85 lx coupe "It's not good it's just cheap"

[Xemia22]

I'm starting a build thread for my 85, but first how I got it. In late 2014 I had just gotten a drivers licence and was looking for a first car. Being a teenager I was really budget limited and when i came across this car for $500 that ran and drove i was quick to contact the owner and reach a deal. I borrowed my moms suv, rented a trailer and drove 200 miles, and picked it up.

it was a 4cyl 4 speed car the speedo didnt work, the first gear syncro was worn out and wouldn't shift into first unless it was stopped, the carb ran super rich, the starter only worked occasionally, there were dents and rust everywhere, the heater core leaked like a sieve, the brake lights didn't work and there was no exhaust except for some flex pipe. I started by fixing the brake lights and starter, and then with the help of a great guide by v8only here on FEP i replaced the heater core over thanksgiving break.
the car then sat through most of a snowy Montana winter

[TopGear85]

I like that it's a blue on blue notch with a stick shift. Very good base to turbo or drop a V8 in.

[Broncojunkie]

Nice. That looks like it will be a good project. Keep us updated and good luck!

[Sandragoon]

Welcome to the site, glad you finally started a thread.

[Travis T]

Cool deal, you have found the right site to help you get that car back together.

[homer302]

That interior looks pretty complete and clean. Nice Ride!

[9D83]

Cheap is good for your first car! You will learn more..Anyways it's already better than the lemon I first drove..

[flyintiger]

Love it. Why can't I find cars like that? Perfect just the way it is, with a coyote, of course.

[Xemia22]

I like that it's a blue on blue notch with a stick shift. Very good base to turbo or drop a V8 in.

I really like the blue, to bad the paint is in such bad shape it really was a nice color. stay tuned on the V8 part

Nice. That looks like it will be a good project. Keep us updated and good luck!

Thanks! will do

Welcome to the site, glad you finally started a thread.

There is a certain hint of irony that I convinced you to buy your capri and have only now started a thread

Cool deal, you have found the right site to help you get that car back together.

already this site has been an invaluable resource to the ah...less experienced enthusiast.

That interior looks pretty complete and clean. Nice Ride!

Thanks! The interior is pretty good there is no headliner, the dash pad is cracked and faded and the drivers seat is worn out but other than that everything is there and in good shape.

Cheap is good for your first car! You will learn more..Anyways it's already better than the lemon I first drove..

Haha cheap was the selling point. this car has already taught me a ton, and its waaaay better than the old family mini van

Love it. Why can't I find cars like that? Perfect just the way it is, with a coyote, of course.

Thanks! they do come up every once and a while, keep looking. Its far from perfect but its getting better. I wish I could afford one but as a teenager the budget for the build has been tight.

[Xemia22]

So after it sat through a bit more winter I got started on modifying it

the first thing i did was to pull out the old rear end. I ended up driving it when the roads were mostly clear during the winter but with an open diff it was getting stuck every time i parked it at school even with snow tires on the back.

So I "borrowed" the trac-loc 7.5 from my dad's 83 along with the "new" from the 80's shocks. The shocks on it had a strange feeling of originality, and were at the very least older than I am. I also had to swap the lower control arms because the 83 has extra holes in the lca's for the slapper bar pads. Tip for anyone with a car that didn't come with a rear sway bar, get one. The handling improved immensely, waaaay more fun in the corners.

after getting the rear end sorted I started in on the engine. It never had run very well since i bought it, it would run super rich and flood at idle sometimes no matter how i tweaked the mixture, so i pulled the carb off and dived into my first carb rebuild.

This being my first experience with a carb I really didn't know what i was doing, but i set the float level and replaced the accelerator pump diaphragm and all the gaskets. I managed to get it all back together without losing any pieces and it ran great... for about a week.

[81coupe]

Nice 85. The Interior looks to be in great shape.

[vascj]

as an old fart this thread REALLY makes me happy!!!! A young guy taking on how most us us learned to love these cars....by getting in there, down and dirty and learning the ole fashion way. Most of us old guys didn't have the internet, which is a huge asset to helping. We just asked our dads, older brothers, friends, anyone we knew that knew cars. There are a lot of great guys here that can and will help you along the way. I commend you on taking on this awesome project, you couldn't have picked a better platform on which to learn. Simple, solid, cool, and most of all worthy!!! From the looks of your pictures it sounds like you are well underway.
Can't tell you how happy this makes me to see a young man go after it the way we used to. A real rarity these days.
Good luck young man, and don't forget to keep asking those questions.
AWESOME!!!

[tiretread]

Awesome! I'm an old guy and I'm finally getting the chance to rip into a car and rebuild it. Mistakes galore, but lots of fun and I'm learning each and every minute I'm in the garage working on it. Good luck!

[9D83]

Awesome! I'm an old guy and I'm finally getting the chance to rip into a car and rebuild it. Mistakes galore, but lots of fun and I'm learning each and every minute I'm in the garage working on it. Good luck!

X2

[Xemia22]

Nice 85. The Interior looks to be in great shape.

Thanks!

as an old fart this thread REALLY makes me happy!!!! A young guy taking on how most us us learned to love these cars....by getting in there, down and dirty and learning the ole fashion way. Most of us old guys didn't have the internet, which is a huge asset to helping. We just asked our dads, older brothers, friends, anyone we knew that knew cars. There are a lot of great guys here that can and will help you along the way. I commend you on taking on this awesome project, you couldn't have picked a better platform on which to learn. Simple, solid, cool, and most of all worthy!!! From the looks of your pictures it sounds like you are well underway.
Can't tell you how happy this makes me to see a young man go after it the way we used to. A real rarity these days.
Good luck young man, and don't forget to keep asking those questions.
AWESOME!!!

Thanks for your kind words, this car has been a huge learning experience for me and a great introduction to the car world, I'm sure I'll have lots of questions once the weather warms up.

Awesome! I'm an old guy and I'm finally getting the chance to rip into a car and rebuild it. Mistakes galore, but lots of fun and I'm learning each and every minute I'm in the garage working on it. Good luck!

Thanks!

[Xemia22]

My efforts at fixing the carburetor having failed I decided that I didn't want to mess with 2.3 anymore. It got poor fuel mileage(presumably, the odometer had been broken since i bought it) and it was hopelessly slow. So i decided I needed a v8 and as it turned out one of my dads friends had completely rusted out junker of an 86 f-250 that had a running 5.0. the friend agreed to let me have the engine in exchange for pulling apart and scraping the rest of the truck. That was a deal I couldn't pass up!

During the scraping of the truck I found a label next to the odometer that had a mileage number just over 400 miles under what was shown on the odometer, upon further inspection of the engine it appeared to have had a new long block put in at some point not very many miles ago. everything was surprisingly clean inside and there were no signs of wear on any of the components of the long block.

Strangely the timing chain was so worn out and loose that it had actually worn away part of the timing cover.

so having acquired i great starting point for a v8 swap i started to gather parts.

[JTurbo]

Nice project - look forward to seeing progress on the engine swap....

[83gtstang]

Good job on the purchase! Keep an eye out for a junkyard 8.8 rear end. You will thank yourself later. They are cheaper nowadays and are nearly bullet proof. They show up every now and again in the local junkyard on the Aero Mustang and other vehicles.

[Xemia22]

Nice project - look forward to seeing progress on the engine swap....

Thanks, more to come

Good job on the purchase! Keep an eye out for a junkyard 8.8 rear end. You will thank yourself later. They are cheaper nowadays and are nearly bullet proof. They show up every now and again in the local junkyard on the Aero Mustang and other vehicles.

I've actually had my eye out for one since i bought the car, i have yet to come across one at any sort of reasonable price. i do however have a 9in from a 69 mercury colony park that I'm going to use unless i can find an 8.8 for a much better price.

[Xemia22]

So as i gathered parts for my v8 swap I needed a transmission and my dad had a nwc t5 sitting around from his car (he c4 swapped it in the early 90's) it had 130,000 miles on it and needed syncros so we started rebuilding it.

I had no idea how transmissions even worked at the time so it was interesting to take one apart. It was sorta interesting getting all the gears off without a press but we managed. putting it all back together was a bit nerve wracking I just hoped we hadn't lost any of the small pieces.

We by some miracle managed to not lose any of the pieces and got it all put together with new syncros, bearings, and bushings.

[Xemia22]

Winter has hit hard here and I was looking through old pictures of my car and felt bit nostalgic, so... thread revival time!

Spent about a year driving the car around mostly stock with the 4cyl 4 speed combo. Learned how to drive manual and had a lot of fun with not having any exhaust on the car (my parents had a love/hate relationship with that, it was loud and obnoxious but they always knew when I was going anywhere). I fixed some of the small issues the car had, replaced one of the ebrake cables and the passenger side mirror.

But I was driving home one day and started to smell coolant, got home to find that the water pump gasket on the 2.3 had blown and was spewing coolant everywhere. I decided there was no time like the present to get started on the V8 swap. First step, four cylinder removal!

Goodbye 4cyl it was fun but I need some horsepower!

Next step was to swap the double sump oil pan and pickup with a new timing set onto the new 302.

[Dave9052]

Looking good!

[droopie85gt]

That's awesome! My dad taught me and my brother how to work starting with lawn mower engines and then a go kart. I wish my son were more interested in cars. He's more interested in games on his iphone. But when he's needed work on his Volvo I at least make him help me get tools.

You look like you've got a great project going there. I am looking forward to more of this story!

[webestang]

Nice to upgrade to a V8. I need to do that to mine. I've rebuilt that goofy Carter YFA on mine 3 times and having that lame C-3 auto makes it no fun to drive.

[Broncojunkie]

Coming along!. Is the motor in yet, or are you still in the process?