Progress Thread Miss Molly

miss_molly_mustang

Active Member
May 22, 2017
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Jack, AL
Many have been asking, so here it is. I will try and add as much back story that I have on my phone - might take a little bit.

Your eyes may hurt after this because she is not the prettiest thing to look at, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?

VZM.IMG_20160925_175534.jpg So this was the very first day I got her, Sept. 28, 2016. $1100 and a trip to the courthouse and she was mine.

Side note: I did not inspect the car like I should have when I bought it. If I did, I would have noticed that the passenger window did not work, the brakes on the rear were nonexistent, and the seal from the gas nozzle to the tank was substituted for putty that had dry rotted. The rims were 16" all the way around, except for 1. MANY blown lights were replaced. The headlights shown here are smoked. I eventually changed them out because when I'm not in Montgomery, I live way out in the boonies. So bright lights to see deer are crucial.
 
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This was among the first of many (and still somewhat ongoing) repairs. Changed the power-steering pump and pulley after a cracked pulley led to a shredded serpentine belt.
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This next one is of the battery terminals. One of them had completely corroded in half and I have no idea how it was still "connected"

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The first day I had Molly I changed the battery terminals, windshield wipers, and added fluid -only to realize my sprayers were not connected about 3 months down the road.

Also this is what my windshield looked like. I was pulled over 3 times in one night because of it. I told one officer "sir, when I get $250 to replace it I will, unless you want to?" Still have no idea how I didn't get a ticket.

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Before...

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After!
For Christmas my mom bought me a vinyl sticker to put on my windshield that said "Miss Molly", but I'm getting ahead of myself.
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Great back story on Miss Molly. Always awesome to hear/read about people taking a project car and diving right in- down the road you will appreciate her so much more :)

Looking at some of your pics-you may want to put a coolant flush on your to do list-looking a bit rusty (at least in the pics.)
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Great back story on Miss Molly. Always awesome to hear/read about people taking a project car and diving right in- down the road you will appreciate her so much more :)

Looking at some of your pics-you may want to put a coolant flush on your to do list-looking a bit rusty (at least in the pics.)
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I actually just changed my radiator and hoses out about 2-ish weeks ago and flushed everything out to be safe. I'm just back-tracking on all the work that I've done already. But I appreciate the tip
 
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Okay, and so now if for the fix that was a pain in my ass and cost me probably way more than it should have (around $600). When I got the car, I noticed that the check engine light and the brake light were both on. I decide to look in the brake fluid reservoir only to discover it's dry as a bone. I thought *okay, I can just put fluid in there, problem solved* - famous last words. I filled it container then went to pump my brakes to get the fluid down there. Well....

I hear this dripping noise.

The caliper on the rear passenger side WASN'T EVEN ATTACHED TO THE ROTOR. It had been tied to the side with a SHOELACE.

So I finally get up the money to buy the new caliper and line, and put new brake pads on all the way around. I had gotten a family friend of ours to help, because putting brakes on is a two person job.

About two weeks or so after I had put on the new back brakes with the caliper and line I had noticed a LOT of brake dust - I am not one to eat up brakes. I decided to take it to my local mechanic shop and see what's going on, to see if something had gone wrong or if it was an error on my part.

My friend that works there, we will call him Bob. Bob says "Elizabeth, come into the shop with me for a second. I need you to look at something." So we get out there and the tires are off. He says, "Tell me what you see wrong here" and I say "well that rotor is shot completely." Bob says "Sweetie, you don't even have any brake pads"

The caliper I bought had malfunctioned. RIP my wallet...

But, the problem was finally fixed. this is just a picture of the malfunctioned caliper I had purchased.
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Also, I have a Snapchat where I post lot of my car videos. Next post: the hunt for a 16" rim to match around the car
 
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I think a lot of us have done this starting out(buy a fixer upper) and learned a lot about cars. Frustrating and expensive when all said and done but invaluable experience that will help down the line if you continue wrenching on your own car. Good Luck with it!
 
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I apologize for ghosting for a while. I've been trying to stay on track with my college classes this summer (halp pls) but I've been meaning to post some more of her back story.

So Molly was my first car. And by first car, I mean one that I purchased with my own money and the title is in my name. That being said, I was not a smart person when I bought her because if I would have paid attention, I would have noticed that one of the wheels did not match the others. Well, I did notice it, I just didn't notice that it was a 17" rim instead of the 16" that were around the rest of the car. I don't have a picture handy right away but instead I will post pictures of the air filter that I changed out.

I had absolutely no idea what the previous owner had done with the car, as far as servicing it with oil changes, changing the spark plugs and wires, etc. So I just did everything from scratch. Be prepared, it isn't pretty what you're about to see...

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That day, I also changed over the headlights. Molly had some that were smoked out, and I am not a fan of them. So I did some looking around and was able to score these beauties for stupid cheap. I have the HID kit, I just haven't installed it yet.

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Next up, changing a door! (This one was exciting, so you may want to stick around)
 
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Been there done that, be careful and support it well because that door is way heavier than it looks, getting it adjusted right should be a good experience. Sticking around.
 
So the story behind this door....

When I got Molly, I knew that the passenger window didn't work. I thought it could be a simple fix such as a disconnected wiring harness or fuse - oh, how wrong I was! I took off the door panel to find that the window was not properly aligned on the mounts because... THERE WAS ONLY HALF OF A MOUNT IN THERE. The window motor didn't even click on when the button was pressed. So instead of spending $200+ on getting a new window regulator, lift, and switches, I took a field trip to my local Pull-A-Part and got myself a $50 door.

Door came off a 2000 Mustang:
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On a side note, I quite like the charcoal grey exterior color and have considered swapping Molly over from blue to grey, but I don't think it quite fits her personality.

I knew the door would be heavy, but not heavier than me! When removing it from the donor car, I almost took off my right ring finger tip but it's all about the blood, sweat, and tears right?

I had to wait a few days to change it because the weather wasn't the best. But nonetheless, I got 'er dun.

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This was the original door. I did not know how to remove the wiring harness from the donor door so I wound up cutting the wires. Instead, I just fed the original wiring harness backwards through the boot and connected it properly to the new door.

For all you DIY folks out there, you really have to be on your game for this job. If those door brackets aren't lined up EXACTLY perfect, the door will not close properly. I learned a few new curse words on that day... Also, Mustangs don't roll the way Jeeps do, with the doors off and all.

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But all in all, here is the final product. My brother says it's mismatched but I say it just gives her character!
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Also, the donor door was originally flawless. These scratches came about from me trying to load it into the wheel barrel.

Stay tuned for more on Miss Molly's backstory! Her theme song is "One Piece at a Time" by Johnny Cash.. the only difference is that it's costing me A LOT of dimes!
 
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Hi all,

I apologize for not posting in the past week. Last Tuesday, my shifter cable decided to lock up while I was 70+ miles from home (because why not?). I will, hopefully be replacing it sometime this week, praying that the weather cooperates. I will MOST DEFINITELY post pictures of this because of the way the old shifter was mounted onto the car. I will also post pictures of my most recent "big" fix, changing out my radiator.

Just bear with me please!
 
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"Stay tuned for more on Miss Molly's backstory! Her theme song is "One Piece at a Time" by Johnny Cash.. the only difference is that it's costing me A LOT of dimes!"

Experience never comes cheap......wax on, wax off........
 
Hi all,

I apologize for not posting in the past week. Last Tuesday, my shifter cable decided to lock up while I was 70+ miles from home (because why not?). I will, hopefully be replacing it sometime this week, praying that the weather cooperates. I will MOST DEFINITELY post pictures of this because of the way the old shifter was mounted onto the car. I will also post pictures of my most recent "big" fix, changing out my radiator.

Just bear with me please!
Dont worry my husband an I got our lets just say fixer uper mustang about 2 years ago it had no brake pads left so when i had to slam on brakes i smelled them burning so i replaced the front rotors an lower brake dust pads we also changed out the fan gas pump gas filter lines new goodyear eagle tires new shocks an starter alternator an todal tune up on her she still needs a manifold gasket that im ordering from summit racing on friday if u need part go there the parts are 50 to 75 percent cheaper than buying at your lical auto parts store thats where all of my parts come from im learning so much about cars it is so much fun we are shoping around for a new cobra engine to drop in her im just going to sell the old one when we are ready to swich them out
 
Dont worry my husband an I got our lets just say fixer uper mustang about 2 years ago it had no brake pads left so when i had to slam on brakes i smelled them burning so i replaced the front rotors an lower brake dust pads we also changed out the fan gas pump gas filter lines new goodyear eagle tires new shocks an starter alternator an todal tune up on her she still needs a manifold gasket that im ordering from summit racing on friday if u need part go there the parts are 50 to 75 percent cheaper than buying at your lical auto parts store thats where all of my parts come from im learning so much about cars it is so much fun we are shoping around for a new cobra engine to drop in her im just going to sell the old one when we are ready to swich them out


Right now, I'm considering building a whole new engine. I want to keep the V6 because of the fuel economy, but I'm having a hard time finding just the crate block. I want to build everything myself, like putting on gaskets, pistons, cams, heads, just everything. Do they sell V6 crate engine blocks?
 
Right now, I'm considering building a whole new engine. I want to keep the V6 because of the fuel economy, but I'm having a hard time finding just the crate block. I want to build everything myself, like putting on gaskets, pistons, cams, heads, just everything. Do they sell V6 crate engine blocks?

"crate" implies an assembly. What you are looking for is a bare block. Best place to get them? Junk Yards because even new blocks are going to require machine work.


Edit: Oh... and you can build a healthy V6, make no mistake. Start looking around at Supercharger kits. I am very partial to positive displacement kits for the street. Not sure how many are offered for the V6 but I've had the opportunity to drive a bolt-on V6 with a Stage II ProCharger kit. It scoots.
 
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Great news! I was finally able to replace the shifter cable on Molly, but it required a small blood sacrifice. But of course with Molly, there's a story to her repairs... buckle up boys.

So I get under there and start disassembling the bolts from the broken cable and everything is gravy, until I get to the last one that has this larger bracket to mount it to the car. I kid you not when I say the previous owners before me used *speaker wire* instead of mounting the cable into the bracket. I even have photos:
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(for whatever reason it keeps flipping the photo upside down, so I apologize)

When I saw that I just started laughing. I'm going home this week from college so I'll be able to get some photos of my old radiator to post on here. Thanks for hanging with me and Molly!
 
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