Joe's '94GT money pit

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joemomma

joemomma

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Appreciate the comments lads. On days like today when it's clean and I drive it in, it sure does put a smile on my face. Interestingly enough since the SN95 doesn't get much love, I've had two people stop and talk to me about it recently. One is the manager at the VatoZone up the road (turns out he's a Mustang guy too) and then a random gent a little older than me in a parking lot the other day.
 

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Appreciate the comments lads. On days like today when it's clean and I drive it in, it sure does put a smile on my face. Interestingly enough since the SN95 doesn't get much love, I've had two people stop and talk to me about it recently. One is the manager at the VatoZone up the road (turns out he's a Mustang guy too) and then a random gent a little older than me in a parking lot the other day.
They are the bastard child of mustangs... who feed the bucket of fish heads to that gap of 72-fox body mustangs
 
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joemomma

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Wifey got me new pedal covers as part of my anniversary gift. Just the "stock replacement" style from LMR. I'll put 'em on this weekend hopefully.
 

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Appreciate the comments lads. On days like today when it's clean and I drive it in, it sure does put a smile on my face. Interestingly enough since the SN95 doesn't get much love, I've had two people stop and talk to me about it recently. One is the manager at the VatoZone up the road (turns out he's a Mustang guy too) and then a random gent a little older than me in a parking lot the other day.
its nice when you get random comments from random people. I like to think that isn't why I do it, but it is a nice way to meet cool people IMO.
 

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I've never been a fan of white vehicles. Forced to live with one for the first 18 years of my life and forced to drive white vehicles by my employer for over 20....


But, I have to say, you have this one looking pretty sharp. That wheel set would be on my short list of things to do on my car when money becomes more plentiful.
 
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joemomma

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So, the "budget" audio build has bit me in the ass finally. The audio has been dropping in/out (mostly out) over the last couple of weeks. Finally had a chance to tear into it over the weekend.

Started with the jiggle/pull test at the connections at the amp. I wasn't able to induce a change (and at this point it was completely out) so I went up front and pulled the HU and did the same jiggle/pull test. Checked the fuse, all good. So, I grabbed one of the speaker leads off the HU and hooked up and old speaker. Sure enough, I get sound. So, everything with the HU part is good. Put the HU back in and the dash back together, and head to the back again. Pull the rear seat bottom to check the ground for the amp, all good. I've got a spare amp (old school Precision Power PC650) and hooked it up and sure enough, everything works. Long story short, the POS NVX amp is toast. It's a year old. Now I have to find a new amp. I'll likely end up going with a Pioneer 5 channel (which is what I initially wanted but couldn't find stock anywhere). I have essentially the same amp in the truck and it has been rock solid. I'd run that PP but the front channels are blown, only the rear and sub channels work. I should probably sell it.

EDIT to add: I've got NVX 5.25" components up front and coax in the rear. They sound pretty bad. I'll end up replacing them at some point. Lesson learned, you get what you pay for. The whole point of this car has been to be "budget friendly", but sometimes that comes back to bite you.
 

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I replaced all the speakers in a Ram 1500 I had a few years back with mid-level Infinity speakers. The sound was amazing on the OEM amp. I have a Skar 8" sub and amp in the wife's car. Too much power for the sub. I have it tuned WAY down, but the sound quality is really good. I've been debating on replacing the 4 speakers in mine with the Skar 6x8. Reviews are pretty good and the price is VERY good. They run sales all the time on their website. I just haven't pulled the trigger on it yet.

The 5ch amp is honestly a great way to go. Easier/less wiring than a multi-amp system. Fewer things to deal with. Happy shopping.
One thing I have learned over the years about budget audio. If you shop at the bottom end of the pricing, you're not likely going to end up with something that sounds good no matter the brand. Don't be afraid to step it up and get mid-level or even upper-level bits. Open it up and install once. I grew up in the 80s. Car audio was a booming (literally) hobby back then and everyone seemed to want their stuff hanging out for everyone to see. I was into the stealth installs. I liked it to look completely OEM. Led to a little shock value when the system picked up.
 

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So, the "budget" audio build has bit me in the ass finally. The audio has been dropping in/out (mostly out) over the last couple of weeks. Finally had a chance to tear into it over the weekend.

Started with the jiggle/pull test at the connections at the amp. I wasn't able to induce a change (and at this point it was completely out) so I went up front and pulled the HU and did the same jiggle/pull test. Checked the fuse, all good. So, I grabbed one of the speaker leads off the HU and hooked up and old speaker. Sure enough, I get sound. So, everything with the HU part is good. Put the HU back in and the dash back together, and head to the back again. Pull the rear seat bottom to check the ground for the amp, all good. I've got a spare amp (old school Precision Power PC650) and hooked it up and sure enough, everything works. Long story short, the POS NVX amp is toast. It's a year old. Now I have to find a new amp. I'll likely end up going with a Pioneer 5 channel (which is what I initially wanted but couldn't find stock anywhere). I have essentially the same amp in the truck and it has been rock solid. I'd run that PP but the front channels are blown, only the rear and sub channels work. I should probably sell it.

EDIT to add: I've got NVX 5.25" components up front and coax in the rear. They sound pretty bad. I'll end up replacing them at some point. Lesson learned, you get what you pay for. The whole point of this car has been to be "budget friendly", but sometimes that comes back to bite you.
In reality a car is about the worst place you could possibly put electronics. They like a nice stable/non-moving/bouncing place to work that is climate controlled and dust free and a car is none of these.
 
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joemomma

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I'm a child of the 80's myself (born in the 70s) so remember the "good old days" of car audio. I'd love to have all the money I spent on mobile audio over the years back lol. I tend to agree, most any brand's entry-level stuff is going to leave a lot to be desired. For my truck ('16 F-150) I went with JL C2 components up front and the Pioneer 5 channel amp. I built a box to house a shallow-mount 12" under the rear seat. It sounds really good for no more than I have in it. In fact, it's probably one of the best "sounding" systems I've had over the years. Certainly not the loudest, but probably the cleanest as far as sound goes. My days of rattling a vehicle to pieces are behind me (as well as the better part of my hearing lol).
 

b1pig

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I'm a child of the 80's myself (born in the 70s) so remember the "good old days" of car audio. I'd love to have all the money I spent on mobile audio over the years back lol. I tend to agree, most any brand's entry-level stuff is going to leave a lot to be desired. For my truck ('16 F-150) I went with JL C2 components up front and the Pioneer 5 channel amp. I built a box to house a shallow-mount 12" under the rear seat. It sounds really good for no more than I have in it. In fact, it's probably one of the best "sounding" systems I've had over the years. Certainly not the loudest, but probably the cleanest as far as sound goes. My days of rattling a vehicle to pieces are behind me (as well as the better part of my hearing lol).
Exactly. Had the loud crap in the 80's and 90's. Got smart as time went on and found the power/quality balance. :)
I only have one vehicle left with a completely stock stereo.... looking at changing that soon.
 

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I have been a HUGE Pheonix gold fan since the 90s when I turned 16. I was lucky enough to come across a PG MS1000 8-10 years ago which you may or may not remember as it was one of their earlier limited edition amps and they only made 50 of them out of two of their biggest amps. I had dreams of putting it in the 94, but it is honestly just to pretty and I can't get myself to do it. The circuit board is gold plated and the back is polished nickel. Its really more audio jewelry than audio but they do suck up some serious current(115 amps per side so x 2) and put out some serious power.

I recently got ahold of the vector file for the circuit board layout for the MS1000 and the MS2250 and MS2125 and I have enough work for the next two months now to catch up on the orders. The laser will be busy both making these and the boxes to ship them.7t1EeGd.jpg
 

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Great job on this so far. I wanted to toss something in here about blowers on these pushrod sn95s. I had a customer come in with a completely stock 95 GT vert and he wanted more power out of it. We discussed it and out of all the choices, he went with a paxton Novi 2000. It was compltely stock down to the cats and exhaust. We put the blower, maf, fuel pump and injectors on it and I tuned it for him. It made 340 rwhp. It went from a slug to a 'can't slap the smile of yer face' kind of car. This was before on 3 turbos. I did an On3 tyrbo kit on a guy's 94, and the kit fit nicely, and it made around 350 or so on 8 psi IIRC. Good luck with whatever you decide and congrats on the new house.
 
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joemomma

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Appreciate the comments :)

I've always wanted something boosted. I'm just not sure how well my 158k mile 302 would like boost honestly. I'd hate to drop $5k on a blower solution and then something else let go in the motor. It uses a little oil now between leaks and wherever else it goes, so I don't know how "healthy" it is. It runs fine, but I fear I'm on borrowed time before a rebuild or replacement is in order.

As far as updates go, nothing to report really. I did get my smoke machine ironed out over the weekend, so I just need to find a good place to hook in to a vacuum line to test with. Open to suggestions, honestly. Looks like there is a good spot on the rear of the intake on the driver side - I believe that's a pretty decent vacuum line?
 
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joemomma

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Throwing my winter "to-do" list on here in case anyone wants to follow along. We'll see how much I actually get done. Number one should actually be chasing down this vacuum leak now that the smoke machine is working.....

1 - Maximum Motorsports clutch cable/quadrant/firewall adjuster - cable on backorder still, no ETA
2 - Modify shifter arm (cut/reweld, handle is too far forward)
3 - Antenna cover plate DONE
4 - Speedometer gear in transmission/new fluid
5 - Trunk spare tire cover
6 - rear seat delete (maybe, still debating this. The rear leather is in excellent condition still) - DONE, pics added
7 - side scoop insert replacement - DONE, pics to follow
8 - replace front speakers - Mach tweeter pods purchased from eBay. I'll have to cut the non-Mach door panels to fit the pods. Replacements ordered.
9 - side mirrors, respray with trim paint
10 - Fog light mod - Envoy fog install
11 - low coolant sensor/wiring: LMR LRS-10968A and LRS-10968AC
12 - low oil sensor : LMR LRS-6624A/LRS-6626A
13 - pedal cover replacements - DONE with the exception of the gas pedal. It's in fine shape, and I can't see me getting in there to wrestle the old one out anyway.
14 - U joints
15 - LMR 2.5" LX tailpipes

16 - Abbott ERA from LMR

EDIT: Progress updated.
 
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joemomma

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Here's a few pics of the rear seat delete, current state:

ovaen4O.jpg
Seat back, with mounting holes. I drilled all the way through and then used a grinding wheel on my dremel
to counter-sink the holes enough to use the factory bolts (approximately 1/2")

I7Mr5WS.jpg
Closer shot of the bottom of the seat back, I thought I might could use the lower factory mounting locations, we
will see how that works out.

HG0Zq1I.jpg
Seat bottom, not sure how I'm going to secure it at this point...possibly the factory locations.

kx7qw1M.jpg
Detail of the contour for the seat bottom

I started by using cardboard to make my template. This was more difficult than I anticipated, as my brain was having
trouble with the "negative" portions. Tetris....Anyway, I got the templates done and then transferred to the MDF, and made my cuts.
I'm still waiting on carpet and spray adhesive, I hope to have everything available and be able to work on it this
weekend. I neglected to remove the rear seat belts while I was in there, so I'll have to take the side panels off again to remove those before I continue.

gryt5UW.jpg
Here's a pic of the new side scoop insert (just one side, the other looks the same). The swap wasn't difficult, just
very time consuming. I ended up having to order another insert off of eBay, as the one I had ordered previously for the passenger side was for a New Edge. I didn't notice this until I opened the box ready to install.

I also measured my ride height per White's build thread....front is 26" to fender along wheel centerline, rear is 27".
 

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