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1989 Probe GT barn find rebuild

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  • My wife's 2014 fiesta has no rust in 70k miles. But the green envy paint sure has chipped bad.
    1994 Project PGT

    M62 In Progress...

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    • Amazing winter progress. I have the HKS intercooler pipes as well, with original couplers that are still intact. Any idea if the turbosmart bypass valve bolts to the stock location? Thoughts on the rebuilt power steering rack?
      1989 Ford Probe GT stock turbo, HKS I/C Pipes, SBC TZ clutch, KVR cadmium/slotted rotors & pads, SMC SS brake lines, K&N filter, intake silencer-delete, A/C-delete, FSTB, Probesport RSTB, Probesport STS, custom mandrel stainless exhaust with Magnaflow muffler and highflow cat, Tokico "blues", Eibach Pro Kit, Yokahama Avid H4's on 17" Enkei TBS-11's, Raxles axles, Energy Suspension endlinks, ARP cyl head stud and exhaust manifold stud conversions

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      • Originally posted by 89probegt View Post
        Amazing winter progress. I have the HKS intercooler pipes as well, with original couplers that are still intact. Any idea if the turbosmart bypass valve bolts to the stock location? Thoughts on the rebuilt power steering rack?
        Thank you!

        I think if you had a 1.875" T pipe with a 1" outlet for the bov, you could place it right in. Since the factory bpv is molded into the connector for the upper charge pipes, you would need to replace the whole assembly to add a new BPV and reuse the rubber intercooler hoses.

        No thoughts yet on the rack since the car is still all apart. The detroit axle reman does not come with new rack bushings. IT does make some noises rotating side to side but it is dry at the moment so I will withhold comment until I drive on it.

        Trans shop is really dragging their feet, I'll give them a slight benefit of the doubt given that I dropped it off right before christmas/the holidays. But if its not going to be done before mid february I'm gonna have to bring it elsewhere. First autocross event is beginning of April and I need to bed in the clutch and break in the trans prior.
        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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        • Not much to report, the trans shop finally has the box apart and now they have all the proper seals/bearings/bolts to reassemble, which took some legwork on my end. Hoping to have it done by the end of the week.

          In the meantime, I cleaned and painted my knuckles to tidy them up and prepped/painted another valve cover to ready myself to install yet another vcg and reduct the pcv back to the factory orientation (per rules)





          The good news is, I had a look at my spare f2t out of the white 90PGT and the head looks freshly rebuilt. This seems like a good candidate for a reseal over the summer to replace the tired engine in the car.

          Also after some careful thought, I'm planning to add a Treadstone TRV125 IC to the intake setup to maximize cooling effectiveness (3.5" thick core) It seems like it will fit the factory location quite well.
          Last edited by plx92; February 21, 2017, 09:27 AM.
          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


          • Transmission has finally returned home, fresh oem mazda seals/bearings and the new torsen mounted inside.



            Fortunately I caught this prior to factory diff implosion, I have 1 spare gearbox, but they are getting harder to find.




            Need to source a few crush washers for assorted sensors, and pick up some Redline D4 and I should be in business.

            Hoping to get the gearbox and most associated components back in the car this weekend so I can get the car back on all fours. Also picked up a new set of wheels that should fit a bit better and utilize a set of leftover re's from my fiesta. I will add updates as I go.
            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


            • Got the transmission and most of the running gear back in the car this weekend. New poly mounts took some swearing and prying to line up but all is socked up tight. Trans seems to cycle through gears smoothly.



              Quick reference of the difference between aftermarket c clips and factory Mazda clips, used the mazda clip to ensure no install/removal issues:



              Already had bronzoil shifter bushings, which I tighten up using a few washers for zero slop, but I also picked up this new poly bushing to replace the shift stabilizer which was dry and disintegrating.



              Quickly mocked up the airbag and ic pipes. Need to work on wire management to clean things up but it should tidy up well. Have a few 2" 90 bends and the last remaining silicone couplers on order to fit the new Treadstone cooler which should be here this week.




              New wheels are also here, they also seem to fit well and are by far my favorite wheels i've had for the car. These are Konigs new offering the hypergram, flow-formed using enkei's process and only 16lbs!




              Hit a bit of a snafu as well, while everything was apart, I decided the replace all the 28yr old fuel hoses to avoid any surprise issues in the future. Got all the stubborn hoses off except the one that attaches to the FPR hardline. I carefully attempted to slice it with a razor, but not quite carefully enough, knicking the hardline with the blade




              I pulled the upper plenum off (only way to remove/replace the hardline) so i', taking the time to have the injectors cleaned/flowed and clean out my IAC and TB all of which are quite grungy.


              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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              • Awesome update again. Wish I had the time to do half of what you have posted here!!

                Quick question regarding the Energy Suspension bushing you installed (4.1106g). Which bushing specifically did you replace? I took a pic of my Ford Shop Manual (hoping it shows below) - could you indicate which bushing in the pic it is? Is it #20, #12 or another?

                http://s56.photobucket.com/user/05fo...tml?sort=3&o=0
                Last edited by 89probegt; March 2, 2017, 10:10 PM.
                1989 Ford Probe GT stock turbo, HKS I/C Pipes, SBC TZ clutch, KVR cadmium/slotted rotors & pads, SMC SS brake lines, K&N filter, intake silencer-delete, A/C-delete, FSTB, Probesport RSTB, Probesport STS, custom mandrel stainless exhaust with Magnaflow muffler and highflow cat, Tokico "blues", Eibach Pro Kit, Yokahama Avid H4's on 17" Enkei TBS-11's, Raxles axles, Energy Suspension endlinks, ARP cyl head stud and exhaust manifold stud conversions

                Comment


                • Originally posted by 89probegt View Post
                  Awesome update again. Wish I had the time to do half of what you have posted here!!

                  Quick question regarding the Energy Suspension bushing you installed (4.1106g). Which bushing specifically did you replace? I took a pic of my Ford Shop Manual (hoping it shows below) - could you indicate which bushing in the pic it is? Is it #20, #12 or another?

                  http://s56.photobucket.com/user/05fo...tml?sort=3&o=0
                  Thank you!

                  Bushing that I replaced was part #12
                  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


                  • New intercooler came in, nice piece. Comparison to the original tube and fin intercooler, the new bar and plate style should cool more efficiently:





                    However the way it fits in the car....places it directly behind the bumper support lol And unfortunately street prepared class rules prohibit modification of the body and structural members. Now I assume it will get some shred of airflow as it, but I have an idea that may promote proper airflow through the core and retain the body as is.

                    Placement of the new intercooler routing the piping through the original mounting locations. I mocked it up positioning the cooler offset to the right but it still never really put the core in direct airflow:









                    Both sides of the bumper support have a decent sized opening, I had an idea that I could utilize these to direct airflow into the core.
                    Quick mock up with some cardboard, ducts will be made out of sheetmetal:







                    In additional to mocking up the cooler, I replaced all my 28yr old rubber fuel hoses with new lines and clamps. Got my injectors back, 2 of them were seriously suffering according the the flow analysis. They were able to be cleaned though and returned to the proper functionality, good as new. I replaced the o-rings and seals and reinstalled the rail as well.

                    Next step will be to clean my intake and tb/iac and get that all remounted. Any thoughts on gasket shellac or grey rtv on the plenum to lower intake gasket to promote seal, or should I just use the paper gasket?
                    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


                    • Signed up for the first autocross of the year on April 15th so I'm officially working towards a deadline, more so since I want to get some street miles on it before hand to break in the clutch and shake the car out.

                      Over the past week I've been chipping away at little things. I reassembled my intake/tb after a thorough cleaning new seals all around. TB and IAC were quite grungy, before:



                      After:


                      Also wanted to replace the coolant hoses that were behind the intake that run to the IAC/TB and Lower plenum, not a fun job given their location and the lower intake being in place still. The factory molded hoses are also all but obsolescent (even still, who wants to buy "new" 30 yr old hoses) Took some finesse to route the new hoses without kinks and rubbing risks, but I believe they are all situated nicely now. The old hoses were a time bomb:



                      After the intake was back on I was able to better mock up the piping locations and I'm now ready to build some permanent brackets for the IC and begins tightening couplers down for the last time. Hoping if I can work through some of the little things this week I should be able to be back up and running in a week or so time permitting. Much excite.

                      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


                      • Love scrolling through this tread, keep up the good work!

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                        • Originally posted by KnezicDex View Post
                          Love scrolling through this tread, keep up the good work!
                          Thank you!

                          Made some good progress this weekend, I sold my Forza seats a few months ago, and picked up a set of reclinable sparco seats. The bolstering is actually a bit more supportive and MUCH easier to get in an out of. Safe to say interior is right where I want it and should be the final iteration.

                          Replaced all the slider fasteners with grade 8 hardware during install.



                          Made big strides in knocking out items on the to-do list, made up a bunch of brackets to hang the new intercooler in place:







                          Made up a bracket to solve where to position my battery distribution block:





                          Most of the intercooler piping is all tight and positioned correctly, I checked overall wiring and hoses and made sure they were properly insulted/fixed.

                          Time had finally came to fill the trans up, before doing so I replaced the o-ring seal on the speedo gear to prevent any leaks.



                          Weapon of choice for the gearbox (more convenience, was planning to run redline d4 but sourced this locally):



                          Final bit that I got done was to plumb the airbox with a high pressure cold air feed, 2.5" home depot flexible tubing though the fender well, right into the box. I removed the factory "resonator" tube and zip tied the piping right in.









                          Tuesday evening I should be able to go by a friends shop and make up the ducting for the intercooler. Once those are installed I can install the bumper and exhaust and fire her up!
                          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


                          • Never was a fan of the 1g looks but wow....the time you have into it. I don't think you can really call it a project...life style seems to fit better.
                            93 PGT CAI, Egay headers, high flow cat. 2.5 mandrel bent with Borla, Yonaka coilovers,19mm rear bar,CM 12lb fly and stage 2 clutch

                            She tends to argue with me daily...yep it's a Probe

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                            • Over the past week or so I've been feverishly working away.

                              Got the intercooler ducts painted and installed:



                              Replaced my awkwardly bent upper radiator hose with a cut down silicone Rx7 hose, and used a coupler T-bolts that I scored since the eBay vendor sent me 20 that were the incorrect size lol



                              Took delivery of the lot of OEM coolant/oil hoses, and replaced the turbo coolant hoses and oil return hose, all of which were either dry as hell or rock hard. I used DEI heat sheathing on the coolant hoses due to their close proximity to the turbo/heat hoping to prolong life.







                              Had some oil seepage from the return which sparked the motivation for replacement. Need to recheck this week to check for clamp tightness (Personal note)



                              With that all sorted, I was able to get the car fired up, all seems good. The catch can on the PCV-intake plenum connection was causing a pretty large vac leak ($15 catch can isn't air tight, who knew :lmao) So I removed it, still seem to have a slight vac leak but try as I might I wasn't able to find it. (pulling 15-16in I'm told healthy f2t is somewhere around 17-19in) But it run's well aside from a slight pop at idle. Any ideas?

                              After start up and filling the new steering rack with fluid, I was still noticing some clunking/poping in the steering. This was the whole reason I put a new rack into it in the first place (shame on me) I was able to narrow it down to the two universal joints that connect the column to the rack, one had some side to side play the other was very loose. These parts are obsolete from ford and mazda, however I had hung onto some spares from a parts car fortunately and they were nice and tight. Steering feels fantastic now

                              One of the old worn units:



                              Took a couple quick drives around the block to shake the cobwebs and spiders out, runs great, clutch is nice and smooth and trans seems to shift ALOT smoother with the Syncromax compared to the only pennzoil synromesh I had been using. My wideband definitely needs to be recalibrate and I hit fuel cut a few times on accident (still no chipped ECU installed) I'm going to revert the boost control back to the factory controller (8psi) for the time being and the first autox event.

                              Car is super quiet now with the airbox in place and plumback bpv, the exhaust note is bit smoother and lower now which is nice!

                              Took it down to my friends shop where we got it aligned and swapped a set of leftover re71r's onto my new wheels. Tried a bit of toe out in the front and static camber set at -1.5 all around to start. With everything evened out and the new front sway bar, the steering feel is incredible, very responsive, you can feel the bar controlling the front end and the steering wheel snaps right back. Feels like a whole new car.





                              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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                              • So I've been daily driving the gt past few days, clutch is starting to bed in nicely (lot of stop and go traffic in boston) I realized I had my rear sway bar installed upside down last year, flipped it over and swapped the soft addco links for the old energy ones I had. Tighten the rear of the car up 10 fold. Still getting a weird squealing rotational noise when I hid heavy bumps in the road on the rear right...It stops once i come to a stop and begin driving again.

                                I've replaced the bearing twice, so it has to be either the abs sensor hitting the tone ring, the caliper getting stuck or a piece of the pad hardware making contact. The rear calipers seem to not be functioning well at all anyways and the pads are junk (original 30 year old calipers and crap glazed KVR pads). I'll be swapping those this evening anyway and I'll have to have a a look. First autocross event is Saturday so hoping to have the car overall sorted.
                                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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