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1989 Probe GT barn find rebuild

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  • 1989 Probe GT barn find rebuild

    So as some of you guys probably know, I recently bought an 89gt to replace my rusted out LX. Car is an original 1 owner car, 149k, never modded, no rust, been in a barn for the past 10 years. I purchased it from the owner down in tennessee and had it shipped 1300 miles up to me in MA, Plan is a complete rehab and to swap in all the performance and custom parts from my lx as well as some other fun stuff. Anyways i know you guys like picks:

    Here's how it looked when it was dragged out for the first time.





    Car was fairly dirty to say the least, had ben sitting with its window down for so long, there was quite a bit of grime. So i spent this past weekend scrubbing down the interior, took everything out, vacuumed, scrubbed and cleaned almost every inch. The carpet may be replaced as it is pretty grimy I did my best to scrub it down. Found a few mouse nests, and a big ass spider that got away from me….in side the door:unbel: hope he finds his way out lol.



    Does anyone know a paint or dye thats close to the 89 smoke grey? Also i had the all elusive unbroken center vent door, until today. Somewhere between when i parked it last week and when i came back it this morning…the vent door decided it was time to crack :angry:

    Doesn't really bother my as i was going to mold a gauge pod into it anyways but it would have been nice to save it. I got my seats in the car just to get them out of the shop so they don't get damaged. Also mounted my hatch floor in, still need to finished up a panel behind the seats and cover all the panels.







    Paint is ok, reallllly faded and oxidized on top, going to try to clay bar and buff it out with a foam pad and see where it stands. If it won't come back I'll either leave it this year…or plastidip it matte red. Once the lx is out of the garage and on the trailer, I can get it in the shop and i'll start to go through the mechanics. So far i have a bunch of parts to replace just for a refresh: timing belt, water pump, fuel filter, disty cap, rotor, plugs, wires, belts, heater hoses, radiator hoses and a valve cover gasket to start. Brakes don't work and clutch pedal is to the floor so I'm assuming master and slave are next on the list. Im a newb to this f2t so This will all be an learning experience but i'm ready to make some power! I'll get this thread updated with progress as it comes.


    Got my wheels on cause I'm impatient, kinda up in the air with the color combo but i'll try it out for now. Hopefully the lx roller will be out of the garage this week and i can get the 89 in to start mechanical work. Car hasn't been run in years so it will be getting a full rehab and break in. Also got my camber plates in today finally so i can add those to my tein coils and get the fenders rolled and give the car a proper stance.







    I'll keep the progress coming as i go through it!

    -Nick
    1992 Probe LX_Rust in Peace
    1989 Probe GT_Weekend Warrior
    2002 Focus SVT_Powerworks Supercharged_Gone
    2014 Fiesta ST_Lemon
    2017 BRZ Premium_Daily

  • #2
    A Probe barn find?! That is a win.

    This will be a sweet build, loved your old car.. cant wait to see where this one goes. In the end maybe it has all turned out for the better now that you got a one owner GT out of the deal. Did you have spacers on the other car, I thought the wheels were more flush than they look in the rear of the that picture.

    Hows the engine bay look? Any sign of mice damage to the harness or anything?
    1996 Probe GT - Bought April 2010, Boosted August 2014
    Fast FC04 18x9, Black Leather, King6, ADDCO, AWR, Yonaka, Quad J30s, AVC Pipes, Tial WG, Greddy BOV, Aeromotive AFPR, MS1v3
    1993 Probe GT - 110k, auto, parts car
    2011 Impreza Limited Hatchback - Daily, Lowered, WRX Wheels & Wing

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    • #3
      GL with working on it. Enjoy yourself

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      • #4
        Originally posted by BradsPGT View Post
        A Probe barn find?! That is a win.

        This will be a sweet build, loved your old car.. cant wait to see where this one goes. In the end maybe it has all turned out for the better now that you got a one owner GT out of the deal. Did you have spacers on the other car, I thought the wheels were more flush than they look in the rear of the that picture.

        Hows the engine bay look? Any sign of mice damage to the harness or anything?

        I checked over the interior pretty thoroughly and could find anything obvious, looked like they just grabbed insulation. Theres also a shitload of cat hair in the car so i assume a barn car decided to oust any mice population so theres a plus. The bay is fairly dirty, going to degrease and pressure wash it before i start any rehab there. I'm pretty happy with the purchase i think this car will lead me toward what my end goal is. Rear fitment on the other car was positive camber cause of the 2g suspension so it may have looked more flush, however, i will have to run 5-10mm spacers to fit the wheels with the awr trailing arms so it will fit a tad better.

        Originally posted by KnezicDex View Post
        GL with working on it. Enjoy yourself
        Oh i will
        1992 Probe LX_Rust in Peace
        1989 Probe GT_Weekend Warrior
        2002 Focus SVT_Powerworks Supercharged_Gone
        2014 Fiesta ST_Lemon
        2017 BRZ Premium_Daily

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        • #5
          Hands down you had the best looking 1st gen I've ever seen. So I can't wait to see the route you go with this one. You make me so jealous of not having one sometimes that I hate seeing your threads updated. Lol
          95' GT::.. Viper Red::.. Cold air intake and Exhaust::.. Lowered and Mach 1 lip::..

          Found half dead and in the weeds, brought back to life to be the perfect daily driver.

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          • #6
            Well thats good, you're car had a four-legged security system while it sat for years int he barn lol.
            Theres a local black 89GT up for sale, 160km on it, apparently runs and drives but has a oil leak (VC gasket) and exhaust leak (manifold gasket) which he is giving with the car. He's asking $1000 for it, I think I may go look at it tomorrow.. Looks too good to be true. You're pretty well versed in these cars, any specific things I should look for on the first gen? You can PM me if you want instead of me cluttering up your thread.
            1996 Probe GT - Bought April 2010, Boosted August 2014
            Fast FC04 18x9, Black Leather, King6, ADDCO, AWR, Yonaka, Quad J30s, AVC Pipes, Tial WG, Greddy BOV, Aeromotive AFPR, MS1v3
            1993 Probe GT - 110k, auto, parts car
            2011 Impreza Limited Hatchback - Daily, Lowered, WRX Wheels & Wing

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            • #7
              which tein coilovers are you using?

              the 2g ss-p's will work with the 1g, however you can swap out the front camber plates with FC plates that are also sold by tein. to fit the struts to the 1g, you'll need to remove some material from the mounting points on the spindles.

              i do like the custom plates made for the rear. which adjusting hardware are you using in there? racy-stacey did something just like this with her setup. she wound up using my old cusco hardware after she had her rear base plate made.

              nice find. don't see too many first gens in such good shape.
              ProbeTalk is BACK! Once again, it's what you use the Internet for!

              Let's get DANGEROUS!

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Swiper View Post
                Hands down you had the best looking 1st gen I've ever seen. So I can't wait to see the route you go with this one. You make me so jealous of not having one sometimes that I hate seeing your threads updated. Lol
                Thanks! the kind words mean a lot, hopefully making some good progress soon



                Originally posted by BradsPGT View Post
                Well thats good, you're car had a four-legged security system while it sat for years int he barn lol.
                Theres a local black 89GT up for sale, 160km on it, apparently runs and drives but has a oil leak (VC gasket) and exhaust leak (manifold gasket) which he is giving with the car. He's asking $1000 for it, I think I may go look at it tomorrow.. Looks too good to be true. You're pretty well versed in these cars, any specific things I should look for on the first gen? You can PM me if you want instead of me cluttering up your thread.
                I'll shoot ya a pm when i get off work today


                Originally posted by dmark101 View Post
                which tein coilovers are you using?

                the 2g ss-p's will work with the 1g, however you can swap out the front camber plates with FC plates that are also sold by tein. to fit the struts to the 1g, you'll need to remove some material from the mounting points on the spindles.

                i do like the custom plates made for the rear. which adjusting hardware are you using in there? racy-stacey did something just like this with her setup. she wound up using my old cusco hardware after she had her rear base plate made.

                nice find. don't see too many first gens in such good shape.
                Thanks! Last year i picked up the last set of basics that tein was liquidating on ebay. They are 2g struts, the rears have already been modified to fit over the 1g spindles. I picked up these camber plates on ebay, just generics, they do feel nicer than the ksport plates i had purchased in the past. The s13 fronts match up with 1g probe rear strut mount, pat had that tip I would have bought teins or cusco but for the price and my purpose,these made sense to me.
                1992 Probe LX_Rust in Peace
                1989 Probe GT_Weekend Warrior
                2002 Focus SVT_Powerworks Supercharged_Gone
                2014 Fiesta ST_Lemon
                2017 BRZ Premium_Daily

                Comment


                • #9
                  my God !!

                  that dashboard is mint !! here is cali most of them are cracked sooo bad.

                  Good Luck with this car !!
                  1991 3.0 LX fully built, aftermarket everything.

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                  • #10
                    HEY ! Car looks great. What color is it exactly? I'm having trouble telling from the pics (my eyes) . Hope you find and execute the spider (hate them) but even the interior looks pretty nice. The only other 1st gen Probe I ever saw that looked as nice as this one was your red one and the one James owns over on PT

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                    • #11
                      How's it run?

                      Do a couple pull vids before you start modding it!

                      Congrats on the 1st gen find. I have wet dreams of finding a MINT first gen.
                      1994 Project PGT

                      M62 In Progress...

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                      • #12
                        That stock carpet alone is insanely spotless. Ive never had a probe that came with carpet that nice. If thats just a little indication of the rest of the car, Well done! I kinda dig the gold wheels on it also. Planning on keeping the 89gt kit, or swapping it over to the 90gt+ and your lx with lip front?
                        PaTricK
                        ~ 92 PGT, 97 KL MTX 626, 05 Mazda6, 13 Mazda CX9, 09 Kia Sportage 4x4 v6 ~

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by ScottD961 View Post
                          HEY ! Car looks great. What color is it exactly? I'm having trouble telling from the pics (my eyes) . Hope you find and execute the spider (hate them) but even the interior looks pretty nice. The only other 1st gen Probe I ever saw that looked as nice as this one was your red one and the one James owns over on PT
                          James's LX is OCD clean... Loghead's on PP is super clean as well. This one is clean from what I can tell. I hope it runs as well as it looks. I think the color is light sandalwood based on the pics. I could be wrong.

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                          • #14
                            yup yup the car is sandalwood.


                            Originally posted by MonoxideChild View Post
                            That stock carpet alone is insanely spotless. Ive never had a probe that came with carpet that nice. If thats just a little indication of the rest of the car, Well done! I kinda dig the gold wheels on it also. Planning on keeping the 89gt kit, or swapping it over to the 90gt+ and your lx with lip front?
                            The carpet really isn't that spotless haha trust me, but i did spend about 2 hours scrubbing the hell out of it. Im planning on just installing the xenon front bumper with the 89 skirts and rear and trying out the erebuni wing. I'll have to mock it all up and see how it works. Really don't know how much enthusiasm i have to fit all the body panels up to the car this year if i was to ditch the 89 kit all together. If the xenon looks odd up front i'll just put a honda abs lip under it for now or something and just leave the rest. Going to see how much of the factory paint i can save, some things i've ben reading lead me to believe i can still restore it so i'll be attempting that first.
                            1992 Probe LX_Rust in Peace
                            1989 Probe GT_Weekend Warrior
                            2002 Focus SVT_Powerworks Supercharged_Gone
                            2014 Fiesta ST_Lemon
                            2017 BRZ Premium_Daily

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Yeah, I would agree. There is another member on PP also called cshoen, or something like that that also has a beautiful one as well

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