Anyone else had this many problems with there stang?

stephen4785

New Member
Dec 14, 2003
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Fort Worth Texas
Need to vent some frustartion so Ill just type it all out.My best friends roommate had this 65 Mustang coupe he told me he would sell me for 2000$.The only catch was the car was in storage for 2 years and about200miles away, and the motor had been rebuilt but was siting next to the car.I had seen the car before and theres no body damage,good interior.All it really need was the motor put in it and a paint job.I tow the car back to my house and start the long drawn out process of putting the motor back in.I couldnt find any of the right bolts to use so I had to get all new ones(glad I work in a shop).I had to replace the fuel tank,all gas/vacum/water hoses.Starter had a big dent in it from something and it proved to be bad,had to get a new fuel pump because it leaked,removed all the old "do-it-yourselfer" wiring that somebody botched,re-wireded the taillights,replcaed all lights in the car,replaced passenger side door hinge and window regultaor,fixed pass. 1/4 panel window(POS plastic bearings were broke,dashlights didnt work,re-wire'ed horns,PCV gromet was old and cracked.Then I finally got to start it up.But I didnt have the keys so I had to hot wire it.got it running and got the keys(2 weeks later) and could nevber get the car to stop smoking.Finaly got to drive it and it kept cutting out.Found out the vacum modulatorhad a leak and tranny fluid was getting in the intake.Replaced it, took it back on the road and TaDa it still smokes like a frieght train.Get it inspected and taged then check the compression to see if thats the problem.I get 45psi on a cylinder then 56 on another.So I pull the motor back out and founf that someone tried to hone the block by hand to .060 .So I end up with a new block from the machine shop after already finding another and finding out it a piece of crap.Get the block and had to replace the crank,bearings,pistons & wrist pins,timing chain,camshaft and lifters. End up with all new everything for the motor except for the heads and valve components.Yeeeaaaahh.But wait I start to put it together yesterday and find out I left some parts at my buddys house.Hes out of town and the power to his house had been knocked out by a storm.Get inside and have to dig under a 3 foot pile of clothes someone put ontop of my parts.get home start assembly and it starts raining.Get back out there after it starts and when I got to put on the brand new water pump on fo the bolt holes in the timing chain cover crack and a big piece of metal chips off. So now I need a new timing chain cover.There was alot more details to make it worse but then this story would be 4 pages long.
 
Hey, this sounds like just about every old car story with a few facts changed....HAHAHAHA. Welcome to classic cars, the fun never stops and the wallet never closes.

A good rule of thumb to follow when buying a classic car is that you are ALMOST always going to need a new engine unless you buy a pristine car or know the owner personally. Everyone's concept of "rebuilt" is different and since most people are not as particular as me I consider every engine in need of a rebuild by ME unless there is a lot of evidence to make me believe otherwise.
 
:lol:
Ronstang said:
Hey, this sounds like just about every old <A TITLE="Click for more information about car" STYLE="text-decoration: none; border-bottom: medium solid green;" HREF="http://search.targetwords.com/u.search?x=5977|1||||cars|AA1VDw">car</A> story with a few facts changed....HAHAHAHA. Welcome to classic cars, the fun never stops and the wallet never closes.

A good rule of thumb to follow when buying a classic car is that you are ALMOST always going to need a new engine unless you buy a pristine car or know the owner personally. Everyone's concept of "rebuilt" is different and since most people are not as particular as me I consider every engine in need of a rebuild by ME unless there is a lot of evidence to make me believe otherwise.

:lol: that is so true

I cant believe how many times my car has left me stranded. When I first got my car the during the first 1 1/2 years of driving it nearly half of the times I took my mustang out it would come back home on a flat bed. I have finally worked out most of its demons to the point were it dosent scare me to drive it around with fear of it dying on me, but is still has a ways to go.
 
tach said:
all i heard is you got a 65 for 200 bucks you should be happy. i did the pretty much same thing except for the block being ****e everything else was though :nonono:
I think he said $2000. I still think it was a decent deal.

Sounds like a lot of work. I'm thinking you're going to be feeling REALLY good when you're done.

Good luck.
 
sounds like fun! The only problem I EVER had with either of my classic Stangs was when the fuel pump went out on the road, and I had to tow it home. other than that they've been completely problem free. (knock on wood).

Edit: Actually, the other problem I had, which occurred with both of my 67's, was that the carb sometimes leaked a good amount of gasoline on the intake manifold. Easy fix, though.

Good luck. It will be worth it in the end.
 
par for the course with old cars that have been sitting around for years. All this stuff needs replacing eventually anyway, you are just doing it all at once. At least when you get it on the road, you will know that everything under the hood will be relaible.
 
My story is the opposite. When I got the car, the engine had been rebuilt a couple of years previously by a local race shop. Even had the receipt to prove it. Instead, it was EVERYTHING ELSE that was wrong with the car!!!
 
I thought I had a "trouble-free" '65 as I needed a daily driver and this was my ONLY form of transportation - wife needs the mini-van. I paid $5000 which was a lot for me and I thought about another $1000 would take care of misc items that I would need for the summer. Well - I have driven it to work everyday since I have owned it (40 minutes each way), replaced the head gasket among a ton of other small stuff, and have a ton of other things I want to change (mostly cosmetic - semi rod stuff).... so I will probably stick to budget for this year... SHOULD I HAVE DONE IT?? I haven't stopped smiling since the day I drove it home and wonder why I didn't do this 10 years earlier. Now to find another one....
 
Can't top that but here's some fun anyway:

I got my '67 coupe in high school and drove it daily. One weekend in the mountains the oil pressure ceased to exist and I had to hike back many more miles than I could now possibly hope to walk. Turns out it's garbage in the pan, something lodged in the pump and turned the shaft into modern art.

Anyway - fixed it, but repeated the performance twice before I figured out (quite by accident ) where the garbage was from. I was replacing my heads with '88 5.0 versions (to stop the smoking from bad valve guides and receding exhaust valves), discovered the original timing set was flingin bits of nylon gear everywhere.

Oh, the heater coil blew up on my second date with the girl that turned out to be my wife...we had to drive 1/2 hour home with foggy windows and the sickly sweet smell most of you probably know. Ruined her purse, I think.

HS chum opened the door against it 3 days after I'd had it painted. I blamed the punch on having had too much beer to keep my calm.

Wife (gf at the time) inexplicably reached up to touch the dome light one evening, which crumbled into dust at the effort (she must have married me out of pity).

Oh I guess I could keep going on and on...it's out for it's second paint job now...
 
I'm not trying to rub it in, but you bought a $2000 rolling chassis with an uninstalled engine of questionable origins that had been sitting for years: what did you expect?

Not only is it a 40 year old car, but one that hasn't exactly been babied. There's going to be stuff that goes bad on ya. Hope you can get past this initial bumpy part and enjoy it soon though. :nice:

On a side note: What part of Fort Worth do you live/work in? That's where I am. :)