Got the car, 1995 GT 5.0 with the 5 speed manual, with a cracked fiberglass hood, a blown rear end, and an exhaust leak. On the more positive side, it had a B303 camshaft, some kind of underdrive pulleys, a short-throw shifter, and an upgraded clutch. I haven't verified what brand the clutch is because the transmission has been giving me a hard time, so I figured I'd replace both at the same time.
Luckily, the person who sold me the car had given me a new hood that just needed to be painted, along with another rear end. He claimed it had 3.73 gears, but I haven't double-checked that yet.
The first order of business was taking care of those two leftover projects from the previous owner. I don't have any pictures of the rear-end job. It ended up taking around 10 hours because every control-arm bolt was either seized or warped and turned into an absolute nightmare. To make matters worse, this "new" rear end has a nice hum to it, but it's still much better than the previous one.
$2,700 for the hood, rear end, and a car that ran? I'll take it as a win.
Shortly after that, I started having charging-system problems. I replaced the alternator and battery, then rerouted the belt to bypass the smog pump, which was still on the car at the time but has since been removed, as well as the A/C compressor.
While replacing the alternator, I noticed the top mounting bracket was broken. The simple fix that has worked for a while now was just a longer bolt, some washers, and a little luck. I figured, while I was there, why not do plugs and wires too?
Eventually, I had to park the car for around a year. Life got in the way, but I made sure to start it and drive it around the block at least once a month just to keep everything moving.
The first time I started it up after the snow melted, I blew the lower radiator hose. That ended up snowballing into a laundry list of parts:
For Christmas, my parents got me a 1–3 inch Raceland suspension kit, so while I'm at it, let's install that too.
I get everything opened up and notice something odd...
Where are my sway-bar bushings? Matter of fact, where the hell is my mounting bracket???
Off I go to find and replace those too.
Currently, that's where I'm at. I still have an exhaust leak and a transmission that only shifts when it's having a good day.
I've tried to address the exhaust leak with new Fel-Pro gaskets and a new header bolt kit at some point along the line, but that didn't seem to help much.
While I finish up the suspension work, I'm also doing all-new front brakes: calipers, rotors, pads, and hoses.
I'm sure there's a thing or two I've forgotten over the past three years, but the goal right now is to just get it back on the road before this winter. Hopefully, more mods will come in the future, but this current landslide of parts has put a delay on my plans.
Luckily, the person who sold me the car had given me a new hood that just needed to be painted, along with another rear end. He claimed it had 3.73 gears, but I haven't double-checked that yet.
The first order of business was taking care of those two leftover projects from the previous owner. I don't have any pictures of the rear-end job. It ended up taking around 10 hours because every control-arm bolt was either seized or warped and turned into an absolute nightmare. To make matters worse, this "new" rear end has a nice hum to it, but it's still much better than the previous one.
$2,700 for the hood, rear end, and a car that ran? I'll take it as a win.
Shortly after that, I started having charging-system problems. I replaced the alternator and battery, then rerouted the belt to bypass the smog pump, which was still on the car at the time but has since been removed, as well as the A/C compressor.
While replacing the alternator, I noticed the top mounting bracket was broken. The simple fix that has worked for a while now was just a longer bolt, some washers, and a little luck. I figured, while I was there, why not do plugs and wires too?
Eventually, I had to park the car for around a year. Life got in the way, but I made sure to start it and drive it around the block at least once a month just to keep everything moving.
The first time I started it up after the snow melted, I blew the lower radiator hose. That ended up snowballing into a laundry list of parts:
- Upper and lower radiator hoses, plus all the bypass hoses
- Thermostat
- Timing-cover bolt kit, since two bolts had seized and gotten stuck in the block
- Radiator
- Coolant bottle, since someone had put a huge mess of JB Weld at the bottom of the old one to fill a crack
- Tensioner, which had split in half
- Ignition coil and pigtail, since I noticed the coil didn't have one
For Christmas, my parents got me a 1–3 inch Raceland suspension kit, so while I'm at it, let's install that too.
I get everything opened up and notice something odd...
Where are my sway-bar bushings? Matter of fact, where the hell is my mounting bracket???
Off I go to find and replace those too.
Currently, that's where I'm at. I still have an exhaust leak and a transmission that only shifts when it's having a good day.
I've tried to address the exhaust leak with new Fel-Pro gaskets and a new header bolt kit at some point along the line, but that didn't seem to help much.
While I finish up the suspension work, I'm also doing all-new front brakes: calipers, rotors, pads, and hoses.
I'm sure there's a thing or two I've forgotten over the past three years, but the goal right now is to just get it back on the road before this winter. Hopefully, more mods will come in the future, but this current landslide of parts has put a delay on my plans.
![IMG_20140524_152057360_HDR[1]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/0/66-1b90088565df25d76ff5bd73b7f47142.jpg?1623783787)
