1985 Ford ltd, 4 door foxbody mustang.

[zeberdee]

Would never have considered even taking a 2nd look at this type of vehicle , but I’m rapidly changing my mind .

Love that interior !!

I can see another potentially bad financial decision in my future ! 😂

Will definitely keep up with this & hopefully you have a smooth journey ahead getting it back on the road .

👍

[ianlea73]

I've always preferred the quirky so this was definitely my cup of tea. I've also always preferred 4 door cars, even back in the day I had onions & Belmonts even 4 door skylines!
With all the bits in the boot chassis work should be straightforward it's the engine that makes my bum squeak a bit.
We'll see though, I'm just going to do a bit at a time & see how I go.

[igor]

Far rather low/no rust body with a dodgy engine than the other way around. Mechanical repairs are a finite cost while chasing rust is neverending.

[ianlea73]

I sorted through all the spares today & other than brake pads & rubber brake lines everything is here to sort the chassis. I played around inside the car & noticed 2 scary things. The heater control hot/cold lever is stuck in the middle & under the bonnet it looks like the heater matrix pipes have been removed!

Also grabbed a pic of the oem wheels & the P slot hubcaps. The wheels are a massive 14x5 et28. I really like the hubcaps so I think eventually I'll get the wheels banded & refit the hubcaps & a fat sidewall tyre.

[ianlea73]

I found the original ford dealership badge in the car.
Fred Jones ford dealership are based in Oklahoma confirms the smog sticker for Oklahoma in the windscreen making the car built & owned in one state before export to the UK.
It turns out Fred Jones was the biggest ford dealership in America at one point & is still in business today.

[DarrenW]

I never knew those P-Slot hubcaps existed until now. Why nobody has put a set on a Mk1 Golf is beyond me...

[Ratchet]

Feb 12, 2024 14:21:23 GMT DarrenW said:

I never knew those P-Slot hubcaps existed until now. Why nobody has put a set on a Mk1 Golf is beyond me...

i remember seeing presuambly aftermarket Pirelli P-slot hubcaps back in the 90s, as were a set on a mk2 astra i walked past daily on my way to school, were closer to the mk1/2 golf wheels than these. i imagine they are extremly hard to find now.

Do have a like of obscure.. and less loved american cars.

I used to see a lot of similar sedans around near the USAF bases in scotland when i was a kid, no idea what most were, but even a K car seemed exotic haha, i imagine it may have been how a good portion of less exotic US cars made it here in the 80s and 90s, iirc military staff could get them imported for very little money, (and why else would someone go to the expense and bother of importing a 1992 plymouth acclaim or similar)

[kh97]

I agree with Zeberdee
these kind of cars are getting more and more interesting

Mabey because all new cars look like space shuttle's i am starting to appreciate the simple design

[ianlea73]

Nothing to report on the car yet as I'm on holiday. I did join an fb page for specific ford ltd's & mercury marquis, based in America. I had a message from a guy claiming to have owned the car in the UK. I messaged him & he sent me some details & pics of the car when he first collected it in 2018.

This is his message.

It has quite interesting history
Original owner was in the
military from Oklahoma. It
came in to UK via raf greenham
common in 1989. Was used till
91, taken off the road then put into storage in 97.
where it has been until 2018.

I did quite a bit of work to your car to get it running, it had been sitting in a warehouse when I bought it. I had it running after I went through the whole fuel system. I removed the tank had it refurbished fitted a new intank pump and sender unit and a new injector. It ran OK but not perfect. There is an external pump aswell which might have given up so try that first.
These are the pics.

[zeberdee]

Always good to find some history .

[ianlea73]

I had a chance to do a few jobs this morning. Jacked up the rear, removed the drums for a look as I have new shoes & wheel cylinders which were supplied, removed the rear shocks which were absolutely shot then pulled the fuel tank.
The filler neck rubber is perished as is the one way Valve rubber seal on top the tank but the valve works fine. I removed the fuel pump housing for an inspection & found the filter sock dirty & torn. I took some pics inside the tank & discovered loads of grit. The fuel was so bad I  couldn't even light the spilt fuel on the floor.
Took a few pics of the underside of the car & I'm really pleased there's only mild surface rust. I just need to work out the best way of treating it. Should I remove the axle, knot wheel, deox then underseal or just hand paint underseal onto the substrate that's already there?
So the fuel tank needs cleaning out & then I'll paint it black. I need to work out how to use rock auto parts & order a few fuel related parts.

[ianlea73]

Sorry about the pics they haven't loaded in the order I selected.

[ianlea73]

Took off the external fuel pump & the inline filter. I'd say these are oem parts by the look of them. Inline pump works but the gauze inside could be split so I'm going to order a new one.
Also put some bilt hammer deox in the tank for a clean out. I'll leave it in there until tomorrow then swill it out.

[Ralph.Wrecked.It]

Cool bit of kit! Looking forward to following along and seeing you bring this back to life!

[akku]

Glad to see this went to a good home. If I didn't have the Rover I would have bought this

The trick with Rock Auto is to

a) make sure all the items you are ordering come from the same warehouse to save shipping costs which can be eye watering otherwise (there is a little Truck icon when you start shopping to help)

b) make use of the discount codes, most Facebook groups for American cars share these.

c) try not to get dragged into "group buy, lets save shipping" deals with people you don't know as these always end in chaos.

d) buy everything in one go, shipping is more expensive than parts.

c) if theres 2 options, its the other one - I needed a transmission filter, 2 options, I bought both, whichever is wrong may come in handy at some point. The filters were £6 each for Motorcraft ones and the shipping was £18...

[ianlea73]

First order arrived in 4 days which is quicker than stuff I've ordered on ebay for my daily!



I then started on the fuel tank & straps. Removed the control arms on the rear axle & any brackets for the brake lines, exhaust & fuel line clips. I intend on getting as many parts media blasted, so I can paint clean metal.















Bushes arrived today so I can burn out the old ones before painting.

[Paul]

And is that 2 magnets I spy? You are today's winner!

[ianlea73]

Mar 19, 2024 19:43:32 GMT Paul said:

And is that 2 magnets I spy? You are today's winner!

I've started to get a nice collection already. At least this one is very relevant to my car.
On my last invoice there was a hand written note from rockauto asking for more details on the car. They've asked to do a feature when it's up & running so I'm really excited.

[ianlea73]

Finally a half decent day to carry on with the car.
Fuel tank finished, new rubbers, pump installed & seals. Painted the tank straps & added some foam padding. Burnt out the bushes in the arms ready to go to media on Monday. I stripped the rear brake shoe set up & inspected the wheel cylinders.
After cleaning & painting I rebuilt the fuel pump, filter housing ready to refit.
I'm really hoping nect weekend is dry so I can clean the underside of the car.

[ianlea73]

Used my sonic cleaner to remove years of gunk & surface rust on the rear brake parts. Then cleaned the backplates on the rear axle.