85 resuscitation

[whoyacallem]

Hello, it's been nice to have the insight of the one's that have been down this path in the past. I am not great at remembering what I did or when and I'm starting to lose track of what I've done. I am also not great at taking the time to snap pictures, etc. Starting this is my attempt at being better and hopefully if anyone is watching, they will help me avoid making some mistakes. I'm not an internetter either so I if I am making noob mistakes feel free to lash out.
This is how I got it. It's rougher than it looks but it was a Texas car so it's at least solid albeit faded. Drivers side door and fender are dented. It had been beached at one point as well. We put it on a rack and it was about 1.5" to the passenger side and about an inch high as well.One of the wheels was dinged so I had to find one of those. Tires were shot so I put some on.

Someone had put the Turbo Coupe master cylinder and shocks/struts in it along with the 8.8 rear end. The master cylinder and PRC stuff hadn't been wired so the brakes were not great and the shocks/struts worked pretty good after I adjusted the damping on the rears.
There's some sort of FMIC on it, it's supposed to have a Ranger head, etc.
It had a SAAB boost controller that seemed to work.
Anyhoo, that's how it was mostly. I have done quite a bit since. I'm not sure how much will fit in each post....

[whoyacallem]

Once I decided I liked the car I contacted Maximum Motorsports and Jack helped me out a bunch with parts selection. The front control arms were good but I really wanted to get rid of the PRC stuff. So I did the Bilstein's and coil over setup.


It also needed a new steering rack. I agonized over rebuilding or replacing but settled on a new rack in hopes that the 15:1 i got will be ok.
Also went with the adjustable rear control arms and a panhard bar. I haven't quite gotten that in yet, Redoing the brake lines for dual exhaust.
Put new clutch packs in the diff as well.

I still need to do something with the fuel pump. PO said he put a tank from an 89GT in it but it still has an external that I think he said was a Walboro 255 LPH.

[whoyacallem]

Put the front bumper cover on.its missing a tooth. I'm guessing the whole front exterior is pretty hard to find. Mine is pretty cracked and damaged. Oh well.

[gbeaird]

Welcome! Looks like you have a car with good bones. Yes, Texas cars are a good start as they'll tend to have less rust.

The SVO had a specific 'high-effort- rack, which is hard to find. I got a rebuilt one from AGR, but the effort was still lower than OEM, and it is, sadly, now leaking like a sieve. I have my factory rack off to Turn One to get it rebuilt, so hopefully it will come back in good shape. If you still have the original rack, Turn One has a rebuilding service. Mine's been out almost a month, which is about the 'standard' time. Jack with MM recommended them.

Fenders are unique to the SVO. You can make a GT fender 'work', but it does take some effort. There are threads on this site that point out the differences and what is required to make the change-over. The door, IIRC, is pretty standard, but you'll NEED to get a 1984-1986 door, as the depression for the door handle is different between different years. That damage doesn't look too bad from here so I think I'd try to locate a good body shop who's willing to put the hours in with a dolly to straighten everything out, or weld in patch panels on the pieces you have. Yes, rust-free Texas parts are hard to come by, so don't pitch them right away.

That 'missing tooth' looks like it's on the fiberglass header panel, but kind of hard to tell since the car is about the same color as the unpainted fiberglass. It's a pretty easy fix, if you can find a replacement. You might be able to make a mold of the 'tooth' on the driver's side, and fit it in to the passenger side. You'll probably need to pull the front bumper cover to get to the panel. While you there, get a fiberglass repair kit and reinforce any cracks it will no doubt have, so bits don't drop out as you go down the road after you get the car back together. Our 1979 Seville has a similar fiberglass header panel that was cracked in several places. I used a combination of fiberglass repair and 2-part epoxy to put it back together so the headlight buckets and grill panels would fit securely. It's been fine ever since. I hit it with a quick coat of paint to hide the glass work. Okay for a driver.

The front bumper cover and header panel are unique to the SVO. There have been some reproductions made, and I think I got the header panel for our 86 from Paul at SVPU: https://www.svpu.com

I didn't see it on his web site, but I didn't spend the time going through all of the pages on his shop site. It would be worth a call to him to see if he might have one, or can get you in touch with the maker. He also has reproduction parking and turn signal lenses in stock which will help freshen up the front of your 84. Worth the money, as the repros were made from the factory molds. I have a full set on the 86, and they are quality pieces.

Call him, AND email him. He's busy with many projects, so if he doesn't answer, or immediately call back, try again every couple of days. He's a good guy, albeit busy. Look around your car to see what other parts you are missing. He can probably help out with many of them.

While you're talking to him, ask him about the reproduction spats (the air deflector pieces in front of the rear wheels). The OEM polyurethane units have a tendency to just disintegrate one day with zero notification. I had a pair fail over the course of about a work week. One day, fine, the next day, laying on the ground in a pile of crumbs. The repros that Paul sells are fiberglass, but good quality, and it will be good to have a pair for when the factory ones fail.

There are also repro front bumper covers out there, too, and they fit very well. We have one of each on our '86, as well as the rear cover keeping our OEM parts in storage, just in case. I do not remember where the covers came from, but am thinking 50 resto. They do not have a listing for them anymore, though. I did find a listing for the front cover at 'Prestige Mustang', but no pictures, so I have no clue what they look like. They wanted $600 for theirs, which sounded about right, but I think a call would be in order to make sure you're getting a good part.

They've come a LONG way with polyurethane repair these days, and a good shop might be able to repair your front cover.

Also, put a query in the 'parts wanted' section of this forum. There are others here who 'collect' spares who may be willing to part with some inventory.

Good luck, it looks like a worthy project. What little bit of that FMIC I can see in your pictures, though, it looks too small to do much more than the OEM IC, and do not much more than add to turbo lag due to the long piping. But you can worry about the performance things after you get the body back in shape.

[whoyacallem]

Thank you for the tips! I will start running parts down, if I get the mechanicals dialed in I hope to start on bodywork next winter.

[whoyacallem]

New springs, control arms, spring isolators, panhard bar, bushings, braided brake lines. That maximum motorsports stuff is so nice! The instructions that come with everything are so appreciated!!
at some point I would like to get all the extras off the axle and make it all pretty. Sometimes I would like to be more patient and clean everything up and detail it. I'm just not in that mode right now even though it would make sense to do it.... Spring is coming and I would rather drive it dirty than look at it sitting in the shop clean and unfinished.

[svono50]

I get where you are coming from, getting on the road is top priority. You can always come back to it next winter and start making things 'pretty' once you get them working. Are those MM rear springs? I am running their 'light' TA springs and they match pretty well to the Eibach Pro's up front...just as Jack suggested. I am running their extreme rear lower trailing arms, a PM3L with a UMI upper link and the Fays2 Watts setup. What a world of difference in settling down the rear end antics on the track for sure! Keep up the good work and post them pics!

[whoyacallem]

Yes they are the MM springs but Jack suggested that I use the higher rate springs so I went with them. The dual exhaust brake bracket for the intermediate line is supposed to arrive today so I'm hoping to have the brakes done today or tomorrow. Then see if the duals clear all the stuff in the back, going to be tight.

[whoyacallem]

I was trying to get the front end together and the pipes going to the FMIC were really fighting me. I'm sure it's obvious to some but it wasn't to me for waaaay to long. At some point the pipes were routed like this.

That wasn't great. It was way to tight and didn't go into the intercooler right. Then I put the longer pipe on by itself and had that moment of clarity and put the return pipe below the supply pipe.

Now it doesn't rub on the hood and fits way better. I did see that the intercooler has BLKSTN on it so it's probably a repurposed TC unit.
The "custom" inner fender metal work is a nice touch. Looks like they used a tin snips and cut 3 sides, then bent it back. I would not be able to do something like that to a car. When I was doing my '65 Fastback I would sometimes agonize over drilling a hole for an hour or more...

[svono50]

Is the core on the intercooler removable (i.e.- bolted in with a steel ring) or one solid welded assembly? The SVO intercooler has a removable core, while the TC has a welded unit that is a bit longer. That is certainly some 'backyard' ingenuity for sure...yikes. I have tried to use factory holes for any/all modifications to prevent those drilling/cutting mental debates.

Going with Jack's advice is a solid method of going about things, he has likely forgotten more about our cars than any of us currently know. The lower rate TA springs are actually quite 'comfortable' on the street and I am sure he suggested the higher rate springs based on your front spring rates. I also just noticed that you have an early Turbo Mustang fan shroud on there. Do you have a mechanical fan or an electric fan in there?

[whoyacallem]

It's a clutch type plastic fan, this shroud is huge! It pretty much touches the plug for the coil.

The intercooler is welded all the way around from what I can see.

The intermediate line bracket came in the mail so I'm hoping to get that in yet tonight.

[svono50]

Those shrouds are huge, but they worked well with the mechanical fan. With available options, I would consider going back to an electric fan setup so you don't create as much drag on the engine and you can more finely tune the temp on/off points.

So is this the label with BLKSTN? If so, that would confirm it is a TC intercooler. I think I still have that one pictured still up in my garage rafters.

[whoyacallem]

That looks like it, it's been painted over and all that's legible is the BLKSTN. Electric fan is on the list of wants for sure!

[Erics SVO]

I think "BLKSTN" refers to the Black Satin finish. thats a TC part #.

[whoyacallem]

That makes sense, mine however sh ould say OVRSPRY like everything else from whatever shop "painted" this car last. I couldn't live with myself if I did the things some folks do.
I feel so bad for this car. I seen to be attracted to the lost cause. Last winter I brought a 70 f250 back from the dead that was heading to the scrapyard. I love that thing.