Well... I am going to try to fix this car. It is a 1985 Ford Mustang LX convertible. The car used to be my uncles, and I don't feel like typing out the whole story right now, so I will either edit this later, or anyone can just PM me if they want more details. To be honest, I don't really no enough about cars to fix any major problems. I can change the oil, change the tires, and do some minor things with the brakes, but that is the current extent of my automotive knowledge. In the Fall I will be taking classes at my local Community College to learn how to become a mechanic. Anyways, since my family(grandparents) has had this car that has been gathering dust literally for years, they have decided to give it to me, assuming I can get it fixed up. I plan to do as much of the labor as possible myself(with help from my stepdad), but will be most likely taking it in for any body work that I have done to it. Anyways, here it is. that's me this is my stepdad Well I think that is enough of the outside(since its pretty much everything) Anyways, now to move on to the engine. So yea, I have more pics, but I figure this is enough for now.
I'll be watching this. Are you going to be doing the engine GOO style? Strip it clean it and put it back together, or just replace the required parts? That car would look awesome in bright red / black
I know barely anything about repairing cars, but project logs like this always get me interested. Though for starters I'd like to see it thoroughly cleaned just to see how wrecked it actually is..
Hose it down. Reinsert radiator. Drain the sump. Change the oil. Clean the carb. Replace the missing belts. Check/gap/replace spark-plugs. Insert fuel and battery. Pray. Does it start? No? blood sacrifice. Does it start now? ... Seriously, good luck!
How can you get any idea of what you are going to do underneath all that crap! I'm sure this will be pretty cool!
Actually for finding out problems this isn't a bad way to start. I would highly recommend starting with the mechanical/ engine electrical issues before worrying about the body. Doing it this way you can at least then drive it to a body shop or to where ever you need to go for parts. This should be a fun one to watch *grabs popcorn and reclines chair*
I want to start by cleaning it off, but I need to move it before I can do that. It is being stored in my aunt's barn/shed. All the crap covering it is from magpies and starlings. From what I can tell, the only real problems with the body is the front driver side fender, and the driver side door. The top seems to be in fair condition though, which is good. I may eventually repaint it a different color, but for right now, it is going to stay blue because of the interior, and I don't want to spend the money now to get it reupholstered. Anyways, for the engine, I plan on first replacing the parts that are missing, and then taking apart/cleaning/rebuilding the parts it has in it. It needs all new hoses and belts, because it looks like the hoses that were in there were just cut out with a saw. Oh, and that driver side door doesn't open from the outside.
...and the sacrifice in question (at least when I'm doing it) is usually my own. Squashed finger/thumb, heavy object dropped on toes and/or gashed limb as an offering to the machine spirits. Nothing seems to go right until I've received at least one injury and sworn a blue streak for over 5 mins or over 120 dB, whichever comes first! Best of luck with this one, it hopefully looks much worse than it is but I'll be watching this thread either way.
What've you got yourself into? A boat car-load of work, it looks like Looking forward to seeing a worklog!
Soooo will the car be featuring on the Custom PC mod of the month page? Better yet, build a pc styled to match . Oh and if you haven't got a copy yet, http://www.haynes.com/products/productID/158 Good luck! It'll eat money for a while but when you have it sorted it'll be a beaut!.
That totally what I was thinking about. Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly (but this time don't let the screwdriver slip and stab your hand). Also, if this is the first repair job you've done, look forward to having to make your own tools. Prepare for grinding notches into sockets, bolting little steel I-beams together to jam into the fly wheel, extending your breaker bar with steel box section... good times. Good times. And buy plenty of oil, because you'll probably be using it to find leaks.
