200,000 mile GT build

[Akurma]

Man, rust really sucks. Good job getting it tackled though.

As for your brake lines, I do t think you are going to find those two new. It looks like one of them has already been replaced at some point. It’ll probably be best to just get some stainless tubing and make your own.

Yeah i contacted Classic Tube as they have a complete SS kit for our cars. I asked if I could purchase just those two and was denied and told I must purchase the entire kit, kinda lame as the rest of my lines are fine... well at least from what I can see, still have to check how the rear lines look.

yeah rust sucks. i think mine is similar. i'll probably have a closer look this summer. Keep up the progress!!

I hope that yours isn't as bad as mine!

 

[ttocs]

Yeah i contacted Classic Tube as they have a complete SS kit for our cars. I asked if I could purchase just those two and was denied and told I must purchase the entire kit, kinda lame as the rest of my lines are fine... well at least from what I can see, still have to check how the rear lines look.



I hope that yours isn't as bad as mine!

Not sure how much time you have put into it already but its not THAT hard to make your own lines especially if your following an existing line. You can rent/borrow the flaring and bending tools. The only advise I would give is to learn the difference between a double flare and a bubble flare but other than that youtube was able to teach me how to do mine.

 

[Akurma]

Dug into the passenger side shock tower. it was... ugly lol. Drilled the welds out and got the old piece of steel out of there to expose the inside of the frame rail. The good news is that the frame rail itself is in great shape, its just the outer layer of metal that consists of the shock tower that isn't so great. Spent a good part of the day taking measurements and shaping up some new flat steel. I wish these cars weren't in those odd years of - they are starting to become classics and appreciate, but not expensive/old enough to warrant people to save them. Because Im sure in ten years or so, there will be plenty of patch panels out there to fix common rust area, like there are with the Mustangs of the 60's and even some Foxbody areas.


My PSA to everyone: if you live in the north/rust belt you should be checking the shock towers lol.

Not sure how much time you have put into it already but its not THAT hard to make your own lines especially if your following an existing line. You can rent/borrow the flaring and bending tools. The only advise I would give is to learn the difference between a double flare and a bubble flare but other than that youtube was able to teach me how to do mine.

I am not opposed to doing that as it really is only two super small lines with one bend, but I honestly just dont feel like it lol. However im sure that is what i'll end up doing, ive done it before on an old 2000 Mercedes E class.

 

[Boostr1]

I live here in New Jersey, and my car has been pretty much garaged for the past 12 years. I did go over my strut towers though and found some surface rust in those areas, but not as intense as yours. I went ahead and wire wheeled them clean and hit then with some rust inhibitor and a coat of primer. It was only on the drivers side

 

[Frank.JD.Perez]

wanna fix the rust on my car??

 

[96blak54]

You got rust Frank?

 

[Akurma]

I live here in New Jersey, and my car has been pretty much garaged for the past 12 years. I did go over my strut towers though and found some surface rust in those areas, but not as intense as yours. I went ahead and wire wheeled them clean and hit then with some rust inhibitor and a coat of primer. It was only on the drivers side

Im sure a few years ago mine were how yours sound, but too late now lol. Glad you caught it before it got worse! Being from Eastern PA, I know how Jersey is with the salt in the winter

wanna fix the rust on my car??

Hell noooo lol I've had my fair share, But could recommend someone if you honestly need it and are somewhat local

 

[Akurma]

Made some more progress on the strut tower repair. Got all my steel patch panels mocked up and fit in place. Just down to drilling a few holes and cutting the rust out before welding. Home stretch! Probably have ~12-15hrs in just this strut tower alone.

BUT WAIT THERES MORE!!

While I was working on the car I decided to crawl under and take a look at the rear brake lines to see if they needed to be replaced or not. Truthfully I don't even remember looking much at them because I found this...

Horrible picture I know but its all I could get with the front of the car jacked up putting the rear close to the ground. What you are looking at is a solid 2inch by 2inch hole (probably bigger once poked) in the inner side of my rear driver side frame rail... I hate this lol.

 

[lwarrior1016]

Holy crap man. That rust is going to kill you. I give you kuddos for sticking it out though. I would have found another car and started over by now. I’m glad you’re saving it.

 

[Akurma]

Holy crap man. That rust is going to kill you. I give you kuddos for sticking it out though. I would have found another car and started over by now. I’m glad you’re saving it.

That's what everyone said to me when I told them I was fixing the strut tower rust lol. I dont know why but this car has too much sentimental value to me. Always wanted one when I was a kid, was my first car out of school, learned to wrench on it with my dad, learned stick in it. Ill keep fixing it as long as I can lol I dont ever plan on getting rid of it

 

[lwarrior1016]

That's what everyone said to me when I told them I was fixing the strut tower rust lol. I dont know why but this car has too much sentimental value to me. Always wanted one when I was a kid, was my first car out of school, learned to wrench on it with my dad, learned stick in it. Ill keep fixing it as long as I can lol I dont ever plan on getting rid of it

Well that makes it completely different. I guess I need to go back and read the beginning again. With the personal value you have in it, I would keep it too. If it was just a car that you bought to build, I would have ditched it.

 

[Akurma]

Tried searching around the forum and on the web but didn't really find anything.

Does anyone have experience with Strange 10 way adjustable rear shocks on a street car? I don't plan to take it to the strip alot but I found a decent deal on a pair of them. I currently have ~7 year old stock replacement KYB's in the rear and it bottoms out hard with the Eibach sportlines.

I eventually want to do a coilovers setup on the rear but the price on these make it tempting. Looking for thoughts/feedback

 

[RAU03MACH]

Tried searching around the forum and on the web but didn't really find anything.

Does anyone have experience with Strange 10 way adjustable rear shocks on a street car? I don't plan to take it to the strip alot but I found a decent deal on a pair of them. I currently have ~7 year old stock replacement KYB's in the rear and it bottoms out hard with the Eibach sportlines.

I eventually want to do a coilovers setup on the rear but the price on these make it tempting. Looking for thoughts/feedback

look like a gas filled adjustable
I had something like that on my quad
if its close to the ones im thinking turn spanner nut to set the firmness of shock
also have them on a MATV MRAPS

 

[Akurma]

Productive weekend! got all the holes needed drilled out for the patch panels as well as getting everything welded up in place! now just need to grind the welds down and prep for the paint finally. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Some bonus material for everyone... take a look at the factory 22 year old bolt for the K-member and how eroded it is next to the new hardware. This was the best of the four but they are by far, much better than the ones on my 1997 Cobra... those were so rusted thin it was scary looking

I also decided not to pick up the Strange 10 ways. I dont think they would have been a good fit for what I want my car to do, which is mostly a street car that will see the occasional strip/autox event

 

[Akurma]

Another productive weekend just before a big winter storm (12-22 inches of snow!)

Finished grinding up the welds, the front of the passenger shock tower didn't turn out as nice looking as I had hoped for but given my ability and the cramped spot im happy with it and know its strong. I then applied a little bit of filler to the newly patched area and sanded it smooth. A tedious job, but needs to be done none the less.

I also had a small area on the upper part of driver shock tower that had some light surface rust and pitting. Sanding that down and applied some filler there to fill in the low spots. I also sanded an area on the passenger side up against the fire wall that had some surface rust. figured I might as well while im at it. Once that was done sprayed primer on the areas and next up its scuffing up the engine bay again and then priming the entire engine bay!

 

[Akurma]

Had a productive snowy weekend!

Finally got the engine bay primed and painted! next weekend I'll be painting the inside of the fenders then the fun begins!

 

[lwarrior1016]

Very cool! What color are you going with on the outside?

 

[Akurma]

Very cool! What color are you going with on the outside?

Currently leaving the outside of the car alone. a bit strange I know lol. But I just want to focus on one area of the car at a time right now. I would eventually like to repaint the car Redfire metallic or even lately just respray the same factory Rio Red color as it has grown on me.

 

[lwarrior1016]

Currently leaving the outside of the car alone. a bit strange I know lol. But I just want to focus on one area of the car at a time right now. I would eventually like to repaint the car Redfire metallic or even lately just respray the same factory Rio Red color as it has grown on me.

I don’t think it’s strange at all. A lot of older stuff had black engine bays regardless of color. Not too often you see it in a sn though. How are you planning the transition from black to body color? Just leave the fenders red and bolt them on?

 

[joe65]

good work! i should do something like this with mine but we'll see if i ever get to it.