[Rockcrusher77]

I'm fully aware of what's involved in the conversion and the possible hate from GT owners but here's my situation: I'm thinking of painting my '88 GT this summer. Unfortunately, the GT's urethane parts are beginning to suffer. The rear bumper is developing the classic sag in the middle. What's worse is my side skirts (while still firmly attached) are getting wavy and buckled. The door moldings are starting to curl at the edges too.

From looking around, I'm not seeing reproduction side skirts so I'm unsure how to proceed. Moldings and bumper cover fixes are around, but the no skirts. I've come to the conclusion (after owning both), I prefer the LX. This makes converting it tempting but also necessitates the purchase of reproduction bumper covers (f & r). I'm not familiar with the quality and fitment of what available today. I've worked in the body trade so I'm aware of just how bad some repro parts can be. If my urethane wasn't failing (particularly the skirts) I'd probably live with it as a GT.

So, on one hand (keeping it a GT) I have to somehow deal with warped/wavy shirts and general gradual aging urethane problems. On the other hand (converting to LX) I have to roll the dice on reproduction bumpers from CJ Pony Parts (plus the fun of welding up trim mounting holes, no big deal really). The nice thing about converting is the skirt problems disappear for good. Any thoughts on which direction to go? I'm not rich by any means and if I stay GT, I don't want some aftermarket part that mounts differently than Ford did it. Thanks.

 

[Rockcrusher77]

Does anybody have any potential fixes for warped/wavy GT side skirts? Can anybody offer an opinion on the quality/fitment of the reproduction LX bumper covers available from most Mustangs part houses like CJs Pony Parts, LMR, etc.?

 

[87smokemetalic]

Converting to lx will be cheaper no doubt. Only real option for the Gt would be cobra side skirts from Cervini @ $400 , at that point you’re going to want the cobra rear bumper... another $400...
Lx bumpers are plentiful and the reproduction ones are really nice unlike the GT reproduction bumpers.

 

[Rockcrusher77]

It looks like I'll be converting. I'm not crazy about the different way Cervinis mounts the Cobra skirts either.

 

[tjm73]

The door moldings can be addressed with a heat gun when they are off the car. Or they can lay flat on a black top drive way when its good and hot for a day. They will lay down.

The other option, which Ford did on 20th Anniversary cars, is to eliminate that large molding and replace it with a tiny strip molding. Looks clean on '84 cars. Not sure how it would look on '87-'93 LX cars.