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My 88 GT Hatch Project

broncojunkie

Well-Known Member
I decided to start a thread for my build, since I just started it. It won't be anything fancy. More of a restoration, at this point. Once it is finished, I may do some performance upgrades, but that will be a long time. It's an 88 GT Hatchback 5spd. Original color was Bright Blue Regatta, but someone painted it some corvette blue. I'm eventually taking it back to the original color.

I've already posted a couple of the pics that will follow, but they need to be here in my build thread, so I apologize to those who have already seen them.

This is what she looked like the day I bought it.
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It has been sitting outside for years. There doesn't seem to be much rust on the body, but I'm sure I'll find it somewhere. (In fact, I just found some inside the vehicle...keep reading below).

I also bought an 82 GT hatchback, which I will start another build thread, soon.

The 88 wouldn't start due to a bad ignition switch, so I replaced it. It started right up with a shot of starting fluid, but had no fuel pressure whatsoever. I tested everything back to the tank and narrowed it down to the pump. Here's what I found:

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Yep. That was a fuel pump at some point. Anyway, the tank was in pretty good shape, other than this pile of rust sitting down in it. I decided to cut an access panel opening instead of dropping the tank. Yeah, I know the tank isn't hard to drop, but I have my own reasons too extensive to go into here.
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After a new fuel pump and hangar assembly, she fired right up and ran perfect. It was a great feeling bringing her back to life! She sounds healthy. All of the above was done in the last week, so now, you're pretty much up to date.
 
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broncojunkie

Well-Known Member
Today, I was busy visiting some friends an hour away. I finally got to shoot the AR15 I built a couple months ago. I got home with enough daylight left to go outside and take off the front wheels. I threw them in the back of my truck and plan on having a couple new tires put on tomorrow. I don't care that the tires are bad, except that the front tires won't hold air (dry rotted) and I need to get the car pulled up into the flat parking spot in front of the house so I can work on it.
 

broncojunkie

Well-Known Member
Just for the heck of it, here is a pic of both of them safe and sound here at the house.

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And one of the main reasons I need to get the 88 running and up in the driveway is because I don't feel good about leaving the 82 dangling precariously over my hill. I had a guy haul it and this is where he unloaded it.

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broncojunkie

Well-Known Member
I fired her up and moved it up to the upper spot of my driveway, where she will live for the next couple months. We live in a fairly rural area in the mountains of WV. Our road and driveway are gravel and I was sweating getting it up the steep, gravel incline. I was afraid the front air dam wouldn't clear, but I got lucky. This was the first time she has moved under her own power in God knows how many years. Clutch felt great. The previous owner said it had a new CenterForce clutch installed not long before it was parked.
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I spent a couple hours scrubbing the exterior with a Scotch Bright pad and Comet, just to get the years of grime and mildew off. No worries about ruining the paint. It's trash.
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broncojunkie

Well-Known Member
Changed the oil and filter today. Also planned on putting new brake pads on, but I took them apart and inspected everything and they look like they've barely been used. I cleaned up a little surface rust and cleaned everything up. Put some anti-seize on the pins and slapped it back together. I also got everything to change the rear shoes. I might pick up stuff to flush the coolant tomorrow, as well. I was always a fan of the flush n fill kit, which makes it quick and easy to do the next time. I normally flush my vehicles once a year.
 

broncojunkie

Well-Known Member
Replaced the lift supports today.
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Replaced passenger side brake shoes, wheel cylinder, and parking brake cable (still need to hook up the cable, but it's in on the wheel end.)
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I'm not really sure how the cable goes in on the lever end. I'll have to look at it. All I did was install it in the wheel end and routed it to the clip underneath the car. I'm not positive, but I think maybe I'll have to remove the center console and take the lever assembly off inside the car, hook it up and then put it back together.

Have any of you replaced them?
 

lyonmt

Active Member
That was a killer deal for $500. I wish my interior looked that good, my paint is about the same and I paid $1500. Although mine is a 'vert, its near impossible to find a running fox for under $2000 around here.
 

broncojunkie

Well-Known Member
Well, they're basically non-existent around here. I definitely lucked into them. They belonged to my future brother-in-law. I think it was important to him that he sold them to someone who would fix them up and appreciate them, not just cut them up or use them as parts. Normally, I just don't see them for sale around here. Period.

And the interior is really decent, but missing carpet and all of the parts in the back, including a matching seat. I'm working on the passenger seat now. The adjustable seat bolster had come off at some point, and he rigged it up with zip ties. I think I got it, but I'll need to get the fabric re-attached. It was stapled on and I can't find my stapler, lol!
 

lyonmt

Active Member
On the plus side, since there are so many around here, there is a fresh batch of parts for sale on craigslist daily.

Ahhh, relatives tend to give good prices.
 

broncojunkie

Well-Known Member
If you have a hard time finding a certain part, let me know. Maybe I can find/ship it for you.
I very well may take you up on that! I would gladly pay you a finders fee if you come across parts I might need! However, I really need to recover financially from my last project. The F150 just came out of the paint shop a couple weeks ago. I took it straight to the tire shop for some new rubber, and finished upgrading the audio. All of that was around $3g. I'm currently trying to get the 88 on the road, and she'll need 4 new tires, windshield, and a few other odds and ends.

By the way...it looks like your car is wearing the turbine rims. Are you planning on keeping those? I think I'm keeping mine. I've always liked them, but they need refinishing. I was curious if you were keeping yours, were you planning on doing any cosmetic work to them?
 

lyonmt

Active Member
I very well may take you up on that! I would gladly pay you a finders fee if you come across parts I might need! However, I really need to recover financially from my last project. The F150 just came out of the paint shop a couple weeks ago. I took it straight to the tire shop for some new rubber, and finished upgrading the audio. All of that was around $3g. I'm currently trying to get the 88 on the road, and she'll need 4 new tires, windshield, and a few other odds and ends.

By the way...it looks like your car is wearing the turbine rims. Are you planning on keeping those? I think I'm keeping mine. I've always liked them, but they need refinishing. I was curious if you were keeping yours, were you planning on doing any cosmetic work to them?
already purchased a set of 5 spoke ponies. They are going to hold me over for a little while until I do a five lug conversion.
 

broncojunkie

Well-Known Member
Replaced the passenger side door handle this evening. I can't begin to describe how much easier it is to work on. I'm so sick of walking around the car all the time. I would even click it shut when I was trying not to. I got the handle on eBay. It was $3.99 shipped. I figured it would be junk, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it is made of decent metal. I'm pretty sure the shipping cost more than I paid!
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I also took the tires off of 3 of the turbine rims. I ordered a new set of tires and they should be here tomorrow. I hope to spend tomorrow getting the other tire off and cleaning up the rims. They definitely need some work. I have some aircraft stripper and plan on going to town on them. If everything goes as planned, I'll have them on the car tomorrow evening. That's setting my goals a little high, though. I've got my work cut out.
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broncojunkie

Well-Known Member
These rims are proving to be a real pain. I'd love to take them somewhere and have them media blasted to get the surface smooth, but I just don't have the time. I want to get the tires on asap. I'm just going to paint them with wheel paint. I saw a set of these on another thread and they looked good. Mine don't need to be perfect, but they are a little rough around the edges (literally) where the finish has come off in a few spots. I tried aircraft stripper. It kinda worked. I may try again tomorrow. I also tried a stripping wheel...the soft kind, that has an abrasive material on it. I think that one worked ok, but it's pretty slow. I think I've got one almost smooth enough to paint, but it also needs cleaned really well. I'm going to do what I can and then take them to the car wash to blast the dirt off. Take some brake cleaner to them and then maybe coat them with some sort of adhesion promoter or primer. Not really sure what the best method is, but I'm doing some research now.

I'll also be racing against the weather tomorrow. We're supposed to get pm showers here.
 

broncojunkie

Well-Known Member
Worked on the rims all day. Got them decent... not perfect, but much better. Painted them with wheel paint, along with a clear coat. While I was working on them, FedEx showed up with my new tires. Had just enough daylight to mount them and put them on the car.





 
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