My 89 Hatch resto build thread

[Josh40601]

Hey everyone, I just thought i would post up a build thread of what exactly i am working on. I bought the car in January of 09, and a friend of mine wanted to buy it, so i sold it to him in April of 09. The day after he bought it, he blew it up racing it. He had the motor rebuilt, then blew the trans. He let the car sit for 9 months, with the windows down, ruining the interior. I bought the car back from him for $200 as it sat. I had to spend $300 bucks in back tags and taxes, and $250 in storage fees.

Here is the way the car looks as of last weekend when i picked it up. As you can see, its in rough shape.

This is the GT body kit along with GOBS of trash.

Here is the "lovely" interior. Yes, the steering column was torn apart in this picture. You can see the stains and grossness on the seats, and just how nasty the carpet is

The motor is in pretty good shape considering the condition of the rest of the car. There are a few things wrong though. The battery is dead, the exhaust is a hackjob consisting of flex tube, Hedman long tubes, an X pipe from a 94 GT, and a catback system that belongs on the car.

 

[Josh40601]

I got a transmission from a 93 Thunderbird, and when i went to put it in, the shifter on the side of the transmission didn't work correctly with the mustang shifter linkage. The TV cable was readjusted for the car, and I got the batter charged and fired the car up. It will still shift into reverse, neutral and drive, but no other gears. I believe the governor in the rear of the transmission is dirty, because the car will not come out of 1st when it is in drive.

 

[Josh40601]

I got the parts of the GT kit on, and replaced the passenger side fender along with covering up that disgusting red stripe.

As you can see, the hood was sitting on top the fender. This was due to the inner fender well being damaged over its lifetime. I simply filed out the fender mounting holes a little bit and whala, hood closes. The hood latch is adjusted too far to the left, so i still need to move it overto the right about a 1/4"

Also forgot to mention that the exhaust mess is gone. I went back to the stock H-pipe and factory shorty manifolds. This will make it easy to pass smog and make working on the car easier. Not to mention it doesn't have a million exhaust leaks anymore.

 

[Josh40601]

Picked up some new parts for the car, got a set of power seats from a 95 GT, Cervini's Cobra insert, ball joint, and tierod kit, GT Taillights, new grey door panels, new lock set, and a set of new fog lights for the GT kit. I had to cut the tips off the flowmaster kit to fit the GT rear bumper support and bumper cover.

I asked on a tech question about why the car would be idling so bad, and was pointed in the direction of the IAC. I have it removed and am cleaning it today and installing it back in. I also ordered a used emission tube that runs from the cats to the smog system, a used 88 GT multifunction switch, and a used o2 sensor wiring harness. Going back to Kentucky for the weekend, so wont be able to work on the 5.SL0, but will try to get back at it when i return.

As it sits now, I have less than 1600 in the car. My limit is 5 grand and that includes interior, paint, and getting it back to reliable. A friend of mine is painting the car for $400 plus materials, so i still have about 2500 i can spend before i hit that limit

 

[UPRDanielle]

Nice project you got there! Definitely needs alot of TLC!

 

[Josh40601]

yea, next is the carpet and headliner. I was going to take my shop vac to the interior, but hell with that. A new carpet kit is less than 200 bucks shipped, I'll go with that.

 

[87GT Drop Top]

You have your work cut out for you. Keep adding pictures as you progress.

 

[Josh40601]

I've completed WAY worse. Here is my Ranger I built then gave to my little brother. We did all this at our Hot Rod shop in Frankfort, KY. All this was done in 6 days. 210 man hous in 6 days between 2 people. sucked, but the end result was worth it.

 

[Strippt88]

Your "friend" is why Fox guys have had to fight 25+ years of bad reputation. Good luck, he left you about 5 times the work you needed to do before he destroyed what was left. Keep us posted!

 

[Josh40601]

All the car needed when i sold it to him was a paint job and the interior cleaned up. Car ran like a champ. Here is a photo i took right before I sold it to him.

He was a junior Marine of mine and loved 5.0's. I sold him the car for 1500 bucks. He tried to fix it up on his own and all he ended up doing is destroying it.

 

[68keyblr]

That interior isn't as bad as it looks. A good detailer can have it looking great

 

[Josh40601]

i dunno man, there was something growing in the rear floorboard... The panels in the hatch are pretty jacked up too. I have an upholstery guy that said he would recover the seats in black leather and grey cloth for $300 bucks, so that seems to be the best bet. I am gonig to keep all the panels grey, black carpet, black headliner, black carpet on the doors, and black and grey seats. I think it will look good.

 

[ID89GT]

Sounds pretty much like what I just did. My interior was shot when I got the car. So far ive put in new carpet, door panels, got a mint dash put in, shampood the headliner and countless small trim pieces and such ive replaced. All I need now is the two rear hatch panels and a few small things and my interior is pretty much all good to go

 

[dave181760]

josh are you in san diego still if so im in palm springs and i got the gt side skerts there yours just come pick them up pm me if interested no charge

 

[Josh40601]

hey dave, sorry for the forever late response, I have been out of town, but yes i am in San Diego. I actually have 2 sets of skirts in my garage. I am scared to mount the little metal plate/strips because i dont want them to be crook-ed. Thanks so much for the offer though brother