Just bought a 1989 Dodge Daytona Shelby

[Corporal]

Two weeks ago I purchased my first car, a 1989 Dodge Daytona Shelby, for $1000. When I bought it, the owner said the fuel pump was bad, and that it would need a towing. When we pulled the fuel tank out to replace the pump, every single bit of the fuel system was rusted and dry rotted. So, one fuel tank, sending unit, pump, lines, and fuel filter later, we finally got the car started up, and so far everything runs smoothly, the car has quite a bit of cosmetic damage, but I plan on devoting a lot of time, money, and work into this car. I was told it had been sitting for 2 years, but the last registration date was in 2007, and in NC you have to renew registration yearly. I absolutely love her already though, and I haven't even driven her yet.

The car was originally owned by Corning, and then an employee of Corning.



If anyone has any heads up information on any problems I might come across with this car, or even some additional information about it would be greatly appreciated.

Replaced already:
Fuel tank, Pump, sending unit, lines, filter
Oil and oil filter
Brake rotors turned
Brake pads replaced
Passenger Door Window

List of problem areas:
Driver window doesn't move (Haven't checked into it yet, it may be a simple fix like the passenger window)
Hatch pneumatic pistons are shot
Needs new tires
Body needs some repair (bumper skirts, paint) the body itself is in amazing condition
Sound system is a little shoddy, was planning on replacing anyway
Hatch window seal needs replaced
Wipers don't run, but motor works
Fog lights are missing
Clutch cable is snapped

Also, if anyone knows of a place where I could find a digital gauge cluster from an 87-89 LeBaron, I would love to replace the stock cluster with that. As well as ground effects replacement, as I know they are extremely hard to come by.

Thanks everyone,
Brennon

[89ShelbyGuy]

Brennon......Thanks for saving this shelby and putting her back on the road. I have the same exact model i've been working on for the past 7-8 years. I'll try an anwser some of the qeustions you have.

Driver window doesn't move (Haven't checked into it yet, it may be a simple fix like the passenger window)
- Take out both the windows and clean all the slides and tracks up...when i did it, it made thw windows go up and down much better...you night also have a bad motor too.

Sound system is a little shoddy, was planning on replacing anyway
- I put all infinity speakers around and it lacked punch, so i ended up putting a sub box for the punch.

Hatch window seal needs replaced
- Omni potent sells them for i think 50 bucks...search the vendors.

Wipers don't run, but motor works
- Somthing striped inside gear box? Never had this problem.

Fog lights are missing
- I replaced mine with some pilot ones...they look stock..i think i got them from autozone.

Clutch cable is snapped
- These cables tent to burn up and then rust out....post on the wanted area... i am postive someone has a nice replacment.

And as for the ground effects...i see them on a regular basis at my junk yard...they are not hard to find at all...

As for common problems,
1. Headlight module fails causing headlight motors not to work. (Easy fix if you know how to solder)
2. Door pins need to be replaced as the doors are very heavy....doorman sells these i belelive....just knock out the old and put in the new.
3. How the rust on the floor pan where the EM brake cables comes threw? usually thats where the rust starts...if theres just surface rust i would completly strip and seal it back up real good to prevent any more damage.
4. The gauge cluster.....theres a gear you can replace internally thats strips out..( they put crappy grease which dries up and causes the binding) You can search the forums with help on that.

Hope this helped you out alittle...good luck with the build!

Tom

[BadAssPerformance]

Welcome to the forum! Nice project car there!

[trbowgn]

Nice car to start with, and welcome

[cordes]

Welcome to the site!

Unless I'm mistaken the dash harness for the digi dash cars is specific to that cluster so you can't just swap them over. You'll have to splice the connectors into your harness.

[Corporal]

Thanks for all the responses guys!

@89shelbyguy
The passenger window was really gunked up and once I cleaned that out, it worked beautifully, so I'm assuming its the same deal with the driver side.

I was planning on replacing the sound system all together anyways, I'm a tad audiophile, so clean sounding music is a must.

The guy I bought it from gave me a bunch of seals, so I'm going to check them and see if any are for the one I need

Yeah not sure about the wipers, the motor runs but the blades don't, and they can move freely if I move them.

Probably just going to go to A.A. Parts or autozone and see what they have for replacements.

Just got the new clutch cable in last night, going to replace that today.

Ground effects, I've looked online for them and can't come across any, but I'll keep looking.

Haven't had any of the problems you mentioned yet, but I'll pay attention to those areas.

@BadAssPerformance & trbowgn

Thanks!

@cordes,

I'm pretty familiar with splicing cables, it shouldn't be too big of a deal, if I can just find a cluster.

[roachjuice]

Nice score!!! I still want a turbo mopar for a daily. Instead I have a garage king/toy

[Corporal]

Hey guys, sorry its been so long since I posted last on her. I have finally decided to name her "Vanessa", and I have resolved a lot of the issues since the first post including:
Clutch cable replaced.
Entire new fuel management.
New brakes including: Rotated rotors, new pads, front new calipers, new brake booster, new master cylinder. (Replacing the driver side front rubber brake line tomorrow morning)
Fixed Wiper arm/motor
Driver side window moves but occasionally needs assistance to go up (Sounds like something is too tight and is rubbing on the window glass)
Fixed a huge crack in the air filter box (epoxy withstanding 300+ degrees Fahrenheit)
Started replacing the hatch window seal (need some tips on this)

____

Now for some help: I have a hose that we needed to disconnect to fix the air box, it is a 2 hook-up hose, where a shorter, thicker hose connects to the Airbox, and a longer thinner hose runs from a connector to the bigger hose. I can't find any where where the hose should connect to, and the car seems to run fine without it connected, but if it is something serious, I want to get it connected ASAP.

Where it connects to Air box

Open end.

If anyone knows where this should go, I would greatly appreciate it
______

Now to the hatch seal, I have it in place along the top and down both sides, but getting it around the corners and along the bottoms side has proved futile, mainly because the rear wing is in the way. The bolts for the wing are rusted out so removing that is kind of an in-case-of-emergency type of deal, but any tips or tricks to getting it on would be super helpful. I have used Dawn dish soap and water as a sort of lubricant, and a rubber mallet to gently pop the rest in place thus far.



______

There is a hose sticking out of the throttle body, that I just noticed has a screw in the end of it, but it hasn't been connected to anything. I am assuming it is a vacuum hose, but again the car runs fine without it.


The throttle body is in the upper hand corner and the hose that isn't attached is the left one, coming out of the top. It is a short (4-5") hose that 90 degrees bends into a connector, with a small hose fitted over that with a screw in the end of it. I bought it this way, and again runs fine like this.

_____

Lastly, I still have not found a place to purchase the grey ground effects (any color will do, I am going to repaint her anyway.) All I really need is a new front skirt, as the rest are in great shape, but during the tow, the front scraped on the ground and cracked the driver side in half. So if anyone knows of a place I can buy a new one, or how to repair it, that would be greatly appreciated as well.


Thanks again everyone, this site has been a great help.

-Brennon

[hewhobarksatdogs]

Where did you get the gas tank? How much did you pay? OBTW: love the car, once you drive it you will know why people spend the time and money to keep them rolling.

[Corporal]

I bought the gas tank from advance auto parts. Cost about 120$. Another update: got the car on the road yesterday. Tires are shot. Had horrible vibration when stopping and a hose popped off causing it to start backfiring. But a little tune up and she should be ready for longer road tests. Oh one last thing the turbo was maxing at 15 lbs of boost. Is this safe for this car? I haven't done anything to the turbo...

[cordes]

I bought the gas tank from advance auto parts. Cost about 120$. Another update: got the car on the road yesterday. Tires are shot. Had horrible vibration when stopping and a hose popped off causing it to start backfiring. But a little tune up and she should be ready for longer road tests. Oh one last thing the turbo was maxing at 15 lbs of boost. Is this safe for this car? I haven't done anything to the turbo...

IMO it is not safe at all until you've thoroughly gone through things to verify that they are functioning correctly. I'm willing to bet the waste gate can is seized shut or there is no vacuum going to it.

[Corporal]

There is vacuum going to it. Atleast im pretty sure.. at idle it sits around -10~ boost. This is normal. Yes? How would i go about check the wastegate?

[Orangetona]

There is vacuum going to it. Atleast im pretty sure.. at idle it sits around -10~ boost. This is normal. Yes? How would i go about check the wastegate?

10hg is not very much. You should be sitting at least somewhere in the 16-20 area. You very likely have a vacuum leak somewhere.

Just for the heck of it, can you pull on the wastegate arm by hand? (itll be a little tough but it should move)

[cordes]

10hg is not very much. You should be sitting at least somewhere in the 16-20 area. You very likely have a vacuum leak somewhere.

Just for the heck of it, can you pull on the wastegate arm by hand? (itll be a little tough but it should move)

If not a vac leak it could be that the cam timing is off. It would have to be a hummer of a vac leak to only pull 10". The gauge could certainly be bad too though.

[Corporal]

I used the onboard diagnostic and showed four codes
12
13
15
45

12 and 13 are related to MAP sensors, 15 is Vehicle Distance sensor, and 45 is overboost. So I'm gonna have to track down the leak.. but any idea how I can go about this?

[RoadWarrior222]

One way is to bleed propane over the lines while it's idling then when your idle speed changes, you're waving it near a leak.

---------- Post added at 07:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:02 AM ----------

another way is to get 3ft of any old thin hose/tube, stick one end in your ear and scan the end up and down the lines listening for hiss.

---------- Post added at 07:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:03 AM ----------

yet a third way is to wet your finger and thumb, and make an "OK" sign around the lines and move it up and down, you can feel the air movement.... this one depends on it not being too cold and windy, and also how sensitive your fingers are to temp difference.

Some of the hard rubber/plastic tees and elbows like to crack in the join, then suck themselves almost sealed, then randomly joggle open. Some flexible parts of vacuum hose, less likely the hard plastic stuff, likes to suck flat or swell up in the middle. It gets more flexible when warmed up, so you might decide you have a perfectly functioning vacuum system, then half hour into the test drive it acts up again... because the hose is now warm enough to suck flat.

[supercrackerbox]

The wiper problem is due to the plastic bushings where the arms connect to the motor. You'll need four of them. They are available from FWDPerformance, OmniPotent, and often in the Help! section at your local parts store. The Help! ones come in multi-paks with half a dozen different styles, so you'll have to buy two packs to get enough and then throw a bunch away, so just get them from one of the board vendors if you don't plan on doing them TODAY.

I used the onboard diagnostic and showed four codes
12
13
15
45

12 and 13 are related to MAP sensors, 15 is Vehicle Distance sensor, and 45 is overboost. So I'm gonna have to track down the leak.. but any idea how I can go about this?

Correction, 12 is just that the battery has been recently disconnected, nothing to worry about. 13 and 14 are the MAP codes, 14 being electrical and 13 being vacuum related, so you definately have a vacuum leak somewhere. Start with a visual inspection for anything obvious, and then move on to the propane trick if you can. You'll soon become familiar with the vacuum systems on these cars and start learning where the problem areas are. Depending on how adamant you are about keeping the car original, you may even be able to eliminate most of the system. My Charger for instance runs on 7 very short lines, and I never have issues. My Daytona I'm keeping as factory as possible, and the vacuum system is a freaking nightmare.

15 is the speed sensor as you said. It's mounted in the transmission 'tailshaft' where the passenger side axle comes out. A fault will cause the car to often stall when coming to a stop. In my experience, that code is more often due to a wiring issue than the sensor itself. Clean and inspect the wiring starting at the sensor and working all the way back to the main engine harness, making sure there's no breaks or dirty/broken connections. If the code comes back, then replace the sensor.

45- Overboost. I'm fairly confident this is due to the vacuum leak. Fix the vacuum, and this problem will go away as well.

[Corporal]

Thanks for the tips guys. I've gotten the bushings for the wipers already and am in the process of fixing those. As for the vacuum leaks tricks I'll try those next time I have some time. Anyone have any idea where those hoses go that I posted back a bit. Would really love to get those hooked back up.

[ShadowFromHell]

Very nice, makes me miss my black 89 shelby tona I had. Car was a basket case, completely shot but It still was alot of fun.

[Corporal]

So today we ran a full vacuum hose inspection and found several problems. Firstly there was a huge gash in the line going to the wastegate. Secondly all of the hard-lines and the main rubber hose going to all of the solenoids and the vapor canister were all disconnected by the previous owner. What the hell? What would cause him to do that?? Anyways, going to Advance auto tomorrow to Get about 20 feet total of hoses and lines and going to replace all of them, just for good measure.