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Poor 1986 XT turbo (sad story)


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After being basically gone from normal life the past few years, my XT got neglected as I had no free time to mess with it. Winter storm in 2008 caved in the carport it was in shattering the front and rear windows. It then sat covered with tarp that wasn't keeping water out. Interior is more or less destroyed, very wet, mossy and moldy. The body managed to not be damaged from the carport.

 

I'm trying to decide if it's still worth putting back together or if it should go to pick n pull. Austin and I replaced the head gaskets in the engine but never got it to run right since. It ran good before replacing the head gaskets other than the excessive white smoke. Right now it's in a garage all dried out, and the engine is on an engine stand. The moon roof was accidentally ran over by a family member moving one of his cars. I attached a couple of current photos of the poor thing. What do you guys think? worth it? not worth it? I'm willing to spend time on it, just have limited funds for it. I thought it would make a good commuter car once fixed, given that when it ran I was getting about 31mpg with it.

 

CRW3724-S.jpg

 

There are more pics in the gallery linked below:

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I'm one of those people that will put the time and effort in to a vehicle if I'm asking myself the same questions AND it's been good to me/I've got an attachment to it.

Also if it's getting hard to find I tend to try and keep them on the road - and the old vortex's were hard to find even a few years after they came out from the factory over here.

 

Personally I'd say keep the XT on the road - you might kick yourself if you let it go to scrap.

 

I'm sure your water damage couldn't be any worse than this:

 

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Then I got a bucket load of mud out - it was the worst water I've ever been in, full of silt that fills every crack and crevice!

 

All the best with it - I vote keep the ol' girl alive :burnout:

 

Cheers

 

Bennie

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Good to know, does it still have the moon roof? Also, does it have a turbo hood? :brow:

 

If I'm restoring this, which I think I will, I will first see if I can get the engine running for starters, then go from there.

 

It had an overheating problem, the kind where the fan wouldn't turn on when it's supposed to, even though the fan works, and the radiator switch works, whatever is in between didn't. After replacing the head gaskets, never could get it to run right again.

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Interior growing things is no issue, really. Dry it out, pick the moss out, use a carpet cleaner on the upholstery and carpet. Lysol everything before and after cleaning. That is of course if the fabric isn't literally coming apart. The sunroof and hood.... I have spares, but I'm not willing to part with them as they are spares for my 87.5XT GL10. Unless the hood is fragged, it can be worked. I can also work the sunroof for you. I do have an XT6 here I sold to 92_rugby_subie for his 5 lug swap. The rear glass is good and I can get it out in one piece, but you need to PM him to work something out. The hood is good as well, but not turbo. He's picking the car up next weekend, and I'm busy as hell so get in touch with him to see if we can make something happen.

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I have not... also, as I mentioned at the beginning of this thread, I've been away from the car stuff, including this board for the better half of the last 3 years. I'll be doing some forum searching in a bit regarding XT stuff and see what's happened in the last 3 years in the community.

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The Arlington Pick n Pull just received an 86 XT, I figured, why not, made the drive up north to check it out with a pleasant surprise. It was the same color, and it was a turbo. The body is straight too! Snagged the moon roof, hood, and trunk with trunk seal, and back seat, all in good shape. Carpet and front seats were trashed. It is a 2wd, struts and rear discs are still there. Other than what I took, the front hubs were missing and the dash had been torn apart, that was it. Pics of the big score are below!

 

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