EDIT 7/1/2019: Items that are done were changed to RED.
A short time ago I posted about potentially trying to get a car to drive other than the mustang. This is the result. I've done most of this stuff a thousand times for me and others just like some of you have. As I have gotten older I just have developed a habit of looking for suggestions and watching vids of others doing these things. I don't really know why. For longer than I remember all the folks around me brought things to me that they couldn't figure out. I guess I'm just getting tired....lol. So my goal is to get some input, motivation, moral support or whatever so I can get this car up to at least a certain level. So here goes.....
If I'm going to be driving my Mustang daily, there are things that I'd like to do to make it as nice to drive as possible. Imagine buying a Ford Focus or Honda Accord that's four or five years old. You get in that car and just drive it. The mirrors work. It's not blowing oil out. The brakes are good. The headliner isn't falling down. All these things are just taken for granted in a car like that. I want the Mustang to be the same. It won't ride as good or look as new but I do not want to have ten or so things that I always hate about the car every single day because those things need repair. This isn't a wish list of how I would build my car if money were no consideration. Most know money is basically non-existent right now for me. These are must have's, so to speak. Of course, you can do without some of them but that very thing is what I'm trying to get away from. I've put up with this car the way it is long enough. I want to either make it right or drive something else. Period. This is my attempt at making it right with the most important ones up top.
Top Priority are these first 3 with #1 BY FAR the biggest PITA!
Items in RED are DONE!!
-Stop the oil slinging out of the front of the engine.....again. Fixed it a year ago and it stopped for 12 months. It's back. As tooky as I am about things, for some reason I can't seem to make this fix permanent even though I spread this job out over almost a week. I did this because I wire brush every single bolt and totally clean everything. Then I do it again. Clean and as perfect as possible is my norm. I even get made fun of because of this...which is kinda fun at times. My point is, I didn't rush anything or cut corners. The job was done thoroughly. I took everything off the front of the engine. I was looking at the timing chain. I dropped the front of the oil pan. As much as I hated to, I cut the one piece oil pan gasket after not being satisfied doing it any other way. The reseal of the oil pan is not where my problem is (I don't think). I cleaned the timing cover and installed a new front seal. Everything went back together just fine. Before doing this I was getting oil residue all over the belt and it was slinging it everywhere. My battery was gunked up terribly. After the repair, the engine was staying spotless once again like it always has. About 2 months ago all of a sudden it started again. My battery, engine, underside of hood, etc are once again covered. I hate it. Since I've had my car since new it's used a quart of oil between changes (1500 miles). This is not the same engine but after building this engine it has always done the same. With the oil coming out of the front now though it using the same amount but at 1000 miles. This has to stop. I am confident the car will run forever like this but I can't take it. It reeks of burning oil all the time and is a mess. I'd like some input, please.
-Fix clutch cable. This may include a new cable and firewall adjuster. Already have the aluminum quadrant installed although MM says that an aluminum quadrant made for adjustable cables won't work with the MM cable. Not sure. I need to adjust it first and see if that fixes the problem. While cranking the car in gear with the clutch pressed the car wants to move forward. Also, in a parking lot or at a stop light, if I take the car out of gear it can be difficult to get back in. It feels like you are hitting a wall. It only does it with the car running so I'm almost sure it just needs adjusting.
-Order some of the good oil drain plug washers. (having trouble finding them) My car uses so much oil I am trying to eliminate every possible spot that could leak. A year or so ago I found a fellow mustang guy that found the holy grail of drain plug washers and it fixed his leak. I can't find him or the clip I made of the washers. I actually found these online at Summit and they were in a pack of 4. Can not find them now and don't remember any details. The only thing I definitely remember is they were not available at any parts store.
Others in order of Priority
-Check all ground wires and add or replace all that is needed. The reason for doing this is at times I get crazy gauge readings for a few minutes then it goes back to normal. Already bought a new braided line for “ground #2” from the famous ground list.
-Fix wiring at Hazard Switch. One wire won't stay pinned and it keeps the hazards and blinkers from working.
-Put all stereo equipment back in. I have a brand new JVC head unit in the box that I got a couple years ago. I also have all the speakers and most of the wiring. The Soundstream amp that I want to use needs repair. It's a very good five channel amp that ran the big system I use to have in the car. Not sure on how much this will cost or who can do it. I checked it once and it had one channel not working. The amp repair doesn't have to happen right now but if any of you have a trusted amp repair resource please share it. (stereo is in and working...no amp installed yet)
-Fix the door speaker grills so they don't stick out and rattle against the dash. (do this while door panels are off for the stereo installation) Anybody that's done a custom job on this I'd like to see it. I have a good idea of what I'm going to do but always open to others.
-New dome light and other interior lighting to really light up the interior (Get a dome light from the wrecking yard. I'd like the '93 Mustang version but need to know what all vehicles they are the same in since there are zero foxes in the yards here.)
-Fix horns. (I bought the horn button repair kit from LMR but it was junk) Anybody else have the horn coming on at 3am deal? That's why it's been unplugged for 15 years.
-Put newer model front seats in and recover. I already have 2005 seats but the covers are around $550. I don't mind at all painting these seats a dark grey if it's something that won't rub off on me. They are the tan color factory seats.
-Door lock actuators again (100% sick of these).
-New headlights and fog lights again (100% sick of these too).
-Fix cruise control. (this may or may not ever happen as it seems to be a mystery to almost everyone...and no the wiring diagrams didn't help)
The next 4 are just having the money to do it but all thoughts are welcome.
-Rebuild rear drum brakes $75 (pretty straight forward there I guess)
-New door mirrors (LMR $175 with free shipping....RockAuto $153 plus shipping)
-New hatch lift struts. (LMR pair $30....RockAuto pair Monroe 901244 $18.38 $28.84 shipped) LMR is plus shipping.
-Need the Lower Door Hinge Tension Spring replaced on the drivers side. (LMR $20)
Things that I'd like to do but will be down the road, if ever.
-Rebuild my extra engine and replace the one in the car with it.
-New quarter windows.
-Paint the car.
A short time ago I posted about potentially trying to get a car to drive other than the mustang. This is the result. I've done most of this stuff a thousand times for me and others just like some of you have. As I have gotten older I just have developed a habit of looking for suggestions and watching vids of others doing these things. I don't really know why. For longer than I remember all the folks around me brought things to me that they couldn't figure out. I guess I'm just getting tired....lol. So my goal is to get some input, motivation, moral support or whatever so I can get this car up to at least a certain level. So here goes.....
If I'm going to be driving my Mustang daily, there are things that I'd like to do to make it as nice to drive as possible. Imagine buying a Ford Focus or Honda Accord that's four or five years old. You get in that car and just drive it. The mirrors work. It's not blowing oil out. The brakes are good. The headliner isn't falling down. All these things are just taken for granted in a car like that. I want the Mustang to be the same. It won't ride as good or look as new but I do not want to have ten or so things that I always hate about the car every single day because those things need repair. This isn't a wish list of how I would build my car if money were no consideration. Most know money is basically non-existent right now for me. These are must have's, so to speak. Of course, you can do without some of them but that very thing is what I'm trying to get away from. I've put up with this car the way it is long enough. I want to either make it right or drive something else. Period. This is my attempt at making it right with the most important ones up top.
Top Priority are these first 3 with #1 BY FAR the biggest PITA!
Items in RED are DONE!!
-Stop the oil slinging out of the front of the engine.....again. Fixed it a year ago and it stopped for 12 months. It's back. As tooky as I am about things, for some reason I can't seem to make this fix permanent even though I spread this job out over almost a week. I did this because I wire brush every single bolt and totally clean everything. Then I do it again. Clean and as perfect as possible is my norm. I even get made fun of because of this...which is kinda fun at times. My point is, I didn't rush anything or cut corners. The job was done thoroughly. I took everything off the front of the engine. I was looking at the timing chain. I dropped the front of the oil pan. As much as I hated to, I cut the one piece oil pan gasket after not being satisfied doing it any other way. The reseal of the oil pan is not where my problem is (I don't think). I cleaned the timing cover and installed a new front seal. Everything went back together just fine. Before doing this I was getting oil residue all over the belt and it was slinging it everywhere. My battery was gunked up terribly. After the repair, the engine was staying spotless once again like it always has. About 2 months ago all of a sudden it started again. My battery, engine, underside of hood, etc are once again covered. I hate it. Since I've had my car since new it's used a quart of oil between changes (1500 miles). This is not the same engine but after building this engine it has always done the same. With the oil coming out of the front now though it using the same amount but at 1000 miles. This has to stop. I am confident the car will run forever like this but I can't take it. It reeks of burning oil all the time and is a mess. I'd like some input, please.
-Fix clutch cable. This may include a new cable and firewall adjuster. Already have the aluminum quadrant installed although MM says that an aluminum quadrant made for adjustable cables won't work with the MM cable. Not sure. I need to adjust it first and see if that fixes the problem. While cranking the car in gear with the clutch pressed the car wants to move forward. Also, in a parking lot or at a stop light, if I take the car out of gear it can be difficult to get back in. It feels like you are hitting a wall. It only does it with the car running so I'm almost sure it just needs adjusting.
-Order some of the good oil drain plug washers. (having trouble finding them) My car uses so much oil I am trying to eliminate every possible spot that could leak. A year or so ago I found a fellow mustang guy that found the holy grail of drain plug washers and it fixed his leak. I can't find him or the clip I made of the washers. I actually found these online at Summit and they were in a pack of 4. Can not find them now and don't remember any details. The only thing I definitely remember is they were not available at any parts store.
Others in order of Priority
-Check all ground wires and add or replace all that is needed. The reason for doing this is at times I get crazy gauge readings for a few minutes then it goes back to normal. Already bought a new braided line for “ground #2” from the famous ground list.
-Fix wiring at Hazard Switch. One wire won't stay pinned and it keeps the hazards and blinkers from working.
-Put all stereo equipment back in. I have a brand new JVC head unit in the box that I got a couple years ago. I also have all the speakers and most of the wiring. The Soundstream amp that I want to use needs repair. It's a very good five channel amp that ran the big system I use to have in the car. Not sure on how much this will cost or who can do it. I checked it once and it had one channel not working. The amp repair doesn't have to happen right now but if any of you have a trusted amp repair resource please share it. (stereo is in and working...no amp installed yet)
-Fix the door speaker grills so they don't stick out and rattle against the dash. (do this while door panels are off for the stereo installation) Anybody that's done a custom job on this I'd like to see it. I have a good idea of what I'm going to do but always open to others.
-New dome light and other interior lighting to really light up the interior (Get a dome light from the wrecking yard. I'd like the '93 Mustang version but need to know what all vehicles they are the same in since there are zero foxes in the yards here.)
-Fix horns. (I bought the horn button repair kit from LMR but it was junk) Anybody else have the horn coming on at 3am deal? That's why it's been unplugged for 15 years.
-Put newer model front seats in and recover. I already have 2005 seats but the covers are around $550. I don't mind at all painting these seats a dark grey if it's something that won't rub off on me. They are the tan color factory seats.
-Door lock actuators again (100% sick of these).
-New headlights and fog lights again (100% sick of these too).
-Fix cruise control. (this may or may not ever happen as it seems to be a mystery to almost everyone...and no the wiring diagrams didn't help)
The next 4 are just having the money to do it but all thoughts are welcome.
-Rebuild rear drum brakes $75 (pretty straight forward there I guess)
-New door mirrors (LMR $175 with free shipping....RockAuto $153 plus shipping)
-New hatch lift struts. (LMR pair $30....RockAuto pair Monroe 901244 $18.38 $28.84 shipped) LMR is plus shipping.
-Need the Lower Door Hinge Tension Spring replaced on the drivers side. (LMR $20)
Things that I'd like to do but will be down the road, if ever.
-Rebuild my extra engine and replace the one in the car with it.
-New quarter windows.
-Paint the car.
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