Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

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Re: Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

Reply #210 – June 30, 2021, 03:07:18 PM

The Krylon Industrial line seems to be pretty durable so far. I haven't through its paces yet though.

That is indeed an LT1 car. Honestly, for a normal street car, I prefer the LT1. It sounds better and it has all of its torque down low. With headers, exhaust, roller rockers, intake and a tune, it made 294hp/347ft/lbs to the wheels and the curves were flat. It made torque everywhere, and would cruise at 1700rpm at 70mph with no issues. If I were building a GM with the sole purpose of going fast, then LS is the way to go.

Re: Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

Reply #211 – July 08, 2024, 06:13:38 PM

So I haven't posted in 3 years. The sad thing is, I haven't really gotten much done since then. I really should call this "Shawn's ADHD thread with a Turbo Coupe tossed in. The hyper fixations come and go and it finally landed back on the car for a bit. I'm going to try to get it together by next summer, but if you've followed this thread, you know I've said that a few times.

So I'll touch on the thing's that have changed and distracted me.

One of the biggest changes is I've landed on day shift finally. I worked nights for just about 11 years. The unfortunate part is I'm working Tuesday-Saturday, but it's still more manageable than nights.

For the past year or so, I have been taking my health a little more seriously, I watch my eating and do some working out. I've decided to put together a home gym around Black Friday. I'll be getting a squat rack, a slew of weights, bars, etc etc. That means:

This guy had to go. I put it together to make it roll. I had a guy who wanted to buy it, but he ghosted me for about 8 months. I shoved it out and that's where the junkyard picked it up from. Of course, the guy hits me up wanting to know if he could buy parts off of it after I got rid of it.

I got into sim racing and built a pretty legit rig. With the Trans Am gone, I was able to get it out there.

The second pic was before the castors and the top monitor. I was aiming to do triple 32" monitors this year, but the fixation moved on so maybe next year?

I got into retro gaming and console modding. I have a slew of consoles I acquired from puppiesan. I've modded a few of them, and then lost interest in that for the time being.

This is just one example, and not everything done to it. This has the Picoboot mod, and a serial port SD adapter. This allows it to automatically boot into a different OS, back up and play your *legally obtained* games from the SD card. I have since 3d printed a new fan mount, upgraded the fan, added USB-C power and a Gameboy Player. You can also use the Gameboy Player without the fancy disc. This also has an HDMI adapter and it looks surprisingly good.

The RC hobby also got more out of hand. That picture is a bit old, and I have a ton more vintage stuff now.

Also with this, I've done a small dive into photography, and also set up another live planted aquarium.

Re: Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

Reply #212 – July 08, 2024, 06:43:23 PM

So, now that THAT'S over with, we can move on to the more important stuff.

That is currently how the car sits. Not much has changed with the car itself. Garage is still a mess and definitely needs to be gone through.

I don't have many pictures of some of the parts I've acquired over the past few years, but most aren't terribly exciting. The bigger stuff I've grabbed is:

-SN95 5.0 T5
-Fox 5.0 bell housing, shield and clutch fork.
-Fox cable clutch pedal assembly, cable, aluminum quadrant, adjuster and stuff to rebuild the assembly
-2.3 to 5.0 bell housing adapter and flywheel.
-5.0 clutch which I can't remember the brand.
-SN95 ZK steering rack which needs to be rebuilt
-94-95 SN95 V6 power steering pump, which also needs to be rebuilt
-93 Cobra booster
-ATS calipers and the kit to mount them to the SN95 spindles.
-Rear brake brackets that allow SN95 cobra calipers to be mounted on GT500 rotors, along with rotors and abutment brackets.
-Gutted and rotated upper intake, beautifully ported lower and 65mm Motorsport SN95 throttle body.
-Spare SN95 8.8

For the few parts I do have pictures of:

I found the Panhard Bar at Carlisle for a price I was...okay...with. The upper control arm is from TRZ Motorsports. It's for a GM A-body and it isn't a direct fit. I'll make it work, but it's certainly not the direct fit everyone claimed it was. I'll be doing the PM3L, so I'll be grabbing some heavier rear springs as well.

I grabbed a Champion American Eagle 2 row radiator and an ebay special shroud. The radiator I had would physically fit, but it was too much work and too complicated t0 make the hoses work. This setup still does what I need it to and will actually work.

There's probably plenty more that I've forgotten, but that's pretty much where I'm at. I'm about to place an order with Rock Auto to get some supplies and also see if a local machine shop is willing to do the input shaft for me. Once the cable clutch setup goes in, the 5,0 T5 and ditching the Teves, I can make significantly more progress.

Re: Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

Reply #213 – July 09, 2024, 07:56:13 AM

I am sad to hear the T/A had to go. I always a fan of that generation body although getting the motor in and out was a PIA without a lift.

I really like that sim racing setup. I don't play much of any video games because I just don't have any extra time of late. You have quite the collection along with the RC cars.

Going to the 5.0 T5 transmission, what rear gear do you think will work well with the 2.3 and that setup?

What does the SN95 steering components have over the original TC equipment? Won't that steering rack have a wider ratio than the TC & Cobra racks?

What is the plan for a booster once the TEVES is gone?

Looking forward to following along again!

Re: Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

Reply #214 – July 09, 2024, 08:56:33 AM

Glad to see you back around here.

That is a bunch of $$ in RC gear! We have a few of the Tamiya kits between me and the boys. Nothing like the array you have,
Me being the dork I am like the Tamiya stuff, because I like to build the kits,

Quote from: Mikey97D – on July 09, 2024, 07:56:13 AM

What does the SN95 steering components have over the original TC equipment? Won't that steering rack have a wider ratio than the TC & Cobra racks?

This pretty much explains the SN-95 vs Fox rack stuff (STEERING RACKS

I have an SN-95 rack going in the wagon and will probably swap the one on the TBird out eventually. They downside is the cost of a good conversion steering shaft.

Re: Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

Reply #215 – July 09, 2024, 10:03:19 AM

Thanks for the link, Chuck!
That conversion steering shaft is pricey.

Re: Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

Reply #216 – July 09, 2024, 10:49:51 AM

Quote from: Mikey97D – on July 09, 2024, 10:03:19 AM

That conversion steering shaft is pricey.

There are cheaper DIY options, which you can then weld up yourself. but the telescoping feature of the MM one is a nice add.

Re: Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

Reply #217 – July 09, 2024, 05:17:16 PM

Quote from: Mikey97D – on July 09, 2024, 07:56:13 AM

I am sad to hear the T/A had to go. I always a fan of that generation body although getting the motor in and out was a PIA without a lift.

Unfortunately, it was just time. It looked nice, but it had so much rust in it. The time and money involved in fixing would have cost more than a replacement car.

Quote from: Mikey97D – on July 09, 2024, 07:56:13 AM

I really like that sim racing setup. I don't play much of any video games because I just don't have any extra time of late. You have quite the collection along with the RC cars.

It's the blessing of not having children. I have coworkers with kids that love to say "must be nice." The downfall is being the almost 40 year old guy in the neighborhood with cool toys and looking creepy without kids

Quote from: Mikey97D – on July 09, 2024, 07:56:13 AM

Going to the 5.0 T5 transmission, what rear gear do you think will work well with the 2.3 and that setup?

I sat for like, an hour trying to figure out the ratios to run. 4.10s will keep first gear pretty much the same. 5th gear RPM will be close enough as well. It'll be nice not having that steep difference between 2nd and 3rd.

Quote from: Mikey97D – on July 09, 2024, 07:56:13 AM

What does the SN95 steering components have over the original TC equipment? Won't that steering rack have a wider ratio than the TC & Cobra racks?

I know Chuck posted that link to Maximum Motorsports, and it's a lot of reading. The short of it is the actual ratio is the same. It's the same turns lock-to-lock. The valving in the racks will change how much input you make on the wheel for the hydraulics to assist. Basically, it makes the steering less numb and gives much more feedback. With the pump I chose, it'll also reduce the amount of assist as well. I drove an 03 GT and the steering feels much more direct, even though it's technically the same. The steering shaft is the biggest hold up right now. It's not cheap as you saw.

Quote from: Mikey97D – on July 09, 2024, 07:56:13 AM

What is the plan for a booster once the TEVES is gone?

I'm going with a 93 cobra booster. It's supposed to be the same as an SN95 booster, but with the proper bolt pattern for a fox. I';; be using an SN95 master as well.

Quote from: Mikey97D – on July 09, 2024, 07:56:13 AM

Looking forward to following along again!

Hopefully I can stick with it for a while. I've been doing tons of research and digging for parts. It'll be a lot of fun to start assembling and building.

Quote from: Chuck W – on July 09, 2024, 08:56:33 AM

Glad to see you back around here.

That is a bunch of $$ in RC gear! We have a few of the Tamiya kits between me and the boys. Nothing like the array you have,
Me being the dork I am like the Tamiya stuff, because I like to build the kits,

Dude, it's bad. The vast majority of what I have is Tamiya, and most of it is old and used. I started seeking out stuff that I wanted as a kid, and when you find one, you tend to find a few more. I also have a closet with a bunch of new, unbuilt Tamiya kits and Team Associated to re-released some of their RC10 kits.

I can never choose inexpensive hobbies.

Re: Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

Reply #218 – July 16, 2024, 08:54:39 PM

A pictureless update!

The main thing I've been doing is gathering parts. It's been nothing too exciting. Cobra rotors, Cobra master cylinder, and a bunch of misc. stuff. I tried to order the speedometer drive gear and VSS gear kit, but they seem to be backordered everywhere.

I did go out and try to tidy the garage. I'm going to need to tear into the T5, so I wanted to clear off my tool box to use it as a bench. I came to the conclusion that I really don't have enough tool box. I had been wanting the US General 72" but they have gotten a little expensive compared to the rest of their line At work, I have a Husky box, and it's good enough. Husky currently has an 84" box that's cheaper, but I'm not sure if I like the drawer layout. The shame is that none of the local stores have the particular boxes I'm looking at, so I can't put my hands on them until they're delivered. Hopefully that will happen in the next few weeks.

I am quite good at finding excuses for not making progress.

Re: Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

Reply #219 – July 17, 2024, 08:05:28 AM

Progress is progress.

I have been contemplating replacing my bottom tool box on my setup with a wider one for a while now.

Re: Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

Reply #220 – July 22, 2024, 05:13:11 PM

Another small update.

I'm waiting on a few more odds and ends, and it'll be time to pull the dash back, swap the pedal assembly and heater core. As much as I love Maximum Motorsports, they are very slow moving.

While waiting on parts, I decided to pull the pedal assembly apart.

I intended on replacing the pedal pivot bushings. The Dorman bushings were too thick and caused everything to bind, no matter how clean and smooth all of the surfaces are.

I reassembled it using the original bushings, but made sure everything was clean and lubricated. The Dorman pedal pads are decent enough. The UPR cable quadrant tolerances are pretty much . It's fairly sloppy even with all of the spacers. There's a good reason they are cheap.

Re: Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

Reply #221 – July 23, 2024, 09:43:25 AM

I would be so tempted to spread the pedals out a bit. I am alway hitting two pedals at a time and need to make sure I have the right shoes on to drive the car. Size 13

Re: Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

Reply #222 – July 24, 2024, 05:39:52 PM

I was contemplating it. After driving modern cars and doing sim racing, I definitely saw the benefit of spacing the pedals. I'd love to get the brake pedal a little closer to the accelerator and move the clutch out a little. I also never really had any issues with hitting the wrong pedal, or getting hung up on other pedals. I wear a size 12 and skate shoes, so they're a little more plump.

This would have been the opportunity, but I also know that it would have been another project to stall my progress. I'm going to leave myself future projects because we all know these things are never actually done.

Re: Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

Reply #223 – September 23, 2024, 04:27:14 PM

Well, while I haven't made much progress on the car but I have made progress in the garage.

I finally chose a tool box.

I was on my break at work, and saw I had a Harbor Freight email. That email contained a 25% off any single item. I was in disbelief. I text my buddy and he says "so are we going and getting it tomorrow"

The answer was yes.

The following day, I went back and got the side box and still spent less than I would have on the box alone.

After two days worth of work, I was able to get the box in its home. I was off of work this past week, so I took a trip up to PA to Rep Fitness and ordered a power rack and functional trainer setup. That also complicated this garage makeover. Some of which resulted in me going through bins, consolidating parts and putting some in the shed.

This has to be my most valuable bin.

And the Mustang got its annual washing.

Once the garage comes together a little more, there will be more updates. It is an insane mess at the moment.

Re: Back in a fox. 1988 Turbo Coupe. The life journal.

Reply #224 – September 24, 2024, 09:11:59 AM

I wish my garage was that clean!!!!