89 lx convertible summer driver project.

[mustanggarage]

hey, long time no see. well after all the trouble I had with my AOD It has been working pretty well for the last couple years, but I have decided that I really want a manual. everywhere I go people say nice car, too bad its an auto, and I find that while it is fun to cruise around in, I really want to do a 5 speed swap. I have done this on my 65 mustang, it was originally an auto, but this is the first time to try it on a fox. I ordered all the parts I think I will need, so in a month or so I will be tearing the convertible apart again. stay tuned if anyone is still out there.

 

[broncojunkie]

Yeah you will like bangin gears! Are you going with a t5?

 

[mustanggarage]

yes, I bought a kit off ebay from neo mustangs. it has most everything I should need, except it comes with a 50 ounce flywheel and I will need a 28 oz for the stroker motor, and it does not come with the tunnel hump panel from lmr that is not really required but makes for a more esthetic looking job (even though all that will be covered by the carpet and center console) so I went ahead and ordered those from lmr. I am also going to get an after market hurst shifter. I want something with positive stops so I don't over shift, and I prefer the way the hurst shifter looks. in my 65 I have a pro 5.0 with a hurst handle. but lmr sells the hurst shifter and handle as a unit and it looks pretty similar to the pro 5.0 shifter.

 

[mustanggarage]

I pulled the aod out and disassembled most of the interior this weekend. I am trying not to get in too big of a hurry because I want to have the new pedal assembly here before I pull the old one out so I can see how everything bolts up but I am hoping my kit will get here by Friday I have next weekend off. It’s amazing. I thought the interior was pretty clean when I started but it was hiding all kinds of nastiness

 

[mustanggarage]

I feel like I am always waiting on the UPS guy. I received some of my parts for the swap, including the pedal assembly. so I finished the disassembly of the interior

but of course since this car is far from stock I had to "undo" some of my previous work. since I had previously switched to a gps speedometer I used the speedometer hole and grommet to pass the wiring for my gauges and some other things, unfortunately the clutch uses that hole for the clutch cable so I had to move and rewire all those connections. and to do that I had to drill out the hole where the manual equipped cars normally run the speedometer cable. unfortunately that is very difficult to do owing to the fact the valve cover and intake manifold are in the way. but I got it done. after finally getting all the wiring redone,
I bead blasted and painted the pedals and put new rubber pads on them. I also switched the accelerator pedal to the proper manual style pedal. unfortunately the new steeda clutch quadrant did not come with this package. there was a snafu with LMR anyway it should be here monday or tuesday. I went ahead and put the pedal assembly in anyway, I may regret that decision when I try to install the quadrant with the pedals in place, but most people don't remove the pedal assembly to replace the quadrant so I think I will be able to get it done.

I replaced the wiring harness with the manual version, and did the tunnel hump modification.

tomorrow I plan to put the new flywheel, clutch and bellhousing on, we will see how that goes. the transmission is supposed to arrive on tuesday. if all goes well I will hopefully have this swap complete next weekend. it has taken a lot longer than it should because of shipping times. I could have waited till I had all the stuff here, but I had time this weekend so I will do what I can while i have the time. putting the manual trans in should theoretically be one of the easier parts of this swap.

 

[mustanggarage]

I finally got all my parts in. man this coronavirus is playing hell with shipping. oh well. at least everything finally got here and I was able to spend most of today working on the car. and I got it all buttoned up. ready for my first test drive. wish me luck. here are some pictures.

I got my daughters boyfriend to come out and give me a hand the other day, I figure I have to get them started early right. especially since it looks like they are going to be getting married soon.

but then today I was impatient and just worked by myself.

wiped her down a bit, and she is ready to go. but it is 3:00 am so I think I will wait till tomorrow to go on the first test drive.

I know I will have to adjust the clutch a bit more after I take it out and drive it, but it moves under its own power and the clutch seems to release properly so far. I can't wait to see how it drives.

 

[ALMOST STOCK]

Sometimes working by yourself you make better time than having people that are not sure what you want them to do and then double checking there work, either way it's always great to see the project come together.

 

[mustanggarage]

I tend to work weird. I just hang out in the garage. I do a little bit then go sit at my computer or watch tv for a while. Then I go work again. I stay up till 1,2 o’clock in the morning most nights and just keep working on it so I get a lot done without really working hard on it Btw I took the car for a cruise yesterday. It feels amazing. Way fun. And somehow the clutch feels perfectly adjusted first try. I look forward to enjoying this car this summer

 

[ALMOST STOCK]

I tend to work weird. I just hang out in the garage. I do a little bit then go sit at my computer or watch tv for a while. Then I go work again. I stay up till 1,2 o’clock in the morning most nights and just keep working on it so I get a lot done without really working hard on it Btw I took the car for a cruise yesterday. It feels amazing. Way fun. And somehow the clutch feels perfectly adjusted first try. I look forward to enjoying this car this summer

If everything is working and your having fun driving it what more could you ask for.

 

[One Owner 1982]

I have my dyno time re-scheduled for june 6. man my schedule sucks these days. everytime I can get a day off I have to do something else. It will be 3 months since I finished the engine before I get it over there. oh well. it is running pretty well already so it's not like it is just sitting here waiting. and it has been raining so much I really haven't felt like getting it out to much yet anyway.

since I am waiting I bought myself a couple birthday presents. first I have been slowly doing a conversion to black on the interior and I bought some new door panels and repainted the kickpanels and arm rests with krylon fusion paint. new arm rest pads and door latch and window switch bezels complete the door panel conversion.

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I also added the pony door lights just for fun. I think they are kind of cool and the kids love em so whatever.

then I had planned to find some black rear quarters as well and I have been looking for a long time for some good 90-93 versions because they are a lot easier to do the styling bar conversion and the seat belts work better. also they mount the speakers higher so they are above the seat so hopefully they will work better as well. anyway I had been looking on ebay for months now and they seem to be rarer than hen's teeth. finding a good set that is not all broken is virtually impossible, I was beginning to think. I found some a while back but they had been painted and were a gloss black and really did not match so I ended up just modifying the ones in the car. anyway the other day I found some on ebay. they were the best looking pair I had ever seen on ebay. these were also the first pair I had seen that had the window switches in the door. so I watched them and they looked like they were going to go for a reasonable amount so I waited until the last 20 seconds and bid. I really wanted them so I bid 500.00 I unfortunately was so excited I dropped the stupid period so I ended up bidding 5000.00 lol. fortunately they ended up going for 385.00 still a lot of money for quarter panels but these are in great shape, and very difficult to find.

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Love the puddle lights