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Just like the title states I'm in need of some knowledge in how to "wake" a Mustang that has been off the road for 25 plus years. I'm not really sure of the back round of the car. It came to my possession after I did some CAD work for a client and he couldn't pay me. I was told that two owners ago the car was running until the owner at that time put a new battery in and installed it backwards. I'm a novice at best and need some help trying to determine what I should look for to see if anything was burned up. I also need a little help/education in trying to determine if parts are good or not. I found receipts in the car so I know a little, like a new solenoid was installed. I was told by a mechanically inclined friend at work to remove the spark plugs and spray the cylinder walls down with WD40 or tranny fluid and then use a breaker bar to ensure the engine would turn freely. He also told me to remove the starter from the car and connect jumper cables to a battery to "test" the starter to see if it will turn over and engage. I don't know if I'm getting my leg pulled or not on this. Can anyone offer any advice as to where I should start and what to look for? Today I took advantage of the beautiful sunny 47 degree weather to get the car out of storage and home into the garage. The car has no battery so I'll pick up a new battery after Christmas.Any help, suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.
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Welcome to the best Mustang site on the planet!
The breaker bar thing is a good start. If you can turn it about 45 deg, you are ok, but try for a full 360 just to be sure. After the battery reversal, I don't know what that might do to the electronics. I will leave that to the more experienced here. But some things you must do before you try to start.
Change the oil & filter - both crank case and trans.
Change the coolant.
Empty the gas tank and blow out the gas line to the carb. You may have to clean the float bowl too,
New fuel filter.
Before you drive it:
New fan belt(s)
new hoses - heater too.
New tires - 25 year old ones are quite dangerous.
It is always good to do a tune up too - points,condenser, plugs and wires.
Once running you should rebuild the carb as that can gunk up with dried gas additives.
It all comes out as a bunch of money, but that is the price you pay to get a stored car back running.
As you go, keep asking questions. We are big on answers(:-)
Last edited by lowercasesteve (12/23/2019 5:48 PM)
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The list gets long when dealing with a car that has been stored that long.
1. If the battery was installed backwards there may be a fusible link that was blown along the way. I would inspect all wires for evidence of melting. The first time that you connect the battery, temporarily swipe the negative battery cable across the negative battery post after you have connected the positive side. Any significant sparks mean that you have more work to do.
2. If the fuel has turned to muck or any variety of unknown chemicals there is an excellent chance that your fuel tank, possibly fuel lines (you may be able to clean them), the fuel pump, and the carb need to be replaced or cleaned/rebuilt. Starting a car with bad/spoiled fuel can damage the cylinders and rings in some cases so it is not worth the risk. Plus, if the lines are clogged or if the pump is bad, you'll have a hard time starting it or keeping it running.
3. The ignition wires should be replaced as time alone will break them down. The rotor, cap, and points should also be replaced. The contact surfaces on the points will often corrode (not necessarily visible) and not make contact. Safer to replace. You may be able to re-use the plugs if they look clean enough but they are pretty cheap and may help get it started.
4. The belts will have broken down and should be replaced prior to starting.
5. Anti-freeze that has been sitting that long can gel up or turn to a crusty mess. Inspect down the radiator cap and you may want to pull the hoses and clean try to flush. Worst case is that you'll have to replace the radiator, pump, and cap. You could probably skip the cooling system prior to a test start but you wouldn't want to run it for more than half a minute.
5. I'd throw in some new oil and a filter prior to a first start. If possible, pull the distributor and prime the oiling system before a first start attempt to make sure that there is oil throughout the engine. Rotate the crank bit by bit while priming to get oil through all passages.
I tend to err on the retentive side when approaching a project like this but it is easier and often cheaper to follow a conservative approach rather than repairing something that is damaged from bad fuel, lack of oil, etc.
Good luck
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Brakes are always shot on a car sitting that long also.
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Thanks guys, I appreciate all the help I can get!. I did a little more work on the car this evening after reading your replies. I checked the fluids and the oil smells like gas, so that'll need to be changed. I checked the radiator fluid and there was none. Not sure if the radiator is bad, or if maybe the block is cracked, maybe a hose let go? I'll have to get under it to see if all the freeze plugs are intact. The water had to go somewhere. The carb appears to be the original two barrel. The gas tank doesn't look to have a drain, if it doesn't how do you drain it? I plan on pulling out the spark plugs as my friend advised, but is putting tranny fluid in the cylinders a good idea? Or should I use something like Deep Creep? How can I tell if the coil, solenoid and voltage regulator are any good?
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Where are you located?
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I live in Slinger Wi.
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First, change all the fluids. Listen to GPatrick about priming the engine oiling system. Anything soft (hoses, plug wires, etc.) are sure to be shot, or will fail shortly after you get the car running. After that much time I'd just toss the fuel tank and put in a new one. The carb may or may not be salvageable. If the last fuel it had in it didn't contain ethanol you can probably clean it thoroughly and rebuild it to at least get the car running. If it sat with ethanol fuel in it you're probably looking at using it as a paperweight from here on out. All had lines are at best suspect (brakes and fuel). Tires and shocks are junk. Grease everything that's greaseable. I'd remove the boots and really force all, the old grease out as its bound to have separated and gone hard after that much time. It won't lubricate and after some use the parts will quickly wear out. Suspension bushings are likely roached from dry rot too. Wheel cylinders, calipers, and the brake master cylinder are probably shot as well as are all the soft lines. If the linings or pads are good you can probably just scuff them and see if the rotors and/or drums can be cleaned up on a brake lathe (turned). They usually have a lot of rust on them after that much time. Might just need new ones. Clean and repack all bearings too.
The water in the radiator may simply have evaporated. This is common with cars that have sat for this long. When you drain the oil you'll know if the coolant ended up in the oil, because water will come out of the pan first, followed by milkshake (oil's lighter than water so the water settles to the bottom). Freeze plugs are a misnomer. Those plugs are core plugs. They are there to fill the holes the factory used to shake the casting sand out of the block after it was cast. If they are intact the block can still be cracked. I've had this unfortunate experience. I'd get it running and see if you have further issues.
Coil can be tested with a multimeter. Here's a decent write up with pics:
You can test the solenoid by applying 12V to the ign. terminal, grounding the mounting bracket, and seeing if you have continuity between the big lugs. If yes, then its good, so long as there isn't continuity there without 12V applied to the ign terminal.
On the regulator, let's get it running first. If it doesn't charge you can look at the alternator and regulator, or investigate the merits of simply going to a modern, larger internally regulated alternator.
If you intend to use the car GPatrick and I are on the same page. Pressing a car back into service that has sat for this long is best done by going what some may call a bit overboard. Sitting is a car's worst enemy. Stuff that seems fine starts to quickly fail once it starts being used regularly again. IMO I'd rather the car be reliable than get frustrated with a car that constantly breaks down. If not an emergency kit is best carried, along with clean underwear. First you say it, then you do it when the brakes fail...
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New fuel tank is a good investment. Mostly because all that rusty crud that has formed in there gets into the fuel system and plugs up filters, pump and small carb passages, causing endless problems with carburetion. This usually results in carburetor replacement, only to have the problem immediately recur.
So, spend $150 on new tank and filters to be sure it is good to run. Then you can chase all the other gremlins knowing you have at least put one of them out of the picture.
Best of luck with the project. We are always here to help.
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Dys1688, I have a ‘70 (22 gallon) tank I pulled out of my ‘65 to convert to efi. The tank and pickup/sending unit were in use for only 8 years (new in 2009) up until I started my conversion. Each winter, ran last couple of tanks with non-ethanol prior to winter storage and filled completely for 9 months of winter🤪. I live in the U.P. just a few miles from Michigan Tech. Just sitting on a shelf if you’re interested. We could meet part way too.$75. Otherwise I’ll have to buy a car to put in. 😂
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Just went through the tank thing with my 65. I was thinking on replacing everything since it has sat for long time and then remembered my little endoscope camera behind all the other stuff on my work bench. Fired that thing up and was amazed how good the inside of the tank looked. I bought that camera for $30 on Amazon. Won't need to replace tank. My tank has been empty for a couple of years with the openings free to breath. No odor of gas left. If your endoscope camera is fiber optic like a lot of them are you could use it with gas in the tank with a ground on tank and camera.
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