Trevor Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Short History: The poor old girl has been neglected too long. When my oldest was born and we started buying 4-door SUVs I "temporarily" put the 1966 Mustang (daily driver) in the garage for semi-retirement. That was over 16 years ago! I had probably started it once a year for the first 5 years, so safe to say it has not run in 10-11 years. Ran it for about 1 hour yesterday. status of car: idles like a purring kitten, coolant temperature low and constant, good oil pressure, alternator charging. status of owner: elated. Long History: 1966 Mustang coupe, blue on black. stock 289 4bbl , 4 speed, 8in. differential with 3.00:1 open. dual exhaust through Thrush turbo mufflers. 4 wheel drum brakes. P195/70/R14 Firestone radials on 14" x 6" steel wheels. Air Conditioning as a dealer hang-on. No power brakes, No power steering, No tissue dispenser. My daily driver from 1979 to 1992. I had the day off on Monday, and it was a nice day so for whatever reason my boys, aged 16 and 11, decided to wake her up from a long slumber: changed the oil & oil filter put in a charged battery - look for sparks and smoke - none. checked most circuits with DVM, everything but the radio was cool. changed the oil in the transmission - drain plug magnet was clean. checked the oil in the diff. gas tank was empty - I did that 11 years ago. Poured in 2 qts on Isopropyl Alcohol back-flushed fuel line with 1/2 bottle Berryman's B12, folled by 1 qt Isopropyl Alcohol drained the radiator ( was dry ) lots of rust - yuck! pulled all 8 spark plugs, cleaned and checked gap. squirt of oil inside each cylinder turned the key, spun the engine twice 10 seconds at a time, replaced spark plugs, spun engine 4 more times, 10 seconds at a time, compression! that took 6 hours. time well spent with my sons and "their" car. Yesterday: boys cleaned the interior vinyl and vacuumed the carpet. boys lubed the door hinges, locks and latches. put 1 gallon of gas in the tank, drained it, (strained into a can, will use the GAS/ Alco mix in the lawnmower next weekend) put in 5 gallons of fresh gas replaced the fuel hose from pump to carb. replaced the 2 front freeze plugs in the heads, steel had rusted through and were weeping when I re-filled the cooling system back-flushed the fuel filter with gumout - forgot to buy a new one. that took about 1 hour. pulled the coil wire, turned the key cranking hoping to see oil pressure on the gage, but I guess the gage power is "off" when the switch is in the start position? oldest son report significant sparks around the dis-connected coil wire - woo hoo - we have ignition. replace coil wire, manually pull the accelerator rod and see 2 squirts of gas down the primaries. cross fingers turn the key - started right up!! What is that? a chorus of angels? No - a small block V8 rumble through mini mufflers tweeked the timing by ear ( timing light is packed away, none of the other newer cars can adjust timing, anyway ) exhaust from the tailpipes started out a little black, turned invisible after the engine warmed up. Let it idle, ran up to 2K RPM, idle, 2500 RPM, idle for about 1/2 hour. turned it off and looked for leaks, smoke, smells, etc. Everything appears OK. check each brake cylinder for leaks, everything is fine. One drum has surface rust, wiped away with scotchbrite and brake cleaner. bled the brakes pedal feels firm. Started the engine again, ran at various RPMs for another 1/2 hour. left the radiator cap open to observe nice water flow - no bubbles. whew, I had a block freeze once and was a little worried since we've had some below-10 days in the past 10 winters. exhaust smeels like - exhaust. No rich fuel or antifreeze smells. looked at the tires - tread looks like new, but at least 20 years old, won't risk them at hiway speed, but will go around the block. ready for a drive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skib Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsun723 Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 This story makes me happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rolling Parts Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Wow! Sound's like a nice car and a lot of fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PETEW Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Sounds like a fun car. Now it is time for pics and time for modding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted July 11, 2009 Author Share Posted July 11, 2009 Went for a drive today!! All the lights working, so i decided to run around the block. Brakes felt good, clutch is a little grabby, acceleration is inspiring. OK, so it looks like one of those "My uncle died and left this orphan car..." stories I read all the time on eBay. Rough around the edges, but love is blind. My wonderful wife, Tammy, says I am getting new tires for my birthday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted July 20, 2009 Author Share Posted July 20, 2009 The local church was having a Classic Car Cruise-in (more than one way to get kids to come to church) on Sat afternoon. There were about 15 '67-'73 Camaros, 1 Dodge Challenger, 1 '79 Ford Fairmont, and my '66 Mustang. The dealer-hang-on air conditioning got the most comments. In perparation,I took along a mini air compressor, a tool box, gallon of water, and fire extinguisher. I stopped and filled up with gas and got a car wash on the way. It felt good at 55mph and got warm enough to burn some of the accumulated drippings (oil, cleaners, and biological) off the headers. It must have had a bushel of leaves in the cowl also, because we opened the vents (each side is separate and manual) and the side windows it created a swirling vortex of blowing leaves inside the car - funny! No drama except another freeze plug is dripping on the passenger side of the block. It took 1/2 gal. to re-fill the radiator for the ride home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Too cool. Must've been something like when my dad FINALLY got his Charger up and running about 5 years ago. I don't think it had been driven much in about 20 years - at the very least since 1984 when the house was finished. Keep us posted on your project. What plans do you have for it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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