1989 Probe GT barn find rebuild

[plx92]

Been working on the car, she now runs, had to swap the fuel pump over from my lx, the tank is no good so i'm going to order and install a new one before it hits the road. Runs well, slight hla tap that eventually worked its way out. No boost, checked all the boost hoses and they are fine, turbo spins freely so I'm leaning towards a vac leak or stuck waste gate. Will check it out this weekend. Radiator needs to be replaced, should have the new one today.

Coils have been installed along with most of my interior, carpet is really an eyesore so that is coming out too for a black one. I wasn't able to get the rear camber plates in quite yet because tein uses tapered springs. So I think I'm going to order a pair of universal 2.5" coil over springs with a pair of top hats so i can get hose in.

Fun stuff collected so far:

hks bov, hks turbo timer, probinator ecu, hallman mbc. custom 2.5" o2 housing, Still need a boost guage but im holding out for a used autometer one.



As it sits now:

[ScottD961]

Will the fuel tank and radiator not work from your LX? Car is looking good. Looked great sitting on the floor on those rims

[MonoxideChild]

^ OEM 3.0 radiators are wider, and block the IC piping holes in the radiator support.

If the wastegate was stuck, Generally you would be getting more boost. The spring pressure on those things is pretty high. So i doubt its going to open, and get stuck that way.

Where are you sourcing a black interior? As that was never an option for the 1st gens. Did you mean the darker gray 89 int color, or are you just painting your own black?

[plx92]

Will the fuel tank and radiator not work from your LX? Car is looking good. Looked great sitting on the floor on those rims

Thanks man, I was gonna use the tank but being a new england car and the fact its sitting on the trailer with now suspension in it I'd rather just buy a new one for 90 bucks and save myself the aggregation. Radiator, as pat said is different.

^ OEM 3.0 radiators are wider, and block the IC piping holes in the radiator support.

If the wastegate was stuck, Generally you would be getting more boost. The spring pressure on those things is pretty high. So i doubt its going to open, and get stuck that way.

Where are you sourcing a black interior? As that was never an option for the 1st gens. Did you mean the darker gray 89 int color, or are you just painting your own black?

Thats good to know what else should i look for? could a blocked cat cause 0 boost pressure under rpm change? There are lots of places that offer a black carpet, which is what i'll use literally the only things left drk grey are the dash and plastic components and rear seat.

[EVERY DETAIL]

I've got a used autometer, it has a small ding in the silver ring. I know it was around $100 new but I'll take whatever is fair plus shipping, PM me if you want me to dig it out and take a pic.

[plx92]

Some more progress, continued buttoning up the interior, polished and finished installing the lx tails. Also took delivery of my new radiator which will go in this week with the rest of the maintenance parts. (timing belt, water pump, heater hoses, radiator hoses, mazda t stat)


Installed the first new disty cap and rotor the car has ever seen.

Also got my awr mounts installed, boy does the interior shake now, more so than they did in my lx.

Also took the opportunity to clean out the cowl vent, by far the worst area of the car discovered so far, mice had taken up residence at some point…cleaned all that out, scrubed the covers up, installed my recently painted wiper arms from the lx.

Here are some cleaned up progress pics. Chasing down some mechanical bugs now as well, hopefully have it running cherry in the new week or so and i can get started on the brakes.

[Tweakx07]

This is becoming a beautiful 1st gen! Love the gold(?) rims on that body color, and especially the LX tails. Keep up the great work. My buddy used to have a red gt and I was always jealous of it. His wasn't near as nice as yours is though.

[RedGT]

Wow, this project is coming along great! Great work with redoing the headliner and the inserts in the rear panels. It's all in the details... The ride height looks perfect and the wheels look very good on it. Keep it up!

[2.2NAtuner]

Respect.

[plx92]

Thanks all, working hard to get this thing on the road this year.

Some more progress this weekend.

Somewhat sorted out my running issue. Car intermittently won't idle. Im beginning to think the vaf is no good, sometimes it fires up and runs fine, others with will struggle to stay running and choke out and die.

This weekend i rattle canned the erebuni spoiler with a color that is pretty close to the body color. will do for now just to get it mounted and installed. I test fit my custom retrofitted headlamps. and I repainted the pacesetter exhaust, fixed a puncture in the muffler and welded up the broken hanger. Going to get it hung up this week so that i can order materials for a cat delete/custom down pipe. My 02 housing arrived, so i can finally move forward with all that. Heres a few pics from this weekend:

[ScottD961]

Nice progress! Is that Pontiac V8 sneaking into the pics going into the Probe?

[plx92]

Nice progress! Is that Pontiac V8 sneaking into the pics going into the Probe?

it is! that's me and my fathers restoration project, been on hold for a while since we've been busy with other projects. Car is a 1966 pontiac tempest, gto clone. Kind of a resto mode of sorts. We also have another 1966 Gto that has an older restoration that we have bee refurbishing and driving.

[ScottD961]

it is!

Will it still be front wheel drive then? LOL Better call Dan! GTO's were once my ONLY ride. C O O L

[KnezicDex]

The last picture is awesome. Thanks for sharing.

[plx92]

The last picture is awesome. Thanks for sharing.

No problem man. Need to get some hid's so i can set the leveling and finish they install.