Well, my wife bought me this car as an anniversary gift to me back in January of this year. For the most part, it's been sitting in my garage. Prior to that, been sitting maybe 4 years. Here are some pictures when I picked it up, it even came with a 100lb bag of cement!







I got it for $250, which seems like a bit without having a motor, but it has the GSL-SE suspension (front not on yet, you can see it in the hatch on one picture), so I figured it's at least worth that in the suspension swap alone. It also did not have a driver side seat, but interior all around is not bad. It does need a new dash though.

Well over the past month I've been tinkering with it a little from time to time trying to get things put together. Bought a new tail light, the center piece between, driver/passenger seats (passenger seat was ripped), rear carpet and padding behind it, and miscellaneous interior trim pieces all from the scrap yard. I went to another junk yard on another trip one day, and there was 3 FCs. One was missing it's motor, the other 2 were not. I was looking for a candidate for my FB, something to transplant into it.

One of the cars there was noticeably burned up in the engine bay, it had a fire. I decided this has got to be a good candidate. If anyone knows FCs, they know about pulsation dampener failure. Well I ended up picking up the motor for $75, took it back to a friends house, and slapped a breaker bar and socket it to check bounces. I guess it's not an effective way to check for compression, but each bump was about 50psi, cranking by hand.

I debated whether or not to take my chances with the motor, and just slapping it in the car. I decided it would be best to tear it down and rebuild it, because I dont know how many miles are on the engine or if it smoked before the engine fire. It was a good thing I tore it down, because the lip around the coolant seal groove was busted on the front iron. The plan is to rebuild it with a large street port, and carb it.

Well, back to some pictures!

The last couple days I've been spending stripping most of the engine bay. The plan is to clean it up, and hit it with some bed liner type stuff. I figure this is a good idea because it will be more difficult to scratch than paint. Basically because of it's durability.

Prior to cleaning:


Halfway into cleaning before I realized a pressure washer would be quite a bit easier:

 

Well yesterday after doing another junk yard run, I scored a carb setup here in town, check it out!








Unfortunately, there is a minor problem. Does anyone have an idea of what this manifold is for? I need to sell it, it's not going to work for me.

 

your 85 was originally ocean blue metallic. the color code is L6. pretty rare color!

 

Hmm, didnt know that. Too bad it's got this **** poor paint job on it right now. I bet when the paint was fresh it would have looked good, but it's too far gone now. How about the GS metal panels at the bottom? Haven't seen a car with those before, I was going to keep them, but I need to know what kind of metal they are so I can make them shine again with some kind of polish.

Well I spent bout another 4-5 hours tonight getting more stuff ready, to do the bedliner in the engine bay.

When I pulled the cowl off (where the wipers are) there was like 6 lbs of pine needles in there, and a lot of dirt. Does this drain out anywhere? I wanted to wash it out but wanted to be sure it could drain before adding water and chemicals.

 

it drains out somewhere around the bottom of the fenders i think, not really sure where it comes out but it does drain out. get as much as u can out by hand. nice find on the car and the carb setup and good luck with the project.

btw, when u picked up that carb/intake, did u take it off a car or was it just on a shelf? if u got it off a car, u should've got the whole intake. the intake on the carb will work with a lower intake for a 4 port that can be gotten from rb or mazdatrix. if u need to put that carb on that 6 port intake u can still get the upper to fit it.

 

i have an 85 GS that i bought and restored specifically because it was ocean blue. i think ocean blue looks great on an FB and if you do decide to repaint it the original color, these pics of my 7 may give you an idea of what the car looks like with the original color and may sway you to keep the color :

 

I picked up the carb intake off of craigslist. I know it's intended to bolt up to a stock lower, I'm just not sure which it's supposed to bolt to. You said it's for a 4 port 13b?

It does look pretty nice, I was looking at a dark blue as color but it will be some time before I get to painting it so maybe before then I may change my mind

 

yeah it should bolt up to either 4 port lower.

 

Ok, I masked off everything in the engine bay, and hit it with some duplicolor truck bed lining. Here's a couple pictures. Wife is in california with the good camera so they seem a little out of focus.








Also, I've got a lead on both a GSL-SE header, and a header for a FC 13b. I have a feeling the collector for the gsl-se is smaller, so I'm leaning toward the one for a FC. Anyone know if it will clear the chassis?

 

Looks really really nice!

 

Ok, I ordered the GSL-SE oil pan today, as well as a racing beat clutch/pp setup, and s4 alternator with dual pulley. Pineapple porting templates are already on the way as well, so I'm now just looking for a s4 front iron and 12a front cover and I can start on the engine! Also need to order my intake for the weber and a fuel pump today

 

 

porting templates look nice!!

 

Can't wait to see pics of the porting being done.

 

Tried to shampoo my seats I got from the junkyard. PAssenger one has some mean stains. I used a whole tank on just the bottom and the stains are still there. Also tried to use resolve spot magic to lift the stains, with no luck. Any ideas?

Before:


After:



And another goodie I got yesterday:

 

gsl-se oil pan arrived today. It's so nice being close to mazdatrix. Will probably order rebuild kit tonight

 

I wish I was close to them, I don't order from them because it takes 2 weeks to get here. and that header is looking really nice and shiny.

 

Niceeee Good luck man

 

what kind of shampoo were you using?

 

Pantene Pro-V??

Seriously, I used my carpet cleaner. The kind for your house carpet, but has upholstery tools. I'm not sure of the brand of cleaner I used in it, but I also tried to use resolve spot shot. The stain looks like soda or coffee or something.

 

Well I just ordered my rebuild kit from atkins. I had $2500 when this started and I seem to have run out of funds already. Oops. I need to be more careful with my spending I guess.

 

UPS just dropped this off...bet It's gonna be a barrel of fun mounting this SOB. It also didnt seem to come with the little boots to protect the spots where the + and - connect. What I think is the check valve, I was trying to remove but the bolts just turn and turn and turn but dont back out. I seem to have that issue with a few of those on this car, and it has to be the super tight spots.

So I got this right, the check valve is after the fuel pump, line goes into it, and another goes to the hard line? Yeah, it wouldn't come off. Dont need it, correct? F me

 

Also, I'm not running emissions, so I don't need this, right? I have a friend that needs it.

 

All right well to answer questions:

the Webber upper intake mani bolts to a 13B 4 port, or 13B 6 port lower mani, you'll have to buy the lower intake manifold for a Webber on a 12A at Racing Beat's website. I think it's like $140 or so. The fuel pump will NOT be fun to mount, I have a Holly blue about the same size, and since my fuel pump has to be vertical too, and it had a mounting location on the side of it, mine is on the sheet metal for the storage bins, you'll probably want to mount your fuel pump INSIDE one of your storage bins, and just make a bracket that will hold it upright, and then drill holes for the fuel lines, I'm not sure.

Last question, yes you need that wiring harness, but only for like, 5 of the wires. Two go to the alternator, one to the coolant temperature, one to the oil level, and then one to the oil pressure. Other people can chime in if I've forgotten any more.

 

I've already ordered a full intake from robert at rotaryshack for the weber. I tested it on my 6 port lower for my FC, and it was very far off. I was assuming it was for a gsl-se, since thats what it came off of, but I cant be certain.

I also brought up an old thread for the carter fuel pump install by Kenetsu, and he bolted it up on the frame rail, right by where the check/cut valve is located. I can do that as well, but the pump will hang a little, unless I get that check/cut valve out.

And as far as the harness goes, I believe all those wires you mentioned are on the other part of my harness. There may be a couple that are not.

Whats weird is that my friend who needs this has the plug for this harness on the driver side, and the hole on the passenger side is non-existent. On my car, there is a hole on both passenger and driver side with harnesses that come out. They link together though.