'89 Beretta GT/U Restoration

[lmnjlo]

After a very long time....the '89 gets some attention.

The car has 319,000 miles on it. The 2nd engine (2.8L) has around 200,000 miles on it and is just about shot. So....the 2001 3400 swap is on order. The new stock interior cloth is on order and should be here soon and I am currently re-doing all the brakes, hubs, e-brake cables....basically everything in the rear. Then before BFest....another factory color paint job will be done. Pics below of some progress.



1989 Beretta GTU
1996 Beretta Z26
2004 Silverado 2500 Crew Cab 4X4

[Money pit Beretta]

Cool, keep updating. What springs are those?

[lmnjlo]

Those are Sprint Springs and Koni adjustable shocks. The last pair that Tire Rack had. lol.

[Barry]

Ahhh you Koni stealer!

Do you have konis in the front too? Do you drive hard?

[Money pit Beretta]

Sprints are a little low for me, but some Koni's would be nice to have. How is the ride?

[lmnjlo]

Hey....hows it going Barry?

I bought the Koni's back on 2006. They have been on the car since 2006 too. I brought this car to BFest in Detroit. I have KYB's in the front. The Koni's were no longer available. It does sit a little lot. The car sits about 3" off the ground...but....I can take turns like you wouldn't believe. I don't drive too hard...but I do drive the '89 a lot harder then I do my Z26 or my Silverado.

[lmnjlo]

The e-brake cable is on. The passenger side rear brakes are done. The driver side is almost done and will get finished tomorrow. Now time for me to order the clutch, other misc parts and my all new interior factory cloth for $1056.00. That includes all new carpet, factory floor mats, new cloth for all the seats, new cloth for the rear speaker lid and cloth for the middle console. Of course, that doesn't include installation cost.

Next is the engine swap, all new fuel lines, and a new paint job. That might be kinda costly.

[Money pit Beretta]

Man you are going all out! Where did you get the floor mats?
What are you going to swap in?

[lmnjlo]

I got all the factory cloth, carpeting and factory shaped floor mats from SMS auto interior. Its all an exact match! Its kinda neat. I have all the samples. The floor mats are $129 for the whole set by the way.

I will be keeping it simple for now. Swaping in a 2001 Impala 3400. I am having it cleaned up and new gaskets and bearings. The engine has 40,000 miles on it. Just touching it up for now. Deleting the A/C. The car already has a new steering rack and inner and outer tie rod ends. Now if I can only find a mint dash. lol. Just ordered a stage 2+ clutch from Spec too.

Just got the new tires put on the rims too.

[Money pit Beretta]

Wow, that is a bit much for floor mats. I'll keep it in mind for later. A 3400 with only 40k will work. Hope you find a dash, I never did find one for my 90GT. Keep posting pics as you go.

[lmnjlo]

I agree. But If I am paying all this money I might as well keep the carpet as clean as I can. The floor mats I have now are from my 1978 Olds Cutlass Supreme that I used to have. I've been using them for the Beretta since 1995. So I am long overdue for new mats. If you think $129 is expensive for floor mats, consider the cost of $75 per yard for the interior cloth. Ya, $75 per yard...thats not cheap either. The carpet is a total of $209. it is pre-molded and comes the factory color. Shipping for everything was only $56. Not too bad. I will have all new interior, new paint, new engine, etc....but the factory dash with a crack in it. LOL. Oh well. Thats another project for another year. I was thinking about a dash cap..but I don't know what is good and where to get one.

[Money pit Beretta]

Ouch, can't wait to start that project. How big is the crack? If it's small enough Eastwood has a dash repair kit. If you get a cap there are ones out there that look like the stock dash. You may have to google it, my hard drive went down and I lost the link to the one I bought. I thought it was a full dash at first and sent it back because mine was too far gone to use it anyway. Get one of those fuzzy dash covers(lol)!

[lmnjlo]

Ouch, can't wait to start that project. How big is the crack? If it's small enough Eastwood has a dash repair kit. If you get a cap there are ones out there that look like the stock dash. You may have to google it, my hard drive went down and I lost the link to the one I bought. I thought it was a full dash at first and sent it back because mine was too far gone to use it anyway. Get one of those fuzzy dash covers(lol)!

LOL. Fuzzy dash, Ya right. Maybe one of those carpet looking ones just temporary. I don't know. The crack isn't that bad. I'll just have to wait for the dash later.

[lmnjlo]

All done. The rear brakes are finished with ALL NEW hardware, and NEW e-brake cables. Everything works great.

Next: Engine Swap

Next: New fuel lines, front brakes, misc

Next: New Paint job

Next/Final: All new Interior cloth. Factory Matched!

[Money pit Beretta]

Was that the first time you changed the wheel bearings?