Buying a stang, is 160k too many miles? And help with a cut wire.

[StreetDreamsGT]

Ok so i'm looking at two mustangs, one looks mint...stock engine, all original body, interior, paint, exhaust, sub frame connectors, new trans....I'm concerned most of all with the engine mileage because everything else seems good. Carfax showed a clean history.

The second car i'm looking at is an 89 gt with 99K miles, the only big problem is when a mechanic was working on it he cut a power wire disabling power to the dash lights, map lights, etc. Other than that supposedly the headlights, taillights, etc all work....how many wires could it possibly be for the interior lighting problem? Assuming everything he said is true....

 

[stykthyn]

depends where the wire was cut

 

[lang williams]

if a 5.0 had regular oil changes an was never over heated 160K shouldn't be an issue. Have the seller go through all the lights while you watch an make sure the headlights/turn signals/brake lights all work.

 

[Blandnuts]

I just bought one with 288,000 miles. Check over the car real well and you should be fine. I'd be a little hesitant when it comes to wire hack jobs. It's no fun chasing down someone elses mistakes. Like, why would he cut the power wire?

Anyways, post up some pics.

 

[StreetDreamsGT]

I just bought one with 288,000 miles. Check over the car real well and you should be fine. I'd be a little hesitant when it comes to wire hack jobs. It's no fun chasing down someone elses mistakes. Like, why would he cut the power wire?

Anyways, post up some pics.

I thought the exact same thing, however, I took a mustang cobra engine and dropped it into a mazda r-x7.....so wiring isn't too scary for me. From what I know about the engine harness and all there's major power wires to things, and if the only thing that doesn't work is the lights in the dash, the visor lights, and dome light then it shouldn't be too hard to track it down. He had said something about how the battery kept dying so they tried cutting the visor lights so it wouldn't drain the battery....so the story still doesn't all add up. I've been looking over mustangs for the past few days though and I go over them with a fine tooth comb, so I'll find out what the situation was with the battery dying and if it's still present.

As far as the other car goes, I intend to do a compression check, I have a ford code reader to pull the codes, and I'm obviously going to drive it to check it out, I know the car needs to be nice n warmed up before I do the compression test.

Are there any other tests you guys can think of that I should run on both these cars? I don't know any tests for the transmission...how can I make sure that checks out?

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Mine has well over 250k on it...the odometer stopped working around 235k (stupid me, the speedo unplugged and i thought it had just died so i lost a lot of mileage). It all just depends on how well it has been maintained and how hard it's been driven. You have to expect that there may not be a lot of life left in it if you start racing it, but engine swaps aren't very hard on these cars so if the rest of the car is in good shape, i wouldn't worry about mileage.

 

[Foxfan88]

yeah i agree milage wouldnt bother me, as long as it has had enough oil and never overheated it should be fine, 5.0 is a pretty tough engine.

even if it does goes south, its not like you cant pickup another engine cheap or even rebuild the one you have. pulling engine out of a fox is super easy.

i myself always like how a high milage stock motor runs, they just seem loose and seem to run real good.

 

[StreetDreamsGT]

Alright guys, just bought her today. Getting an alarm with remote start put in her and i'll have her by Friday. I'll see if I can take some pics and post em up Saturday, thanks for the help.

 

[StreetDreamsGT]

Here she is

 

[StreetDreamsGT]

more..

 

[Duncan McDougal]

Alright guys, just bought her today. Getting an alarm with remote start put in her and i'll have her by Friday. I'll see if I can take some pics and post em up Saturday, thanks for the help.

So how did the compression test go? Remember to do a leak down test also, so you know how healthy your engine really is.

When I bought my vert which had 203k on it I did a compression test and all cylinders checked out in the 160's, but I didn't feel safe modifying it until I did the leakdown testing.

The car looks good by the way. I am a sucker for red cars too. How much you pay for here by the way?

 

[StreetDreamsGT]

$3,100, I've gotta say. I plan on testing everything first chance I get. I had a wedding and final to take care of this past weekend though. I've never had gears in a mustang before but it seems to shift oddly. I end up in 3rd gear by 35 mph (supposedly new aod in it....). I haven't taken it on the highway yet but i'm almost afraid to, I mean i'm not used to my mustang revving so high.

So my first question is, is that normal?

Second, the trans looks like it's a junkyard transmission (has writing on the bellhousing like a junkyard might do. In od it slips when shifting into 3rd gear so I leave it in drive instead. It seems to shift just fine, kinda hard but it makes it through the gears alright. Could the problems i'm having just be because of an improperly adjusted tv cable?

 

[vinny91stang]

my car had 160,000 miles on it with exhaust 3.73s and a short throw shifter and it ran a 14.0 in the 1/4 mile. i dont think 160k is too much at all..just dont be surprised if you need to have your engine built soon

 

[lang williams]

to check what gear you have put the rear on jack stands so both tires are off the ground, put the trans in neutral. have some one turn one tire one complete revolution while you count how many times the drive shaft turns. put a paint mark on it to count. if it turns a little over 4 times you have 4.10s an 4 an a half would be 4.56s. if you have 410s getting to 35 in third gear would be normal. you might want to follow some one an have them go 35, then 45 an note what you show on your speedo an what rpm you're turning.

 

[StreetDreamsGT]

Well I can tell you this much, first to second gear shift comes around 15 mph, before I even really get the rpms up, unless I step on it, then second to third comes around 25/30 mph. I'll have to check the rear gears when I get a chance. Thanks lang, does anyone have a video of them driving their car with gears?