Junkyard 03GT

Active Member
Jun 14, 2019
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Texas
Hi guys, I just bought my first ever new to me mustang this past weekend. A 2003 Ford Mustang GT with the manual transmission. I drove it home and immediately got to work.

Known issues -
CEL P0442, P0136, P0141, P0156, P0161
Interior - broken AC fans, door handles, radio turns on but has missing dash kit and gets error when connecting to phone and missing the light that goes in roof liner
Exterior - scratches dents and horrible paint match on front bumper as well as missing bolts to hold it up right, inner fender piece has missing plastic screws.
Engine bay - AC not working, replacing rubber hosing on engine and also has a couple missing bolts and has a stripped bolt in the manifold I believe. I also think there are missing stuff in the engine bay but I don't know.
Under the car - Missing K member bolt, missing bolts in general, not sure for what. Oil/transmission pan has missing bolts, which I think is why its so greasing down there.
Wheels - Rotors are a bit rusty, Brakes/caliper need to be cleaned but good condition.

That is all I can think of so far, clutch/new fluids/spark plugs will be done most likely but not until I find out exactly whats going on under the car.
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1. P0442 - I tightened the gas cap, and cleared all codes.

2. Headers are leaking and there are a couple of bolt holes near the headers that are pushing out air as well. Not sure if that is normal to have on a engine or not so I am hoping to get some feedback on that.

3. I currently have the K&N air filter/battery out + hood/driver side fender/front bumper removed + strut towers and front brakes off I have the engine hoist in position and ready to start removing lines and getting the K member off. I am using a video as a guide.

My goal right now is to get a better look at the headers and seeing what brand they are and also replacing the header gaskets and also while I'm there adding a new oil dipstick and motor mounts. Hopefully removing the leak and getting some preventative maintenance done.

Hows my hoist mounting points?
Do the bolt holes that are by the headers suppose to push air out?

I hope to update the post weekly and making a video out of the build eventually. The goal is to finish by the end of the month. Hope to get some useful feedback and advice.Thanks for reading. Peace!
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On a modern car even a tiny intake or exhaust leak can cause problems.

If this were my car I would remove the alternator and use the bolt holes on the front of the motor block webbing. Much stronger than the timing cover.
 
FInally got to the headers, missing bolts and gasket had a couple of burnt/ripped parts in it, probably because it was moving around.. ebay headers I think, not sure if I should reuse them or not and they do have dents in em. so I wonder if it affected performance?
 

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Looking from under where the oil pan is I found a small clue to where this came from and what it could be > see attached picture. I am going to give it a guess and say its a damaged piston(s). I did remove the valve covers and found no damage to my eyes. So the next step is to see if I can remove the heads and see if there is carnage. I may look to see if I can get a mobile mechanic to visit my garage and help. This is a bit out of my realm of experience.
 

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I was pokin in the cylinder walls and didn't find a hole. I did more research and couldn't find a detailed head removal guide. So I did more detailed search on other cars to see the process. In many of the videos people showed their oil pans and the amount of metal flakes in them. Which brought me to this idea...

Take a look at this, notice on the first oil pan that there is 2 brackets - and in my oil pan there is only one?

Did I figure out where the piece came from?
 

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Engine sagged and I didn’t notice until now. A hose ripped near the top left of the engine.

I visited the salvage yard today and got a lot of missing bolts for the car.

Ordered a new oil pan/dipstick, header gaskets and motor mounts.

All that’s left is new header bolts and oil pan gasket/ valve cover gaskets. Car should be back together for a oil change on the weekend.
 

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Car should be back together for a oil change on the weekend.



Wow that bracket is spindled and mauled. It ran, You drove it home right? Its a testament to how tough them engines are.
Header dent while it does suck, it is not that bad and besides its a time honored tradition with headers.

Cruzing for burgers on Sunday! Whoo hoo!
 
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Wow that bracket is spindled and mauled. It ran, You drove it home right? Its a testament to how tough them engines are.
Header dent while it does suck, it is not that bad and besides its a time honored tradition with headers.

Cruzing for burgers on Sunday! Whoo hoo!
Yeah, I drove it home, and I let a bunch of friends drive it. The engine ran strong and I hope to get it to 200k before a rebuild. It was awesome. Thanks for checking the thread. This upcoming weekend I’m hoping to get it on the road again for a inspection.
 
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I went ahead and replaced 8 studs. 7 on the passenger side (where the exhaust leak came from) and 1 on the driver side.. Not too sure why this hardware was chosen in the first place, it wasn't even the right size to hold correctly and were literally about to fall off. I bought some extra nuts as well so the headers can go back on right after I replace some things such as the motor mounts. So the car is prepped now and ready for all the new stuff to arrive this week.
 

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Anyone know if the rubber piece here is still available to purchase? I found a diagram of the lower assembly but its been discontinued so it doesn't let me get anymore info on it.
 

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Parts came in -
1.valve cover/gaskets installed
2.SR motor mounts installed
3.oil pan gasket/oil pick up O ring & new oil pan back in - crossing my fingers that I did the oil gasket right. I followed the ford service manual.
 

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Anyone know if the rubber piece here is still available to purchase? I found a diagram of the lower assembly but its been discontinued so it doesn't let me get anymore info on it.
How about:

Amazon product ASIN B002L1H3TMView: https://www.amazon.com/Borgeson-000651-Steering-Vibration-Reducer/dp/B002L1H3TM/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=steering+shaft+mustang&pd_rd_r=ceec0560-38b2-45ba-8983-f37be6ad8325&pd_rd_w=tIEpO&pd_rd_wg=nfowa&pf_rd_p=59f9fe0c-f23e-4cfc-a058-a740164e1168&pf_rd_r=15G4MMR8GJ80KDD2828V&qid=1561761836&s=automotive&sr=1-3&vehicle=2003-54-688-39---6-7-3595--1-1---&vehicleName=2003+Ford+Mustang



Or try car-part.com to search salvage yards in your area (or beyond).
 
I meant just the rubber piece, not the whole assembly. Thanks though, I’ll probably upgrade in the future.
 
4th of July update:

HEADERS -
Why the build isn't done yet? = Last minute decision to order new one from Summit Racing. Install was a breeze, EGR was a pain to tighten down and I got it like 90% tightened, I don't have anymore room to go further without a wrench socket tool I think. I checked for a exhaust leak, found none, clearance is good.
X PIPE -
I also paired it with a X Pipe. Not much to say, it had the o2 bung already welded and its pretty light but also good fitment which was the most important for me.

Oil tube - installed, in case anyone is curious MY mustang didn't come with one so I got a new OEM one and also had to get a m6-1x16mm bolt which worked to tighten it down. It was a pain to install as well, I had to get a friend to help.

Everything is torqued and tighten as much as I can get em.

Lastly some of my parts I ordered weren't fitting so I have to return some - PCV hose/oil stick/and I am returning the ford performance header gaskets since the pacesetter headers came with their own set. I got some black hose from auto zone and made some myself that were much better fitting then was I had prior.

Anyways I am waiting on new battery tray and a tube assembly I ordered. The K Member can finally go back on but I am not sure if I should order new bushings before I pop it back in. Stores are closed for today so until tomorrow. I may put the oil and oil filter in now. I would like to run the car now so that I can re torque the header bolts if needed but I don't know if the power steering lines will start to gush fluid out.

Alright that's it from, I keep ordering things and replacing things that it is just extending the build that much more.

Happy 4th of July!
 

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Finals week at school and failing to install the K Member set me back big time. Finals are over and my friend and I were able to install the K Member.

As of now the car is back together but I ran into a little problem finding the torque specs for all the parts I removed and reinstalled.

I took a picture of each of the areas I need to get a torque spec for - *** if any of these are wrong I hope someone can chime in and help me out. I will mostly like move forward with the specs I found by tomorrow afternoon. ***

K member to
- motor mount nut - 85ft lbs
- to frame rail 85ft lbs
- bolts by (control arm)? - 66ft lbs

control arm - 148ft lbs
(the arm that holds the spring and shock up)

oil filter - 11ft lbs
oil drain plug - 10ft lbs

Steering column shaft pinch bolt - 25ft lbs

Sway bar stabilizer bar thing that goes around the bottom of the engine - 41ft lbs (where bushing meets frame) and 35ft lbs where it connects to (spindle?) suspension. * EDIT: I think these are suppose to be 52ft lbs & 14ft lbs

Steering rack "power and pinion steering gear" - 52ft lbs

and lastly the shock/strut thing that goes all the way up into the engine bay - 74ft lbs
 

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The mustang is all put back together! The car sounds way better with just the pacesetter headers with no leak vs the system that was on prior. So I'm pretty happy with the results.

Waiting on SR Performance cat back system to connect to the pacesetter headers/xpipe.
New o2 downstream sensors are on there way as well and a new Ford OEM oil stick.

* Car has leaky front stuts so I am debating between monroe matic plus struts/shocks or tokico hp. I may go with some OEM replacements that are a bit cheaper but yep.

*Only oil leak is coming from the drain plug, its a new oil pan and it came with a new bolt/washer already installed. I think its a bad washer but the leak is minimal so I'll wait to change it after a couple hundred miles and just keep a look at levels regularly. The brake booster has a leak I believe but its minimal and that will get tightened soon when I get a chance.

I will add a sound clip after the new exhaust is on.
 

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