EF5.0's recovery and beyond project

[EF5.0]

I have never made a build/story thread, so this may be slightly winded. This will show the story and progress of my 94 GT.

First off a little background on why this car is being "recovered". My dad bought the car 3 years ago to eventually give to me for when I went to college. I was already driving a mustang at the time (95 v6). He bought it cheap and we only had to fix a faulty sensor to get it running smoothly. Fast forward to last year in May. May 22, 2011. To be exact May 22, 2011 at 5:41 p.m. For those of you who do not know, this is when a very deadly EF-5 Tornado ripped through the city of Joplin Missouri. Destroying my hometown, my home, and all but Two of my family vehicles (one of which is the GT I am writing about).

http://sn95forums.com/showthread.php?44725-Joplin-tornado This explains a little more what happened in Joplin if you do not know. I wrote this right after the event.

Anyways back to the car in the spotlight! It is a 94 GT 5.0 5speed. These are the pictures of the car post-tornado:

The body has been repaired and repainted. The windows that were shattered have been replaced.

I will be posting current picture of it tomorrow once I take them.

The things that have been done before or since the tornado are:
-Exhaust: Stock midpipe into flowmasters (unknown series) dumped before axles (This was done before we purchased it)
-CAI
-Swapped stock wheels for 1999 35th Anniversary wheels, painted indentions gunmetal grey
-New paint
- Aftermarket Black Vertical Tail-Lights with Sequential Blinkers
- Modified Turn signal Relay
- Fresh Tune up @ 169,870miles
-Bypassed Smog Pump via shorter belt


Plans I have for it (both maintenance and for fun)
-Replace the seized AC compressor/pulley clutch
-Allignement
-New exhaust: Hopefully custom x pipe to Cherry Bomb Vortex or Extremes
-Lower it (plan to do springs, struts, C/C, and Bumpsteer all at once to "do it right"
-New front seats
-Short throw shifter



I also want to mention, this is my daily driver.

Any questions or comments are welcomed!

 

[EF5.0]

This is what my old v6 looked like after the tornado. This is no longer in my possession. Was sold to a mustang graveyard/friend in town to part out. Just want to show everyone what I did have.

 

[TanTop94]

Wow that tornado really messed things up. Love the red interior on your v6 though! And I'm glad to see you stuck through things with your 94 gt and are clearly fixing it up.

 

[Shifty Powers]

Keep up the good work on the car man. Ill definitely follow the progress as you make it. Good luck and good work so far!

 

[MustangChris]

wow man!!! youve got some work....

 

[EF5.0]

Here are the current pictures as promised. Lighting isn't the greatest. But it definitely looks better. Pictures may not be the greatest, took them with my 8mp phone so... not quite sure about it. Best I have at the moment though.

 

[chrisv_10]

Are those new edge rims? They look pretty good. You definitely need a drop though.

Sent from my SGH-T679 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Darhawk]

You know I love your story, it's sad and yet you get back what was lost..regarding the car. Pics are great. Nice to see come back to life. Nice job.

 

[EF5.0]

Thanks everyone. It helps to get some postive feedback and support on this. I've still been trying to get past the event in my mind, its still very much a hard thing for me to talk and think about. But I want people to know and I know talking about it will help.

To answer you're question Chris: Yes, they are new edge wheels. We traded the stock 94 gt wheels for these straight across. The indented sections of each spoke are painted gunmetal.

 

[EF5.0]

Should be going to pick up a new pair of front seats tomorrow. Found a pair of Corbeau CR-1's for $250 on the ole Craigslist. Pretty excited for that.

 

[97FloridaGT]

Wow, car is moving along good man. Keep us updated and thanks for shedding some light on the origin of your name.

 

[EF5.0]

The seats are now mine. I have not yet installed them, will be replacing both the front seats and the carpet next week when I go home for Thanksgiving break. The Craigslist poster was wrong, the seats are not CR-1's... BUT they are still Corbeau's, A4's to be exact. Snagged them for $250 for the pair with brackets included, and they still look brand spankin' new.

Pics for those who asked:

Brackets:

This is the driver's seat that will be getting replaced. Not only is it ripped, but the previous owner was a smoker so there is soot build up on both front seats:

When I get them installed with the new carpet I will get pics! Hoping to be able to steam clean the back seats as well.

 

[jumbowolfe]

It never ceases to amaze me how bad people treat cars. I have those exact same seats and cloth, and after a near 20 years, I don't have holes and wear marks like that. I bought a set of 96 donor seats to work on while my stock ones stay in the Mustang, and they are screwed up too.

Good call on the Corbeau's!

The seats are now mine. I have not yet installed them, will be replacing both the front seats and the carpet next week when I go home for Thanksgiving break. The Craigslist poster was wrong, the seats are not CR-1's... BUT they are still Corbeau's, A4's to be exact. Snagged them for $250 for the pair with brackets included, and they still look brand spankin' new.

Pics for those who asked:


This is the driver's seat that will be getting replaced. Not only is it ripped, but the previous owner was a smoker so there is soot build up on both front seats:

When I get them installed with the new carpet I will get pics! Hoping to be able to steam clean the back seats as well.

 

[EF5.0]

Had some free time and a new OBD-I scanner to toy with so I ran the codes from my CEL today. All but two I had known about and fixed (EGR, ignition module). What I didn't know about may help my car idle a little smoother. MY O2 sensors are reading lean, I read that cleaning the MAF and Air filter may fix this some I'm going to try that this week. Second new to me code is 212: Loss of Ignition Diagnostic Monitor Signal/SPOUT circuit grounded.

Also, I got code 543: Fuel pump secondary circuit fault. I searched that on here and found that it may be the PIP in the Dizzy going bad, this code may explain why at idle my RPM's will drop to about 400-500 and the Voltmeter needle drops to about half way to it's normal position.

I'm going to clear the codes and see what comes back, since all but two were fixed already. Advice is greatly appreciated. I'm a little worried about messing with the dizzy, don't want to mess anything up.

 

[EF5.0]

New Seat (Corbeau A4's) and Carpet installed finished! Only took me about 7 hours total -.-. Looks much better now, and the seats are so much more comfortable. Anyways, enough of my rambling.... On to the pics.

Old seats out, out dingy carpet still in

Glass underneath the old seats that I must have missed when shop-vacing after the tornado

Carpet out and shop-vacing done, nice and clean now.

New carpet in, amazing how much different it looks when it's not faded.

New seats (left) vs Old seats (right)

New seats installed, after a long time trying to get the bolts in the right hole.

View of the new seats through the windshield, Sorry for the glare, just trying to give a different angled look.

Very happy with the results. My replacement carpet didn't come pre cut... So I cut a little to much in places, but was able to patch with larger chunks of carpet I had cut.

 

[whiplash473]

seats look good EF

 

[belber095]

i love how corbeau's look in our cars. keep it up man!

 

[MustangChris]

slow n steady...

 

[EF5.0]

Thanks guys. Next order of business is taking care of the codes I have, and a tune up as soon as winter ends. Also whatever I get for Christmas, or what I can afford.

 

[97FloridaGT]

Wow, carpet makes the interior look 100x better. Nice work.