1997 Nightmare GT

This post is going to be a little scattered due to the late hour and the high level of frustration at this point. I recently went shopping for a Mustang, initially looking for a good Fox Body in my price range but everything I came across was too far away to bother with or in generally shoddy condition. That's when I came across my 97' for $2500, all in all it looked like trouble, but it looked like trouble I could handle, a clutch adjustment, some suspension work, some body work and that would be about it...ok history lesson over.

Here's where I am now. After driving her home and having a few hairy moments once I got her up to freeway speeds I replace my brakes, front struts, tires, and got it aligned. My road manners improved greatly but I had a nagging worry so I dropped it off with a mechanic my parents go to only for him to call me and leave a simple message, "Sell it and move on".

My oil cooler has been leaking for who knows how long, my rack and pinion assembly is shot, and the tranny is now difficult to shift. Also the clutch that I thought needed adjustment is currently adjusted all the way (it engages and disengages roughly 1" from the floor). From what I've found out more recently the car has had some major front end damage to go with everything else.

Onto the question. The mechanic doesn't seem to be willing to budge from a simple sell it and move on so I can't get a solid feel for what I need to do here, I'm dead set on fixing it.

Can the oil cooler simply be replaced? Where is it located?

Seeing as my engine has been taking water I'm assuming I'm going to end up replacing freeze plugs and a head gasket, will a flush and the replacements be enough or should I look at a full rebuild/a good used engine?

As to the clutch I was told the clutch was new but after everything else I've found I'm not sure if it really is, if it is new and the clutch is adjusted all the way out what would cause the engaging issues?

I'm assuming the difficulty shifting is going to be resolvable only by having the tranny rebuilt (yes I'm willing to do the engine but I've never cracked open a tranny in my life so I figure I'll let the professionals handle that one).

If I do end up going the replacement route I've heard rumors that I should go with an engine out of a Mark VIII if I can find one.

Again kind of cluttered and I apologize, I tried throwing a little spacing in there to make it more readable and less eye straining.
 
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Initially I was hoping to adjust the clutch, do the suspension work, replace the tires and brakes, and maybe give it a tune up and be ok...now I'm wondering what the hell I've gotten myself into.

One last thing I left out, the day I bought it, it started up pretty much immediately, now I'm having to pump the pedal and give it a few tries before it starts. At this point it wont start period but I just recently found out that the capacitor for the sub amp was wired directly to the battery and drawing current constantly, I've ripped the cap out but now it wont even push start so I'll be jumping it tomorrow or Friday to move to my parent's where I have a garage and the majority of my tools.
 
How to repair the oil cooler

OK, I can help you with the oil cooler. I had a 1996 that constantly had oil around the front crank snout, oil pan area, and steering rack. The leak was traced back to the oil cooler.

I won’t bore everyone with the stupid things I did trying to fix it before I figured out how simple it really is.

Don’t replace the oil cooler, repair it. There are two gaskets prone to leaking. One is a large O-ring, and the other is the Oil filter adapter gasket. Get both from Ford. (Actually the large O-ring is prone to leaking. However, it is silly to replace one without doing the other).

Drain the coolant and disconnect the lower radiator hose. Remove the oil filter. Disconnect the oil pressure sender electrical connector.

There is a large Allen bolt in through the center of the cooler. Remove it. This will allow the heat exchanger to be removed.

This will give enough clearance to remove the oil filter adapter to block bolts. They are 10mm (I believe).

Clean everything up. Replace the large O-ring and adapter gasket. Reinstall everything it the reverse order of removal.

In summary, the oil cooler is very easy to fix. OBTW, are you sure that the coolant leak isn’t from the oil cooler?

Next item, the steering rack is relatively easy to replace on a Mustang. Many posts of ppl doing it. I once replaced the entire rack because was the same price to buy a complete re-manufactured rack instead of servicing the inner tie rod ends. Which of course can help improve steering on a high mileage car.

Advice time. My hobby is buying cars with one foot in the grave and fixing them up. One of the things I have learned is that it is truly amazing how fast the costs of parts add up.

If you motivation is to fix this car up to save $$, then your mechanic is correct. Sell it and move on. You are already past the point of break even with the work done so far. Additional large repairs are only going to make the $$ situation worse.

If you are OK with the realization that the car will cost more than it is worth and you want the challenge of the project, go for it. However, I recommend that you have a daily driver to use in the mean time.

The exception to this is "frame damage" or "salvage title". If either is true, consider carefully before sinking a ton of $$.

However, as with any long journey there are going to be detours along the way. Recommend that you concentrate first on the items that prevent the car from being drivable. Save the go fast stuff (the motor) until a better picture of the car’s true condition emerges. Once you start making MAJOR non-stock modifications to the car, you will reduce the car’s resale value. Don’t start out painting yourself into a corner.

Good luck.
 
If you enjoy working on cars and don't mind spending many many hours and dollars then it sounds like a project. If you just want to fix it to drive then I would sell it and find one in better shape.
Just my 2 cents.
 
To be honest I'd love nothing more than to turn this into one long ongoing project but I just don't have the resources right now and I honestly need to turn it into a daily driver in the next month to month and a half. The more I read and the more I dig into it the more I'm realizing this will be nearly impossible without breaking the bank. My concern with selling it is I can't write an honest ad for this car and actually expect people to come look at it or expect somebody to pay even half of what I have invested into it. I talked the guy down to $1500 and after parts, labor, etc I'd need to get $3000 to break even, that wouldn't happen if I tried to sell it to a blind moron. That and I have an issue with being dishonest about these things and I don't want to dump my problem on some poor unsuspecting kid the way it happened to me.
 
...but I just don't have the resources right now and I honestly need to turn it into a daily driver in the next month to month and a half.

Sounds like you need to cut your losses. Sorry. :(

That and I have an issue with being dishonest about these things and I don't want to dump my problem on some poor unsuspecting kid the way it happened to me.

I respect that, and wish more people were like that. Let us know how it goes. Good luck.
:flag:
 
prepare a budget

Everything that follows is IMO. YMMV.

In some respects this illustrates a problem that many ppl have working on project cars. First is going in with unrealistic goals. Followed closely by "scope creep". IE just a “few” upgrades.

IMO, when looking at the break even point for a project car, many ppl do not factor in the value of having use of the car. For example, buy a car for $1500 and put $2500 in repairs. Drive it for a year. Sell it for $2000. Most ppl think they took a bath. When in fact, you had use of the car for the year. The use of the car is worth more than many ppl think.

I must congratulate you on one thing. Most ppl overpay for their project cars. This starts the project out in a deep hole from day one. $1500 doesn’t sound like a stone around your neck.

Here is where thinks get real tough and discipline comes into the picture. If you goal is a daily driver, then look at the things that are absolutely needed to make the car safe and reasonably dependable. Prepare a budget for those items.

Next look at the cost of finding another car suitable to be a daily driver. Compare the two figures. Then and only then, can an honest assessment of the project be done.

This is the next spot where project go wrong. Feeling the need to get all of your money out of the car (break even). If you decide to sell, the selling price may not be much more than what you paid. If you consign yourself that the value of the car is based upon its condition (age, mileage, basic equipment) and NOT upon what you have spent, then you will be able to market the car fairly without having to be dishonest.

It is not always easy separating the emotional attachment many of us have for our cars from the hard reality of $$. I am speaking from 1st hand experience. My first project was a finical disaster (I still had fun and learned a lot). My later projects are doing much better. But it was the hard lessons learned that made that possible.

Good luck to you.
 
Everything that follows is IMO. YMMV.

In some respects this illustrates a problem that many ppl have working on project cars. First is going in with unrealistic goals. Followed closely by "scope creep". IE just a “few” upgrades.

IMO, when looking at the break even point for a project car, many ppl do not factor in the value of having use of the car. For example, buy a car for $1500 and put $2500 in repairs. Drive it for a year. Sell it for $2000. Most ppl think they took a bath. When in fact, you had use of the car for the year. The use of the car is worth more than many ppl think.

I must congratulate you on one thing. Most ppl overpay for their project cars. This starts the project out in a deep hole from day one. $1500 doesn’t sound like a stone around your neck.

Here is where thinks get real tough and discipline comes into the picture. If you goal is a daily driver, then look at the things that are absolutely needed to make the car safe and reasonably dependable. Prepare a budget for those items.

Next look at the cost of finding another car suitable to be a daily driver. Compare the two figures. Then and only then, can an honest assessment of the project be done.

This is the next spot where project go wrong. Feeling the need to get all of your money out of the car (break even). If you decide to sell, the selling price may not be much more than what you paid. If you consign yourself that the value of the car is based upon its condition (age, mileage, basic equipment) and NOT upon what you have spent, then you will be able to market the car fairly without having to be dishonest.

It is not always easy separating the emotional attachment many of us have for our cars from the hard reality of $$. I am speaking from 1st hand experience. My first project was a finical disaster (I still had fun and learned a lot). My later projects are doing much better. But it was the hard lessons learned that made that possible.

Good luck to you.

Thanks to both you and GettinThere, honestly at this point I think I'm simply achieving financial disaster, the list of problems with the car is constantly growing and while I bought it for the main purpose of having a project to keep my mind off a nasty breakup and job loss, I was hoping to have a project I could actually drive and at least semi rely on while I worked on it...my funds aren't endless so I think I'm just going to have to call this a loss and walk away. My only hope is that I can at least get the $1500 I purchased it for back out, I have no hopes of breaking even at this point. :( I've wanted a mustang since high school but it seems I let my enthusiasm and my frustration with what I've come across thus far push me into a bad purchase.
 
Man you sound like me after i bought my old 86, 91 and 94 (lol). I bought them all as projects of course but each time i felt like i was misled on the car and ended up in shoes similar to yours. I guess I suck at buying cars.

Anyway from what it sounds like the only thing that could be a real burden is the front end damage.

Fixing the rack and pinion is easy and you can get a new one for under 100$ from any auto parts store. I did mine in half a day on my old 91. Im sure you can fix the oil cooler for cheap if you do the work yourself. As far as the transmission: I would change the fluid first, you never know, it may just need a nice fresh fluid change, get yourself a hand pump and some royal purple tranny fluid and id be willing to bet it helps a lot!

Take some pictures of the front end from under the car and let us analyze it...and don't get stressed, with a little time, patience, research and good ol' elbow grease you could probably make it into a nice daily driver or sell it for a reasonable price knowing you fixed it up nicely. I should know because ive been in your same shoes 3 times before.

Oh and as far as the clutch, you can buy a nice replacement clutch off ebay for cheap and do the work yourself. Thats the beautiful thing, you can do all this work yourself if you put your mind to it. Stangnet is here to help, use it! Anytime i get into a bind working on something or get in over my head the first place i look is Stangnet and 99% of the time I solve my problem. I can't even remember half the times ive come on here posting threads similar to yours and gotten the help i needed...
 
Just a quick update for the very helpful gentlemen around here that posted in my thread, thank you all for the opinions and encouragement. I decided to keep her for the foreseeable future, I picked up a new clutch (not yet installed), clutch cable (turns out the old cable was stretched to hell and back), quadrant, firewall adjuster, swapped out the gasket and o-ring on the oil cooler, flushed and replaced the tranny fluid, and I'm installing a new MGW shifter and a new rack & pinion assy today. Thus far with what I've done to her so far (plus a few minor things that I'm probably forgetting) she's running well, drives and shifts far better, and I'm enjoying every wrenching moment. Just need to find a shop to install the new clutch because this beast is just too low to the ground to get a decent sized jack down there so I can get her off the ground and get the tranny out.
 
Burns beat me to the punch, if the frame is not bent and is intact, like factory intact; then go for the gusto, there are people here that have been working on a project car for years so don't get dissapoited w/the problems you have and gonna have. Get yourself a Haynes or Chilton guide (if you havn't already) and become the next best person to a Ford tech/Engineer. You sound surprised to the problems. There are some sick sounding, looking, and fast Non-PI's out there. Keep your head up and put some thought and emotion in the Stang as it will do the same for you. "Demon"
 
Glad to hear. It sounds like you found it no so difficult to service the oil cooler.

When I did my transmission in the driveway, I first purchased a 24" set of axle stands from Harbor freight. My floor jack could not get the car up that high. So I used block of wood to extend the range of the jack. However, the secret is do it in small steps. In this way the car can be raised without taking too many chances.

Are you sure that the clutch is not causing the poor shifting?

Recommend having your flywheel re-surfaced. Do the job right the first time.
 
Burns beat me to the punch, if the frame is not bent and is intact, like factory intact; then go for the gusto, there are people here that have been working on a project car for years so don't get dissapoited w/the problems you have and gonna have. Get yourself a Haynes or Chilton guide (if you havn't already) and become the next best person to a Ford tech/Engineer. You sound surprised to the problems. There are some sick sounding, looking, and fast Non-PI's out there. Keep your head up and put some thought and emotion in the Stang as it will do the same for you. "Demon"

Glad to hear. It sounds like you found it no so difficult to service the oil cooler.

When I did my transmission in the driveway, I first purchased a 21" set of axle stands from Harbor freight. My floor jack could not get the car up that high. So I used block of wood to extend the range of the jack. However, the secret is do it in small steps. In this way the car can be raised without taking too many chances.

Are you sure that the clutch is not causing the poor shifting?

Recommend having your flywheel re-surfaced. Do the job right the first time.

I typed out a rather lengthy response and then lost it so I'll make this one shorter to avoid throwing my monitor out the window.

Demon, I know the frame isn't perfect seeing as the passenger side door and front fender rub when the passenger door is opened (I need to crawl back down there with my camera). I picked up a Haynes the day I purchased the car, it's my AMEX, I never leave the garage without it. I wasn't so much surprised by the problems, more by the extent of the problems, I figured I'd make a few initial repairs and then have a few things crop up here and there along the way. I have no plans of giving up, I love this girl and I'll put on my walking shoes and go back to my Chevrolegs before I get rid of her. As to the non-PI issue, I've actually been thinking once I get a few bills paid off I might make the PI swap seeing as I don't think I've seen much out there with quite that much bang for the buck. $12-1400 for 50hp? Can't go wrong there.

wmburns, the oil cooler was time consuming but it was a pretty easy repair all around. I'm a little nervous about lifting her up that high on jack stands seeing as the garage is overflowing and the driveway is sloped leaving me to do most of my work on the street, but even the street isn't entirely level. I'm sure the clutch has a lot to do with it, namely the occasional grind when trying to make even remotely quick shifts. That being said the fluid flush, the new cable, the new quadrant and firewall adjuster...they've all made a big difference. The shifts are much nicer, my main complain now is after installing my MGW shifter tonight I can't really put it through it's paces due to the grinding I experience anytime I do anything that even resembles rapid shifts. :(
 
why not jack her up and put and put the car on ramps ? thats what I do for at least the front of the car when doing tranny or exhaust work,it seems much safer than stands.as previously stated by wmburns you could use a board on the jack to get the car high enough. if you dont have ramps you can get the metal ones on C/L for around 10 -15 bux,so get 2 sets.
you could drive the car up on the rear set,but you may need to place some boards on the ground so that the front tires are on top of the boards when the rear tires are all the way onto the ramps,that way your floor jack will have enough room to get under the frame in the front of the car.it seems the only real problem you have is the frame damage,but it may not actually be that bad,didnt you say the car was able to be aligned ?

as far as the trans,id say a rebuild is in order,maybe just synchros.There is a guy named bob hanlon that sells instructional videos on rebuilding tremec transmissions,the videos are fantastic.he is located in se pennsy
 
why not jack her up and put and put the car on ramps ? thats what I do for at least the front of the car when doing tranny or exhaust work,it seems much safer than stands.as previously stated by wmburns you could use a board on the jack to get the car high enough. if you dont have ramps you can get the metal ones on C/L for around 10 -15 bux,so get 2 sets.
you could drive the car up on the rear set,but you may need to place some boards on the ground so that the front tires are on top of the boards when the rear tires are all the way onto the ramps,that way your floor jack will have enough room to get under the frame in the front of the car.it seems the only real problem you have is the frame damage,but it may not actually be that bad,didnt you say the car was able to be aligned ?

as far as the trans,id say a rebuild is in order,maybe just synchros.There is a guy named bob hanlon that sells instructional videos on rebuilding tremec transmissions,the videos are fantastic.he is located in se pennsy

I've thought about ramps, but most of the shops around here want $60+ for a set of ramps, by C/L do you mean Craigslist? I haven't really thought about shopping for ramps on there so I might give it a shot. As to the frame damage yes I was able to get it aligned so I'm under the assumption that the frame damage isn't too bad. And the trans work, I hate trans work with a passion but you could be right, I'll have to check out his video selection and start pricing parts, last I checked the synchro kits started at around $250 I believe and climbed up from there rapidly. We'll see, it's on the to do list after I get the new rack in tonight and the clutch in sometime this week hopefully.
 
yes I meant craigslist,just go to your local C/L and enter in car ramps in the search function.in my area there must have been 10 different sets for sale for like $25 bux and less.

for the videos go to Hanlon Motorsports - T5 and Tremec parts, sales and service if they are not listed you may have to call and talk to Bob.

if you dont have that much money,just get the video,do the inspection and only replace the parts you actually need,it may be less money than you think. e-bay is a good source for t-5 and tremec parts.

if the car doesnt have to be a daily driver,just sit back and fix er up a little at a time.its nice to have a low budget project on the back burner.even if you dont have time to mess with it for weeks on end,its always fun just to think about what you are going to do next.
 
It's pretty damn low, I scrape some speed bumps even at a crawl so I'm not sure about the ramps, but I'll give them an eyeball. I've thought about doing a tranny rebuild, I may end up going that route, we'll see, I'm hoping that wont be necessary though, if possible I'd like to make the next purchase a bumper, shallow as it is I'm getting plain tired of the cracked and hanging bumper.
 
Thanks to both you and GettinThere, honestly at this point I think I'm simply achieving financial disaster, the list of problems with the car is constantly growing and while I bought it for the main purpose of having a project to keep my mind off a nasty breakup and job loss, I was hoping to have a project I could actually drive and at least semi rely on while I worked on it...my funds aren't endless so I think I'm just going to have to call this a loss and walk away. My only hope is that I can at least get the $1500 I purchased it for back out, I have no hopes of breaking even at this point. :( I've wanted a mustang since high school but it seems I let my enthusiasm and my frustration with what I've come across thus far push me into a bad purchase.

It's good to learn this after 1 project car... I bought 3 project cars all while slowly digging myself into debt. Took me 8 years to pay off the debt and I'm back to square one with a clean mostly stock stang. I began the journey with a clean mostly stock 97 camaro and ended up taking a bath on a 74 Camaro with a big block and an 87 IROC 350 (we won't talk about the '91 Accord I dropped $3k in repairs on). It was a fun journey, but it set me back financially several years.