1991 Florida Car complete rebuild... any suggestions?

Plat0ribs

Registered User
So I've finally begun building this car, at least 5 years in planning/preparation.

We removed the dashboard this weekend in order to access the pedal assemblies for a 5-speed swap, replaced the perfectly fine heater core as preventative maintenance. Will be replacing the ABS brakes with conventional vacuum assist, removing automatic seatbelts, general inspection & cleaning… Then on to suspension/bushings/brakes/steering/FMIC/new Dave Dalke Engine & Transmission with helical torque biasing diff (like the Mustang Boss!). Finally it will get a complete body prep and new paint.

I’m posting today to request from those who have performed extensive restorations any suggestions of other things to do while working through the long list of projects and the ideal order to do them in so as to not have to do things twice or more to get it right.
Thanks in advance for any guidance any of you guys may offer, I have never undertaken any projects this extensive and while I do have a good stash of new parts and a TCCoA Super Moderator lead mechanic (thanks again Matt!) for this project I can ill afford to do things more than once, at the very least from a frustration perspective.

Transferring pictures from phone to PC = fail
Will resolve pictures to keep thread relatively up to date.
 
Take pictures of everything before you take it a part !!!! you will be glad you did. Organize the parts in pastil bags and tag them.

I have done a partial rebuild (interior swap, A/C, transmission, engine and front end) on my 1990. I will be doing a complete rebuild, including a AOD swap to a 5 speed transmission, on my 35th anniversary after the summer.

One mod I found to be interesting was the access panel to the fuel tank pump through the back seat.

http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?123862-Fuel-Pump-Access&highlight=fuel+pump+access

here is a good tread about a full restoration to follow.

http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthr...roject-(pic-heavy)&highlight=fuel+pump+access

Since you have the dash out you may consider changing the evaporator.
here is my post about A/C.
http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?133785-A-C-rebuild-tips
 
one thing that I wish i replaced while I had the motor out was to swap out the steering rack. I ended up having to replace it later which was much more difficult with the engine in place.

another thing that I wish i did differently is to install a new slave cylinder while the motor was out.

another thing that I wish i did was to get one of those plastic dash covers to cover the old cracked dash. I had mine repaired instead and it looks ok, but once that 24 year old dash material gets brittle it will just start cracking elsewhere. those are probably easier to install with the dash out.

and probably the most important thing is get a good tune and QH from Dave D. its mandatory with engine mods and well worth the money. I strongly caution against using a local shop to do the tuning using an SCT chip. it can be done, but you are at the mercy of the tuner. Trust me on this one.

Here is my restoration video. Take pictures as you go so you can make a video or help someone out later with a question. i use my pictures all the time for different things like that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij_SLEgdu_g

Good Luck!
 
Falcon: Thanks, Chris' write up is my bible... but I don't plan on doing as much as he did... not enuf money!
Access door for Tank was missing from my list but I knew of it, its there now.
Evap will be swapped now that you mentioned it, thanks!

dthompson: Stearing rack is on the list, so will new slave/master/reservoir/custom clutch hydraulic line. Tuning by SCU goes w/o saying, but thanks for being thorough...

Tips and tricks: keep em coming...
 
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