I just picked up this 88 LX Monday. As far as I know, it's fully loaded. I can't think of an option it doesn't have as of yet. I haven't dug too far into it.
The car is bone stock, and was kinda sorta a single owner. Husband and wife bought the car, daily drove it until last year, which from then it sat until they gave it to their grandson. He never drove it, trailer'd it home, and then sold it to me.
Anyways, don't mind the picture quality, I can't figure this camera out for overcast.
All of the photos are exactly how I bought it. I haven't washed it, cleaned it out, tuned it up, or anything.
Also, there is less rust on this car than any of my others.
This TC is the first car I've had with a moon roof, and it seems that they have their quirks. I figured I would start a thread to discuss these, and possibly learn the preventative maintenance on these things.
First off, what can we use to clean, moisturize, and lubricate the seals?
Whats a good way to keep the sliders lubricated?
Do all of the moon roofs stop part way through their cycle when you retract and close? Mine will open 1/4 of the way, then stop, and I'll have to release and hit the button again. While closing, it will close 3/4 of the way, and stop.
Final question: My fathers Mark VIII has a setup where you push the button, and it will open on it's own, and it will automatically stop when it's fully closed. Is there a way to adapt that to our cars?
Here I am, sitting in Breezewood, PA, waiting on a tow truck. My girlfriend has wireless signal in the McDonalds we're in, so while we wait, I decided to post what's going on while its going on.
Saturday night, Claude and I go for a run in the TC. We saw over 100mph a few times, high rpms, 19psi of boost, and destroyed an RX7 in the process. The car ran rather well, but it was a bit lean. We get back to the Red Roof, and all was well. We hang out, I drive back to the hotel I was at, which was 20 minutes away, and had not a single problem.
Fast forward to today. I was driving to the Red Roof, and the car was making an odd ticking noise, and I dismissed it as an exhaust leak since my header cracked. I get off of the highway, and the thing was acting like I blew a headgasket between cylinder 2 and 3. It ran like ass, but still would move under its own power.
1WLD BRD, his wife, my girlfriend and I ride out in his cougar to Summit Racing, and they had to special order a headgasket for the 2.3L, so I decided, the hell with it, I'll limp it home.
I leave the hotel, and the car wouldnt accellerate very well, but it would sustain speed once you got up to speed. We get about 170 miles into the trip, and the engine drops all power, and was trying to lock up. I dropped to 3rd gear, WOT, just to sustain 40mph. I was trying to make it to an exit or something, and then out of no where, it free'd up, and started to accellerate once again. After that, the power would come and go, and it would seriously knock anytime the RPM's got about about 3500. I make it to the 70/76/30 junction, and it could barely get into a parking spot. The car died about 4 times trying to back it in to a spot.
Luckily for me, a good friend of my has a tow truck, he is on his way right now.
I don't car what anyone says, I've abused the engine, the previous owner literally tried to beat on it to blow up, and at this point, I'm pretty sure I popped a piston or a bearing spun, yet the little thing got me about 220 miles, motored up these mountains, and it will most likely start back up again and keep going.
I'll keep everyone posted on how this turns out. Since my buddy has the tow trucks, I'll only have to pay fuel, which is far cheaper than a real tow company.
Thanks to everyone who was calling me and seeing my progress, and offering my help. I really do appreciate it.
Remind me to not do this again. The rear end of this car fought me the entire way. The diff pin broke, hammer, drill, punch, chisel for 4 hours, and it all comes apart, then the rear calipers AND slider brackets were seized, as were the e-brake cables. The car stops flat now, but I need almost every parking brake cable for it now.
These wheels are the same ones I had on the gray TC. I had some left over paint and clear, cleaned em up, taped em and sprayed em. I didn't do a great job, but these wheels aren't permanent. I have something else up my sleeve.
I'm making a switch panel. I've googled up plastic adhesives, and everything I've read has been "this stuff is the best on earth", "this glue is stronger than any plastic", bla bla bla yadda yadda yadda.
Do you guys have a suggestion for a very strong plastic adhesive? It does need to be strong as the switches are a bit tough.
Just yesterday, I had my Stinger exhaust hung. Have a Hooker MaxFlow ler, Magnaflow high flow cat, and a DMH electric cutout.
I took the car down to Tyson at Performance Auto Fabrication in Finksburg Maryland. He did all of the cutting, hacking, welding, tucking, and everything to make the exhaust fit exactly how I wanted.
First off, the Stinger system fit like . The only thing he didn't modify was the downpipe. He hung the downpipe, then the intermediate pipe. Once he got it close, he chopped it for the cat. When he cut the pipe for the cat, he was able to get the pipe tucked as tight as he could, while keeping clearance around the transmission vibration damper on the tailshaft. From there, he welded the hangers onto the ler, and got it into position, and cut and welded the pipe from between the cat to the ler, keeping the ler exactly where it belongs. From there, the fun began. The tailpipe came no where near fitting with the ler tucked nicely. He spent more time on the tailpipe than the entire exhaust. He finally got it tucked exactly how I wanted it, and set up a new hanger and the turndown. From there, he hacked up the flowtech cutout and welded the cutout portion directly to the downpipe. The exhaust setup is tucked very well, and you cant even tell I have a tailpipe on the car.
All in all, I'd say that if you need some custom fabrication, or anything that requires a hint of creativity, take it down to Tyson, he does some great work.
Now onto the pictures:
The tailpipe is actually tucked very high, and you can't see it at all unless you poke your head under the car.
These two shots show it going over the axle. This is where the most time was spent making sure clearance was good. He had to chop the tailpipe all up, and use another 90* bend to get it all to clear.
These two shots show the intermediate pipe, with the cat, and how much clearance there is.
And these two are probably the coolest parts of the exhaust. He cut the flowtech cutout apart, and grafted it onto the downpipe, exactly where I wanted it.
All in all, I'm very happy with the exhaust. Surprisingly, it's also VERY quiet.
Well, Friday was very tame. I ran some errands after work, and stayed home. Was a very boring night, but I needed to just relax.
Saturday was a whole different story. I spent the morning running some other errands, doing laundry, cleaning up, and rocking out to some music. I hope in the TC and go to pick my girlfriend up from college. Thats where the fun began.
As of recently, the car has been acting like it had a bad HLA(lifter for you V8 boys), and been tapping under sustained RPMs. I changed the oil, and no change. I figured for my holiday weekend, Id throw my ranger roller cam in it and call it done.
Well, I was on my way to Towson University, which is only about 30 miles away. I get up 695, and the tapping got really bad. I come up to Charles Street, which isn't far from my destination, and it started knocking. I'm very angry at this time. It starts running a little rough and hot, so I eyeball the gauges. I put the car in neutral and coast down hill up to a light. I see my oil pressure gauge drop, and it started knocking its ass off. I drop it into 1st gear, blow through the red light, and keep the RPMs up. I got some oil pressure as the RPMs came up, so I was running the piss out of the car. I finally get to the dorm, and it sounded like I left the oil out of the engine.
I shut if off, went and got my girlfriend with the help of some random dude who signed me in. We come back out, and it really didn't want to run. I got it to the parking lot and made some phone calls. Luckily, I had a friend with a tow truck, so he towed it back home for me.
Looks like Ill be swapping the ranger roller cam after all...with the 2.3L still attached to it.
This past weekend has been a little bit eventful for me. Nothing too major.
It started off with me going and grabbing my girlfriend from college Friday. Most of you don't know, but the clutch in the TC was terribly slipping. The car almost didn't make it back from the 60 mile round trip, in the pouring rain. Not to mention the T5 sounding like an ice crusher at speed.
So Saturday morning, I get the car up on 4 ramps, with a junky jack and some creativity. Took me about a half hour. I stood back and looked at my creation with a little pride, and my dad asks me, "did you try to push it". I hesitated, because it took me a while to get it up there, so I finally push it, and the car took off down the driveway. Good thing I wasn't under there.
So I get the car in the air, and it takes me a while to get the transmission down, but it came out rather smoothly. I get the flywheel cleaned up since it looked amazingly great, considering the clutch was so bad, and I mount the clutch up, ensuring that the disc was properly aligned. I get the bellhousing mounted up and the throwout bearing aligned up there. Time for the T5. I slide under there with the transmission, get it on my chest, and bench press it up there, no luck. I try again, and I let some weight of the transmission rest in the clutch, and it shifted the disc out of alignment.
For those of you who dont know me, I have a terrible temper. I FLIPPED out. Screaming, cussing, throwing stuff, I did everything short of scream and yell at my girlfriend and family. My dad let me use his car so my girlfriend and I went and got dinner, ran some arrands, and relieved some stress.
So sunday morning, my father and I go to the hardware store, and I buy a sawzall to take care of that pesky stock exhaust. We get home, and my father and I start to tear into the car. Took the bellhousing down, re-aligned the clutch, and stabbed the T5 in there. We got the car done at about 4pm, and I test drove it, everything was great. The other little mods I did was great. The 3" exhaust was great. I was happy. I finally sit down, relax a bit, and take a shower and get cleaned up for a concert my girlfriend and I were going to watch.
The concert has me pumped. Headlining was As I Lay Dying, and co-headlining was All That Remains, opening was some band I don't remember, and Haste the Day. I run her back to her dorm, drop off her laundry and other stuff, and book it down to Rams Head Live, which is in downtown Baltimore city, about 25 minutes from her dorm. Doors opened at 6, and we got there at 6:20. There was a massive line. Show started at 7, and we missed the first band, and when we got in, Haste the Day was setting up. While we were in line, my girlfriend mentions that she was hungry, but we didn't go anywhere since the line was so long, and we made it half way through. This venue was rather small, and was massively packed. To get through the crowd, you had to literally push your way through.
While Haste the Day was setting up, my girlfriend got a T-Shirt, poster, and CD. We found a spot to stand that wasn't terribly crowded compared to the rest of the place. This has to be one of the few places in Baltimore that still allow smoking. Her and I were nearly gagging on the smoke, and I grew up in a smokers house. It was that bad. Once Haste the Day started playing, we forgot all about it, they were amazing. Great talent, and great music. They finished their set and All that Remains set up and played, and they were amazing. Great stage presence, and killer music. I loved it.
Once their set was over, my girlfriend and I went to find an ATM, so she could get a shirt for All That Remains. We searched the place high and low, and couldn't find one. We got back to where we were standing, and she goes and walks over to a railing and leans against it. She told me how she was feeling a bit light headed, and needed to lean on something. We talked a bit, and she said she wasn't feeling good, so I say to her "Do you want to leave now, or try to see how good As I Lay Dying it". Before i finished my sentence, she dropped everything and passed out cold. I panic a bit, trying to figure out what to do, I shook her a bit, and she was almost 100% dead weight. I was lucky that she was leaning with he legs locked, because she was almost propped against the railing. I grabbed her shirt, and some guys grabbed her CD and poster and tried to hand it to me, then saw she was out cold, so they said they'd hold it for me.
In her dead weight state, I picked her up and carried her through the crowd, screaming and yelling. When people didn't listen, i turned her to where her feet were facing the way i was walking, and used her as a battering ram through people. I get to the doors, where a bouncer usually is posted, and was screaming at a random guy to open the door. The bouncer comes running at me to almost tackle me, then sees my girlfriend passed out. He wanted me to carry her down this hall, and she's not a small girl. She weighs about 155 pounds, which isn't a lot, until its dead weight. He grabs her from me, and runs her down the hall. We lay her down, and she starts coming to. She was dehydrated and has NOTHING in her stomach. She barely ate since the night before. Once she came about, the paramedics came, and checked her blood sugar, which was fine, and pretty much left. She had enough strength to somewhat walk, so I supported most of her weight while we walked to my car.
Now, my car was down in a parking garage off of Baltimore Street. We had to go down a rather long road, with a lot of alleys in a shady city, then go down a road full of strip clubs. I was nervous since she was defenseless, and I would have worried more about her than myself in case of an attack. We luckily got to my car with no incident, and keyless entry made it much easier to get her in the car.
I got from Baltimore Street, to the mall about 4 miles from her parents house in 15 minutes, anyone knows thats about a 25 minute drive. We got her some McDonalds, per the paramedics suggestions, and she finally came around 100%. I took her home, and sadly, her parents didn't really care much.
What amused me, is most of the time she was in the car, she was upset about her CD and poster. She had no idea of the extent of what happened.
Thats the end of my eventful weekend. Just thought Id tell the story.
Roller rockers are Scorpion Pedestal Mount 1.73's. Fit E5, E6, E7, GT40, GT40P and the like. Would like 150 shipped
The trick flow valve spring kit is the "Iron Head Upgrade Kit" I forgot the part number, but it goes for 135 or so on summit. Its brand new, I only opened it up to make Vroom Vroom sounds and act like theyre being squished. Asking 100 shipped.
Since the stang is my daily driver, and is very similar to an 86-88 SO 5.0, I figured i should give some input on the little mods people are generally hesitant to buy. Keep in mind that this car has stock exhaust minus flowmaster lers, and stock for the stang is the tubular headers and H-pipe.
Ill start off with the cold air intake. Originally my car had the air silencer removed, and a paper element filter. I went on ebay, and purchased one of the cheap cold air intakes for an 89-93 mustang. I had to use a 3" hump coupler trimmed down, a section of 3" pipe i had laying around, and a little re-arranging of couplers to make it work on a speed density car. The end result was slightly disappointing. I immediately noticed a difference in throttle response, and the neat suction sound. In the lower RPMs, a bit or torque could be noticed, but at WOT, not much was noticed. Not bad for something that was about 50 bucks, plus a few things i had laying around.
On to the intake spacer. Once again, I looked to ebay for the spacer. I found the intake spacer for something like 40 bucks shipped, opposed to the 55+ shipping for one from jegs or summit. The one i got was a "2 piece" spacer, where it had the main spacer, then a small, thin spacer made of a different material. If it makes a difference, i dont know. As for installation, it wasnt very difficult. The manufacturer recommends using RTV rather than gaskets, so I did so. Putting it back together was actually easier, due to the extra space the spacer provided. Now on to the drive. I fired it up, and it sounded a touch different. I gave it a rev, and it had a little bit of a deeper suction sound than before. Cool. So i hop in it, go up the driveway, and stomp it. I didnt notice a single thing. As i went up the street, i would floor it at different RPMs and speeds, and i did notice a bit of a difference in the mid range. Low throttle inputs did show a bit more torque. Would I put this in another car? Probably not. Was it worth the money? I dont know, maybe with a few other mods, it might help.
Hopefully this will help some of you guys looking for small gains and not looking to spend a lot of money.
Next up, 87-93 HO upper intake, EGR spacer, and throttle body. Then maybe a 3G alternator and E-fan.
As much as I didnt want to sell this on the board, I need the money, so heres what I have.
-Precision SC50 turbo, I know it needs a rebuild, not sure what itll need, but Precision would hook you up nicely. Paid 900 for the , asking 350 because of condition.
-Bobs log. Non-egr. Has new stainless studs and nuts, includes PROPER hardware. Not the junk Bob supplies. Asking 200.
-Stingers 3" exhaust. Its dirty, but all there. May leak a little at the ball for the turbo. It doesnt leak on my car, but might on another. Its the downpipe, and intermediate pipe. I have a dynomax ultraflow thats been hit by a manhole cover (dented, doesnt leak) and for extra cost, i have a new in box Hooker Maxflow. No tailpipe. Asking 175 for the exhaust. Not sure what id want with the maxflow.
Ranger roller cam with followers and HLA's. They were new when i put them in the car. Asking 75.
Race Engineering cam pulley. Asking 75.
Cold air intake and breather/catch can setup. It actually works with the SC50. If you buy the turbo, another 40 bucks and the setup is yours.
Max Psi oil feed line, with fittings. 30 bucks.
Hallman boost controller. Nice red anodized. was expensive. Asking 50.
FMIC setup. Its a big intercooler. Core is 24x12x3" and overall is 31" long. Fits very well on the a/c condensor mounts. I never installed it, but i have a box of bends, couplers, clamps, etc. Shipping would be brutal on all the piping. Asking 200.
HKS SSQV blow off valve. I have the adapter to mount it to a 1" hose. Asking 120.
Everything is plus shipping, and negotiations would be slim. I need the money pretty bad to get my other project rolling. I do want to let you know now, Im a busy person, working 55+ hours a week, having my girlfriend in college and visiting her, and everything else makes it hard for me to get to the post office quickly. I dont scam or steal, nor do i ignore people, its just that im busy, and I will do the best i can to get everything out.
Ive finally been getting work done on the vert. I put new brakes on it, new lines, tune up, and things of that nature, but that was the easy stuff.
There was a hole in the floor, about 1x4" long, which i patched up nicely. While I patched it up, I decided to order carpet, floor mats, rear 1/4 carpet, interior paint both white and canyon red, seatbelt bezels, and some other little odds and ends.
This is how it sits:
The plan is to get the floor boards as clean as possible, lay down a few good coats of undercoating, and some sound deadening. I know its hard to eliminate noise in a vert, but every bit helps, especially when you dont have much choice in sound system setups.
Something else ive done, this car had the typical tears in the corners of the rear windows. I bought some white marine vinyl for boat seats, trimmed it and glued it into place for a temporary fix.
