1989 Probe GT barn find rebuild

[89lxmorepower]

I got a thule rack also my self. I don't have wind fairing though. How wides your wind fairing?

[j.trump]

Nick,

I've been following this thread for a while, and I'm jealous. I've been spending a lot of time on my 89 GT. I like the carpet you put in yours. I'm undecided if I should clean or replace min.

[plx92]

Nick,

I've been following this thread for a while, and I'm jealous. I've been spending a lot of time on my 89 GT. I like the carpet you put in yours. I'm undecided if I should clean or replace min.

Thanks!

I would suggest replacement, especially if the car was sitting (mice) Pretty shocking to see the old one next to the new one and the level of wear/stains/grossness.

[plx92]

Little update,

Autocross on the 31st went well. Car performed well with not issue. The re71r's were like night and day over the sport comp 2's. It was a wet event, but the level of grip was still insane. Placed pretty crappy due to pax, but I had the fastest raw time out of the novice drivers, so I was pretty happy with that. Rear tires rubbed on the body work a bit, so i made sure to smack the corner edge of the fender lip a bit flatter after I got home.

Now comes the adventure. I decided to make the trip up to Loring Air Force base in Maine for an event a local club hosts every year. Two days of autocross, 11.1million square foot facility and 1.5mile long courses, 120 entrants. I could not pass up the opportunity, especially with a free weekend. However, my anxiety was through the roof, 26 year old car, 7 hours and 356miles away from home base, what could possibly go wrong?

I swallowed any fear of any catastrophe, packed up the car and embarked on my journey Friday. Made a couple pit stops, cool overlook of Mt Mt. Katahdin.



Finally made it to the hotel around 9pm at night.



Bright and early Saturday morning, I was ready to go.



Car performed even better at higher speeds with the bigger course, it has a nice amount of oversteer that allows the car to rotate very predictably. Still searching around for the right tire pressure for maximum grip but it's getting much better. Was still suffering from some rubbing out back but there was not much I could do on site without fudging the alignment.

Sunday, the course was reversed with a few elements changed, I actually brought a charged go pro and got most of my runs. Started the day at 89.xxx and finished with a best of 84.5xx. Almost had a tire casualty, rubbing got particularly bad on one run and shaved a good groove into one of the rear tire shoulders.



Looked like the rubbing on the plastic bumper corner had worn it to a sharp edge, on one run, it must have caught the tire and fillet'd it. Was not happy at all, drove it back to the pits, trimmed the bumper corner to a rounded edge, covered the hell out of it with duck tape, and swapped my wounded tire to the front to prevent further damage and finished out my last three without any further issue. looks like some trimming is in order and I'll have to raise the car a bit more out back. The 275lb rear springs are not helping the issue I could definitely benefit from some stiffer rates.

Few other shots from the Saturday/Sunday events:











Had a blast and the car made it back to home base (heavy sigh of relief) The club put on an awesome event and ran it extremely smooth.

Here are a few of my runs from the day, I Left some speed out there for sure, could have been more aggressive on the throttle in a few spots I think. Need to get better about reviewing my run vids on grid so I can pin point these things before my next runs. I'm still learning

https://youtu.be/L1lLcwQpqEM?list=PL...QpshPd4HCQTsGi

[plx92]

Mega post, copied from my GRM thread.

Quick update, I've been driving the probe last 2-3weeks due to my FiST being tied up for some rust/mechanical warranty work. I replaced the AWR poly engine mounts with the factory mounts, purely because I could not stand the vibration anymore (95a poly bushings created all kinds of rattly hell) The car has been MUCH more enjoyable to drive.

Long term review of the out of the box Ksport coilovers (5-6 autox events 6-7k miles of street use) While I wasn't expecting amazing results since they are a fairly cheap/low quality setup, they are readily available and direct fit for the platform. The spring rates are a bit soft for my liking, I still get a fair amount of roll when driving aggressively. The dampers, unless on full stiff seem to be a bit soft for the current rates (425f/275r). Other than that they seem to be holding up decently and I still plan to have them revalved and up the rates once they begin to leak.

Also managed to fix the leaky transmission issue, my problem was actually the o ring on the speedometer gear slowly weeping when warm which then bathed the top half of the gearbox in synchromesh. Finally no more leaks in the driveway <img src="/media/img/icons/smilies/laugh-18.png" alt="" />

I have also began winter months planning to finish off the last few issues I have with the car, first and foremost, is replacing the steering rack. It has been suffering from the typical clunks and loose feeling of a worn rack and pinion gear, fluid is also dark grey. I'm currently exploring options, reman seems like the only one however I'm little nervous about the choice. Does anyone have any experience/suggestions for which brands? From my extensive google searching, it appears that all are somewhat hit or miss. I would really prefer to only do the job once since it seems like a major pita.

Also about to pull the trigger on a new clutch, decided to go with the Southbend HD stage 1 to maintain a somewhat stock feel, but bit more clamping force. I didn't require anything major since I have no big power aspirations with the car.

[plx92]

Since I've been spending quite some time in the driver seat commuting, decided to spend some time attending to few details. One, was realigning the drivers side window, it hadn't been sealing properly allowing for a steady drip while driving in the rain. While the door panel was off, I had the chance to reupholster the lower panels to replace the ones I had done years ago for my other car (they still had holes for manual window cranks, as well as some wear and tear) Took a few pics as I went,

Basic break down of components (the grey carpet is the factory style panel to be reupholstered)





Next step was remove the original carpeting and speaker grill:



I had been using Polk DB speakers and I still like the grill design, so modification to the fiberboard panel was required. Marked the grill as close to center as I could find and trimmed the panel to fit, test fitting to verify fitment. Added a touch more clearance to account for fabric material thickness.








Once I was happy with fitment, next thing was laying down a padding layer, this adds two things. The first is the padding has a nice feel to it and makes the panel feel a bit more plush. The second benefit is it hides the surface imperfections of the base layer from becoming visible through the material. I used 1/8" padding (or headliner fabric of the jo ann fabric variety). I applied headliner adhesive to both surfaces and let it tack before making the bond and then trimmed back excess material.



Vinyl fabric went down next in the same manor, opted to wrap the panel and ahear to the back side, hot glue is the weapon of choice here, I've used it with success in the past, its easy to work with and a lasting bond.









Once the panel was finished up, reassembly was quick and things were looking good







And the final finished piece, fit and finish turned out pretty well and I was pleased with the results.




Also made great strides in the tech department, ditched my old junk head unit for a cheap JVC digital media receiver w/bluetooth. No more cords for this guy



The companionship of the new head unit and 25+ year old EVC boost controller is pretty hilarious.

[plx92]

Tinkered a bit more today, bought a pair of addco sway bars about 6 months ago and haven't had the motivation to install them. Figured since I was driving the car it would be in best interest to install them now so I could get a feel for the difference. Managed to get the rear done this afternoon.

The rear bar upgrade is a 7/8" (22ish mm) solid bar compared to the factory 18mm hollow bar



Addco supplies new brackets, bushings and unlinks, here is the supplied bracket side by side with the factory one, the bracket hooks into the rear subframe and bolts on the other side.




The supplied brackets, in its out of the box configuration...would interfere with the lateral arm travel lol So I had to trim it down a bit to create the clearance it needs.





Zip ties to hang the bar in place while I fiddle the the bracketry/endlinks, made installation much easier.




The rear of the car seems to behave much tighter now with the bigger bar and I'm looking forward to balancing the car out once I can get the time to install the front bar (Solid 25.5mm compared to the factory 24mm hollow bar)

[EVERY DETAIL]

Great update. Door panels turned out really well. The suspension and tire/rim choices you made gives the car a nice stance. Glad you're enjoying it in some races after all that hard work!

[plx92]

Great update. Door panels turned out really well. The suspension and tire/rim choices you made gives the car a nice stance. Glad you're enjoying it in some races after all that hard work!

Thanks man, any leads on where I can source an affordable NOS rack? Green parts has one...but wants $600 for it, which I will simply not pay lol

[EVERY DETAIL]

Thanks man, any leads on where I can source an affordable NOS rack? Green parts has one...but wants $600 for it, which I will simply not pay lol

I assume we're talking about steering racks. What's going on with yours? Leaking? I have a few racks laying around but I can't remember their condition. I'll look

[plx92]

I assume we're talking about steering racks. What's going on with yours? Leaking? I have a few racks laying around but I can't remember their condition. I'll look

It's just now starting to seep, but the rack and pinion itself is worn, clunky, and has some play.

[89probegt]

Great update, love all the detail and pics you're including in all your posts. Makes me want to dive right into my to-do list, but alas life is a bit hectic at the moment to do it all. My '89 mostly sits in the garage resting these days with the Battery Tender plugged in. Keep the Probe legacy alive my man!

[89probegt]

I'm assuming you have the Variable Power Steering Assist ("VAPS") which includes a solenoid bolted to the rack itself (see page 13-46-1 of the 1989 Ford Probe Shop Manual). If so, the one in this link might be worth a try. Not sure if the solenoid is remanufactured though. At some point I plan on replacing the rack on my own car and have been searching for a decent remanufactured one for a while. This is one of the few I've come across that actually depicts the VAPS-equipped rack.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150987515814...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[plx92]

Great update, love all the detail and pics you're including in all your posts. Makes me want to dive right into my to-do list, but alas life is a bit hectic at the moment to do it all. My '89 mostly sits in the garage resting these days with the Battery Tender plugged in. Keep the Probe legacy alive my man!

Thanks! Still hunting down options for the rack, I've seen the detroit axle one, I also have access to a discount on the napa reman. Really holding out hope I can locate an affordable NOS option.

[BlueInfinity48]

I love your 89 man. I wish mine was on the road. Been sitting for almost 4 years. Luckily it is in a garage. I need another KL and transmission. Clutch and flywheel. I could have had it on the road already, but I have been putting focus on my 626.

Sucks about your rack man. I am one of the fortunate 1st gen owners to have a manual rack.