Identity crisis

[SouthernGorilla]

My VIN says my car is an ordinary GT but there are some oddities I'm trying to sort out. It's a low mileage car that's been well maintained, so it doesn't seem likely it's been modded much. Then again, it does have muffler delete.

The main puzzle is the seats. I thought only 35th anniversary, and maybe other special editions, had the pony embroidered on the seats. But I have the pony on mine. Was this across the board, or have my seats been swapped?

There's also the decal on the hood:

That looks like it could be factory, but I've never seen a decal without a scoop. And decals are a cheap, easy "mod". I just don't know if there might have been some sort of dealer-installed package available. It has the base side scoops, so if they were trying to clone the 35th anniversary they didn't get very far.

Also, anybody have any thoughts on how to check for internal mods? Like I said, the muffler is gone, so some owner liked to boogie. How can I tell if it's been cammed, or if the rear gears have been changed without getting into a pile of money for professional diagnostics? The car pulls a lot harder than I would expect for a 23-yr old car that only had ~250 HP to begin with. I could easily believe the gears have been changed.

I'm really just looking to figure out what my baseline is so I know where to focus my efforts. I don't want to drop a bunch of money on new gears or cams only to find out it already has gears or cams. The cosmetic stuff would just be nice to know from a historical perspective.

 

[07GtS197]

Decal is probably from a previous owner. My old 02 gt had the pony embroidered on the front seats as well so I believe it was standard depending on the material. Cams, if it doesn’t chop at idle you probably don’t have cams. Rear gears aren’t hard to figure out. You can either mark the driveshaft and see how many rotations it completes for one rotation of the rear tires. Or you can do the math based on rpm, speed and gear ratio.

 

[NEURON]

Definitely an added decal. Yep pony stitched on seats correct. And what he said about the rest. I like the blacktop with the red, nice car!

 

[SouthernGorilla]

I did the math, looks like the gearing is stock. Worked out to 3.35... which is close enough to 3.27 for me to attribute it to me not being able to get precise readings from the gauges.

There's a dyno shop just a few blocks from me. Planned to go by there Friday, but had the throwout bearing go out. So car is in the shop getting a whole new clutch kit. Really curious to see what it's putting to the ground. I'll admit, it's been a while since I drove a real car. But this thing just doesn't feel like a 250 HP buggy. Maybe I'm just old enough that it doesn't take much to impress me anymore.

 

[07GtS197]

Sounds about right. 3.27s aren’t bad but you’ll feel a huge difference going to 3.73s or 4.10s. What mods do you have? These cars feel quick until you get spanked by a minivan lol.

 

[SouthernGorilla]

Sounds about right. 3.27s aren’t bad but you’ll feel a huge difference going to 3.73s or 4.10s. What mods do you have? These cars feel quick until you get spanked by a minivan lol.

Just bought the car, no time for mods yet. And I don't really have any planned in the immediate future. Well, I would like to fix the suspension so it can actually get into my driveway. But once it becomes emissions-exempt... play time begins.

Fortunately, I haven't been spanked by a minivan yet. I'm not sure I could cope with that. I like my illusion that this is a real car instead of a rumbly Civic.

 

[Makoto]

with cars these old you can bet somebody somewhere has changed things along the way. finding an all original one is like finding a unicorn in the wild... which isn't a bad thing since these cars weren't that great from the factory.

 

[SouthernGorilla]

with cars these old you can bet somebody somewhere has changed things along the way. finding an all original one is like finding a unicorn in the wild... which isn't a bad thing since these cars weren't that great from the factory.

Yeah, I'm definitely expecting mods. My problem is identifying them ahead of time. Like right now, the rear end bottoms out constantly. So I'm reasonably sure it has weak aftermarket springs. But I can't tell what's on it. So I don't want to rush out and buy new stock springs only to find out that it actually has the stock springs and it just bottoms out.

 

[ttocs]

sounds like its been lowered.

 

[07GtS197]

Could be the springs but that’s usually a problem with the shocks as they aren’t dampening anything. Though as Scott suggests it could be lowered and scrapes.

 

[badass98svt]

I'm gonna guess 217rwhp on the dyno

 

[SouthernGorilla]

sounds like its been lowered.

Could be the springs but that’s usually a problem with the shocks as they aren’t dampening anything. Though as Scott suggests it could be lowered and scrapes.

I'm pretty sure it's been lowered. I can't even get over the hump in my driveway. It also hit the guide rail at the local car wash. But it doesn't look very low and I can't find a measurement I can compare to see if it's different from stock.

 

[badass98svt]

How many fingers can you fit between the tire and wheelwell?

 

[joemomma]

Additional (side) pics would help, maybe some measurements from the fender to the ground, down the centerline of the wheel.

I had a '99GT that I bought new. It was a base model (Deluxe) and it honestly ran much much better than my '06GT, despite being down 60hp. It was quicker at the track too.

 

[SouthernGorilla]

Additional (side) pics would help, maybe some measurements from the fender to the ground, down the centerline of the wheel.

I had a '99GT that I bought new. It was a base model (Deluxe) and it honestly ran much much better than my '06GT, despite being down 60hp. It was quicker at the track too.

How's this?

 

[ttocs]

I was going to say it certainly sounds like it is lowered but it isn't. How big are these curbs your talking about? I know the speed bumps in AZ are no joke and they make curbs a little steeper in areas with more/less rain but that thing should not be bottoming out much at all

 

[badass98svt]

That's definitely stock height. Maybe your exhaust is hanging too low or something. Or did you maybe mistake a speed bump for a curb?

 

[joemomma]

Agree, that definitely looks like stock height.

 

[ttocs]

yea I never had a problem scraping anything in my 94 when I was in indiana with it. When I moved to AZ funny enough even though its the desert when it rains there it REALLY rains and because of this the roads have a little steeper pitch to help the water run to the sides. Because of this sometimes where the roads meet there is enough of a lip to go over that I could scrap even at stock height.

But if even the car wash thing is bumping the bottom there is something hanging down a little to far. A quick look under it will probably show what it is.

 

[SouthernGorilla]

I was going to say it certainly sounds like it is lowered but it isn't. How big are these curbs your talking about? I know the speed bumps in AZ are no joke and they make curbs a little steeper in areas with more/less rain but that thing should not be bottoming out much at all

That's definitely stock height. Maybe your exhaust is hanging too low or something. Or did you maybe mistake a speed bump for a curb?

Agree, that definitely looks like stock height.

Then the only other thing I can think of is that the springs are so weak that they collapse when my 360# gorilla self climbs in.

I know it's the exhaust that drags first. I recognize the sound. But I have looked underneath and it doesn't hang exceptionally low.

The speedbumps could be bad shocks as suggested above. I tend to not notice them and hit them harder than you're supposed to. Just spent two years dailying a 4x4 with 35" mud tires... no such thing as speedbumps with that. I'll look into getting the shocks replaced asap. Getting a whole new clutch kit right now, so will need a couple weeks to recoup some finances.

You can see the hump in this picture. Any further back and I start scraping. Wife's little Hyundai Elantra makes it easily.