79ish build

[79PaceCar]

Figured I'd share some photos and details on my build - I've had a fox for over 20 years... they're awesome little cars.

it started as an 83, but had been swapped to an aero front end. I'd already pulled the motor and started stripping it down..


never in my life did I have so much fun... as when I became a stripper...
I kid - it was horrible! The smell, the mess... But I painted it on and scraped the entire car down to nothing


The wife also became a stripper part time as well - she said something about trying to get through college - I dunno, I was too high on paint stripper to listen

[79PaceCar]

The sound deadening came out fairly easily with a little bit of heat from a torch from beneath the car -


The front subframe was a little crusty in some spots - And I really didn't car for the swiss cheese that were the inner fender aprons

[79PaceCar]

then I found a "79" but something didn't seem right about it.... aside from the 83 bumper - can you see it?


Turns out the fender tag didn't match VIN..... and the vin - had been glued in place of the original underneath it (this car ended up crushed anyways - it was held together by paint and bondo.

Lots of sanding ahead


and more sanding - with a little touch of sandblasting and I arrived here


patched a small section of floor board - where the previous roll cage used to be mounted


discovered some rot in the sail panel as well... didn't seem like much at first


but this was hiding beneath it

[79PaceCar]

Got it into epoxy primer - and this is where I'll leave it for now.... Tons of photos and updates still ahead.

[85MUSTANGTGT]

Nice work so far! Keep it up!

[79PaceCar]

in the meantime, I had to start putting the powerplant together... and getting it ready to drop in;


It's a built 331 stroker motor - all forged and girdled
E cam
it's got a set of P/P GT40 X heads
Vortech v1 s trim blower pullied for 10-12lbs
I ended up getting rid of those long tubes - they didn't fit very well at all.

Next, I had to get the motor/trans and complete UPR K member into the car.... by myself.
Nothing sketchy here.....





Got it all mounted.... also - I spy the body color... 10 useless internet points for whomever can guess the color correctly.

[85GTGuy]

Ooh ooh.... I need some useless points.... just a few more and I'll have enough for a useless gift!

Yellow?!

[79PaceCar]

Ooh ooh.... I need some useless points.... just a few more and I'll have enough for a useless gift!

Yellow?!

In my best Bob Barker; "Tell this man what he's won Rod...."
Nothing sir.... you've won nothing.

[79PaceCar]

I couldn't resist taking a photo of the build... next to the junk car I purchased...


I then started mocking up with the hood - Good thing I did too - as the carb hat and intake piping wouldn't clear the hood - ended up doing some trimming on it.

[79PaceCar]

The finished paint... looked like glass





Fast forward a few weeks - and I had it finished enough that I could take home to my garage

Where it sat.... for the next two years.

[ccurtin]

Very nice. Excellent project. What paint is that? 9W or more of a silver?

[massacre]

Is it Dark Shadow Grey?

[79PaceCar]

Very nice. Excellent project. What paint is that? 9W or more of a silver?

thanks man... It's been a lot of labor

Negative Ghost Rider on the paint

Is it Dark Shadow Grey?

Tell this man what he's won Roddy......
"Nothing sir, cause that's not it either".


It's magnetic grey

[79PaceCar]

I'd parked it for two years - due to having three massive surgeries on both of my legs - giving me half the ability to limp/walk for the rest of my life... (prior to this, I couldn't walk much at all)


I started looking for a 79 nose - but they seemed to be made of unobtainium - And I could find ZERO aftermarket for the upper bumper skin...

So I bought another car.

This was a 79 Pace car - which was ridden hard... and not very looked after at all.


The body "looks" straight... but it's got an 1/8" of filler on it... and has had SEVERAL paint jobs.


Someone had bastardized it and put 87-93 1/4 window on it... but then we get to the good stuff...


Factory Recaro seats - but missing the zebra on the interior cushion
and full zebra back seats


It even had the proper doors - although they'd been rendered "custom" by some asshat with a drill and a sawzall


Sadly, the dashpad was in pieces and many holes had been drilled in the dash
the column was also FUBAR - so they just put a push button start in the dash... - but not wired???

additionally, the center console had been drilled out to put in a circa 2010 double din unit.

[79PaceCar]

Now for the cancer that plagues new tesla cyber trucks almost immediately...
There were so many huge holes in the roof - that were discovered under a sedimentary layer of paint and filler


the front subframe rail was rotted and collapsed
the passenger side foot well reminded me a flintstone mobile with a massive hole...
but it matched the same rocker panel... that was slowly returning to whence it came.

(I had a photo... but somehow lost it ~~~ Envision these things in your imagination.... and now a small dog humping a stuffed rabbit ~~~ just seeing how suggestive you guys are...


Lo and behold... I started to find some original Pace car silver.. .


it was on the inside of the door panels too!!




the 79 purchase was more recent.. we've jumped forward in time...
~~ Cue.... the flashback~~

I'd gone through the harness with a fine tooth comb... and it was totalled. There were so many splices, dead leads, butt connectors.... even merrets. So I decided to torture myself



It came with a basic fuse panel...


and bags... I mean BAGS... of wiring, with multiple wire bundles inside them - this wasn't all of them.


So I stripped out all the old busted crap.. and started from square one


I started feeding wires... trying to figure out where I was going to run everything


Doing this... was an electrifying experience... I'm kidding... it was hell. I hated every minute of it.


I found any moment I could... to avoid wiring... including just repainting the dash for the hell of it.


damned wiring..I couldn't avoid it... it was everywhere...


to feel better... I did some retail therapy...
"yes dear, I do in fact NEED that" it's like Amazon... for guys.


they had a lot of finish bits... and stuff that made my life easier.... but not a lot for early foxes.
To be continued.

[wraithracing]

Awesome quality of work! I have installed a Ron Francis kit in about 2 dozen vehicles over the year. Hate it every time! Love the finished product, but really hate electrical and wiring myself. I have an older kit in my Pace Car that I did about 15 years ago and may put one in my 82 GT here in the near future, so I feel your pain. Keep up the great work and keep the pictures coming. Might help motivate me to finish one of my Fox projects. I also feel you on the legs. Had full knee replacement on both knees at the same time February of last year. Thought I would never recover from that, but thankfully I am finally back to about 90-95%.

[Matt_83_GT]

Super cool thread, great pics, and boss sense of humor! Keep the updates coming - this is a fun one to watch/read!!

[84GT350_Annv]

Great thread! Amazing work and thank you for the inspiration to keep going.

My 20th is still laid up with a broken transmission that I inflicted on it. I've moved since then and have decided to put the 49 shoebox back on the road that's been down since 83.

Steve

[83GTTops]

Nice work!

[cougman67]

Nice build. I hope to see it out sometime out here in PNW.

[79PaceCar]

I spent some time looking after some minor cosmetic stuff - as I wanted to avoid having any more dreams of doing wiring... So I huffed some more paint fumes instead.



I got some MRT hinge props - as I was tired of constantly dancing with the prop rod in the hood and trying to work around it - besides, it kept trying to lead.



Did I mention there was wiring.... and I hated it?

[79PaceCar]

I ended up with a serious problem though - because I'd done an entire Ron Francis wiring kit for the car that was "supposed to work" with the OEM stuff.... it didn't want to communicate with my ECU.

that's right... I went with an EFI system on the car.

Spent stupid amounts of money on a complete Holley Super Sniper setup for the car.
Including the dash

[79PaceCar]

Side note: they indicate that the kit is self tuning... It is NOT. Yes, it'll get you SOME information... and SOME basics.... but will always default to running rich.

Like... eyes burning... blow my cats out... wait... I didn't install a flamethrower kit... Rich.

that being said -I've gotten it mostly tuned now... and I'm still working away at it.

[ZEN50]

How was the MRT install? How much adjusting was required?

[79PaceCar]

How was the MRT install? How much adjusting was required?

Super simple. and no adjustment needed - it uses all existing mounts and threaded holes.

it was a touch expensive... but worth it IMO.