1980 Vinyl top mustang ghia coupe 5.0 5 speed swap project!

[Fox]

Here we go!


So this is the car i first bought, a 1985 mustang Gt, it was too rusty to save and at the price i got it for it stood me no money!


I proceeded to take out the running gear and sell whatever parts off of the car that someone would buy!


Long story here but put into short terms, someone gave me these two cars for free after some talking! both 1980 cars and one was an Intermeccanica convertible with the 255 cu in 4.2l v8!



I sold the intermeccanica and two months later decided to take the plunge and start the project!



More pictures to come!!

[Fox]

So i pulled the stock 3.3l inline 6 and all the suspension and K member and continued onto cleaning the engine bay and prepping it for paint!

Skipping forward a week or so, yes i work slow, got all the v8 suspension in and its on its own wheels again!

I then turned to the engine, this is after puling the heads off and replacing all gaskets and a quick paint job!

In she goes!

I then stumbled across a really good deal on a set of long tube headers, a fuel cell, lakewood drag shocks, 3 inch X pipe, a couple gauges so i stocked up my parts bin

[Fox]

Here is how she sits as of right now! The engine runs beautifully!!! Hoping to get more done in the coming days

[Fox]

Is anyone able to tell me how rare a vinyl top coupe is??

[grabbergreen84]

There were a plenty of them around back in the day. I'd guess that '83 or '84 was the last year for the option. I like how they didn't bother with leading in the roof/C-pillar/quarter panel seam.

[Gemini1999]

The vinyl roof was available up through 1982. The way people keep ripping them off, the vinyl roof is getting rarer every minute.

[82GTforME]

I just asked in your new user intro where the pictures were. Found them! Nice ride, it looks to be bright bittersweet in color? I wonder what colour the roof would've been? White?

[Gemini1999]

I just asked in your new user intro where the pictures were. Found them! Nice ride, it looks to be bright bittersweet in color? I wonder what colour the roof would've been? White?

There's something about the lack of rear window trim and the look of the A pillars that make me wonder it this car had a Carriage Roof vinyl top on it. It was an option on 1980-82 coupes.

[Fox]

There's something about the lack of rear window trim and the look of the A pillars that make me wonder it this car had a Carriage Roof vinyl top on it. It was an option on 1980-82 coupes.

I wish it still had the vinyl on it!! It had a weird piece on the inside of the rear glass that when installed gives the illusion of a smaller rear window, what does that tell you?

[Gemini1999]

I wish it still had the vinyl on it!! It had a weird piece on the inside of the rear glass that when installed gives the illusion of a smaller rear window, what does that tell you?

This is what the rear window looks like on a Carriage Roof top:



Do your A pillars like these?:



Here's a standard vinyl roof:

[Fox]

oh okay yep mine was definitely a carriage top, i think someone put the slats in the A pillars when the top was removed!

[grabbergreen84]

There's something about the lack of rear window trim and the look of the A pillars that make me wonder it this car had a Carriage Roof vinyl top on it. It was an option on 1980-82 coupes.

Good catch!



You can see the A-pillar cladding here. Also, I'd guess that the sail panels were deleted on these cars, as they would've been covered by the carriage top, and this car has two different colored sail panels - neither of which match the rest of the paint.

[Travis T]

Neat project, are you going to put the carriage roof back on?

I like how they didn't bother with leading in the roof/C-pillar/quarter panel seam.

GM used to not even paint the roofs of vinyl top cars! Yeah that wasn't an issue!

[FoxChassis]

Is that engine in the coupe from the 1985 GT? Can you get me the partial VIN from the engine and or the transmission?

Can you posts pics of the coupe's door tag and buck tag?

[Fox]

Neat project, are you going to put the carriage roof back on?

If I can find someone that will do it then yeah I'd love to!

[Fox]

Is that engine in the coupe from the 1985 GT? Can you get me the partial VIN from the engine and or the transmission?

Can you posts pics of the coupe's door tag and buck tag?

Yes the engine and t5 are from the 1985 Gt, I'll see if I can get the numbers off of the block, but it is a roller 5.0 high output, and I'll also snap a pic of the door tag and buck tag later on today!

[Travis T]

If I can find someone that will do it then yeah I'd love to!

Cool! This one is a couple of towns over from me, you don't see them too often.