He didn’t do anything other than maintain it and fix the collision damage. The carb has been replaced, the radio was updated to a cassette in the 80s, new shocks 15 years or so ago. Still plenty rusty under the car but normal stuff like bolts/nuts, surface rust on suspension parts and wheels. No big cancer sized rust. When I decoded the door tag it’s really a May 67 build not the original release as thought.
I was hoping to get the tank out and sus out the damage from the fuel and the lines. The battery still holds a slight charge on the charger but it’s basically toast. The 15 year old Diehard I’m surprised held anything. I’ll probably get an Interstate Mega so I can put the fake Autolite top on it and look period. For operation I’d like to use an Optima but it doesn’t look the part.
I decided to drain the fuel. Gauge says I have half a tank. Looks like more from the borescope. I don’t want to jack up the car at this point so I hit Harbor Freight for a low cost fluid transfer pump. They’ve been making some great strides in getting better quality tools there. This ain’t one of them…
Less than a quart and the seals blow. To add insult to injury if you don’t give them a phone number now at purchase you have to call an 800 number and get the exchange/refund. It was only 5 bucks. I was going to get a longer under hood light but with that I’ll just get it off the truck. For five times the price but the service is fantastic. My other lights now are all from the truck and they are superb.
I also wanted some wheel chocks. I’m using wood because the set I have is keeping the off road truck project in the driveway. It’s a roller but the brakes aren’t in yet. It’s been put on hiatus until the Mustang is at least a safe driver.
At HF…
Me: “Where do you keep the wheel chocks?”
HF: “Wheel chalk? Like for writing on tires?”
Me: “The rubber wedges for blocking tires, I thought they were where the trailer stuff is”
HF: puzzled look, calls someone
Turns out they are out, lots of things picked through looks like a busy weekend. I resisted the urge to then asked where they kept the chalk.
After I syphoned a few gallons into a pan into my waste drum (a gallon at a time, that’s how big the pan was) the smell and taste of rank gas got the better of me and I jacked up the car enough to get a 5 gal dump can under it.
I get to 10 or 11 gallons and there is still more. Perhaps the sender is a bit fuel logged and that 1/2 tank isn’t really 1/2. It looks like they put the original sender in the “new” tank (that’s really 12 years old at this point) I have the original invoice from One Day and I see a tank but nothing else. Looks old. Probably is. I’ve got enough drained that I can see the bottom. The shots from the borescope don’t do the damage justice. Not a good sign…
I got a light into the neck to get a better shot for the post. I could tell from the borescope it wasn’t going to end well. It’s flakey and moves around, you can scrub it with the tip of a screwdriver. I’ve used the POR15 tank reconditioners but in this case the tank itself is only about $20 more than the kit. I still need at least the neck filler to tank boot and possibly a sender.
I’ll finish getting the tank out in the morning and start checking the lines. The plug wires will hopefully ship tomorrow from Vegas so it will only be a day or so. I’ve still have oil, coolant, diff lube and trans fluid. The P/S is leaking considerably since there’s been some steering input. All the stuff that’s salvagable and rebuildable will be done. Don’t think the tank and fuel lines are going to be at this point. I was expecting the tank and likely the lines. I wasn’t expecting the steering rack. We’ll see. Remember the comment of unexpected things in the project? Welp, this is it. And not the last either.