Another story of the cobbled together mustang II

[Eos]

So a few days ago...I was hearing a rattly noise coming from my car. I pulled it up in the car port to check it, and an idler pulley flew off. So we went to order the pulley for it from napa. The next day, they said they couldn't find the one we needed so they reordred it.

Well today my dad goes to pick it up, and its a completely different pulley. And they tell us our's didn't belong on there they had no idea what kind of car it came from! Story of my poor cars life. "Not my fault, its the fault of the previous owner" Apparently he didn't care to do things right.

Anyway after alot of work, we finally got the belt on. The belt tensioner didn't go all the way back into place, its like sitting at a 45 degree angle but there is tension on the belt...lol I called and asked my boyf about it, and he said it would be alright.

Anyway just had to vent. Ya never know what you are going to come up with on my car. It could be something as simple as replacing the pulley, and my car always makes a mountain out of a mole hill.

 

[78pinto]

i hear ya, my car has been a PITA for me this year. Sad thing is....its because of the way i put it together last year. Thankfully i kept all my wiring diagrams that i drew for the conversion, i needed them this year.

 

[Eos]

lol that sucks....I plan on doing everything on mine right...one thing at a time. I dont know its wrong, until it breaks lol

 

[westernlady1123]

Same here. Venturing into unknown territory. Learning from my mistakes. Finding parts on my Ghia thats not supposed to be there. Not sure what the previous owner was thinking. Guess he was one of those creative types. lol

 

[Eos]

Same here. Venturing into unknown territory. Learning from my mistakes. Finding parts on my Ghia thats not supposed to be there. Not sure what the previous owner was thinking. Guess he was one of those creative types. lol

lol It is such a pain! I like stuff done right, so it works.

 

[Blue Thunder]

For the first couple of years, I ran into similar problems with my II. Soon afterward, I tore it down to a bare husk and rebuilt the whole car. I wish people would just sell me their cars immediately after they break them, instead of trying to repair them first. Ugh.

 

[cobraii74x]

Hah we all go through the "this previous owner was a $#$%$# idiot!".. i know my engine installation was a hack job.. but i plan on fixing that sooon!

 

[UK76Coupe]

Sympathy from the UK...

I know that feeling!

Im in the process of stripping mine down to the shell, reading for some front end / rear end and floorpan welding to be done (followed by a respray).

So far Ive found a large number of rivets where there should be screws, bodged together electrics, and the remains of an LPG gas coversion that was done. Remarkably little filler so far though, which is a good sign. I darent even think what sort of state the engine may be in...

Still, one more week and it should be ready to start the welding.

 

[T0BASC032]

I wish people would just sell me their cars immediately after they break them, instead of trying to repair them first. Ugh.

The sad bit of irony there is that, if they did this, they couldn't get as much money from you because they hadn't "fixed" it yet!

 

[LedZ 5.0]

Been there too. I picked up a KC about two years ago and thought I did well price wise. Once I really started looking the car over and saw how everything was put together I stripped and parted it. Most good parts were damaged beyond repair. The motor mounts were shimmed with large aluminum washers to make clearance for the non II oil pan against the steering rack. The mount bolts weren't even tight. Needless to say the mounts were also ripped. The steering rack was broken at the mounting bolts and tied on with wire around the rack. They had the steering joint connected with one bolt that was only on by a few threads. Major hack job.

LedZ 5.0

 

[Wart]

lol It is such a pain! I like stuff done right, so it works.

But it did work. Least for a while.


This is a real common situation with a conversion car. Thing is you didn't know where the part came from, that's all. The person who did the conversion probably knows what to ask for at NAPA so he gets the right part.

When you do a conversion you use what works. Like my '77s belts and accessories. The power steering pump bracket. I took a torch after it then added a brace. Works tits. If you didn't know it was from a '77 Versialles how would you reproduce it? I forget where the alternator came from. Forget about the rest of the brackets and spacers. Belts? LMAO I'm funning overdrive pullies. The pullies themselves? Could be from hundreds of cars or trucks, but I think I know which 4 or 5 are most likely to have been the donors.

I'm putting a EFI V6 with an OD auto in the 78. I hope to be able to use the entire engine front, AC compressor, belts, etc.

But what if I can't? I hope I remember where the parts came from.

 

[Eos]

haha trust me, I know the previous owner, he's kind of a friend of mine. He's a shade tree mechanic..big time..lol