1983 GL, project: Cheap Thrills

First fitting:

E7892EF7-0A9D-4307-BBFF-12480999E8A7_zps6csapf1r.jpg


Not too shabby. Only pop rivets holding it on right now for shaping and fitting.

I wanted urethane bonding only, but its so flexible i may have to leave the pop rivets in to keep it uniform while bonding and bury them in the urethane bonding agent.

I will still urethane it together front and back, the pop rivets wont be visible after body work. While the urethane should be more than enough to make it one piece, the pop rivets will also add a mechanical bond as well. Should be a pretty solid piece once done.

I used small rivets just in case so the heads should be easy to bury. They "indented" themselves slightly in the cover, so they're already recessed a bit quick will help in hiding them. I may remove them and switch to a countersunk type rivet in order to make it a smidge easier to cover with the urethane. Couple passes with the DA and it should be a done deal.

A nice bonus from removing the inner fender liners was that i could reach up into the plenum and feel around the air horn on the drivers side. After pulling out more "mouse house" crap, all i could feel was smooth OEM paint. The pinch welds and metal surfaces are all in great shape. Unbelievable for an 83 that's lived it whole life on the Atlantic coast, but this car has always been good to me. So, hopefully, all i have to repair on the cowl this winter is about a 6x6" area beside the drivers side air horn. That's good news. I though I'd have to make a whole new cowl piece and have horrible rust problems in the pinch seams.

An unwelcome surprise was damage and rust on the drivers side radiator panel. It looks like someone had driven over something, jammed the corner of the panel up, then tried to pound it back out and had brazed (!) a piece of thin metal over it all. This was a very funny thing to find since ive basically owned the car since new. All i can figure is the ex wife must have damaged the car when i was away on one of my business trips and had someone cobble it back up before i came home with me none the wiser. So that's something unexpected I will have to address this winter as well.....
 
Upper and lower bonded together with the urethane, turn signal openings added and bonded in:

F2320E6C-D82E-41AC-BA41-BA95AF851D7A_zpsoe5f0v1s.jpg


It's (essentially) back to being one piece of urethane again.

I'd like to say it was easy, but it wasn't.

It was a major pita.

I separated the two pieces and prepped the surfaces. The two part urethane was runnier than I expected and ran down the front on one side while I was still running the bead to the other side. Lining the two parts back up and pop riveting them together again was a massive rush as I only had a 5 minute work time. Once back together and starting to cure, I flipped it over and applied another thick bead on the back across the two pieces and bonded/filled the turn signal openings into the bumper surface. The turn signal openings are the ones from the 83 lower bumper piece. I just cut them out, split them in half and removed about 1.5" from each. The narrower slit fits the 87+ bumper strip much better than if I had left them full width.

That piece of 2x4 is there because I was heat shaping the lower opening and it's just keeping it from sagging while it cools.

That wraps up this weekend.

Next weekend will be filling and shaping.
 
My K-member was found to have a very weird rust line on it. Rust through is more accurate.

Kind of P's me off and the rest of the K member is spotless. What happened is there's an OEM brake line that runs along the back lip of the K-member. Over the years this accumulated dirt between the line and the K-member. The dirt got wet in the course of the years, remained wet and caused the k-member to rot out in that one specific spot. It's like you took a grinder and cut a 1/2" slot the full width of the crossmember.

So it's weld it or replace it.

Welding isn't very appealing to me, although it is do-able. It's a critical structural and chassis geometry item and welding can warp it if not done right. Replacement with a Fox crossmember is highly unlikely as you just won't find one in scrap yards around here any more. Returned to the earth or have long since been crushed for Japanese razor blades.

But you can still find a few SN95's in the yards here.

Using some "google-fu" reveals that an sn95 K member will bolt in to a fox chassis. The caveat is you need a 94-95 SN95 in order to get the right engine mounting pads. Seems 96+ SN95's had engine mounting pads for the modular engine. The V6 also had the rubber engine mounts changed to fit the modular K member engine pads. Apparently, gents even us the modular SN95 k member to do modular swaps in to a fox.

But, in 94-95, the engine choices were the 302 and the 3.8. As a result, they swap into a fox and have the correct engine mount pads.

Since I've already sourced some 95 SN95 spindles from the local yard, I knew there was a 95 there. A quick stop on the way home from work to check it out and yup, crossmember appears to be in good shape and car isn't there because it was hit (engine failure) so everything is still straight.

Boys are going to pull it for me next week and 150 bucks will make it mine. More than I had hoped it would be, but not completely out of line.

When i get it home I'll strip it down for a thorough inspection, do some modifications and then give it a fresh coat of paint.

I plan to make changes to it as listed in Mathis' "Mustang performance handbook". Moves the crossmember forward and the engine moves back approx 1". Makes for better front to rear balance and increased caster for better on center feel.

The Sn95 is also reported to have a bit better steering rack location for increased Ackerman, which will also be a welcome improvement.

I'll have to re-use my fox a arms as the SN95 arms with the SN95 spindles will make it too wide for my fox fenders.

I'm still PO'd my crossmember was rotted out in only one stupid spot, but I'm trying to look at it positively and will (hopefully) end up with a better handling fox after it's all done (and at a bargain price).

A tubular K member would have been nice and dropped some weight off the nose, but it just isn't in the budget. Between shipping and exchange rates it woudl just have been too expensive for one that I would actually want to buy.
 
Well, I don't know what the hell I was looking at the other day, but a re-inspection of the K member reveals no rust where I thought it was rusted through.

All I can figure was it was a shadow or dirt line or I was a victim of second hand crack smoke.

So, Monday morning the first stop is the yard to stop them before they start pulling the sn95 k member.

But, since my K member is good and it's the "narrow" version I'm going to pick up the SN95 A arms to go with the spindles. That will give me enough camber adjustment to deal with the positive camber the sn95 spindles give you on a fox.

I'll still pull the K member and do the Mathis modifications and engine setback this winter though.

I'll also be moving the battery to a sunken box in the RH rear hatch floor, among other things.

It's just a "Sunday drive" street car, but that don't mean I can't have it handle well too...
 
Current plans: 83 K-member slid forward with control arm mounts moved in/up, engine moved back 1" on mounts, 2000 SN95 control arms, 2000 steering rack.

The 2000 stuff will come from a V6. The control arms are dimensional-ly the same as all 94-04 arms, but allow more clearance for a tighter turning radius and larger rims. Supposedly, my planned configuration will fit under the fenders, my K-member modifications should tuck them in just nicely with perhaps a little rolling of the fender lips and a light trim of the front lower body work.

The Steering rack is nothing special to an SN95, but better than the fox rack currently in the 83 and it will have the right length tie rods for the 95 sn95 spindles.

The steering shaft will have to be modified. You can buy off the shelf solutions to mate the Sn95 rack to the fox column, but they're around 200 bucks USD. That won't do for my budget, so I'll make my own hybrid out of an SN95 shaft and my fox shaft. I've seen a couple ways of doing it through an internet search. I think I can just rotate my wheel since I have the pre-airbag column. If I can't, I'll just take the rack apart and rotate the gear.

I'll need caster/camber plates. I'm undecided on making them or buying them. I had a set once upon a time and all I needed to do was some welding to finish them, but a divorce meant they went in the trash with a lot of other mustang stuff and tools I wasn't quick enough to get out of the house. Now the aurora bearings cost almost as much as a cheap set of finished plates.....yeesh.

I'm not building a track car and it is a budget build, so mixing and matching factory parts (and building a few things) to get the best all around package is the path for me. Just looking to build a nice street car with a little something "extra".

Some home built subframe connectors, rocker rail reinforcements, an SN95 rear 8.8, a panhard bar and a torque arm will round out the chassis. Probably chuck a K-member brace and strut tower brace in and call it a day.

I have toyed with a roll bar/cage, but I'm thinking that might be going a little too far for this car and it's intended use...
 
Great read, looks like you have quite a project and will have a very special car.
I look forward to more updates.
 
Thanks for the kind words gents.

The 83 has been a car I've been dragging around for a long time and never really got to doing a lot with it. Life and all that getting in the way.

But, now that the military is "forced retiring" me (I'm busted up pretty good after 27 years in SAR) I'm making the mustang my last project and will take me into retirement as my Sunday driver.

Well, along with my 83 Yamaha Venture that I slipped a VMax engine in to last winter and my 89 FJ1200 awaiting restoration.

Oh, did I forget to mention my 85 Honda VF750F Interceptor with CBX dual headlights, CBR/RR swingarm, CBR wheels and custom underslung exhaust?

Lol....

:)
 
Last edited:
love to see what your doing with the Bikes, especially the VFR750F
We have a non mustang section also :)
 
got a call from the yard today and I went to pull off the 2002 PBR brakes:

39AA88F5-4F34-487A-861E-6CC8C274B81D_zpsgafsqaql.jpg


Jeez, I got really spoiled by the yards out west. These are pretty crusty. Serviceable, but crusty. Welcome back to the east coast I guess......

Still, a reasonable starting point since I only paid 60 bucks for the pair.

I'll tear them down this weekend and give 'em a good going through. I'm undecided on going through the trouble to polish the calipers to a nice Al shine or paint them red like the car. Lots of time to make that decision.

Also grabbed an SN95 steering shaft:

45033645-75E1-4DAE-AB1A-DB4D5905089F_zpsbxh2zbiy.jpg


Don't need it yet, but it will come in handy when I finally get around to buying the 03/04 Cobra steering rack.

tonight I'm picking up another spindle and a booster/master cylinder from an SN95 off a guy on kijiji. Luckily, he's just down the road and only wants 40 bucks.

then on friday it's a drive into town to pick up four SN95 16" rims. While not the choice I woudl have made for rims, they were super cheap (100 bucks for 4) and will at least allow me to roll the car around the shop once I get the SN95 spindles and rear axle on. They're just rims, but I'll grab a couple worn out tires (close to the right size) from the local tire shop and spoon them on the rims myself. . Doesn't have to be anything special, just has to hold air...Heck, the cords can be showing. I just need something to bolt on until I make a final decision on wheels and tires.

Ohto: I'm not really looking to start a post on my bikes, but I'll throw up a couple pics and let your eyes do the talking:

B52078EB-FE8A-4832-9672-1D97CCA9021E_zpsxijzaafc.jpg


FFF55B37-4FC3-4FB2-9B41-AA857AC53146_zpsy8ksrzuj.jpg


A6B4EFEE-2391-4207-A257-84D04C10CCB2_zpsiuzp7oci.jpg


31C3D927-93CB-4D96-BE88-7161003C4EB0_zpsurfwehnm.jpg


The VF750F is a never ending project. I had one in high school and bought this one many years ago. Honestly, I'm probably going to get rid of it soon. Too much work, takes up space I don't have and I've kind of lost interest in it. It will probably go out to parts since it's not finished and needs some parts fabricated to finish it. I've got the tools to finish it (have an old Atlas lathe in the garage that still build parts just fine), but I've just got no interest in working on it anymore.....

The Venture "Max" is pretty much finished except for a bit of fine tuning still to be done and the FJ1200 is pretty ratty. The FJ1200 is a bucket list item for me (lusted for one when they came out in 84, but no money at the time) and will get a full restoration sometime in the future. until then, I'm just enjoying it for what it is....
 
Last edited:
TrueBlue02058;n7761 said:
Looks like you have plenty of projects to keep you busy over the fall and all through winter.

My preference would be red calipers regardless of the car's color. But it's your car.

Click to expand...

No worries. I have no problem with guys expressing their opinions. You never know when someone is going to pop up an idea you haven't had yet.

:)
 
Last edited:
So I picked up the master cylinder and spindle.

Spindle will make a good spare in case I fire it off into the weeds on a CAM-T run and bend a steering arm or something:

7F451940-DBE8-47C8-97A9-5765026F3E09_zpsukwhkeys.jpg


It's even the right 94-95 spindle for my SN95/Fox mix. You can tell by the "jog" in the steering arm. 96-04 have straight arms and don't work well with the stock K-member on a Fox. They induce un-correctable bump steer.

Actually, I think this one is in a little better shape then the ones I already have (IE: rusties). I may just use this one instead.

But the real score is the booster/master cylinder:

E578828C-2715-4C5B-82AD-F5632CC6529B_zps5povfzbh.jpg


Complete and ready to bolt in. Has the added bonus of having the proportioning valve still attached. So all I have left to source for the complete SN95 brake conversion is the 8.8 SN95 rear axle. Hard lines I'll just run and flare myself.

All this for 40 bucks.

So, once I pop for some fresh pads and rotors (and build my hard lines) I've got a complete front SN95 brake system with the PBR twin pot calipers for 110 bucks.

If I add it all up:

100 bucks for SN95 A arms
40 bucks for master cylinder
70 bucks for calipers
80 bucks for Sn95 spindles
estimate 100 bucks for new rotors
estimate 80 bucks for good pads
toss in 100 bucks for the new rims
Figure 70 bucks for hard lines and fluid
total - 640 bucks.

Not bad for modern brakes, sn95 front end suspension and a 5 lug conversion!

:)

Now it's 200 bucks for an SN95 axle and it's done all around for brakes and 5 lug. Then i can get on to fabricating the panhard bar and torque arm rear suspension.

I didn't account for buying tires, but I'd have to buy a new set anyways. No getting away from that cost....
 
Last edited:
it's been a long 2 days, but the 16" rims and 96 rear diff are sitting in my driveway in the bed of my truck....:)

Took me just under and hour to pull the rear axle out of a rusty old 96. So crusty the jack stands pushed the OEM jack point up (and most of the rear suspension mount point) into the rockers when the car's weight came down on it. Crusty crusty crusty.......

It's only a 7.5, but good thing is the rest of it was complete. Except for some clean up and maybe some new seals, I could bolt it in and go if I wanted too.

I'll run it 'till it pops or I find an 8.8 housing. All the 7.5 stuff that matters (brakes, five lug shafts, etc) will transfer right over to any mustang 8.8 up to a 99.

Not bad for 100 bucks. Would cost me more than that for just calipers and pads....
 
pics:

F5549588-912E-4CF7-AAB5-6D49A709156D_zpsd6cxs6ch.jpg


I just swung the axle out of the bed with the engine crane and on to a car dolley. Easy peasy.

Like I said, it's a 7.5 and I would have preferred an 8.8, but I also only spent 100 bucks on it and I'd have to spend more than that on just a set of aftermarket brake caliper brackets. I'm good with it.

:)

I just wish NS weather wasn't so hard on car parts. Lots of clean up to do. I got really spoiled buying used parts when I was out west....:(

Couldn't resist plopping one of the rims in front of the tires to get a quick visual:

0B94C243-48F0-42EA-8D9E-6FC98A654039_zpsl7u3n0hl.jpg


Looks pretty good. They're 16's, but that's large enough for me. Gives me a little more sidewall than 17's or 18's (bloody important on crappy NS roads!) and a little less sidewall for autocross days. It's a good compromise between big and small IMHO. I never got on the "big wheels little tire" thing, so I don't feel the need to go bigger just for appearances sake..

These will also clear the 12" brakes I'll be running. Had I found 13" cobra brakes at a reasonable cost, I might have gone looking for 17's, but we all know the "rarer" stuff is near impossible to find in NS.....
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top