1985 GT build thread.

suicidekings · Mar 17, 2018

KEVINS said:
I kinda feel your pain. I need two swing out bars made to complete my roll bar but nobody want's to work with me in making it snake around the seats and door panels. So I bought the tubing and a tubing bender and I'll fab it myself then sell the bender when done.
Very few people want to work at making something custom/unique these days.

ks

It truly is a lost art.

MG0h3 said:
At 3” I wouldn’t sweat it all being mandrel. If you really want tails will 2.5 fit? According to ARH, the difference in flow or power supported between the two negligible.

Sent from my iPhone using svtperformance.com

It can be done in 3", finding the right person is the problem. There won't be a simple bolt on answer for my system.

331 LX said:
If his case is anything like mine, the 2.5 tails won't fit. I had my flowmaster 2.5 tails on my LX and sadly had to sell them after being on my car for over 10 years because of the 10.5 wheel. The mandrel bend is quite different on the 3 inch to make the wheel/tire fit. My tails aren't perfect but I went through the same BS ordeal with having my 3in put on a couple weeks ago. The right tail pipe is sticking out about a 1/4 inch and I can't stand it. I've got to take it back to get it fixed.

In this picture you can see how different they are from the 2.5's. The 2.5's go directly over the axel without the bend making it look almost like the IRS tails. You can see the V-band behind the rear wheel I had them put on the tails so I could take them off to polish when I get the time.

View attachment 1473862

View attachment 1473863

Suicide - Not trying to hijack your thread with pics, your car looks 10x better than mine. Just want to show the tails.

No worries at all lol.

VENOM1 said:
Suicide- give Scottsdale Muffler & Automotive, Inc. a call. They worked on my SS about 10 years ago and the work was not only flawless but reasonably priced.

Already spoke to them, they can't do mandrel 3" and didn't want to discuss custom options with me because they were "busy". I shouldn't have to beg shops to take my money.

9397SVTs · Mar 17, 2018

I suggest you speak with the guys at Chuck's Speed and RV in Phoenix. I had them do some work on my '97 Cobra, including a custom 3" exhaust. They used mandrel u-bends and straight pipe to fabricate a system from the turbos to the mufflers, which dump before the rear axle. Based on how tight the space was to run the new piping through the front suspension, I believe they will be able to find a way to make the tailpipes work for you. My car has been lowered as well and the did a great job of tucking the whole system under the car nice and tight, with no rubbing. They are very easy to deal with, they return phone calls, and the do great work.

Chuck's Speed and RV
2923 W Weldon Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85017
(602)266-5101

suicidekings · Mar 17, 2018

9397SVTs said:
I suggest you speak with the guys at Chuck's Speed and RV in Phoenix. I had them do some work on my '97 Cobra, including a custom 3" exhaust. They used mandrel u-bends and straight pipe to fabricate a system from the turbos to the mufflers, which dump before the rear axle. Based on how tight the space was to run the new piping through the front suspension, I believe they will be able to find a way to make the tailpipes work for you. My car has been lowered as well and the did a great job of tucking the whole system under the car nice and tight, with no rubbing. They are very easy to deal with, they return phone calls, and the do great work.

Chuck's Speed and RV
2923 W Weldon Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85017
(602)266-5101

I checked them out online and checked out the pics n reviews... I like what I see so far. I will give them a call Monday and talk to them about what I have and what I want. Thanks for the recommendation.

9397SVTs · Mar 17, 2018

When you call, ask for Lance. Tell him that Jason, with the white twin turbo Mustang Cobra, referred you. Don't know if that will help any, but it can't hurt. I have no affiliation with the shop, just a satisfied, repeat customer.

suicidekings · Mar 19, 2018

Well, after getting the car home I am adding to the list of crap that needs to be done.

Filled the tank up with 95, I have a slight leak from the fuel hat... I still need to rebleed the brakes as it feels I have an air pocket in the line somewhere.

I have also decided to tackle the exhaust fabrication myself with a friend of mine. so this should be fun!

2011 gtcs · Mar 19, 2018

suicidekings said:
Well, after getting the car home I am adding to the list of crap that needs to be done.

Filled the tank up with 95, I have a slight leak from the fuel hat... I still need to rebleed the brakes as it feels I have an air pocket in the line somewhere.

I have also decided to tackle the exhaust fabrication myself with a friend of mine. so this should be fun!

I know you don't like exhuast dumps, but if you did it like this I think it would sound awesome and still look clean.

2011 gtcs · Mar 19, 2018

suicidekings said:
Well, after getting the car home I am adding to the list of crap that needs to be done.

Filled the tank up with 95, I have a slight leak from the fuel hat... I still need to rebleed the brakes as it feels I have an air pocket in the line somewhere.

I have also decided to tackle the exhaust fabrication myself with a friend of mine. so this should be fun!

I know you don't like exhaust dumps, but if you did it like this I think it would sound awesome and still look clean

suicidekings · Mar 19, 2018

2011 gtcs said:
I know you don't like exhaust dumps, but if you did it like this I think it would sound awesome and still look clean
View attachment 1474452

As of right now the plan is to get the x pipe on and the mufflers and dump them as the tail section will take some time to get right. I really just want an exhaust so I can take it around, break it in, and get it tuned properly.

EcoBoostF100 · Mar 22, 2018

Started making progress tacking in the body panels.

F5BEEB32-F463-424D-98F4-4A05871BDD14_zps78z6pfn8 by |SK Photography|, on FlickrEF9C5AB5-97E1-4C48-9911-154DADD72DE3_zpsa47latwi by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

02E4A730-B8CC-404F-BD11-F4CDA6005EA6_zps3afqhkwf by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

Coming along and finishing the welds up. Lots of little holes -__-

417FB212-79B3-4D62-B2F4-8B4B515DFB46_zpszkcjyf5a by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

11787239-E1B8-47D8-AC23-61FFA5DFD8DF_zpsaylwlbfe by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

C5149FED-7156-43CB-9DD4-80DACABFBCC5_zpsfyzwzorc by |SK Photography|, on Flickr
This is the part I cut out to clearance for the brake booster, I had to modify it a tad and welded it back in. Some grinding and body filler should make this area look back to good.

EF964BEE-F106-491C-903B-26DD3EB44A76_zpsg58kwfjb by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

I put in MM sway bar mount braces in then made these caps to cover everything smooth.

77DEC08D-3B86-47FA-9C45-F9DBB66EF584_zpszb6i69g6 by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

6BE41208-8ADD-4763-BA2A-FCA9A35CBA07_zpsfikk6fzh by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

I just need to finish up welding all of the holes on the firewall then I will begin grinding away. Once the grinding is done I will uncover the car to wash it down and wrap it up again to get ready for body filler and sand it all down. I am hoping to have the bay painted shortly after Thanksgiving and start putting the interior back together by Christmas.

Hope you all are enjoying![/QUOTE]

Cool build! Reading thread but only up to this point right now. I worked in a Ford Dealer back in 1985.

These engine bay's look so much better with all the holes filled.

A few years back a friend did this to his '92 LX and dropped in a 800hp n/a small block made a few test passes (think he went 8.90's) then entire car was stolen and never seen again. Big $ in it too.

EcoBoostF100 · Mar 22, 2018

suicidekings said:
Couple more updates.

Ordered some fuel system goodies.

B5EEEF62-0833-4400-BC90-937E4FFCB801_zpsvm4ov0q6 by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

A4823327-AD55-47A2-BA66-000858AFC27F_zpsziqnjz1i by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

1143BC62-1344-437B-9D00-653466A14EF8_zpsilvwtwvr by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

Aeromotive pump and filters, lot of AN fittings and 10AN feed line, 8AN return line.
Little disappointed the sump had surface rusting already. Again, another LMR piece....

42B47DAB-597C-45B2-B881-3AA8AF69FAB9_zpswvdppxwf by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

Got a new rear end girdle too.

3E1D9F9B-B1F9-4F4F-9605-889F2EE6B658_zpsvtds1wdt by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

Rear end ready to be torn into. I figured since it was out I might as well clean it up, and swap out the 4.10's since I will have plenty of power and don't need to compensate with gears. Going to 3.55's.

64389E7B-90BF-471D-9C76-B86D113576F9_zpscpgunnlx by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

Everything is out. of the rear.

0DDBDC38-B363-4C72-B70A-1E790E5B42A8_zps974ug5rk by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

0AD64F85-1CC5-4D18-BFA5-9905E8D53EEE_zpssrivvpr3 by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

My pile of parts is becoming overwhelming... this is about 80% of it all....

016D7289-9740-4588-91B9-5175527813AE_zpshbz9h598 by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

I started to paint a few pieces... I like the coating that Maximum motorsports puts on their stuff and there are certain things I cannot powder coat so this is the closest I can get.... VHT wrinkle coat.

84EC1DF6-E59D-4B95-97E0-32625A277D53_zpsi76exxdi by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

2366ACB4-8637-4C0E-B10F-0A09C713759A_zpsofkj0yyg by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

Hope you all enjoy!

I see a few Michigan plates. Are you originally from Michigan? If so me too . .

suicidekings · Mar 22, 2018

EcoBoostF100 said:
Cool build! Reading thread but only up to this point right now. I worked in a Ford Dealer back in 1985.

These engine bay's look so much better with all the holes filled.

A few years back a friend did this to his '92 LX and dropped in a 800hp n/a small block made a few test passes (think he went 8.90's) then entire car was stolen and never seen again. Big $ in it too.

You will probably run into a lot of double posts since I had the build thread in two areas of the forum and they merged them :/. And that is horrible - probably parted out

EcoBoostF100 said:
I see a few Michigan plates. Are you originally from Michigan? If so me too . .

Yes sir! Born in Tecumseh, grew up in Brooklyn (south of Jackson) and went to school at GVSU in Grand Rapids. Moved out here to AZ in 2007.

EcoBoostF100 · Mar 22, 2018

suicidekings said:
The hood went on the car and the fitment was always garbage however its worse now. For some reason the hood has a bow in it and I have no idea why. I put a camera under the hood but can't find it hitting anywhere.

I like my quick latches though! Here are a few shots and an underhand shot.

View attachment 1473824Untitled by |SK Photography|, on FlickrView attachment 1473825Untitled by |SK Photography|, on FlickrView attachment 1473826Untitled by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

I loaded up the car onto the trailer Thursday evening getting ready to take it to the exhaust shop Friday morning. Didn't want to leave it outside so the whole trailer fit in the garage. Win!

View attachment 1473827Untitled by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

Now onto the exhaust drama......

I called and explained that I needed a fully custom mandrel bent stainless steel 3" exhaust with an X pipe. I was going to bring my mufflers as well as the tail pipe section from just before the axle. Because of my Panhard bar these tail pieces needed to be massaged by the shop. After discussing this he agreed that this could be done without any issues. I scheduled for Friday so they could work on it one day only, all day.

I received a phone call on the Tuesday before the appointment stating that the guy who was going to be doing my exhaust would be needed at the peoria location and I could either cancel my appointment or I could take it there. I am coming from Chandler so its quite a bit further but I was happy to do so as long as it would be done right. So I agreed Friday at 8am I would show up at the peoria location (further away than the one I booked at).

I got the vehicle up on the rack at the shop and went over everything that was to be done and immediately it was said that the tail pipes will not work and he said he would do as much as possible but the tail sections were out of the question. Not a deal breaker but not happy about it.

I left and a few hours later I received a phone call stating that the exhaust could not be done. the bends and making everything fit was not possible for him to do. He stated I could leave my car there for his boss to finish on Monday but he could not complete the exhaust.

When I went to go pick up the car I saw what the guy had worked on for 4 hours.... it was a 12" piece coming off the collector. There should have been a tight bend right off the collector but he had it come straight off the collector to a 45 degree bend and he dented up the pipe... It was complete and total shit.

Its probably a blessing the guy couldn't complete the work because if the quality was like that one piece he did do, I would have unbolted the exhaust and went home anyhow.

Now back to square one trying to find someone to fabricate the exhaust. Problem locally is nobody does 3" mandrel bending, I have to find someone who will take 180 degree bent pieces and just cut them and piece it all together. I can find some that will do it but nobody really wants to take on the challenge of the tail pipes. It can be done and I have seen it many times but seems like everyone around here is just flat out lazy as shit. Im willing to pay upwards of $1500-$2000 for a damn exhaust... nobody wants to do it right.

Still reading thru your build thread. The stainless exhaust is something I could have helped you with. I spent just over 1000.00 for materials from headers back. 304 Stainless not the cheap stuff (header materials around 450.00) I just eyeballed what I would need when it showed put it together like a puzzle. Still have around 7' of 3" 304 Stainless straight pipe.

Here is one I just did for my 427 Truck project.

Not afraid of a custom total build . . Opposite side of town but . .

suicidekings · Mar 22, 2018

EcoBoostF100 said:
Still reading thru your build thread. The stainless exhaust is something I could have helped you with. I spent just over 1000.00 for materials from headers back. 304 Stainless not the cheap stuff (header materials around 450.00) I just eyeballed what I would need when it showed put it together like a puzzle. Still have around 7' of 3" 304 Stainless straight pipe.

Here is one I just did for my 427 Truck project.

Not afraid of a custom total build . . Opposite side of town but . .

Wish I would have known a bit sooner... I still don't have exhaust however I have been talking to a guy over in sun city that does good fab work. I am going to check in with him again to see what his timeline looks like. If he cannot get me finished before 4/12 I may reach out to you! That exhaust looks beautiful!

suicidekings · Mar 23, 2018

Well, just as quickly as its done.... its back up on stands.

Untitled by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

I was noticing that the brakes needed to be bled again so I bought a pneumatic brake bleeder which worked much quicker. I pulled two bottles of fluid through the system so it should be air free now.

I also found that the tank has a very slight seep from the fuel hat which I plan to fix this weekend.

My air fuel gauge is also not working any longer... it should sweep to warm up but no longer does this so I will need to dive into figure this out.

I noticed I had some bowing on the hood when it closed so I decided to look into this and found the hood struts were rubbing on the CC plates. I had to modify the brackets. The pic below shows where I had to grind off a quarter inch from the bracket on the front and bottom.

Untitled by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

It helped but still not perfect... it will work for now.

I needed to button up my valvecover breather setup so I ended up making some brackets for my catch cans. I didn't want to drill into the pretty finished bay so I made these brackets that mounted on the bottom of the rail.

Untitled by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

Keep in mind these brackets were taken from my scrap metal pile. They were aluminum pieces for dock sections I believe. I cleaned them up and painted them with wrinkle paint and they didn't turn out too bad.

Untitled by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

Here is how they mount from the under side.

Untitled by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

Im not 100% sold on the routing of the hoses.... but this is where it is now.

Untitled by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

Untitled by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

Untitled by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

I ordered a trailer which should be here on Wednesday and the car goes in for exhaust on Monday.... show time is coming up real soon!!!

DougNuts · Mar 25, 2018

Wow, that engine bay looks great!

2011 gtcs · Mar 25, 2018

Dude the engine bay looks amazing.

CobraTerritory · Mar 25, 2018

That engine bay!!! Wow

Weather Man · Mar 25, 2018

Nice work for sure.

suicidekings · Mar 26, 2018

DougNuts said:
Wow, that engine bay looks great!

Thanks!

2011 gtcs said:
Dude the engine bay looks amazing.

Once I return from the show we will need to roll up to the pavs together.

CobraTerritory said:
That engine bay!!! Wow

Thanks man! Swing by the Knotts hotel Friday or Sat and come check it out in person. I plan to crack open some beers in the parking lot and sit in my lawn chair like Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino.

Weather Man said:
Nice work for sure.

Thanks.

I will be re routing the lines tonight, they block off the beautiful blank engine bay panels and I cant have that lol.

suicidekings · Mar 26, 2018

Done with the hoses for the catch cans.... came out nicely.

Untitled by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

Untitled by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

Untitled by |SK Photography|, on Flickr

I was able to trouble shoot my Air Fuel gauge as it stopped sweeping to heat up the sensor. At first I thought it was a ground however I found that the plug in the back had a wire that wouldn't stay in. I was able to manipulate the prongs and got it stuck back in.

Last two things to button up are the exhaust which will be done on the 2nd. The second thing to button up is the gauge bezel. I ordered this back early Feb and was told it would ship out last week Thursday or Friday however I never got confirmation. I called today and they let me know I should see something Today or Tuesday at the latest. I am really really hopeful they get it out tomorrow so I can have it installed by this weekend leaving only the exhaust. I may pay additional for the expedited shipping. We will see.

1985 GT build thread.

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