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  1. #1

    Post Project ??? 85' GT Restomod Build Thread

    So I thought it might be a good idea to post a build thread for the Restomod project I have going on as I'm finally making progress after 8 years ...

    Ordered all the engine parts and just picked up the rebuilt bottom end from the machine shop:
    - Eagle Forged Rods
    - Speed Pro Hypereutectic Pistons Block bored .20 over
    - Trick Flow Track Max Stage 1 Camshaft
    - All ARP Hardware
    - Melling Oil Pump
    - Original oil pan (currently being sandblasted and powdercoated)
    - ARP oil pan studs
    - All King Bearings (Factory spec)
    - Complete balancing of the rotating assembly
    - Block cleaned up/crank polished/cyls honed/everything assembled by local machine shop
    - Ford Racing Harmonic Balancer
    - Brand new Trick Flow Timing Chain/Gear set


    Parts Pic:
    Name:  engineporn2.PNG
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    Top End:
    - Trick Flow Aluminum 11R Heads on backorder
    - Trick Flow 1.6 Roller Rockers
    - Ford Racing Hydraulic Lifters
    - Summit Racing Stage 1 Intake (I couldn't justify the price of the Edelbrock Air Gap and it would be easy enough to swap out in the future)
    - Need to measure push rods before ordering

    Rear:
    - Last weekend picked up a fully built 8.8 with 31 spline 5-Lug Moser axles and a brand new ford traction lock diff. Fully powder coated diff housing and axle tubes all new. Unfortunately he neglected to powder the 5 lug brake bracket plates and diff cover so I will need to pull the axles to get those off and blast/powder them. Also had to order the axle tube vent as it was missing $14 Part on Amazon (Part# 4R3Z-4022-AA) and a new LubeLocker gasket. Other than those minor things it was a steal and saved me a lot of headache as now I don't have to source anything for the rear.

    Body/Paint:
    - Still waiting on my paint and body guy to get back with me on getting this thing painted (Ford Lightning Blue). This is paint guy #4 and it's starting to look bleak so I may have to look elsewhere (Apparently good body and paint guys with reasonable prices are hard to come by in my area)
    - Undercarrige has some sort of coating that looks like it will be very laborious to remove (factory?). Not sure what to do here because there is little to no rust and the current coating seems to be holding up. I was thinking of just power washing it really good and grinding what little surface rust there is and then just going over it with some kind of modern undercoat (3M). This is an area where suggestions would be a big help as I don't want this thing to rust; however, it's been sitting for 8 years and hasn't done that so far (it will be living under a cover in a garage when complete). There are two small areas of concern on maybe 4"x4" areas of rust that my buddy is supposed to help me cut out/patch but that's all I can find rust-wise.

    Future Plans:
    - Brake Plans: SN95 of some kind probably Cobra or possible just order LMR's "SVE" kit
    - Suspension Plans: Maximum motorsports K-member kit/suspension bits for SN95 setup/Coilovers of some kind
    - Modern Fuel system … Holly Sniper or something of that caliper

    I've been really busy with work lately so I don't have a ton of pics to post but I will try to snap some more photos!
    Last edited by IDriveFords; 02-17-2019 at 12:46 PM.
    1997 Mustang Cobra - Very First Car
    1985 Mustang GT - RestoMod Work in Progress
    2006 F-150 FX4 - Tow Vehicle

  2. #2
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    Great progress, I hope it goes well for you!


    One comment for what it’s worth

    In the early summer of 1995 my fully stock suspension 1986GT was only 9 about to be 10 years old. The car had around 140K miles. It wasn’t rusty at all — very nice car overall. I was going down highway 91 east near Howells NE and hit a little bit of a pot hole. Nothing major. It blew out the driver’s side strut tower. The top of the drivers strut had little to nothing holding it when that happened and what a OMG type of fn ride that was boys!

    Somehow I did not crash it but it could have went really bad. I narrowly missed oncoming traffic and narrowly avoided going down an embankment by the time I got the damn thing stopped.

    Took many hours of reforming metal and welding to get the car back to driveable. There were a lot of stress cracks that we had to cut out and burn back in before it was all said and done. I added a strut tower brace and got it aligned again and it’s held up fine ever since. Picture of that tower when I was installing caster/camber plates

    Anyway ..... I would not run coilovers on a street car if someone paid me. I pray me, my family, my friends, etc — never meet a car running coilovers on the street. The strut towers were not designed to carry the car and by crappy drive on what’s left road standards it is far from safe.

    People do as they choose but I would feel guilty if I did not share that experience. Just keep in mind that my car rolled off the exact same line that everyone else’s did.

    There are some really killer aftermarket A arms made with spring pockets out there and some great coil springs too.

    Good luck with your build
    Attached Images Attached Images  
    Last edited by erratic50; 02-17-2019 at 04:52 PM.

  3. #3

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    Watch the most recent engine masters, they found the weiand was a very good/equal to the Edelbrock airgap.
    1984.5 G.T.350 5.0 CFI AOD Convertible (TRX package, loaded)
    K&N filter in a stock dual snorkel, GT40 heads, Edelbrock 3721 intake, MSD 8456 Dist., MSD 8227 coil
    Comp cams XE254H, hypereutectic pistons
    Hooker Super Comp Shorty Equal Length Headers, catted BBK H-pipe, full custom duals
    Maximum Motorsports caster/camber plates and strut tower brace, 3.73 rear, dura grip (both Yukon)
    Ford Performance Springs, Firehawk A/S 225/55r16 on LMR TRX r390 wheels (street)
    Federal 595 rs-rr 245/40r17 and 255/40r17 on OE cobra r wheels (race)
    AOD rebuilt with a 6 clutch direct drum, Koline steels stacked with 8 clutches, Kevlar band, superior shift kit, new torque converter. --Everything else stock and fully functional.

  4. #4

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    Project Update:

    Had the entire weekend to myself so obviously I did what most of us would do and spent it working on my car. My body and paint guy finally stopped by and advised me that I would need to pull everything if I wanted this done right so the madness continues. Put the engine stuff on hold for now to get this thing to the body shop (no point in working on an engine with no car to put it in).

    - Pulled some more Misc parts
    - Pulled the hatch
    - Pulled Sway Bar
    - Pulled Dash (This sucks btw and uncovered some issues)
    1. My HVAC control unit is a little busted not sure if I can mend it (could not find a replacement online and my car "had" AC
    2. The dash itself had some cracks but I mended most of those
    3. All the brackets back there were surface rusted so I took them all out and blasted/powder coated them (I might have the only 85' with powder coated dash brackets?)
    4. There is some butchery going on around the stereo wire areas that I will need to figure out (Previous owners)
    5. The ignition switch was literally tied on with twine and cinched in place by an allen key because it had broke. It looks like its only a $13 part but I'm not entirely sure how you get it off/replace
    6. Engine Block painted Ford Corporate Blue
    7. What the heck is the device on the top middle of the dash? It's a circuit board of some kind maybe for the speakers? (On a side note I need to
    figure out how the top front speakers were wired from the factory because the previous owner had wired them directly to the head unit and just bypassed the factory plugs. Are they wired in series with the rear?

    Now I just need to remove the HVAC assembly to pull the Engine Bay harness out and remove the brake master/engine bay lines and it would pretty much be ready for paint. Unfortunately someone went nuts with undercoating and its all over the engine bay. The painter told me that would be costly for him to remove but I found aircraft stripper seems to take it off pretty readily so I guess that is my best course of action to strip the engine bay down.

    I have tons of pics of this entire project; however, I'm taking them with my DSLR so they are extremely high resolution and have to be converted before I can upload them and I really just don't have the time. I will try to get some up ASAP as they would probably help others identify stuff especially everything behind the dash.
    1997 Mustang Cobra - Very First Car
    1985 Mustang GT - RestoMod Work in Progress
    2006 F-150 FX4 - Tow Vehicle

  5. #5

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    Here are some misc parts I've restored/powder coated:

    Headlight buckets/misc brackets:
    Name:  MiscParts.jpg
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    Pedal Box Assembly:
    Name:  PedalAssem1.jpg
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    Name:  PedAssem2.jpg
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    Cleaned out Engine Bay (still working on getting rid of all the undercoat and for those of you who asked *nobody asked* … yes that is the last known windows phone in existence sitting on the firewall)
    Name:  EngineBay.jpg
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    1997 Mustang Cobra - Very First Car
    1985 Mustang GT - RestoMod Work in Progress
    2006 F-150 FX4 - Tow Vehicle

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