Progress Thread Turbo 93 Coupe Build

88-GT

Member
Oct 8, 2004
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Well considering how much I enjoy looking at other peoples builds I figured I would keep tabs on mine here as well.

Story goes I have had my 1988 GT forever and slowly built it up since high school. Started out with bolt ons, then put in a fresh short block with the Trick Flow top end and a new transmission. Drove it like this for a couple years then wanted more so went with a Hellion Turbo Kit and AEM EMS system.

Was now happy with the power so drove it for another year and half at which point I blew a head gasket. Pulled it apart and found some wear on the bearings and cylinder walls so i pulled it all apart and refreshed the entire engine. All was well and was actually breaking in the motor, about 110kms on it to be exact, when I got rear ended at a stop light and pushed into the car in front of me. :kicknuts:

Long story short there was a fair bit of rust where the shock tower meets the frame rails and it buckled bad in the accident. Insurance fixed the damage from the accident but obviously wouldnt touch the rust damage. So either way I was done with that shell as its not worth fixing with rust comming in other areas. New shell time!

Stumbled across a car for sale on this forum actually, one alot of you might recognize actually, this is 92cleancoupes old car. He did a full out build and built an extremely nice car, he decided to part it out and we eneded up striking up a deal for the rolling shell. Few months later and a truck shows up out front of my house and the project begins!

Have to throw out a thanks to him though, wouldnt be possible without his determination making the deal work and I can only hope to get the car close to the state he once had it!

Few pictures of my 1988 GT:

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Pictures of a build thread of the new shell's build. Shows a 408w but most recently was a Turbo 302w.

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Got a few hours in on the weekend and actually made some pretty good progress. Got the car in the air and removed the hood, and continued on to remove the entire turbo kit, front drive accessories, wide band, upper intake and a host of other small things.
After the first bit of work all I know is I am not putting dirty, worn parts into that new engine bay so I am really not looking forward to the cleaning/painting that is in my future. But, part of the fun! :rolleyes:
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And also got the first load of new parts yesterday. Still waiting on my new starter and alternator but have most everything else.
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Currently I have moved all of my front suspension components into the coupe, and removed the rear diff from the coupe to make room for my diff from my GT. Installing it will be the next step. I replaced all of the leaking seals on the motor and cleaned it all up. After the diff is installed I will be bolting up the trans to the motor and dropping it in! :)
 
Next I did a much needing cleaning of the garage and moved onto dropping in the engine and transmission. Took a little longer than usual but managed to get it in with out as much of a nick so the extra time payed off.
This is as it sits right now, also wired up and installed my guages but will have to grab pictures of them next time I am working on it. Next will be getting the turbo kit fitted up and then onto accessories.:)
Bubble wrap layed out.
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Engine Waiting to go in.
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Lining everything up.
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Ready for more parts.
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Another quick update, things are moving slowly as I am having to mock up and fab a few things to get things fitting the way I want them to. Biggest snag so far is fitting the intercooler in behind the stock bumper.
The GT front bumper is open along the bottom and leaves a lot of room for the intercooler, the LX front bumper however is much different, and for the worse. Spent a few hours with a dremel last night and it looks like I am going to be able to make it work witout taking too much out, sacrifice is the intercooler will not be centered perfectly but I feel this is better than a pipe sticking out through the bumper, I like the stealthy look so anything I can hide is a plus for me.
Turbo mounted up to the header.
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Radiatior mocked up.
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Intercooler mocked up.
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Been a little slow on updates but have been making some really good progress lately. Spent about an hour trying to get it to fire but only got it sputtering and ran out of time, another hour or so getting the initial timing dialed in and should make some noise!
Front Accessories going on:
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Intake installed and getting the charge pipes lined up:
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Mostly finished, just shy an air filter and some plug wire organizer clips:
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And a quick interior pic:
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Fell a little behind on the updates but the car is safetied and I have been driving it whenever the weather is nice. Have the tune dialed in very well and car runs better than it has in probably 3 years. Currently tuned at about 7psi and car feels very strong, I know the cold road isnt helpful for traction but blowing the tires off in 3rd gear at 80+ sure is fun. :love2:
Finally gave it a proper wash and took it out for some pictures, so here they are!
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Just a quick bump.
Last mod before tucking it away for winter was installing the radiator overflow cannister, still have one more for my oil catch can but that will have to wait until next year. However it looks almost identical to the overflow and will be mounted right beside it, easy to imagine!
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Also, if you are interested check the January edition of 5.0 Mustang and Super Fords! The car is featured in the magazine from shortly before I bought it. Props to 92cleancoupe for getting it featured, still striving to someday get it back to that condition. :D
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That brings the build up to date so far. Still tracking down all of my 5 lug parts and hope to get started on that once the snow melts and I can actually move the car!

Hope you enjoy the build, and let me know what you think!