Joe's '94GT money pit

joemomma · Feb 5, 2021

Placeholder for build. Pics to come shortly.

joemomma · Feb 5, 2021

Background:

I'd been searching for a Fox for a while, and wasn't having much luck around here finding anything I wanted or could afford. If I could afford it, you wouldn't want it or if I wanted it, I couldn't afford it. The Fox market around here has gone stupid over the last couple of years. Fast forward to last fall, and I come across this gem. It was still a 5.0, which I wanted, as I had never had one. I've had a couple of modulars (a '99GT and an '06GT) but was really stuck on wanting the old pushrod. The listing said it was "all stock" except tint and stereo. Turns out, all stock means different things to different people! I go look at the car (it's 2 hours away) and it sounds mean when he pulls up. Turns out, it's got shorty headers, Flowmasters, gears, and a short shifter (unknown brand). Two owner (son and then father), 155k miles. It's pretty clean with the exception of a "stale" smell (stored in doors thankfully, but stale smelling). It's also been painted, but no accidents. We negotiate the price and make the purchase.

Pics from For Sale listing and when I got it home:

"Pro" system installed - old school PPI amp, Soundstream Reference 12s, MB Quart components, Eclipse HU:

Bottom of amp, pretty slick:

joemomma · Feb 5, 2021

On the test drive, I didn't really get into it very hard. It drove fine. Fast forward to it being "mine", and I go to see how it runs. Turns out, it has a pretty decent miss above 4500RPM. I thought maybe something got wet (the engine bay was super clean, just detailed) but that wasn't it. So, time for a tune up.

Plugs, wires, fuel filter, cap/rotor, coil (and some stereo stuff, more to come on that)

Before

Some things were clean

Plugs, not original Motorcrafts, surprisingly

After

joemomma · Feb 5, 2021

Tune-up takes care of the miss, so that's a plus.

Now, the stereo....what a mess that was. Nothing like coming in behind someone else's work (especially wiring). In it's day, this was a FINE system. But, age had not been kind to it. The power wire for the amp was missing from the engine bay, so I replaced all that. Once I get everything hooked up, I realize it's not working (probably why it was unhooked). The only thing that worked was the rear speakers which were running off the HU. Everything was still there (with the exception of one tweeter up front), just not working. Turns out the front channels on the amp were fried.

Long story short, I ended up replacing the entire system and reran some speaker wires (previous installer ran some speakers wires with the power wire). I was also fighting some pretty bad alternator whine (which I'm still chasing). I also discovered the "pro" that installed the system hacked up the factory wiring for the HU rather than using a $10 wiring harness. I ended up replacing everything, and running new power/ground wires along with 3 new sets of RCAs.
Equipment list:
Alpine BT HU
NVX 5.25 components in the front doors, tweeters mounted in the sail panels
NVX coax in the rear deck
A single 12" Kicker in a slot-port box
NVX 5-channel amp

This is a budget-friendly install, nothing high-end about it. I just needed some tunes in the car, and TN now requires hands-free mobile use, so I needed to get a more modern HU installed for that. I should also add that I had to cut the old sub box up with a saw to get it out. I don't really have many pics of the stereo work, not a lot to see honestly. I may have some hiding on my phone - I'll see if I can dig those up.

Lots more work has been done to the car as well - new shocks/struts/springs, and wheels and tires. I'll post those pics later.

ttocs · Feb 5, 2021

alternator noise issue - Looking at the before/after under hood pics I can see the stock AC noise condenser is mounted to the coil, I am not sure I see it on the back of the new coil. Its just a single wire(ground) going to a small can and people don't realize what it is. Its made to keep ignition noise out of other systems so you might need to replace it if its bad.

07GtS197 · Feb 5, 2021

Nice to see you duplicate the build thread over here! Looking good man, I want a fox too but Florida is a bad place to shop for one. I’m so jealous of Dudestang and Tjm73 for theirs. But at least you have a pushrod now.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

joemomma · Feb 6, 2021

Redid the ground behind the radio today, no change. I used the bracket that is behind the dash. I also ran a ground back to battery, it was really hard to tell if that made a difference. I couldn’t drive it so just revving the motor was making too much noise to get a good listen. I may just move it to the seatbelt and give that a test.

Scheduled for muffler install Monday. I’ll try to get some current pics up soon.

ttocs · Feb 6, 2021

I know we normally say that any metal section of the car is good to use a ground but dashes, especially as old as ours, are not included. The dash gets bolted in and there are actually a couple of grounds on the pass side of the trans hump that go from the body to the dash to help but those are old connections if they are still on there and they are often left off after a heater core replacement which almost all of our cars have had done by now.

Do you know if you reconnected the ac noise condenser on the coil? It looks like this but a different harness.

https://www.cjponyparts.com/scott-d...OI3z--3TTbDFJdj49MFxdmwB6ZJYZ99QaAhpfEALw_wcB

If it is there try disconnecting it, if it isn't get one ordered. Another easy way for noise to get in to the system is if the rca cables are ran next to the amplifier power cables, or near other high current stock power cables. If the rca's are next to the power wire try to separate them by 8-12".

joemomma · Feb 6, 2021

I took a peek by the coil and it looks to be there, but I didn’t check to see if it was connected. I’ll look closer tomorrow. I don’t specifically remember disconnecting it during the swap but I could have. I’ll prob also move the amp ground to the seatbelt bolt.
I’ll look underneath on Monday while it’s on the rack. There’s some stuff I want to look closer at while it’s in the air. I’d like to see if I can determine the header brand for one.

joe65 · Feb 8, 2021

nice car! like it!

joemomma · Feb 8, 2021

I believe this is the coil filter?

I'm not sure if it's connected, I just snapped a quick look.

joemomma · Feb 8, 2021

I added 17" Cobra Rs and Nitto NT555G2. 17x9 with 245/45/17 and 17x10.5 with 315/35/17 for the rear. I also installed Eibach Sportlines and KYB Gas-A-Just shocks/struts with SVE CC plates. The Sportlines didn't quite give me the 2" advertised drop, but they've since settled some and it's close...maybe 1/4" off. I still haven't got it aligned yet. I need to get that taken care of before I ruin these tires.

New shoes!

Before shocks/springs/CC plate install:

After:

SVE camber plates

Sportlines

KYB

joemomma · Feb 8, 2021

I did flip the quad shocks in the rear while I was installing the new shoes. I haven't noticed any rubbing.

I've got a "Big 3" upgrade kit to install still. That may help with the noise. I'll look under the car today when it's on the rack and see if I can locate the grounds and their condition.

ttocs · Feb 8, 2021

yup that is the filter. It looks to be original and as simple as it is to swap I might start there myself. Again make sure the power/rca's are not ran together, ideally one down one side and one down the other.

joemomma · Feb 8, 2021

ttocs said:
yup that is the filter. It looks to be original and as simple as it is to swap I might start there myself. Again make sure the power/rca's are not ran together, ideally one down one side and one down the other.

Cool, I'll see about just getting a replacement. I've got power down the driver side, and speaker/RCA running down the passenger side. I didn't mess with moving the amp ground, I wasn't feeling working on the car much this weekend.

EDIT: Having a hard time locating a replacement - any sources? The one linked above is for late 60s models.

EDIT 2: found some "universal" ones at rockauto....I'm guessing any of those would work?

ttocs · Feb 8, 2021

joemomma said:
Cool, I'll see about just getting a replacement. I've got power down the driver side, and speaker/RCA running down the passenger side. I didn't mess with moving the amp ground, I wasn't feeling working on the car much this weekend.

EDIT: Having a hard time locating a replacement - any sources? The one linked above is for late 60s models.

EDIT 2: found some "universal" ones at rockauto....I'm guessing any of those would work?

that is a good question. If I am not mistaken its just a capacitor and if I would not be worried about getting the universal replacement. You might need to cut the harness of your old one and solder it to the new one but it should work.

joemomma · Feb 8, 2021

Great, I'll just get one of those ordered.

Muffler install moved to tomorrow, shop is having some issues.

joemomma · Feb 10, 2021

Went to the muffler shop last night and got the Borlas installed (ProXS). They definitely tamed down the exhaust some. It still sounds good, but not as obnoxious. I'm not sure on the drone yet, I took the backroads home as it was a straighter shot. It's a pretty mellow tone, and I think it's going to sound pretty good at WOT. I didn't have a good chance to really get into it. Turns out the factory cats are gutted, so we just left them in place. There wasn't any heat in them and you could see where they had been cut/welded. That would also explain the raw exhaust smell. I also had him weld up the bung where the smog pump went in, I previously just had a hose with a spark plug clamped on it.

I tried to look for the block to chassis ground while it was on the rack, but had no luck. I also saw the name plate/plaque on the header, but I couldn't make the brand out.

ttocs · Feb 10, 2021

joemomma said:
Went to the muffler shop last night and got the Borlas installed (ProXS). They definitely tamed down the exhaust some. It still sounds good, but not as obnoxious. I'm not sure on the drone yet, I took the backroads home as it was a straighter shot. It's a pretty mellow tone, and I think it's going to sound pretty good at WOT. I didn't have a good chance to really get into it. Turns out the factory cats are gutted, so we just left them in place. There wasn't any heat in them and you could see where they had been cut/welded. That would also explain the raw exhaust smell. I also had him weld up the bung where the smog pump went in, I previously just had a hose with a spark plug clamped on it.

I tried to look for the block to chassis ground while it was on the rack, but had no luck. I also saw the name plate/plaque on the header, but I couldn't make the brand out.

Isn't that ground up by the oil filter area on the front of the motor? If your looking for an easy and solid place to add one go from the chassis to one of the bolts that holds the starter in place. The starter is a high current draw anyway, I added one a few years ago when I was having slow start issues.

joemomma · Feb 10, 2021

It may be, and I just overlooked it. I was thinking there was one by the motor mount but I could be wrong. I'll try to catch some videos this weekend and get it nailed down. It's supposed to be nasty this weekend, so probably a good time to get some wrenching done.