The '80 XR-7...

Topic: The '80 XR-7... (Read 34768 times) previous topic - next topic

The '80 XR-7...

Reply #60 – September 27, 2006, 12:36:31 PM

Well it's official...the work has begun.

I started taking the suspension apart on it last night. I got the rear in the air and pulled the axle and control arms. I'm going to pull the "cat-back" of the exhaust since I was going to use what's on the silver car now (going to put something new on that anyway).

I decided I'm going to take a little time to do some preventative blasting under there on the frame rails, etc since there's a little more rust (heavy surface stuff) than I'd like to leave. A little time with the blaster, a little rust encapsulator and some paint and we're all set for now. I also took care of blasting and repainting my upper arms. It will have to run on some 87-88TC lowers for the time being, but they're better than originals :p.
I was able to get a GOOD deal on some SVO rear rotors, so once I pick up pads it will be good to go.
I pulled the rest of the stuff from the front of the 84XR-7 last weekend (control arms, booster/master cylinder, my CC plates, sway bar), so aside from the front calipers (still looking) I have everything for the front I need.
Now I need to start dragging this old stuff back to the 84 so it can roll again.
Also, someone mentioned the auto dipstick o-ring as being the source of the leak. When I get the front in the air I'll go ahead and replace that to rule that out as well.

Guess I better get some SFCs together too :p

The '80 XR-7...

Reply #61 – September 27, 2006, 12:58:00 PM

psssh

The '80 XR-7...

Reply #62 – September 27, 2006, 01:14:24 PM

Quote from: stuntmannick;105896

psssh

Are you leaking?

The '80 XR-7...

Reply #63 – September 27, 2006, 09:28:56 PM

Cool, post some progress pics

The '80 XR-7...

Reply #64 – October 01, 2006, 06:45:39 PM

OK, well I busted out the sand blaster Sat and got started. I ran out of Rust Encapsulator, so I'm on hold for a couple days, but anyway.

Here's what I'm starting with

Here's a shot of the outside of the one I was able to get done

Here's one just showing how they slathered on the rustproofing....nice

And a final pic of the upper arms I have to install. Made these about 6 years ago or so while at KB's. Had to blast them and repaint....kinda gross before.

I also scored the front calipers I was watching, so that's good. I still need rotors, but that's not a big deal...easy enough to find. So the brake set-up is going to be 12" Vette on the front and 11.5" SVO disks on the rear.

The '80 XR-7...

Reply #65 – October 02, 2006, 12:30:22 AM

Thats what the underside of my 80 looked like when I forst got it about 6-7 years ago, now it looks like this.....

also on mine the rust got started under the rustproofing and rotted the floor out... only thing left was the rustproofing... didnt even see it till it was too late.

The '80 XR-7...

Reply #66 – October 02, 2006, 07:13:59 AM

Yeah, most wind up looking like that around here too. It's kind of a PITA to get under the car and blast, and it's not going to be perfect, but it's going to postpone any real serious work that's needed. This is all just really heavy surface stuff though, nothing structural yet.

The '80 XR-7...

Reply #67 – October 02, 2006, 12:11:09 PM

-i know what you mean on storage/space chuck. ive got more now than i'll ever do in my life, and my yard looks like a small salvage yard, and i have just decided in the last couple of weeks to try to sell off a couple of cars i have in order to lessen the burden. i have plenty of yard but only so much is covered. i try to put a tarp or cover over them at least to keep some of it out. prolly pretty soon you'll see these two in the forums or evil bay just to get them out of the yard

ive had them for 5-6 years, and made good head way on the 88 5.0 until the tornado struck. then it was trying to repair the house and garage for over a year, and just never came back to it. oh well, my loss hopefully will be somebodys gain. these are just to good a cars to let go to the s yard....:sorry:

The '80 XR-7...

Reply #68 – October 02, 2006, 12:19:21 PM

*peers* What is the silver one?

The '80 XR-7...

Reply #69 – October 02, 2006, 01:09:30 PM

-its a '83 tc, less eng. & trans. guy brought in to the dealership where i worked about 4 years ago. bottom end gone. we diag and gave him est for repairs, he took the eng. was gonna have some shop build it and bring it back, never saw him again. when they cleaned the lot every 6 months of vehicles not picked up, they let employees take 1st dibs, so i got this one. they converted the rear axle to 87-88 tc rear axle. car is solid, but has dent in lr 1/4. int. is perfect. with a detachable face radio. just needs a engine and tranny to run.

The '80 XR-7...

Reply #70 – October 02, 2006, 01:39:07 PM

Quote from: shorangerbird;106538

-its a '83 tc, less eng. & trans.

The '80 XR-7...

Reply #71 – October 08, 2006, 02:39:11 PM

Ok, well I had soem time yesterday and today, so the rear suspension is back under the car. I still need brake pads and to sort the lines/hoses to finish the brakes, but everything else is installed.

95 Cobras on an 80 Cougar anyone?

These are also on an SVO/Lincoln axle....so the whole rear track has been widened. Thes current tires are 275/40's, but they are shot and will be replaced with 255/45's. I have plenty of room in the wells though.

It's sitting a little low because I have in the trunk and the front is still at "stock" height.
I also found I still had an extra 24mm rear sway bar in the shed, so that went on as well.

I think the wheels will be a good choice on this car.

The '80 XR-7...

Reply #72 – October 08, 2006, 05:37:42 PM

Thats gonna look awesome, you have center caps right?

I've been working on the old 80 lately...

The '80 XR-7...

Reply #73 – October 08, 2006, 06:21:55 PM

Yeah, I have center caps and locks. Just not messing with them until it's ready to roll. I still need to get rear pads and a caliper "hardware" kit to replace the caliper guide pin bushings. I bet I even have some braided lines tucked away somewhere

.

I started taking the front apart. The driver side is all out save for one of the bolts is stuck in the sleeve...grrr. I may have to get up under there and cut it out, but first I'm going to try the bang on it method and see if it finally breaks free.

The '80 XR-7...

Reply #74 – October 08, 2006, 07:56:51 PM

Looks good. Those 95 Cobra's look great on the car.