Those wires are crispy and flaking also so I will need to do something there but I have no idea what is called or if it is a replaceable part inside the distributor.

EDIT: I figured it out, it's a pick up coil. Sorry for the dumb post.

[droopie85gt]

If you're going to make the underhood harness, I would bite the bullet and switch from the Ford type factory connectors to GM Weather pack where possible. Obviously components have Ford specific plugs, but connecting harness to harness go Weatherpack! That's what I am going to do. I bought an assortment kit of Weatherpack connectors, terminals and the tool to crimp them to do my 85.

[84StangSVT]

The madness continues!



That's right! Every piece of factory electrical wiring is out of the car now. Why you ask????? Simple. The more I poked around the underhood harness, the more that fell apart. The insulation on this crap is grenading at every corner.

Here are some representative photos of what I'm facing here....



So....it's time for me to man up, quit being scared of this portion of the work and get my hands dirty and learn. I've never done any electrical work to this magnitude before, but I think I have proven to myself that I can do it as I have in other areas of auto repair that I'm not overly familiar with when I started a project.

Yes, I admit it........

THIS SCARES ME!!

[NY5speed]

I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of the same soon with the wiring. Everything in my 83 (and a lot on the 92) is brittle, seems like connectors break when I look at them wrong.

[84StangSVT]

She looks soooooo clean with the harnesses out of there, but I need to focus and not get distracted by thinking I need to start smoothing things out before tackling the wiring. Not going for a show car, just want a nice car.



One thing I made mental note of while I was removing the engine harness was how many odds and ends were just laying around unused. I think when I go back with the "new" one, I should eliminate all of the extra crap that was not hooked up to anything. That also goes for the dash harness. Seems like the intelligent thing to do.

Since my car is a low option car, (no a/c, no convenience light group, etc.) there should be a chunk I can eliminate. There are also some things that are optioned that I'm going to remove. The rear defrost doesn't work, (someone made quick work of the defrost grid with a razor blade) so its wiring is getting eliminated. Cruise control and associated hardware will also be eliminated. I'm not going to go through the effort of repairing this system, at this time, as I don't use cruise very often and IIRC, these systems never worked that good anyways. All the wiring for the info center since I just don't see that ever being put back in and using it.

One thing I don't quite understand is the gauge printed circuit. I would think that it only controls the gauges and lighting in the gauges, am I correct on that?

[homer302]

Has nobody (on here) ever installed a full Painless wiring harness and fuse panel in one of these?

[84StangSVT]

I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of the same soon with the wiring. Everything in my 83 (and a lot on the 92) is brittle, seems like connectors break when I look at them wrong.

Know that feeling. I wish I could avoid this part but unfortunately I can't because I can't afford to pay someone to do it for me.

[84StangSVT]

Has nobody (on here) ever installed a full Painless wiring harness and fuse panel in one of these?

From what I have heard from some members on this site, the Painless kit is far from Painless. Everyone says that the Ron Francis kit is the way to go as they use Ford connectors and the prints are great. They also say that both kits can present some challenges in the fuse box area due to the small size of the factory box as opposed to the aftermarket boxes.

My problem with either is strictly funding now. I have WAY overspent this years budget on some niceties, not foreseeing these unexpected issues. At $400-$500 for the kits, I just can't swing that at this time. Wire I can get for next to nothing and I think I can swing connectors at a fairly cheap rate by utilizing some family members that work in the auto parts world.

I've just got to step up, quit being a wimp and do it.........Even though it does seem like 1 step forward, 3 steps back lately.

[wraithracing]

Has nobody (on here) ever installed a full Painless wiring harness and fuse panel in one of these?

Never have and NEVER WILL!!

I installed two Painless kits, one in a 65 Mustang and another into a 68 Mustang back when I had my shop and after the second one SWORE I would never do it again.

I have installed probably a dozen or so Ron Francis kits in older Mustangs, Chevelles, Camaros, and my Pace Car. Everyone one of them was much easier, simpler, and better than either Painless kits.

Personally I will use the Ron Francis 24/7 kit on my 82 GT in the near future. I have chosen that because of the fuse box section being separate and having 18" of leads on it. That allows you to either pull it down from a location under the dash or attempt to mount it in the stock location with some modifications.

If doing the install in most 4 eyes, I believe the 24/7 main hub (where all the wires connect to the fuse panel/board) can be mounted behind the dash on the driver side either on the upper section of the kick panel or on the actual firewall. Then you can drop the fuse holder itself down from there or mount it in the original fuse panel location. Or at least that is my plan.

As I have mentioned before in other threads, all of these aftermarket kits will require you to retain/replace many of your OEM connectors as they either just are not available or are not included in the kits. The RF kit does come with the correct pigtails for the steering column switches, ignition switch, your distributor/ignition choices, alternator/regulator, and 4 Eye headlight pigtails. You will have to either reuse or buy new tail light sockets, turn signal sockets, etc. None of the HVAC pigtails are included nor any specific engine sensors, (unless you are buying their EFI kit).

Their instructions are second to none IMHO and they walk you thru everything. Honestly it will take the average guy anywhere from a long weekend to a full week of nights to get it all run and installed, but it just depends on your experience, skill level, how you want to run (hide) the wiring, etc. Well worth the effort IMHO and that is why virtually all of my cars have their wiring in them.

The only other kit I have considered is this: http://shop.infinitybox.com/Default.asp

Allows you to do somethings like the current OEMs do, but with our older vehicles. Very cool and very high tech, but also NOT Cheap!

[homer302]

Good to know! Love this Forum. Please try to detail your installation on the '82 for us.

[84StangSVT]

The only other kit I have considered is this: http://shop.infinitybox.com/Default.asp

Allows you to do somethings like the current OEMs do, but with our older vehicles. Very cool and very high tech, but also NOT Cheap!

Very cool but dang sure ain't happening for a very long time. I barely paid that much for this whole car!

[homer302]

I remember several of the Powerblock TV shows used this a few years back on several project cars. It looked pretty interesting but it looks like they might be out of business already as I see no website for them.

http://www.mustangandfords.com/how-t...-installation/

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/hrdp-...ng-wiring-kit/