I picked up this one about 2 weeks ago wanting to get into restoring it, but I've never done it before. I haven't tried starting it because it sat for 10 years in the elements and I've heard that gas turns into varnish if it sits for too long. It has a lot of surface rust, especially in the floor boards and wheel wells. The 200 cid engine looks like it's in pretty good shape and I can turn it by hand. It appears that everything is original and I am trying to decide whether to go original or something else. What I need help with is where do I start and how much will this cost me to be running?

ejbookie

 

you need to replace all the fluids gas oil tranny rear end brakes powersteering if it has it. all the filters gas and oil spark plugs spark plug wires.points cap rotor rebuild or replace the carb over look the wiring make sure theres no broke or bare wires.turn the key on see if any fuses blow if not. take the coil plug wire off and try cranking it over that should bring up the oil pressure. then finaly put the coil wire back on and start it.its a mustang a mass production car its not a one of a kind so do whatever you want to it.good luck hope you get it runing.

 

Good idea .... not to start it . Drain the tank , by the plug or actually drop it and take it out and have it cleaned or do it yourself , lacquer thinner , then look in with a flashlight , if you see rust take it to a radiator shop and have it boiled out , rinse it with alcohol b-4 putting it back in. I sprayed mine with a lite coat of w D 40 to inhibit rust then sealed her up with new sender and gaskets and then blew carb cleaner through the lines an d up to the carb. oh yes , carbs are F-1 ford , H-1 holley , and C-1 carter . I found that only Holley rebuilds all of these now in my area( Cali ) but ya might want to get a new or rebuild yours. Take lotsa pics. You should draain and replace all fluids and pressure test and vacum test and compression test everything . Check the brakes , and the e-brake , check the tranny fluid and replace the tranny filter and all others, fuel , air, oil etc. you may want to drop the pan and replace or clean your pickup tupe.I could go on ... gap the plugs , replace the cap rotor and condensor and wires while you are at it ,. So far depending on what you do and what you have done you would be at about 400.00 to 1,000.00 dollars on parts and labor but she will start more than likely. then its time to tune and time it. Fuel pump may be bad after a long rest. Good luck .... I worked on mine for 2 months b 4 i turned the key and then tried 3 carbs before she would idle , runs fine now , with a C-1 carb and no smog stuff on her. I still gotta put on the choke stove and seal a vacum hole in the throttle body but at least i can drive it. Cant stress enough the importance of starter fluid for at least the initial start up , others may dis agree , but it works for me ... most of all have fun and don't be impatient , anything worth doing is worth doing right , if you don't take the right steps you could blow your motor and then where will you be?

 

dont forget to check the brakes and steering anything dont look right or is broke replace it.and look for leaks once you done replaced all the fluids.

 

Sounds like I have quite a few things I need to check on before I do anything. I was thinking of pulling everything out and sanding down the body, welding in new floor pans and then getting it repainted. I've been looking through some of the catalogs out there and it seams like there are replacement parts for everything. Since this car will be my wife's when I'm done she wants everything to look stock. It's only a 200 so I suppose there isn't much "performance" I can do with this car anyway. I would like do it the right way, so I don't have to do any rework and cost myself too much money.

 

i have a 68 only parts i couldnt find was the heat controls and the kobs on them and the drip rails everything else you can order.mine started out the same way it sat for a long time i striped it and had the bare shell media blasted. fixed the rust paint it and slowy rebuilt a car out of it.you can go many diffferent ways with that car restore it to factory spec or have a nice daily driver with a small block and overdrive tranny.or theres always the restomod type too the 67/68 you can make a nice california special clone.

 

Or an eleanor.[:'(]