Not a bike, but it’s a build. Every city block in the United States (and probably Canada too) there is a mustang parked in a yard that isn’t in use or hasn’t been started in years. Our block is no exception, and it is my yard with the mustang in it, and even worse, it was me who parked it there 3 years ago. I’m finally at a point in my life to fix it up, so I’m posting here about it because I’m not a member of any other online groups, and I’m not too impressed with a lot of the car forums. I also feel like I want to document this online so you guys are the lucky ones enjoy!
Yard mustang
- Thread starter Phranq
- Start date
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My wife and I knew it was going to be parked for awhile so we drained the gasoline and removed the battery. It ran pretty good when we parked it, but it overheats sometimes. It isn’t the cleanest car in the world, but it’s definitely in better shape than most of them. I feel pretty confident working on cars because I’ve worked on a few of them, and I’ve always had some kind of nicer older car, but I don’t know everything, and will happily accept advice. I will be replacing the thermostat, the tires are new, and I’ve kept them pumped up. Suspension bushings are shot, but I have the eibach kit planned, the headliner was new when we got the car, but it never fit quite right, and the clock in the dash has never worked. And it’s SLOW. It has the 5.0 liter in it, but in stock form it only has 235 horsepower (even less since its 26 years old with 120,000 miles) but it’s an easy motor to work with and unlock much more power.
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The overheat could be a leaking head gasket; fairly common in Fords of that vintage.
That would be a bummer, I don’t wanna take the heads off until i can afford performance heads. I don’t think it’s that though, it’s got torque for days, it’s just slow because the gear in the rear end seems ridiculous, my previous car was an 02 z28 with an ls1 (handled like a boat) and my current car is a focus st. The mustang isn’t horrible, it’s just slower than the other cars I had. I also had a bronco with the same motor, and the mustang definitely ran better than the bronco. And the quality of the car seems a little bit better than the Camaro I had (interior, exterior) but I’m hoping to have it back on the road by next week. I think my only real problem with it is it’s stock.
MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
Dangit, this is a Mustang thread. I was expecting a Mustang thread!
It looks a little faster than mine...
I've owned a bunch of Mustangs, but never that era. I've had two 86s, an 88 and a 2007. I'm about 5 years without a Mustang now and very much missing them. Unemployment squashed any chance of getting one soon.
I really like those 80s ones. A friend of mine has had a mercury Capri from that era. It really rips. Have you looked at 90s mustangs much? I’ve seen them sell as low as 500 bucks running. They aren’t rare, and not too many people want them that much. It’s only a matter of time before people look at those and think “that car is so 90s! Wow, that was a long time ago!”
Update! She runs and drives! Not only that but it seems to only need simple things (fuel filter, battery) hopefully this keeps going smoothly. I definitely see some suspension work in the near future, along with some headers and exhaust. I may one day swap the heads and cam, but that’s way beyond my budget at the moment, and it’s definitely more fun (and forgiving) to work on my bike. There are going to be updates on my bike build soon, the weather has just been ridiculous the last few weeks.
Haha, mine was 1990 GT that had nothing stock anymore! Twisted wedge headed 347ci HOA hated beast! Traded it for a pile of cash and Denali which has recieved a vortec headed 383. Chevies are cheaper to build....
I think next I'm going to have a VW in yard....she wants another GTI or Wolfy Rabbit. If that's what it takes to get rid of her Tourag, I'm down like a clown!
I think next I'm going to have a VW in yard....she wants another GTI or Wolfy Rabbit. If that's what it takes to get rid of her Tourag, I'm down like a clown!
That fox is so sick! I used to have a 1977 yard corvette, that was really easy and cheap to fix up. It had a 383 stroker with aftermarket heads, and some other stuff when I got it. I drove it every day reliably for about a year and a half before I sold it. It was expensive to drive tho, it only made 5 mpg. How much power did the 347 kit add? I’m looking at those, but they are EXPENSIVE
I did a ton of flow bench porting, cam was the biggest nastiest one I could find. I figured around 500.
I’ll probably never go that in depth. I figure I’m going to replace all the suspension first, then get a 3.73 gear, and drive it like that for awhile. This is my weekend warrior car, and it’s much much slower than my daily so I’m sure engine mods are gonna happen at some point. I’m eyeing the trick flow 360 kit, but I’ll have to save up forever for that to happen.
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I've had 3 '66 Stangs, a 230 six, a 260 3 speed, and a 289 I shoehorned a 351 C6 in, two 67s, an inline six (wrecked it) and a 68 fastback with a 302 4 speed, a 1980 turbo cobra (fun!), my wifes 1990 arrest me red coupe (head gasket blues), and my wifes present blue 2017 V6 convertible. Toss in a couple of Falcons, a Comet, and a wicked 400 cid 79 F100 street racer and I guess you could call me a Ford man. I also had a 304 Javelin, a 390 Donahue Javelin, a 69 396 4 speed Camaro and a steel bodied Model A Chevy powered roadster. I build bicycles now, much easier on the wallet and garage space
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Put it on a diet, horsepower to weight ratio reduction is free and if you go nuts you will feel the difference. Strip the interior, empty the trunk, get rid of fender liners, etc..
Maybe if it was a stick shift car, but I’m going for a more grand touring, grandpa car feel. I’m thinking of going the other route and adding more sound deadening mats underneath the carpet, this is probably going to be a pretty loud car if I do all the engine stuff. I really like the interior design of these cars, it reminds me of a simpler time.
Those are some awesome cars! As far as fords go I’ve had an 88 bronco xlt, 97 ranger, this mustang, and my 18 focus st. Fords seem to be my go to cars the last few years, before that it was Chevy, and before that it was Honda’s. Bicycles are much easier on the wallet, and I put more miles on my bike than any of my cars, I yell a lot less at my bike than my car.I've had 3 '66 Stangs, a 230 six, a 260 3 speed, and a 289 I shoehorned a 351 C6 in, two 67s, an inline six (wrecked it) and a 68 fastback with a 302 4 speed, a 1980 turbo cobra (fun!), my wifes 1990 arrest me red coupe (head gasket blues), and my wifes present blue 2017 V6 convertible. Toss in a couple of Falcons, a Comet, and a wicked 400 cid 79 F100 street racer and I guess you could call me a Ford man. I also had a 304 Javelin, a 390 Donahue Javelin, a 69 396 4 speed Camaro and a steel bodied Model A Chevy powered roadster. I build bicycles now, much easier on the wallet and garage space
Just stripping the factory wiring harness I lost 100 lbs! (Made my own) and total weight of my 90 with 16 gallon fuel cell full and stereo, 1900 lbs. Lost over a thousand pounds of interior, noise deadener, wire, brackets, whizzes and gizzies!
MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
"To some perfection is achieved when there is nothing more to add. To other's pefection is achieved when there is nothing left to take away."
Colin Chapman (perhaps)
“Adding power makes you faster on the straights; subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere”
Colin Chapman (definitely)
Colin Chapman (perhaps)
“Adding power makes you faster on the straights; subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere”
Colin Chapman (definitely)
