Where have I been? Anyone miss me? I'm back with a *insert clever title* 1998 Mustang GT build!

I hate window regulators. That is all. 

When you recover from Ian, pos up pics with the new shoes!

In reply to jfryjfry :

Lol. For some reason I thought I had. 
 

Here she is. 
 

I had to do all of the regulators on my '95 convertible, so that's four regulators.  One of them got tweaked at some point in the past and I had to straighten things out so the carriage would slide easier.  Fiddly job.  Seems like all of these cars need that sort of thing on a somewhat regular basis.

Finally got rid of those spark plug wires I could not stand. 

Also pictured is the new intake.

Pic is skewed, sorry.

Also discovered the car has some sort of shorty header setup already!  Cause mine sure don't look like this. 

Alright. Did some work. Replaced the rear brake calipers and pads as the passenger side rear was dragging. Not too bad, but it was. 

Got rid of the hodgepodge exhaust.
 

Replaced with this. 
 

Wasn't too happy with the tips. So. 
 

Much better. I'll not say it gained anything, but it certainly revs out easier than before and the sound is very nice. 
 

I also improved the shifter. Replaced with a short shifter and replaced the fluid with Royal Purple. Cleaned it all up including the shift base boot. 
 

New fluid. 
 

Well. For some reason. I lost motivation to post up updates.  I will attempt to rectify that now. Since last update we have had Halloween, Christmas and New Years. We just came back from a work/vacation from Las Vegas and life happens. The car?

Ill do this in parts (not necessarily in order....more by category).

The interior is done. So far as I can get it till I decide on seats.  

Schneider rear seat delete kit installed. 
 

Soldered all connections on the harness and installed a double DIN unit. 
 

Replaced all door speakers. Redid wiring. Sounds good. Needs bass, but for me I'm fine. Pics of the rear, use your imagination for the front. 

Removed my ratty steering wheel and replaced with a NRG unit and adapter. The adapter I'm not a fan of and a new one is on the way. 
 

And. Installed keyless entry. 
 

Next round will be engine related. Not all to plan. 

Will go back and flesh this out. 
 

I had started with simple plans to do a PI intake swap. I discovered I had a crappy Dorman IM and based on what I could see, was a very likely culprit for the intermittent lean codes on both banks. Seems the IM doesn't seal well and cold weather exasperated the issue. So between a poor design, poor fitment, and a easy upgrade to solve the issue.  Seemed a no brainer to do a PI IM swap. 

So a OEM PI IM was sourced. 

Then I sourced all the parts I needed to do the job.  New water pump, seals,gaskets, 180 tstat,and cross over pipe.  

Also scored a 75 MM TB and Plenum from the wife!

And then. My head got in the way. 
 

I reasoned that it would be better to do a head swap as well. That way I wouldn't have to run adapters (the right way) or seal up a coolant port or two with rtv that could leak (the easy way). Better flowing heads (in stock form...I'm aware ported NPI heads can flow more) and a compression bump up to 10.5:1.  
 

Seemed a winner to me, as all I wanted was correct fitment and more power. 
 

Where to get some heads?  
 

To be continued.........

So. 
 

A deal was struck. A somewhat local chap had a Romeo block with Windsor heads of the PI type. A deal was made to trade a clutch for his long block. 

Arrangements made. Deal done. 
 

I arrive to pick this up. 
 

I care less about the intake and bottom end. I'm here for head.  
 

*Ahem*
 

Strap it on *ahem* and head home....head home. My wife isn't pleased with my attempts at wit. I'll stop. 
 

I get it home. 
 

Set it up in the stand. 
 

And pull it apart. 

And get the heads off and ready to clean!

Weekend before we leave for Vegas. My valve spring compressor tool arrives along with my new parts washer!  I pull off the cams and discover.........

Tragedy. 
 

I have more pics, but. Regardless. It's not good. I gave up after this. Both the cam and actual journal have large "catch your fingernail easily" gouges. 
 

No cam bearings.  Other than machine it and get cams with larger journals. Or any other combination of things outside of the budget. 
 

I lost. 
 

Soooooooo.  Back to the PI swap with the IM only. 
 

Ordered up these plates to do it the right way. ETA mid April. So till then.
 

Slapped on the TB/Plenum and sent out to Bama for some revisions. Waiting on those plates and tune revisions, though the car really does feel peppier. 

What a bummer....   I was wondering what condition a motor sitting in the dirt would be in.   I guess we found out. 

Yeah, bummer about the heads. But it could be worse... like if you had gotten ahead of yourself and had taken your original heads off first! 

In reply to jfryjfry :

Well. I had hoped as it had ran recently and all I wanted was the heads. It would be fine. I even planned to rebuild the heads. New seals, lap valves etc. 

I was prepared to do work, as I knew I would have to. Not to the extreme I found. 

In reply to maschinenbau :

Yessir. A little voice in my head told me to check them before I ordered all the parts to do the swap.  Lol. 

Car continues to run phenomenal.  Currently sporting the 93 Tune from AM.  
 

Pics of the interior as I never updated them. Looking into either cloth seats or a single racing seat for the driver side.