'85 DPS mustang barn find!

[ChrisL]

Long story short I found this car via Foureyedpride.com, a guy who I have actually talked to before and is local to me located the car when he was buying some parts off of the owner (who you will see, looks like Doc Brown from back to the future lol). Anyway, I ended up going out to take a look at the car ASAP. It had the wheels still on it, was overall pretty straight, and in his storage room he had the original interior all in very nice shape (seats are untorn and have minimal wear, the caps for the wheels are there and in perfect shape, the speedo is there and the car number is still on the door jamb (M5-582 if I remember right). The dash is uncracked, and the door panels are nice but have started to mold so they will have to be cleaned thoroughly. Buck tags are both there, but they are wedged deep behind the headlight bucket so I will have to take them off for safe keeping once I replace the front end. Both holes are still there for the 2 Unity Spotlights, the rear hole in the passenger side deck is plugged but still there, it’s legit!

The bad: The car was home to cats for the last 20 years, so there was a disgusting amount of cat poop on the floorboards. A stop at the car wash fixed that (vacuumed it all up). Both front fenders are very slightly bowed outwards, it looks like someone might have hooked them ½ way up the wheel well to pull the car somewhere. The passenger side fender has rust down low as well as the passenger side door, so both will get replaced. The floorboards are great, trunk is good (has slight bubbling in the spare tire well like they all seem to). The nose will have to be replaced (I have a replacement already) because it is misshapen so badly. Sadly the door tag is missing and the passenger side rear SSP wheel is rusted and flaking. Luckily he had the original spare so I still have a set of 4 good wheels! All in all, it needs a ton of work (not to mention a motor/trans) but it will be a neat car when it’s done…

Here’s how she looked when I found her:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/buickgs455/85SSP02.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/buickgs455/85SSP03.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/buickgs455/85SSP04.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/buickgs455/85SSP09.jpg

[ChrisL]

After pulling her out of her resting spot of 20 years… lots of mud and dirt caked on.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/buickgs455/85SSP05.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/buickgs455/85SSP06.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/buickgs455/85SSP07.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/buickgs455/85SSP08.jpg

[ChrisL]

Loaded up and ready to go home!
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/buickgs455/85SSP11.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/buickgs455/85SSP10.jpg

[ImEvil1]

Congrats Chris....glad it was saved. :)

[FHP813]

Why do people do this to cars??? Good find though, the fun is just beginning.:thumbsup:

[ImEvil1]

Why do people do this to cars??? Good find though, the fun is just beginning.:thumbsup:

The owner took it SCCA racing after he bought it and blew a head gasket on his first time out. He pulled the drivetrain and used it for another project. The engine was replaced in-service, so it's not a huge deal that the original block is gone.

[FHP813]

I remember that car now, I'm glad it wasn't a wild goose chase.

[86NeSSP]

Great find... Still has gatorbacks on all wheels too...

Have fun with that!

[jarhed123]

Good to know it was out on the track only once. This way the guy who had it did not get any other ideas with it and it can now be restored.

[SparkSVT]

Where are the cats going to live now that you trailered away their home?

[86NeSSP]

I hope this is an easier restore than you thought the 86 was going to be.
Have fun with this car and enjoy the hard work and then the rfuits of your labor when it's done.

I'd send that thing out to paint first thing!

Matt

[ChrisL]

Thanks for the compliments everyone.

Matt- I think that paint will be the first thing. I need to get the new front clip put on and make sure everything looks right, and find a passenger door for it. Once that's done it will be off for body and paint. I think I have a lead on a low mileage wrecked '85 GT parts car that should source the engine/trans/exhaust which would be really nice, we will see if that works out like I hope.

Having the wheels/caps/seats and good dash/door panels alone makes this car an easier restore for me than the '86, although honestly I still have a soft spot for those EFI cars... I need to find someone to blast and powdercoat the wheels for me as well, any recommendations? What about going semigloss vs gloss on the wheels?

[86NeSSP]

Thanks for the compliments everyone.

Matt- I think that paint will be the first thing. I need to get the new front clip put on and make sure everything looks right, and find a passenger door for it. Once that's done it will be off for body and paint. I think I have a lead on a low mileage wrecked '85 GT parts car that should source the engine/trans/exhaust which would be really nice, we will see if that works out like I hope.

Having the wheels/caps/seats and good dash/door panels alone makes this car an easier restore for me than the '86, although honestly I still have a soft spot for those EFI cars... I need to find someone to blast and powdercoat the wheels for me as well, any recommendations? What about going semigloss vs gloss on the wheels?

Keystone wheels you should have one there in Austin. They can do semi gloss black. I had a set that was gloss and they looked just fine. I know I will be taking some wheels to them in the next year or so to have mine done.
I know what you're saying about the EFI cars though. That is why all the rest of my SSP's are and will be EFI 86-93. The CHP will be a show car around here and the Texas and Nebraska car will travel. they will have everything working as far as A/C and heat and will not be driving on Goodyear Gatorbacks.

Matt

[predator20]

Looks like it's going to be an awesome project. At least it has just the one DPS repaint too. Are you going back to stock or are you going to have some goodies on the motor?

[ChrisL]

Probably going back straight to stock. There is a very small chance that I'll do heads/cam but i really want it to run right and I think if I go back stock I'll have the best chance of having a car that runs like it should. I'm considering doing 3.73 gears to make it a little more fun to drive though. I want it to look completely stock, if I don't find a set of original pipes I'll do flowmaster stainless because they look pretty close. And I just might do a true dual conversion, but it just depends on how much luck I have finding the original equipment.

I can't wait to get it painted and back on the road so I can start making it to a couple of shows, and meet up with everyone here for some photo ops when the time comes!

[FHP0665]

Where are the cats going to live now that you trailered away their home?

More like rats...