Project 2 GTs 1 Spot (Page 1/9)
skywurz NOV 07, 09:23 PM
So I have found myself with 2 88 GTs a fellow forum member alerted us to a wrecking yard that was closing down. They were crushing all of their inventory and selling it as scrap this included 8 Fieros. Unfortunately they crushed 1 of them before our forum member talked with the owner and got peoples attention. They had 2 88 GTs so I took them and they pulled out the forklift and loaded them on my trailer.


Now that I have them home safe and sound i'm trying to do inventory and figure out what car to build out.




So far

Red
5spd
Sunroof
No Interior except drivers door panel and carpet.
Fiberglass damage/rot in rear passenger 1/4
missing rear brakes

White
Automatic (i want a 5spd)
Nice Interior
Missing drivers door
Front end collision damage
Rear window defroster.

So as you can see i have some decisions to make.
Do I want a sunroof or rear window defrost.
Do I want to do an interior swap or an auto to manual swap
Do I want to deal with the front end space frame damage or fiberglass rot.

I have enough parts to build 1 good GT I just don't know what the easiest best path forward. Im open to input and ideas.
sourmash NOV 08, 08:28 AM
The red 5 speed. [EDIT: But the white one looks better from here.]
My pick would be NO sunroof, 5 speed, but many would disagree about the roof. You can change or save the top, just remember there are nuts at the top of the windshield holding the top on near the A pillar.

[This message has been edited by sourmash (edited 11-08-2020).]

skywurz NOV 08, 10:12 AM

quote
Originally posted by sourmash:

The red 5 speed. [EDIT: But the white one looks better from here.]
My pick would be NO sunroof, 5 speed, but many would disagree about the roof. You can change or save the top, just remember there are nuts at the top of the windshield holding the top on near the A pillar.




Yeah last time i pulled a roof i killed the plastic on the A pillar... I could probably do it but im not sure i want to.

Update:

After looking at the VINs turns out the red one is an 87 with a Full 88 suspension swap.

There's now no doubt in my mind im going to be putting the White GT back together. It has 86k original Miles and ran in 2016. The Red isn't an 88 last ran unknown last history for it was 08 with over 110k miles.

I will be taking the trans and all of the trans parts from the Red and swapping them into the White but ill keep the Whites engine with it. More labor than a cradle swap but i think it would be worth it.

But first ill have to pull out the front end where it was stuffed and caused this car to wind up where it was.

Edit:

Actually First im going to pull the door on the red one replace the glass with one on the shelf ( door was complete minus window it was broken) because winter is coming and i don't want the insides anymore weathered.

[This message has been edited by skywurz (edited 11-08-2020).]

Raydar NOV 09, 11:36 AM

quote
Originally posted by skywurz:
...
I will be taking the trans and all of the trans parts from the Red and swapping them into the White but ill keep the Whites engine with it. More labor than a cradle swap but i think it would be worth it.



Unless the red car has an 88 engine, you'll have to source the 88 or later flywheel. The 88 is neutrally balanced, where the 87 has a balance weight cast into the back of the flywheel.

Good luck!
skywurz NOV 09, 11:49 AM

quote
Originally posted by Raydar:


Unless the red car has an 88 engine, you'll have to source the 88 or later flywheel. The 88 is neutrally balanced, where the 87 has a balance weight cast into the back of the flywheel.

Good luck!



Thanks! this is the first I heard that there was a difference in flywheels. I will check the casting numbers after I drop the engine on the red car. I would not be surprised if they had swapped the full rear cradle from an 88 when they swapped all of the suspension... This also means I should probably run a compression check on it vs the White car. I was working on the assumption that the Red engine was a 120k engine but the White car is 86k and ran when parked.... ... .. .

Anyway slight update. I found that the Red car was originally an Illinois and Missouri car. So i went out to check for rust.... and its done the space frame is done. Maybe why they decided to swap suspension is because the original was eaten away... but yeah the space frame is rusted out in some key areas. I did not notice because it was a 5spd GT and I got tunnel vision on that.
skywurz NOV 11, 03:37 PM
So I pulled the door from my parts car... unfortunately the door skin is not a GT skin... also the interior panel had been open to the elements and is moldy. the door frame was also really banged up. I decided to pull the extra door shell i had on the shelf and the extra glass i had on the shelf and remove the power components from the parts car door and install them onto my spare door.


Parts Car Door.



Rebuilt door


I installed it on the car. I followed the original markings i had for window alignment and it seemed to fit just right



I hooked everything up and decided to test if the electrics work.



To my joy they did and the window rolled right up and lined up.

I decided that I wanted to see if it would start.

[This message has been edited by skywurz (edited 11-11-2020).]

Boozeman NOV 11, 04:57 PM
Wow - most impressive! I can't believe the electric window worked and the car fired up to boot! Good luck - keep us in the loop...
skywurz NOV 12, 10:26 PM
So I took some time today with a slide hammer and a hydraulic ram and worked on the frame.


I got to the point that i decided that i should do some dry fitting and start checking how things align.

Bumper Check


Bumper Cover Check




Hood....


Hood..??!!??! #^#%
It bolts up but its too far rear.

It seems to lineup left to right and up and down its just about 1/4" too far to the rear and the adjustments are maxed out. im not sure how im going to go about this.

[This message has been edited by skywurz (edited 11-12-2020).]

skywurz NOV 14, 09:39 PM
So it was raining yesterday and i did not do much so no update.

But today I hit it hard... multiple times... with a hammer...

First I had to address this.


I pull the hood back off


I bring the metal bits back together and weld them


I button it up on the other side


Throw some paint on my welds


After some tweaking my body lines look good its no longer too far back




I can now close the hood

[This message has been edited by skywurz (edited 11-14-2020).]

Spadesluck NOV 16, 02:47 PM
Subscribed and watching.