1983 GT Turbo Progress....Finally

[93-331-29PSI]

Well finally after nearly 2 years sitting in pieces, and with the help of a couple guys here Kurt (NavySVO) & Greg (8T6 SVO), I got the 83 Turbo GT all put back together. I originally tore it apart to install new Forced 4 water lines, but quickly found that the wiring harness was brittly and falling apart. I spent about 30 hours going through the engine harness with a soldering iron and shrink tube replacing bad areas. Needless to say I lost interest in the car and decided that I would fix it later. Well about a week ago after posting here how I am over cars I got a wild hair up my ... and decided that I was going to get this thing back in running order. I want to send out a big thanks to Greg for coming through with a much needed turbo fitting, and Kurt for his help and outstanding knowledge of the 2.3t.

Kurt and I spent this morning swapping out the cam, followers, and lifters and I spent late afternoon and evening putting the intake and accessories all back together. I did run into an issue though while putting it back together. I discovered that the AC bracket was broken in half (oops forgot about that) so I have a friend welding that back together for me and I should get it back on tomorrow afternoon.

As of right now I am 2 battery cables and a radiator full of antifreeze away from firing it up for the first time in 2 years. With any luck at all I should have this running by sundown tomorrow.

Oops...... yes pics will be posted, would have done it tonight but I didn't stop until after dark

[1982 niGhTmare]

sounds great

glad everythings going good. but that usually means pics ----

[embler]

keep it up! what cam did you use for it? I'm looking into getting a ranger cam for my svo but don't know if its gonna be worth the trouble or not

[93-331-29PSI]

The cam was a Crane H-270, not much above stock, but the OE valve train was noisy so hopefully this swap will kill some of the rattle.

[93-331-29PSI]

As promised, before and after engine pics.

Here are some pictures of the redneck engineered waterlines that were on the car when I bought it.







And this is how it looks now

[8T6 SVO]

I discovered that the AC bracket was broken in half (oops forgot about that) so I have a friend welding that back together for me and I should get it back on tomorrow afternoon.

I've got one of those too - if you need it. Glad to see you get it back on the road!

[embler]

looks a lot better. why did you switch valve covers?

[93-331-29PSI]

I've got one of those too - if you need it. Glad to see you get it back on the road!

I had my buddy weld up the original for me, although I am not sure how steel that thick breaks clean.

looks a lot better. why did you switch valve covers?

I swapped valve covers out of sheer laziness (didn't want to clean the original). Plus I have plans to one day put a ported head on it with the later style ported square intake if I can ever get in touch with the guy.

[embler]

I had my buddy weld up the original for me, although I am not sure how steel that thick breaks clean.



I swapped valve covers out of sheer laziness (didn't want to clean the original). Plus I have plans to one day put a ported head on it with the later style ported square intake if I can ever get in touch with the guy.

lol, I understand. I've got the same cover on mine right now. I've got the stock "ford fuel injection turbo" cover that I want to put on but I need to make a spacer first since mine is a tc motor with the later intake. I cleaned mine up yesterday. a wire brush on the end of a drill works well to polish up the raised bars and lettering.

[NavySVO]

You didn't leave the BBK AFPR on it?

Let me know if you can't get the cables right away and I will ping on my parts guy. He seems to come up with stuff others don't.......and at better prices.

[93-331-29PSI]

You didn't leave the BBK AFPR on it?

Let me know if you can't get the cables right away and I will ping on my parts guy. He seems to come up with stuff others don't.......and at better prices.

I put the stock regulator because I didn't wanted it running and without a gauge and plug it isn't going to happen. I will put it back on though once I get a new gauge. I am going to go out this morning and put the cables on since yesterday got rained out.

[8T3Hatch]

Nice work !

[EvilTwistedTwins]

Congrats on getting your car back together!!! she looks sweet!

[93-331-29PSI]

Well got it back together and attempted to fire it up and quickly realized that the engine harness repairs (TFI Module) is shorting out. Not sure if it a TFI module that is bad or the repairs I did to the harness. I am going to replace the TFI and if that don't fix it I am going to order a new harness from "the detail zone" and call it a day. Any thoughts or experience with them?

[CobraGT40]

Looks fantastic !

[gdniel]

Looks much better.

[Hissing Cobra]

I'm glad that you stayed with it. I'm not too knowledgeable about the harness but hopefully you'll be able to figure it out. Good luck!

[NavySVO]

I put the stock regulator because I didn't wanted it running and without a gauge and plug it isn't going to happen.

I forgot about that port on the side of the regulator....

Like I said on the phone, call me if you need another set of hands.

[Boss69]

Soft spot for those.......this is a pic of my first NEW Mustang, wish we had digital cameras back then.

[1982 niGhTmare]

oooo t-tops

for some reason the 83 GT's look so good in that silver/gray

[crimsoncat66]

awesome!!!!

[93-331-29PSI]

Well everything is back together and car is again running, but as with any car that sits for a long time I run into other issues. There are no brakes, pedal goes to the floor. Reservoir is full though so not sure what to make of it. Guess I will address it by means of Cobra Brakes front and rear in the next couple weeks.....crap.....guess that means I'll need to get some new wheels too. Oh well it's only money.

[SchoolBoy]

Would it be as simple as needing to bleed the brakes?

[93-331-29PSI]

Would it be as simple as needing to bleed the brakes?

Probably would be that easy, but what fun could that be

[Cobra56]

Sounds like the master cylinder needs to be rebuilt or new one installed!