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Overdue update on the 88 Auto I purchased from Mark A.
Its been about two years since I purchased the 88 Auto from Mark Anderson that had the thrust bearing failure as discussed in this thread: https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...-at-marks.html. I have had the car back on the road since spring 2018. I purchased the engine from Roger, did a reseal including head gaskets, valve job, top end refresh including hoses and sensors, and timing belt/water pump. Also, rebuilt the torque tube, did the trans service, converter bearing, front seal. Replaced the flex plate and clamp bolts front and rear as well as installed the shims and circlip on the front of the drive shaft as recommend by GB since it has the earlier drive shaft with the groove at the front. No movement detected or change in end play in two subsequent checks.
Once the car was running, it needed a little bit of maintenance to bring it up to date. I replaced brakes all the way around, cleaned grounds, replace a few bulbs, new filters, rebuilt injectors, rebuilt MAF.
As others have stated, this is a really nice car. Everything works, and its all there. The only non-factory stuff I found on the car was that the radiator has been replaced and the air flaps were left off. It also came with the metal under tray which I replaced for factory.
The car drives great and feels just as fast as my 5 speed. Unlike what others have experienced, this car has no problem with short shifting first gear, it runs all the way out to redline.
Thanks. Definitely a car worth bringing back. And, the collective wisdom on the forum made it pretty straight forward to do stuff like setup the throttle and kickdown correctly, setup the driveshaft shims, replace the torque tube/converter bearings, etc, etc.
It also came with the metal under tray which I replaced for factory.
IMO this was a bad idea - it won't last in pristine condition that long if you drive the car - the aluminum undertrays are a marked improvement for function = protection & airflow and for (long term) aesthetics.
Unless full on 100% originality is all you seek...?
Thanks for the comments! I do like to keep things original but the other issue I have with the aluminum under tray is the lack of motor mount air diverters. So, you have to buy a factory under tray to get the air diverters, you might as well have the factory under tray. The car is at stock ride height and isn't a daily driver so it should hold up over time.
The factory tray will get dinged & crack - then the air diverters will fall off and you then wont have them anymore... => move them to the metal tray?
I know - this happened to me twice - I now have had the aluminum tray with (scavenged) air diverters for years with no issues and the tray has been scraped up several times in that time* - but it survived well - the plastic tray would NOT have done....
* a little tidying up - some straightening of the punched vents a lick of spray paint and all looks almost as new...
Sounds like I'm having a different experience than you have. I've had the factory tray under my 5 speed for five years now and still looks like new and two years now on the automatic.
However, I still have that aluminum tray and will hang on to it, just in case. Thanks!
01-05-2020, 07:41 PM
Overdue update on the 88 Auto I purchased from Mark A.
