1979 Pace Car build

[broncojunkie]

Well, I'm in deep enough I may as well start a build thread for this thing. I've been wanting a Pace Car since I was a kid. My cousin, who was a few years older than me, had one that I fell in love with. In fact, I fell in love with fox bodies because of that car. I always planned on getting one, but just couldn't make it happen. It doesn't help that I live in the heart of the rust belt and there aren't many survivors around here. When I did find one, the price was ridiculous. I finally located one a few months ago. I live in West Virginia and the car was in Louisiana. I paid a buddy to go down and pick it up for me.

 

[broncojunkie]

The car is in solid condition. It's a 4 cyl turbo, or at least, it was. The motor and transmission had been replaced at some point with a non-turbo 4 banger...still a 4 speed. The motor had a blown head gasket. It's still sporting the original TRX wheels, but the tires are in rough shape. They hold air, but that's about it. The previous owner hadn't owned it too awfully long. He purchased it from someone, I believe, in New Jersey, which is where the car was originally sold. When it was unloaded off the trailer, the front air dam was broken. He had it repaired, but it was left off the car. I have it, but don't plan on installing it until I can get to the body and paint.

The original radio/cassette is in it. Interior is in good shape, except for the dash (a couple cracks), the headliner is sagging in spots, and the seat fabric is worn. I happen to know that the original fabric on the Recaros was notorious for wearing out prematurely, so even though the pics look bad, they're in better shape than most I've seen. Headrest netting intact and foam appears to be pretty good. The interior plastic is about as close to perfect as it gets, as is the original carpet. It has power door locks and A/C..well, until I removed it.

 

[broncojunkie]

I have a buddy a couple hours away who needed this 2.3 motor shortly after I bought it. Since I didn't plan on using it, I let it go. I was planning a trip down to Virginia, so me, the wife, and my brother-in-law spent the day pulling the motor and transmission. We threw it in the back of the truck and dropped it off on our way down south.

It was a pretty good trip. I got rid of some stuff that would have otherwise cluttered up my garage, I traded it for some other items I plan on using (6AL box, Holley 650 DP, alternator, pulleys, etc.) and I made a detour and picked up some nice seats for my 1970 coupe project.

 

[broncojunkie]

For the next couple months, the car sat under a cover in my driveway while I concentrated on some other chores. I put a new t5, clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, pilot bearing, clutch fork and a few other parts in my 88GT. Did some work to the house and got rid of some junk I had taking up valuable garage space. I've also been working way too much. Now, work has finally calmed down a bit and I'm getting a few days off. After clearing out some space in the garage, I got my old 82GT pushed outside and covered up (back burner for now) and got the pace car pulled inside.

 

[broncojunkie]

Since I had some time off, I decided to make a plan. I know I need to get the ball rolling on a motor for this thing, so I took the old 302 I pulled out of the 82GT and tore it down. It was a roller motor from an 86GT, and had been rebuilt at some point. The motor wasn't in terrible shape and could have probably been freshened up. But since this is going in my pace car (did I mention this is my favorite fox body and I've wanted one since I was a kid?), I decided to do it right. I found a really good machine shop to do the work. Highly recommended locally, nice guy, reasonably priced, etc. He suggested punching the motor out to .040, just to get the cylinders all lined out. The previous machine work was a little on the sloppy side. If it all checks out ok, I'll be ordering a 331 stroker rotating assembly. He's still a couple weeks out on the motor, so I decided to take this time to prepare the engine bay.

I spent a couple days cleaning , scrubbing, sanding, wire wheeling, etc. Then sprayed a base/clear in the factory pewter.

 

[broncojunkie]

I never liked the way early foxes had unfinished metal throughout the engine bay. While powder coating would be nice, I opted for simply cleaning up some odds and ends and painting black.

 

[broncojunkie]

I noticed the rack and pinion was leaking. I weighed my options on replacing it, upgrading to a newer rack with quicker turn ratio, etc. and finally decided to do what I really wanted, which was to go with a manual rack. I also got rid of the old rag joint shaft and installed a Flaming River shaft. Light years better than the factory piece! You'll also notice I installed a new master cylinder. Nothing wrong with the old one that I know of, but after 37 years, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt. Plus, it looks a lot nicer.

 

[broncojunkie]

And that's where I am at this point. Waiting on the motor to come back. I have a rebuilt t5 lying around, so I plan on using that for now. I did order a few upgrade parts for it, which should be here later this week. I still need to find me a good 8.8 rear, figure out the rest of the motor build, start on the body work, and a bunch of other things.

I did also go ahead and order a cam for it.

I need to decide on heads, radiator/fan, alternator, ignition, etc. I plan on using the dual-snorkel air cleaner from the 82, so I'll have to source another plastic fender duct piece for the drivers side fender apron.

 

[87. 5.0]

Nice, I'm waiting for my engine to crap out so I can clean up my engine bay also. For now the hood stays closed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[broncojunkie]

I know what you mean. I've kept the hood down on my 88gt even though the rest of the car looks great. I had some issues with it starting and rough idle the other day, so I finally decided to pull the motor. That means I have both cars apart, at the moment. The 88 will get some rust fixed in the engine bay along with fresh paint. While the motor is out, I plan on installing a b303 cam, Explorer intake, maf swap, cold air intake, and a few other things. Possibly new 24 or 30lb injectors. So I have my work cut out for me.

 

[broncojunkie]

Machine work is done. Waiting for parts to come in. Machine shop is completing the short block assembly. I need to freshen up the Holley 650 and clean up the intake.

 

[broncojunkie]

Picked up the motor a couple days ago. Putting this one on the back burner for a couple months, since I just yanked the motor out of my 88 to freshen it up and clean up the engine bay.

 

[broncojunkie]

Haven't really done any work to the 79 lately, but I did order some materials to get started on the body work. I also had the wife go pick up an 8.8 rear the other day (since I'm working). The brother-in-law stopped by the house and they got it unloaded. I plan on rebuilding it and swapping in a 410 gear. According to the tag, it's a 2.73 4-lug fox rear.

 

[broncojunkie]

I had the wife pick up this dash locally. Haven't seen it in person, but she sent me some better pics. The speaker grills definitely aren't as good as factory and I won't know about fitment till I try to install it, but for the price it was hard to pass up. It's definitely better than the cracked one I have now. The interior will still need a headliner and the seats reupholstered (or repaired). I may get a quote from a local shop here soon. That way, by the time I get it painted, the interior will be completed. Baby steps.

 

[broncojunkie]

I plan on posting some updates on this over the next few weeks. I'm still working on the 88gt, but it's up and running, so I'm devoting some time and money to this one. I ordered a ton of parts for it...mainly parts to finish the motor. Oil pan, gaskets, heads, hardware, etc. I have the intake at a place in town to have it powder coated. I still need to order a radiator, clutch kit, hoses, and a few other items...but I should at least get the motor bolted in place...hopefully the transmission as well, here soon.

 

[mustanggarage]

it's nice you have a place locally that does powdercoating. I don't know anyone around here that does it. I got one of those eastwood powdercoating kits years ago and have done a ton of stuff with it. it really is kind of fun to do. but, it is time consuming getting the parts prepped properly so I imagine it is pretty pricey to have it done. anyway I look forward to seeing more progress on this car as well.

 

[mustanggarage]

View attachment 1349
I had the wife pick up this dash locally. Haven't seen it in person, but she sent me some better pics. The speaker grills definitely aren't as good as factory and I won't know about fitment till I try to install it, but for the price it was hard to pass up. It's definitely better than the cracked one I have now. The interior will still need a headliner and the seats reupholstered (or repaired). I may get a quote from a local shop here soon. That way, by the time I get it painted, the interior will be completed. Baby steps.

cj pony parts sells upholstery sets. the ones in my 89 are vinyl I don't remember how much they cost but it is pretty easy to replace the upholstery. I have done it several times. twice in my 65, once in my daughters 67, once in the 89 and once in my old 99 f150. the only special tool you need is a hog ring pliers, and a shop vac.

 

[mustanggarage]

I know what you mean. I've kept the hood down on my 88gt even though the rest of the car looks great. I had some issues with it starting and rough idle the other day, so I finally decided to pull the motor. That means I have both cars apart, at the moment. The 88 will get some rust fixed in the engine bay along with fresh paint. While the motor is out, I plan on installing a b303 cam, Explorer intake, maf swap, cold air intake, and a few other things. Possibly new 24 or 30lb injectors. So I have my work cut out for me.

hey are you still wanting some 30 pound injectors? I have the ones I took out of my car they worked fine when I took them out. I don't need them so I would send them to you for cost of shipping if you need them.

 

[broncojunkie]

hey are you still wanting some 30 pound injectors? I have the ones I took out of my car they worked fine when I took them out. I don't need them so I would send them to you for cost of shipping if you need them.

Thanks for the offer, but I ended up going with 24lb injectors, which seem to be doing fine. I don't plan on trying to squeeze any more power out of that motor, so I can just stick with those.

 

[broncojunkie]

cj pony parts sells upholstery sets. the ones in my 89 are vinyl I don't remember how much they cost but it is pretty easy to replace the upholstery. I have done it several times. twice in my 65, once in my daughters 67, once in the 89 and once in my old 99 f150. the only special tool you need is a hog ring pliers, and a shop vac.

I wouldn't mind doing that to the 82gt, but I hear these Recaro seats are a different animal. I was talking to a guy on another forum who reupholstered his, and he said it was definitely a pain. He said it took a long time. I'm normally not against learning and doing things on my own, but I feel like my time could be better served working on something else...like body work.