With nothing more than a bench set up it started and ran sooooo much better!
The label for the distributor vacuum line says "dizzy" because I was using the battery from our Honda Chumpcar for testing and its the law you have to use that name. I learned that from Honda boards in 2005.
In reply to logdog (Forum Supporter) :
If you still have the Ranger radiator could you measure it's widest and tallest points?
Never mind. I found the measurements on Rockauto. It's too big. Ignore me and go back to awesomeness.
This thread makes me feel good.
Datsun310Guy said:
I don't think I've ever seen that picture before, but I think I finally see what Lido was thinking back then.
Stampie said:Never mind. I found the measurements on Rockauto. It's too big. Ignore me and go back to awesomeness.
I posted it up in the parts forum for anybody that needs a Ranger radiator for a challenge build.
Part of my wants to see this car kept just as-is for posterity.
Another part of me wants to see a 2.5 Duratec, ITB's, an NC 6 speed and some deep offset Panasports...
logdog (Forum Supporter) said:One of the questions was why the glove box was in the trunk. There didn't appear to be anything broken, so why was it out? I started to put it back in and I think I solved the mystery. The carpet by the heater box was slick with moisture. Rubbing my hand along the bottom of the HVAC I felt the unmistakable feeling of coolant. That also might answer the question about why the radiator appears empty (I assumed there was a leaking hose somewhere as much of the rubber is fairly old). A leaking heater core isn't a huge surprise. I may loop the lines under the hood for a temporary fix because I want to focus on making sure its driveable before I yank the dash. One more thing on the to-do list!
I did loop the heater hose lines under the hood to bypass the core. This weekend I zip tied up the speaker wires, wrapped some tape around the bare power wire off the radio and reinstalled the glove box. Luckily the days of cardboard glovebox liners are long gone.
mblommel said:Part of my wants to see this car kept just as-is for posterity.
Another part of me wants to see a 2.5 Duratec, ITB's, an NC 6 speed and some deep offset Panasports...
Im with you. I could see this being a fun car to modify, but its just soooo cool BECAUSE its original.
Over the last few week nights I have been fixing some small stuff like the wonky headlight switch that was causing intermittent dash lights, replaced a couple bulbs that were out, and sprayed a half gallon of Fluid Film on the bottom to try and keep Pennsylvania from doing Pennsylvania things to it. The plan is to take it out for the first test drive this weekend.
I've been running it for 30-60 minute intervals to see if anything that is weak from sitting so long wants to fail while its in the garage, instead of along the road. I know I said I was going to leave it as close to stock as possible for the time being, but when the coil crapped out I used a fancy red MSD one that was on my shelf left over from a CJ7 I parted out a couple years ago. It was already fast because its a Mustang, but with the new coil I have real concerns I will be able to control it when leaving parking lots.
Maiden voyage last night! 73 miles of "I think I can" while climbing mountains. I had Mrs Logdog running a chase truck behind me in case we had issues but nothing happened.
logdog (Forum Supporter) said:Over the last few week nights I have been fixing some small stuff like the wonky headlight switch that was causing intermittent dash lights, replaced a couple bulbs that were out, and sprayed a half gallon of Fluid Film on the bottom to try and keep Pennsylvania from doing Pennsylvania things to it. The plan is to take it out for the first test drive this weekend.
I've been running it for 30-60 minute intervals to see if anything that is weak from sitting so long wants to fail while its in the garage, instead of along the road. I know I said I was going to leave it as close to stock as possible for the time being, but when the coil crapped out I used a fancy red MSD one that was on my shelf left over from a CJ7 I parted out a couple years ago. It was already fast because its a Mustang, but with the new coil I have real concerns I will be able to control it when leaving parking lots.
Agggggk. It not oem! The world might end!
Very nice to see that time machine on a good road trip. Cool car. Congrats on the trouble free drive.
logdog (Forum Supporter) said:
I never realized how much time I spent riding in Fords in the 70's until I saw this picture.
03Panther said:logdog (Forum Supporter) said:Over the last few week nights I have been fixing some small stuff like the wonky headlight switch that was causing intermittent dash lights, replaced a couple bulbs that were out, and sprayed a half gallon of Fluid Film on the bottom to try and keep Pennsylvania from doing Pennsylvania things to it. The plan is to take it out for the first test drive this weekend.
I've been running it for 30-60 minute intervals to see if anything that is weak from sitting so long wants to fail while its in the garage, instead of along the road. I know I said I was going to leave it as close to stock as possible for the time being, but when the coil crapped out I used a fancy red MSD one that was on my shelf left over from a CJ7 I parted out a couple years ago. It was already fast because its a Mustang, but with the new coil I have real concerns I will be able to control it when leaving parking lots.
Agggggk. It not oem! The world might end!
Im going to have to paint it black before I enter the Concours d'Lemons!
Woody (Forum Supportum) said:logdog (Forum Supporter) said:
I never realized how much time I spent riding in Fords in the 70's until I saw this picture.
You should smell it. That will really bring the memories back, it did for me.
Yesterday the 'stang saw another 76 miles of road testing (still with Mrs Logdog driving the chase truck).
It isn't the slowest vehicle I have ever owned but its Top 5 (bottom 5?) for sure. I am calling it "good enough" in the mechanical department for now. The last big project is to pull the seats deep clean the interior. This thing has more funk than Bootsy Collins.
I stopped and played with the timing a couple times but the 20 degrees from the emissions sticker seemed to work best.
As a reward it got a tank of the good stuff
A few thoughts after racking up 150 miles of seat time-
It rides like a bigger car than it is on the highway. It has a bit of that 70s Land Yacht feeling even though it isn't one. Yet it handles better than I thought it would for having a 45 year old suspension and 13 inch tires.
I think it would beat the 82 Econoline in a drag race, but mainly because it takes so long to shift the van.
I get lots of thumbs up.
The manual brakes are pretty decent. It runs out of tire before brakes in a panic stop.
If I fall in love and keep it, I will likely dump way too much money into it and ruin the timecapsule part of it
Pulled the interior last night to start a deep clean.
Found a 9/16 ratcheting wrench and a 3/8 wrench under the passenger seat.
Vacuumed up a few nests after pulling the carpet
The carpet got the pressure wash treatment. It was in the 30s and flurring snow so it was perfect weather for the task! Still have lots more cleaning to do inside and the carpet is on a body stand with a few box fans around it to dry out.
After pulling up the carpet I found the original build sheet under the drivers side.
In reply to logdog (Forum Supporter) :
That's a pretty lucky find. I've had 3 MII's and only found one build sheet...and it was in such bad shape that it disintegrated as soon as I touched it. I think the heat destroys them in the South and West.
Great going on the cleanup and drive.
In reply to 78CobraII :
I was surprised it was still in such good shape since it had been living under the drivers feet all these years.
Anybody have any guesses on this mystery harness? Taped up like an uninstalled factory option. Has 0.5 volts at ignition on, but I haven't found anything that changes it yet.
My current guess is maybe higher trim levels have a parking brake indicator light?
logdog (Forum Supporter) said:
That looks like a crime scene!
But I've had pretty good luck pressure washing carpets. They take a long time to dry though.
That bundle of wires may be for a seatbelt interlock that's been disabled. Fords and Volkswagens had those for a couple of years back then. The car wouldn't start unless the driver's seatbelt was buckled.
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