this story reminds me of how I bought my turbo II.
i got it for 1,500 with a straight body but mismatched fenders and hood. LOL
and now its not running :\ so fml haha.
good luck with your repairs

One more question for everybody, when driving quick over bumps (uneven pavement, patches/ potholes etc) the front right makes a stuttering sound, like a real quick succession of "bump,bump,bump,bump". Im thinking Ball joint? But there is no play in the ball joint, and everything seems tight, any ideas what this could be? It only does it above 60mph.

Maybe squeaky springs, maybe rubbing panels. Kind of hard to say without experiencing it, but I'm also young at this.

Check your strut tops.

I'm old at this ;)

Ok, any suggestions on how to check, what to check for in the strut tops. I looked in the service manual but couldnt find any reference on inspection procedures/tolerances. Thanks for the help.
Joe

A quick check: Raise the hood, pull off the black rubber covers from atop the struts (if still there), and visually inspect the rubber that the shock is mounted to for cracks/deterioration.

you need to jack the car up so the wheels are hanging off the ground and with someone turning the wheel back and forth and moving it up and down.

Ok, checked the struts and they are good, but I think I found the problem. I couldnt pinpoint the exact location of the noise so I drove the car with the shifter boot removed, and its the tranny, bouncing up and down. I checked the mounts and they are still there but are cracked/deteriorated and the center bolt through the crossmember looks like its supposed to have a rubber bushing on it or spacer or something but its not there , just the bolt hanging down with a rubber ring around the head of it that sits about a half inch from the crossmember (I think at speed when hitting bumps this allows the tranny to bounce up and down) Am I on track with this? Cant find anything relating to it in the manual, but thats what it looks like. I also cant find this spacer/bushing anywhere on the internet. Any Ideas?
....I think Ill start a new thread on this.

upon closer inspection it seems that the transmission mounts have deteriorated to the point that the transmission is actually sitting 1/3" lower and slightly angled, so that the rubber washer on the crossmember center bolt (along with the center bolt itself) is sitting low, when i hit bumps at high speed it bounces the transmission up and down on the crossmember... not good.

strangest thing is the manual shows the exhaust hanger bracket bolting into this gap, but on mine the exhaust hanger bolts up to the side of the transmission housing itself. I dont know if this is stock or not.

If you can you might want to correct that. I don't know if it's attached to a strong boss on the trans, but I really doubt it's supposed to be connected to it at all for various reasons.

so... you need a new cross member, and some mounts... check your driveshaft as well, mine was actually all fine till I replaced the tranny mounts, and then it made the loose u joints in the driveshaft start making noises...

So far, replaced entire cross member, mounts, and driveshaft is next.

ALRIGHT! Replaced the crossmember, tranny mounts, ball joints and outer tie rod ends today and she handles like a dream. ALL the noise is gone, no bearing noise from the tranny, no tapping, no grinding no NOTHING! Took the wife for a ride after I finished and shes not mad at me any more! Awesome! Now I just gotta replace the power steering pump and the moonroof rack (wich I already ordered off Ebay) and throw a radio in her and shell be like new! SWEET!

Dont get to excited lol, fc's like to toy with ya, its gonna lull you into a false sense of security and bam! You'll be stuck on the side of the road 30 miles from the hospital where your on your way to see if your moms lump is benign or cancerous................ true story. But when it is running good its the best car in the world lol.