The issues with the "moderate" SBC of the 80s and before were mainly with the highest levels of administration, not the local churches. But, that being said, a bunch of pastors were trained in theologically liberal seminaries and sent out to be called by congregations.
All of that has taken (and is still taking) some time to work out. Perhaps the best expression of the outworking of those moderate to liberal pastors is the fact that some have led their churches to be a part of the CBF.
In the seminaries, the situation was pretty bad before the resurgence. I came to SBTS about 6 months after Dr. Mohler arrived and the house cleaning was still in process. I have collected a few of the special writings from that time (several books and booklets were produced) and some of what is said in those writings would curl the hair of a Bible believing Christian. "God, he, she, it..." "How I Changed My Mind..." (regarding belief in the God of the Bible!), etc. Sad stuff. The resurgence was desperately needed and is still ongoing in some of the agencies such as LifeWay, NAMB, and IMB.
What is, perhaps, the worst part of the liberal expression in the SBC is that so many of the pastors meant something different by their words than did the members in the pews of their churches. I and others have noted over the years that one of the main issues with any form of liberalism, be that political, cultural, or theological, is that terminology is often redefined or otherwise altered to mean something other than its plain usage. This was certainly the case in the liberal expressions of pastors and professors in the SBC.
Were factions of the SBC "fundamentalistic"? Sure. But probably not as many as other sects of Baptists that I have dealt with over the years. Not to insult fundamentalistic brothers and sisters, but fundamentalism seems to rise and fall on the education process. The more constrained that process the easier it is to remain fundamentalistic and ignorant of the larger or deeper theological arguments at large in the church world. I would also like to note that majoring on the FUNDAMENTALS of the faith, even as expressed in those wonderful volumes call The Fundamentals, is not the problem nor is that fundamentalism. The two, though related are not part and parcel of each other. I hold to the fundamentals of the faith and would die to support, preach, and teach them, but I am not a fundamentalist in any sense of the word. I expect that there are a lot of other pastors just like me out there... We are socially relevant, able to exegete culture just like we (actually) exegete Scripture instead of locking our congregations into a anachronistic culture of the 1950s or 1960s because that was "the era" when church was special.