i'm doing some work on a 65 289 mustang and i was wondering what general maintenance i should do. i fixed a few things that were not in working condition and now i want to do some maintenance so i can drive the sucker. my dad told me to change the 3 radiator hoses and to flush it out, the thermostat, the belts. i got new plugs and wires for it too and plan on doing that. the brakes were just done before it started setting idle. maybe shocks, i dunno? anyways just a lil info on the car its been garage kept for about 10 years and has been started a couple times a month. so any advice would be gretly appreciated! thanks in andvance

 

If it has been sitting more than a year since the brakes were done I would rebuild the wheel cylinders and replace the master cylinder. Face it, if the car breaks down you can walk to a phone. If it doesn't stop when you need to someone else will be making the call for you.

 

thanks man, braking is important. since its very important i'll probably take it somwehre to be done. i don't trust myself with something can cause someone else to make a call for me. lol []

 

since the car has been sitting, it would be a good idea to replace the fuel filter.

 

added to my list of things to do, thanks geetee

 

also take out the carb and do a rebuild kit since its been sitting there for years also take the carb and mainfold apart to see no bugs n such have crawled in there also check ur wiring you dont want any thing to spark up and blow u up to pieces also what would be great is upgrade ur front brakes to drum to disk, trust me disk is way better trust me u wont regret it.

 

You mentioned the shocks, yup go for it. I replaced mine with a set of KYB selfadjustables and couldnt believe the difference in how the car handeled

Have fun

 

i was thinking of instead of rebuilding the carb to just replace it. are those things difficult to replace?

 

If the carb works, leave it and don't touch. If you have gas shocks, leave them too. If you don't, put some on if you have the money. Fuel filter are cheap so why not. Brakes are nice to have, so new wheel cylinders is ok. The 65 master cylinder you could replace thet if you want. All of this is fine. Me , I would drive it a little bit and change what needs to be changed. I'm cheap. Change the oil every 3m miles. Ok, the truth, Start your stang up and drive it. If everything works, treat it like a sore dick and do f**k with it. A year is not that long. Five years ok, let talk when it sits that long.

 

My guess is if it's been sitting more than moving, the gas is pretty old as are the hoses. Check your fuel lines, particularly the rubber ones. If they feel soft, replace them!! Check them good. Trace the whole fuel system down. The other thing, you "might" want to do, is drain your gas tank and put fresh gas in. At a minimum I'd put some fuel dryer in the tank. You'll save yourself a lot of trouble shooting later if you start with fresh fuel!!