Betty The 98 GT

Jules98GT

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First off let me say, you all are amazing. I love this forum.

Shout of to lwarrior1016, it took a couple weeks but I can finally post!

Some of you guys go ALL OUT, makes me motivated haha!

This will be a build/discussion thread of sorts. I love to read, and I can gain a decent understanding of most things I put my mind to. I've always been a car guy. My grandfather raced circle track for over 30 years, sadly he passed away in April of 2016.
Growing up at family gatherings cars were always the subject of discussion and it got me hooked.
I have never work on an American V8 sports car before. I have always had the Nissans and Hondas and my extent of motor work was head gaskets and other maintenance related things. I've never tore into a motor all the way by myself without someone who has done it before standing with me the entire time.
That's going to change, soon

Enough about me, onto the car.

Here she is the day I got her.
beigning001(1).png
It had sat for over 5 years without being driven very much at all.
Spark plugs, fuel pump, alternator, and starter. That all went in that weekend.
Link to the first start:


Previous owner had the car from 2008 to last November when he sold the car to me.
During his ownership he lowered the car, put MM CC plates on, the wheels, and a flowmaster exhaust. He never had the car aligned so the tires that are on it are totally shot.
The car came with a complete urethane bushing hit that he never got around to installing as well.

The paint is rough in spots. It looks like someone parked the car under a bush for an extended period of time so the deck lid is scratched all to heck. There are dings and dents everywhere,
and a couple panels don't quite fit right. All that will soon be fixed.

After all that I got to drive the car maybe 50 miles and winter set in full force.

Then I got lucky in December. It was abnormally warm outside so I decided to take the car out for an easy drive.
The battery light came on during that drive, and the next day was 30 degrees colder than the day before.
Haha. YAY!
I began to read/plan what I want to do to the car during this time.

Fast forward

March 2021, it was "warm" enough to start working on the car again.

The ALT fuse was blowing, so I took the alternator I replaced in November and exchanged it.
Took it home and installed it.
Bam. Same problem.
Frustrated I took it back again, and the gentleman upgraded me to the next step up in quality.
Took that one home, installed it. Same problem.

Here is the diagram for the charging system.
chargingsystemscreenshot.png

Easy Peasy.
This is right up my ally, I have been an industrial maintenance technician for 10 years. Electrical problems are my bread and butter.


So the charging harness was next.

newchargingharness(1).png

This harness is actually to upgrade the fox body stangs to the 3G alternator.
It took minor modification but it works perfect for our cars and replaces the orginal fuseable link.

Started it up and the dang fuse is still blowing.

Checked the fuse box. Just to put eyes on it.
I learned a long time ago 99% of electrical problems you can see with your eyes. Be observant.

fuseblock001(1).png

Haha ignore the old wire, I had yet to remove it during my troubleshooting.

fuseblock002(1).png

Everything looked alright.

Put everything back together and went and purchased a brand new (not remaned) alternator and the issue has not reared its ugly head since.

Onto the next phase:

I've waxed the car once and tried to fix some of the clear coat. I plan on repainting the car (over the old paint I hope) and then clearing it.

There are multiple little things I need to fix. The deck lid gas shocks are worn out, drivers side window regulator, it needs speakers badly (He LOVES Metallica), the head lights behind the GTO covers are terrible looking. They aren't bolted in correctly or aimed properly.
The intake leaks at the thermostat (or has in the past) there is RTV all around it, and the temp sensor needs replaced (the wires going to it are toast)
The car has a lot of front end noise, the next stage is fixing/finishing the suspension work my father in law started to make sure its all good to go.

This summer I plan on addressing all of those things leading into an engine management install.
I believe I have decided on PRO M Racing's ECM and harness this winter, possibly with a turbo install. That all depends on the monies and if the old lady will give the green light as well as the input here!

Thanks for looking!

Sorry for such a long first post!
 
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bigmike636

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I’m definitely looking forward to further progress on your project. [emoji1360]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

joemomma

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Exciting project - keep us posted!

Do you have a link to the Fox alternator upgrade wiring kit you used? I'm looking for something similar.
 
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Jules98GT

Jules98GT

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Good deal, thanks. I got an upgraded power wire and inline fuse I just haven't installed yet. I just wanted to make sure this wasn't something way different.

No problem man!
This was was nice because it has the "sense" wire and the cluster wire all the way up to the regulator plug. My stock wiring is rough all over the place so I wanted to start fresh.
On the 98 there are two single gang weather tight plugs right under the fuse box, one for the yellow sense wire and the second for the green/red wire that goes to the resistor in the gauge cluster. Mine were completed corroded so I replaced them with new plugs both males and females.
 
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Jules98GT

Jules98GT

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IMG_0087.JPEG

IMG_0442.JPEG

Fun story (From the more on that later above).
The day the intake let go, I saw a friend of mine running the opposite way on a 4 lane road so I whipped around to follow him. Along the way, a yellow 392 Hemi Charger waved him down to do a run. Probably a 30 roll, I was maybe 6 car lengths behind him.

He has a '15 GT.

IMG_0132.JPEG

He roasted him light to light. Made me proud haha. :cool: My buddy can drive, and his car is set up pretty well. Mostly stock minus exhaust, tuner, and suspension.

Anywhoo onto the problems.

IMG_0446.JPEG

IMG_0458.JPEG


Manifold looks to be in good shape. No noticeable cracks anywhere. However.

IMG_0459.jpeg

This bad boy looks like the culprit.
I have a Dorman intake manifold, so I will need to use their gasket kit. I am planning on cleaning it best I can after work this week while I ponder my next move.

It's weird, this intake looks like a PI intake. It's much deeper than the other NPI intakes I've looked at. My smart self didn't take a picture of it, I will tomorrow and post it up.

Stock PI heads with the motor in the car? How hard is that? haha

PI Intake only?

Input welcome.

The fun continues!
 
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96blak54

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The pi head, pi cam and pi intake swap makes for a fun gain, long as you are ok with the compression increase. The pi heads have a reduced size combustion chamber and spikes the static compression up a few points. Running a higher octane is required and a tune will maximize the potential of the swap, but not totally required. Itll still run good with out the tune.

The dorman npi and pi style intake is comparable to a factory ford npi intake. A great durable product, but not good for performance.

When looking for a set of pi heads and cams, stick with any year head after 2003. The early pi heads had only 4threads for the sparkplugs and are notorious for spitting them out. The heads can be from any model 2valve car or truck and were made all the way to 2010. Crown vics, mercurys, town cars, service Econolines and service trucks all came 2valve. 5.4l heads also work well and the 5.4l specific cams are great as well. A little note on the cams, be sure to use actual mustang cams if you want the top performers. The any of 5.4l cams are really close to the mustang 4.6l cams and run great as well.
 

ttocs

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now how on gods green earth can there be a navel base in Indiana?! I live about an hour south of Crane and I have always had to laugh at that idea. A little more than 20 yrs ago I had some time off of work and a buddy told me that you can get permission from their environmental science guys to mountain bike on a nice trail they had set up. I made a call and they said sure no problem come on up. When I got to the gait of the navel base the guard basically told me I was nuts, then he called the same dude I did and he was told to let me through. I have never been on such a creepy trail in my life! The trail went out into the woods and there were all these doors that led into mounds underground(where I later learned they store ammunition). The trail was a 12 mile loop around a lake and around the 5 mile mark I started to hear gunfire in the distance WAY off but as I kept riding it kept getting louder and louder AND LOUDER till I realized that this was not rifles they were firing but artillery and the trail ended at a fence gate that was closed with a sign designating it as a live fire area. I never saw what they were shooting but it was shaking the ground where I was already. What sucked was I waas now 8 miles into the 12 mile loop and then had to turn around and go back.
 
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Jules98GT

Jules98GT

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The pi head, pi cam and pi intake swap makes for a fun gain, long as you are ok with the compression increase. The pi heads have a reduced size combustion chamber and spikes the static compression up a few points. Running a higher octane is required and a tune will maximize the potential of the swap, but not totally required. Itll still run good with out the tune.

The dorman npi and pi style intake is comparable to a factory ford npi intake. A great durable product, but not good for performance.

When looking for a set of pi heads and cams, stick with any year head after 2003. The early pi heads had only 4threads for the sparkplugs and are notorious for spitting them out. The heads can be from any model 2valve car or truck and were made all the way to 2010. Crown vics, mercurys, town cars, service Econolines and service trucks all came 2valve. 5.4l heads also work well and the 5.4l specific cams are great as well. A little note on the cams, be sure to use actual mustang cams if you want the top performers. The any of 5.4l cams are really close to the mustang 4.6l cams and run great as well.
I appreciate the input!

I'll hit up the local bone yards and see if i can locate a set before i start searching the interwebz.
Any heads I get I am going to have them cleaned and reassembled with new components.

Anyone out there a fan of/have completed just the manifold?

I'm almost 100% certain turbocharging is where this build is going. Should I port the NPI's and do just the manifold if that is my eventual plan?

It's down to PRO-M Racing's EFI, or a Megasquirt and wiretuck like @lwarrior1016 did.

now how on gods green earth can there be a navel base in Indiana?! I live about an hour south of Crane and I have always had to laugh at that idea. A little more than 20 yrs ago I had some time off of work and a buddy told me that you can get permission from their environmental science guys to mountain bike on a nice trail they had set up. I made a call and they said sure no problem come on up. When I got to the gait of the navel base the guard basically told me I was nuts, then he called the same dude I did and he was told to let me through. I have never been on such a creepy trail in my life! The trail went out into the woods and there were all these doors that led into mounds underground(where I later learned they store ammunition). The trail was a 12 mile loop around a lake and around the 5 mile mark I started to hear gunfire in the distance WAY off but as I kept riding it kept getting louder and louder AND LOUDER till I realized that this was not rifles they were firing but artillery and the trail ended at a fence gate that was closed with a sign designating it as a live fire area. I never saw what they were shooting but it was shaking the ground where I was already. What sucked was I waas now 8 miles into the 12 mile loop and then had to turn around and go back.


HAHA! that is gold.
I know he literally WROTE from scratch part of radar guidance software for the very first sidewinder missile (Obviously know one knows everything they split the pieces apart). They very well could have been testing guided munitions.
 

lwarrior1016

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Do it!

For the intake swap, I did it by itself. Just make sure you put the rtv around the coolant ports on the heads, and don’t be stingy with it. There is a good write up in the 2v section, I’ll go look and see if the pictures still work.

Don’t get discouraged if it leaks the first time. Rarely does someone get it right on the first shot lol. If you take your time and use the rtv wisely, you’ll get it. Mine leaked the first time because I rushed and didn’t do the rtv correctly.
 

lwarrior1016

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Here you go. Pictures and all.
 
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Jules98GT

Jules98GT

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@lwarrior1016 thank you!
Intake swap is set for next weekend.

I appreciate the advice.

next question. My intake ports are dirty as hell.
is there any good way to clean them?
 

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lwarrior1016

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brake cleaner and a wire brush. Maybe some rags or balls of tape with the sticky side out shoved down in the port.
 

joe65

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Exciting project - keep us posted!

Do you have a link to the Fox alternator upgrade wiring kit you used? I'm looking for somethi
this might help. LMR has some really decent videos.
 

OpalFrostGT

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T
now how on gods green earth can there be a navel base in Indiana?! I live about an hour south of Crane and I have always had to laugh at that idea. A little more than 20 yrs ago I had some time off of work and a buddy told me that you can get permission from their environmental science guys to mountain bike on a nice trail they had set up. I made a call and they said sure no problem come on up. When I got to the gait of the navel base the guard basically told me I was nuts, then he called the same dude I did and he was told to let me through. I have never been on such a creepy trail in my life! The trail went out into the woods and there were all these doors that led into mounds underground(where I later learned they store ammunition). The trail was a 12 mile loop around a lake and around the 5 mile mark I started to hear gunfire in the distance WAY off but as I kept riding it kept getting louder and louder AND LOUDER till I realized that this was not rifles they were firing but artillery and the trail ended at a fence gate that was closed with a sign designating it as a live fire area. I never saw what they were shooting but it was shaking the ground where I was already. What sucked was I waas now 8 miles into the 12 mile loop and then had to turn around and go back.Ttocs

There is a Us navy submarine training base near Hawthorne, NV! I have driven past that facility numerous times.
 
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Jules98GT

Jules98GT

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Well gentleman and ladies it's been awhile.
2021 can stay in the past lets leave it at that. haha :)

I finally installed an intake, I was itching to drive the car so badly this spring I changed gears and purchased a Ford OEM NPI intake from LMR. They are great over there, the day I ordered it I was so excited I accidentally put two intakes in my cart and pulled the trigger HA!
Called them and had the order amended in 5 minutes.

Onto the fun stuff!

I was stupid excited to come home to see this sitting on the front porch.
367345-B7-CC4-B0-B-E254-48-BA-A60-A-494-A7-E604866.jpg

Got everything out of my way from basically ONE YEAR OF NO BEAUTIFUL EXHAUST SOUNDS :(

Cleaned everything up and prepped for install!



IMG-1952.jpg

the NPI ports look so different. It's really neat to see how Ford tried to do something with it.

Here's another shot of it cleaned up.

IMG-1953.jpg

Now since I like to be honest. I'll be honest. I didn't clean the tray. It was cold.

Anyway. Got it all buttoned back up without any issues. Didn't loose any bolts or anything either! Hooray!

IMG-1957.jpg

IMG-1963.jpg

Overall it was an easy job with a 10 month hiatus due to life.

Tires, tune up, all that stuff is coming. I have a code for the drivers side CAT bank below threshold. I'll eliminate the easy stuff like connectors and plugs before I purchase an O2 sensor. I also want to fix what I'm going to describe next before I start spending money for no reason.

I've put maybe 500 miles on the car since it's repair, occasionally I notice a "pop" (like a static discharge pop) coming from the engine bay. I've only noticed the issue when the engine isn't all the way warmed up, and I've put my foot in it.

Tonight, I waited until dark. Car was cool, started it up. Waited about two minutes and rev'd it to about 3500 RPM and let it fall back to idle.
Hit it one more time and back to idle right away.

It sat at idle for about 30 seconds and then I heard it. I already had to hood up, so I got out and looked at the engine and saw spark around the crank pulley area.
I suspect harmonic balancer, what are everyone else's thoughts on it?

The fun always continues, and to be honest it really is fun. I truly enjoy working on these cars.

It's good to be back ya'll. Thanks for looking!
 

RAU03MACH

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ya if the harmonic balancer has a wobble it will take out that crank trigger pick up
the number one reason oil leaking and getting on the rubber like padding on the balancer damper
oil eats that rubber
and sometimes the rubber get dried out dry rot
 

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