The 87 GT

Gs1987GT

Active Member
Sep 25, 2019
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MidAtlantic
Good afternoon,

First post in this forum. Figured I'd share some photos of my 87 GT I purchased in April as a long term project.

This is my 5th fox, first one in 20yrs. Bought as a throwback to my youth...lol. Its presently mostly stock.

Since April I've serviced it and changed the fuel filter, bought and installed an OEM air box and intake assembly, flushed the cooling system, replaced a cracked coolant overflow tank, replaced several rotted vacuum lines, etc.

Planned work is a total suspension rebuild, front and rear, replace clutch (throwout bearing is bad), full exhaust replacement, off road h pipe, swap to 3.55 rear gears (5 speed car), new top, chrome pony's, change tail lights, replace rear trunk lid (eliminate luggage rack), subframe connectors, down the line do heads, cam and intake, throttle body and convert to mass air.

Car has just over 60k miles, original.
First time I drove it all the memories came flooding back.

This seems like a great forum with helpful folks. I was reading here for awhile and just recently joined.

I'll have some questions along the way.

Thanks
Greg.
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Thanks guys! Appreciate the thoughts, welcome and well wishes. My plan is to make it the way I want it, because this is likely the last project car I'll do, but save all the OE parts in case a future owner wants to put it back the way it is currently. Yes I'm very fortunate and blessed to have the shop I have.

It's got a hurst shifter in it, which is nice, not as short throw as the old pro comps I used to use and like but it's not bad. It's far from perfect, lots of work to do over time but that's the fun of it.

I'm just going to make a nice driver out of it, nothing radical or extreme, it's a convertible and I don't want to twist it up. Any changes I make will be bolt on stuff easily removed.

One thing I did really like about this car is it's a GT convertible, yet is factory AC delete and manual crank windows. Typically the GTs were highly optioned, at least that's how I remeber em. I've never seem another like that but have read about some on here. I can't imagine they made many like that but who knows? I just like that it's old school, limited options like the 69 GTO I had years ago. I didn't buy the car for rarity or anything, just liked it.

The prior owner had the heater core replaced so that's also a big plus. It's also got a new radiator in it.

I liked that it was a mostly original, low mileage factory 5 speed convertible, which is what I really wanted. It's got worn white seats and door panels which I don't like at all and will eventually change to gray probably. We'll see.

From what I've read here, I'm sure I'll take some flack for this, but I eventually want to put a motorsports B cam in it. Again, remeber I'm old school and grew up working on these cars when they were only a few years old. I understand there are now better choices performance wise, but I've just always loved the sound and slight lope of that B. Maybe I'll change my mind, I don't know.

Thanks again guys. Have a good day
 
You won't catch any flack from me - I'm aiming to install a B cam in my 87 vert just because I got it REALLY cheap. Like you, I'm not looking to build it for competitions or anything, just a fun car to tool around in. Build your car for you! :nice:
 
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Thanks! I'm not sure what I'll do with the engine at this point. Maybe a trick flow top end kit (cam, heads, intake, full matched set) or something along those lines along with converting to mass air.

I've always wanted to do a 347 stroker but never had the funds in the past to do it.

In the short term when I pull the trans to do the clutch and throw out bearing I need to address the leaking rear main engine seal

From what I've read here it's best to do the kit that includes a sleeve for the crank to ensure the leak is stopped.

As much wrench time as I have with these cars, I still learn from the wealth of info on this site. Y'all are great... I'm really enjoying spending time here reading all the posts and comments.
 
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I had an 89 that was an ultra light gt. They had fiberglass trunck lids... roll up windows....and 160mph speedometers. ( there were other things too but I can't remember them all ) something about a weight deleted up front and better rear gear.
 
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One thing I did really like about this car is it's a GT convertible, yet is factory AC delete and manual crank windows. Typically the GTs were highly optioned, at least that's how I remeber em. I've never seem another like that but have read about some on here. I can't imagine they made many like that but who knows? I just like that it's old school, limited options like the 69 GTO I had years ago. I didn't buy the car for rarity or anything, just liked it.
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I liked that it was a mostly original, low mileage factory 5 speed convertible, which is what I really wanted. It's got worn white seats and door panels which I don't like at all and will eventually change to gray probably. We'll see.

...

In the short term when I pull the trans to do the clutch and throw out bearing I need to address the leaking rear main engine seal

From what I've read here it's best to do the kit that includes a sleeve for the crank to ensure the leak is stopped.
...
Same color as mine, Cabernet Red, but yours still has the OEM orange stripes.
The GT package had a lot of options, not many could be deleted & not many wanted them deleted.
For numbers manufactured, go here: http://www.mustanggt.org/forums/index.php

GT Convertibles: 10,451
Convertibles were a $3500 option over the sedan at $12k

Looks like some clear lens over the cheese grater tail lamps.

My rear main seal is leaking again after 15k miles. I can't see the need for a sleeve on a 60k mile engine.
 
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Good info, thanks blown88. I think (I believe I read on a similar list) they made 17(something) 87GT convertibles in this color, but not sure. It's not a rare car by any means...I do like it though especially the ac delete and manual windows... and feel fortunate to have found it.

Hopefully we'll have a nice fall this year so I can enjoy some wrench time before the cold shuts me down for the winter.
 
Mine was originally Cabernet too. It was a pretty popular color back in the day - I remember seeing that color all over the place. Someone did a crap repaint of my car before I got a hold of it, but when I finally take it to have it painted I have absolutely no plans of going back to that color. Although it's probably my least favorite color for Fox cars, yours looks great! I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder.....
 
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Lol I agree. The paint on my car is far from perfect up close... but it's not terrible.

Not my most favorite color, but I have no plans to change it. I like white best, personally, but I have other white cars so a little variety is good.

According to one site they made 713, 1987 GT convertibles in Medium Cabernet. (Paint code 2H) Pretty cool
 
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Mine is original paint. There's a dent on the turn of the roof above the quarter windows from a hailstone which shredded doubled up car covers which lessened the impact damage. You can't really see it, no paint damage.
That was some storm, was at work inside a metal roof building, the noise was deafening.
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