lunchbox643

Hey guys, hope this makes for a decent first post! here goes...

I tried searching, but did not find adequate information for what i was looking for.
I just bought an 88GT, and it has a few problems with it that i hope you guys can help me with.

1) Seatbelts have trouble retracting... They will come out and you have to pull on them to make them go in at all. (this is a bit important, since they keep me alive. heh)

2) Speedo only goes to 85, anything i can do to make it higher? will a 140mph speedo bolt right in?

3) Power locks dont work. Not even sure where to start here, but i checked the fuse.

4) Speakers! there are no speakers in the car, i have spots for 6 speakers, but i don't know what to put there. Please suggest some good speakers to me. (alpine head unit)

5) Reverse! Every time i try to put the car into reverse (5spd) it grinds and sounds really bad. My friend told me i gotta roll forward in 1st then go to rev, but that doesnt always work. I was also told that there are no synchros for reverse, is this true?

6) E-Brake! the e-brake sucks. i have to really crank it to get the vehicle to stop at all. Adjust it maybe?

7) Shifter. The shifter takes a bout a mile to reach one gear from the other, anything i can do for now to shorten it till i get a short shifter?

8) Clutch. The pedal catch point seems quite low, and i sometimes have trouble getting it in gear casue its so low. its about 2-3in from fully pressed maybe.

9) Side Skirt. Drivers side side skirt seems to be falling off slowly, how do i fix it?

Thanks for all the help in advance, and i hope this hasnt been answered too much before.
Hopefully this was a good 1st post.

Rt1Rebel

Sounds terrible. Mine does it too.


True. I didn't even realize it until I started driving my '06. The difference in the clutch between the two is unreal.

elmustang5.0

try putting it into a forward gear first and then put it in reverse. i had the same problem with my 87 and it worked for me.

boss429

adjust your e-break..

for the reverse thing, youll probably need a new throw out bearing.

and if you doing that, you should just buy a full clutch kit (pressure plate, throwout bearing dont know what else comes)

a 140mph speedo from a similar car will bolt right in. not sure whats involved with it but a lot of guys do this.

if you get an adjustable clutch cable that should fix your clutch problem.

you can cut your shifter somehow to make it a bit shorter? but i dont know how its done and wouldnt really recommend it.

im no mustang expert but hopefully i havent given you any flase info and ive been of some help lol

good luck

Scout2232

1. Every Mustang seems to have that problem, my moms 2002GT seatbelts are WAY worse than mine, hers get tangled like crazy, as long as it retracts I don't think that theres a problem with it.

2. You can get a 140 speedo yes, I got mine off ebay, however it goes to 80 and then goes all haywire and doesnt do a damn thing for me anyways. If you do get a different speedometer cluster, be sure and get one from pre 90 because the airbag in 90+ makes the cluster have a curve rather than straight across at the bottom.

3. Check out the seach function for that. That question is common. Probly just need to replace the actuators and it'll be fine. www.50resto.com has a lot of cool restoration type parts for you.

4. Goto www.Crutchfield.com and click what fits my car. I think its 3.5 in the dash, 6.5 in the doors, and 6x8's in the rear. I wouldn't buy anything from there tho, their prices are ridiculous. I suggest checking out ebay for speakers, theyre really cheap, probly could cost you less than $150 for all 6 speakers.

5. Mine grinds too, I just put it in first then put it in reverse, I don't even let the clutch out at all. It just needs time for the fork to slow down the gear to engage, think of it as trying to grab a slice of pizza when its spinning around like a top.

6. My e-brake doesn't work at all, I think the e-brake cable is broke on mine, could be on yours as well.

7. The shift throws aren't that bad at all... Of course I did drive a 85 F150 with a 4spd and the shifts in that took a good 3 seconds haha

8. Get yourself a new clutch quadrant upgrade with a firewall adjuster. You can get down and adjust it at the tranny anyways, but its just easier, and a good idea anyway if you don't have one since the quadrants are prone to breaking since its just plastic. There's alot of companies that make them, mine is BBK.

9. Mine aren't falling off yet, so I can't help you out with any first hand experience there.

Hopefully that's helpful

Twisted

Maybe I'm dumb, but aren't manual trannies supposed to grind into reverse, unless you select a forward gear first? Every one I've ever driven has. I just routinely put any manual tranny in third before even trying to catch reverse. By the way, my drivers side seatbelt does the same thing. Drives me nuts.

nitrous_bob

sounds like everything was covered.

but the sloppy shifter can be helped out for about $.50

pull the ball off, pull the boot off, take apart the handle from the base, remove all the rubber bushing where it bolted together.
then (the bolts will be too long, so this is why you have to bush them) use 2 nuts or a bunch of washers for bushings, and re-install the 2 bolts.
it will give it a solid feel, and feel more positive.

sooner or later you'll want a new shifter, even lke a b&m for $160 , just to have the stronger offset spring to help hit 3rd on the powershift

on the power locks could be 1 of 2 problems, the switch is bad, or the lock actuator is bad, the moving part of the actuator actually gets all corroded and hardly moves.

is it ez to push the lock down ? or kind of hard? if it's hard the actuators are bad.

FiveLiterRiceEater

1. normal, mine do it too.

2. you can replace it with any 140 cluster but you need to get the gear that goes in the trans i believe.

3. probably the switch on the drivers door melted and has bad contacts. ford connectors like to melt.

4. you can get any speakers you want that will fit. personally i like pioneers

5. put the shifter in 5th then pull it into reverse. reverse isnt a synchronized gear

6. my e brake sucks too. im too lazy to find out why though

7. stick a short throw on it

8. get a new clutch cable and quadrant and adjust it to where you want it at.

9. 3M sticky tape

LOUDexhaust

My pwr locks are broke too. How can i safely remove the door panel?

lunchbox643

Thanks for all the replies guys, im going to get started on this right away...

Hopefully i can find a 90 mustang cluster for cheap., is there anything else required to bolt it in?


also anyone know what to do to fix the seatbelts, or do i have to live with them?