Needing advice

Daves_foxbody89 · Jan 16, 2021

So to start out thank all of you for any advice or response you can give !!
I have a 1989 mustang gt i have had it sitting for approximately 1 year now due to financial difficulties
but on the bright side im almost ready to fire her back this year when weather gets nice i need to know what i should do to make sure everything is okay to fire since it had been sitting awhile now.
Car ran fine besides the starter unbolting itself and heat soaking at starter before i stopped driving it
Thanks again for any input your willing to give!!!

Mustang5L5 · Jan 16, 2021

1 year really isn’t a whole lot of time. The gas might even be ok. I’d siphon it off though and add fresh gas, and change the oil and fire it up.

Cheapskate207 · Jan 16, 2021

Did you put any type of fuel stabilizer in it? How much fuel is in it now?

Daves_foxbody89 · Jan 16, 2021

Cheapskate207 said:
Did you put any type of fuel stabilizer in it? How much fuel is in it now?

No i have not put any fuel stabilizers in it and when i quit driving it, it maybe had 2 to 3 gallons of gas in it so i would imagine that has evaporated in a years time with the high heat in Oklahoma

HemiRick · Jan 16, 2021

1 year is not enough time for the gas to be an issue.

Daves_foxbody89 · Jan 16, 2021

So everything should be okay to fire it up
Just so we all know the engine is not stock it has a 347 stroker is what i was told has heads,cam etc nothing was left stock so just making sure i cross my t's and dot my i's before firing her up and possibly ruining something that could have been prevented

Cheapskate207 · Jan 16, 2021

You’d probably be all set to fire it up and limp it to the gas station. I wouldn’t beat on it though. Ive been guilty of doing this in the past and it worked out fine. That being said, the correct thing to do would syphon the old gas out, especially since you have so little in the tank.

Daves_foxbody89 · Jan 16, 2021

Cheapskate207 said:
You’d probably be all set to fire it up and limp it to the gas station. I wouldn’t beat on it though. Ive been guilty of doing this in the past and it worked out fine. That being said, the correct thing to do would syphon the old gas out, especially since you have so little in the tank.

Ok that sounds like nothing should go wrong with putting new fuel in changing oil and letting her rip

nickyb · Jan 16, 2021

The only thing i would add is remove coil wire and crank a few times to bring oil up to topend.

Daves_foxbody89 · Jan 16, 2021

nickyb said:
The only thing i would add is remove coil wire and crank a few times to bring oil up to topend.

Could you elaborate a little more i do not quite understand what you mean

nickyb · Jan 16, 2021

Remove wire from coil,the one that goes to dist. Crank the engine over( it won't fire up with wire off)a few times.This will pump up oil so when you reconnect wire and start her up she'll be pre-lubed. Pre-lube before you hammer her!

90sickfox · Jan 16, 2021

That whole starter unbolting itself concerns me....and the starter heat soaking.

Like you already know, change the oil, get fresh fuel, prime the engine. With this being a 347 if it's fuel injected you may want to hold the gas peddle to the floor when you are priming the engine with the coil wire off. Pressing the peddle to the floor will put the car in fuel clear mode and keep the fuel injectors from firing. This will help keep you from fouling the spark plugs. Without pressing the peddle to the floor the injectors will be spraying fuel into the cylinders. Cranking it a second or 2 it won't matter. Cranking it longer than that or more than a couple times could be an issue.

I'm tired and rambling a bit. Fuel pressure should put oil in the lifters after about 2 seconds. Longer than that isn't really needed in your case.

Daves_foxbody89 · Jan 16, 2021

90sickfox said:
That whole starter unbolting itself concerns me....and the starter heat soaking.

Like you already know, change the oil, get fresh fuel, prime the engine. With this being a 347 if it's fuel injected you may want to hold the gas peddle to the floor when you are priming the engine with the coil wire off. Pressing the peddle to the floor will put the car in fuel clear mode and keep the fuel injectors from firing. This will help keep you from fouling the spark plugs. Without pressing the peddle to the floor the injectors will be spraying fuel into the cylinders. Cranking it a second or 2 it won't matter. Cranking it longer than that or more than a couple times could be an issue.

I'm tired and rambling a bit. Fuel pressure should put oil in the lifters after about 2 seconds. Longer than that isn't really needed in your case.

Mine is carbureted not fuel injection does this change things?

Daves_foxbody89 · Jan 16, 2021

nickyb said:
Remove wire from coil,the one that goes to dist. Crank the engine over( it won't fire up with wire off)a few times.This will pump up oil so when you reconnect wire and start her up she'll be pre-lubed. Pre-lube before you hammer her!

So not the plug wires the other wire?

90sickfox · Jan 16, 2021

Daves_foxbody89 said:
Mine is carbureted not fuel injection does this change things?

Yes...don't hold the peddle when priming with the coil wire off the distributor.

Daves_foxbody89 · Jan 16, 2021

90sickfox said:
That whole starter unbolting itself concerns me....and the starter heat soaking.

Like you already know, change the oil, get fresh fuel, prime the engine. With this being a 347 if it's fuel injected you may want to hold the gas peddle to the floor when you are priming the engine with the coil wire off. Pressing the peddle to the floor will put the car in fuel clear mode and keep the fuel injectors from firing. This will help keep you from fouling the spark plugs. Without pressing the peddle to the floor the injectors will be spraying fuel into the cylinders. Cranking it a second or 2 it won't matter. Cranking it longer than that or more than a couple times could be an issue.

I'm tired and rambling a bit. Fuel pressure should put oil in the lifters after about 2 seconds. Longer than that isn't really needed in your case.

I had someone do some work on the starter and flywheel when i first purchased the car and after that every 8 to 10 times after starting the starter would literally jus be dangling there with only the bottom bolt still snug so i fixed that with a lock nut but the heat soak problem is still got me kinda wondering because will fire right up cold but after being drove needs to sit around 30 mins to a hr to fire back up so ive heat wrapped the long tubes and put a heat shield around the starter so i will find out if that fixes that issue

90sickfox · Jan 16, 2021

Daves_foxbody89 said:
I had someone do some work on the starter and flywheel when i first purchased the car and after that every 8 to 10 times after starting the starter would literally jus be dangling there with only the bottom bolt still snug so i fixed that with a lock nut but the heat soak problem is still got me kinda wondering because will fire right up cold but after being drove needs to sit around 30 mins to a hr to fire back up so ive heat wrapped the long tubes and put a heat shield around the starter so i will find out if that fixes that issue

I've seen similar issues with timing and engine ground issues. If its just clicking it could be the starter or starter solenoid. If it's a slow crank it could be timing or a bad ground connection. You could run one of those ground cables ( parts store pre-made with bolt hole at each end ) from the starter bolt to the k member or the body of the car ( I used a sway bar mount bolt ). Can never have too many grounds.

I've seen the timing off just enough for the car to start cold but would not start once the engine warmed up. Make sure you have the right distributor. It should either be an HEI style with square box on top with coil inside it...or a regular type with a vacuum hose running to a round thing on the side. The one with the module ( rectangle thing...gray or black ) on the side is for EFI only not carburetors.

Daves_foxbody89 · Jan 16, 2021

This is what it is im new to this whole thing so please forgive me for so many questions amd i think you may definitely be right about the ground wire thing because when i was looking the other day it literally looked like the ground wire was about to break it was so old

General karthief · Jan 16, 2021

That is a HEI style distributor, that's good, swap in some new positive and negative battery cables from battery all the way to the starter.

Daves_foxbody89 · Jan 16, 2021

General karthief said:
That is a HEI style distributor, that's good, swap in some new positive and negative battery cables from battery all the way to the starter.

I definitely will do that

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