1989 5.0L Mustang Convertible new owner recommendations

kjwinegar said:

Hello everyone. I recently inherited my dad's 1989 5.0L GT convertible. It was the car that I drove as a teenager and I'm super excited to have it and have the opportunity to work on it with my son. I am not a mechanic, but I love the car and love to learn. I want to be able to maintain and repair this car with my son and learn some things along the way. Am I biting off more than I can chew here? The car is basically all original parts and has had only minor repairs done with 121,000 miles. Things that I know need some work right now are the back panel window motors seem to be going out, the A/C is not cold, and there is a small oil leak.

Has anyone found access to a free pdf repair manual? I see there are ones for sale out there. Is this something I should buy or is all the information I need online in one way or another?

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First things I would do are the basics and then register / insure it and drive it...The problems will pop up and as they do you can knock them down..

As far as manuals...Im partial to the Official Ford stuff as the Haynes and Chiltons dont have that technical info thats needed plus theyre vague and meld a bunch of years together an that takes time weeding that out..Sometimes you get lucky and find manuals like these on ebay too...

And if anyone doesnt know...The Ford database shows that Mustangs are classified as being #12193 and for the specific year you add a - and the two digit year like -89 at the end.



Theres Officially licensed discs being sold on the internet that are well worth having unless you dont have a machine with a cd rom which I still have a CD rom in my old emachine desktop and turned it into my database machine and I also have an old Dell Laptop w/cd rom too that I use as a tuning laptop that I keep in the workshop and can view both on a 40" flatscreen and a HDMI cable




As far as your issues with the rear windows....Age and low use causes the window tracks to collect debris and get sticky plus the switches tarnish and lower the amperage getting to the motors plus the ground and power wires wont be as fresh as they were so I would buy new cables and a new battery to start with as it may be deficient of proper amperage even though it shows plenty of power and still cranks the engine...

I use silicone spray to clean , lube and rejuvenate the window felts. and use Dry spray lube too

For the a/c there is an in-line filter and accumulator that gets clogged up from unuse so its best to take the car to an a/c expert and he will give you an overall assessment and a list for anything that needs to be done and replaced if the fix isnt cheap and simple for them to do...

Biting off more than you can chew?...Maybe so;- but you dont know if you dont try plus you stated the car was your dads and you have a son...If your son is eager to get his hands dirty that would be a good excuse as kids are good at googling things also quick learners....

Even though its not gonna be probable your son will be driving the car when he gets a license unless hes old enough now but you can sure make it roadworthy and share some memories cruising around in it before they outlaw dino-fed vehicles also pay a lil homage to your dad....

Who knows...maybe you can convert it into an electric as a father and son project when the time comes and keep it going on years into the future..

I ended up getting my dads 85 Monte SS after he owned it for 20 years and it needed tons of work so I gutted the whole thing dropped the frame and turned it into my dads dream car....He always wanted an engine with a blower stacked on top....LOL

Good Luck