A wild Mustang in Zion

We leave Saturday for Zion (woo!) and until a few weeks ago we weren't quite sure how we were going to get there. Portia and I both had cars, but mine died. Then hers started dying. With family you usually stay by someone's side as they die. With cars, after a while, you just start looking for a new one. We actually felt a little sad as they towed our cars away...

Luckily for us, Chad (yep, the same Chad I mentioned before, who we will be in Zion with us) has a sister who lives nearby with her husband Chris. Chris had an '88 Ford Mustang, but it had some problems and it has sat in his back yard for the last five years. When he got married to Chad's sister, she was ready to see the car go away, but he had a hard time giving it up.

The timing was right, we needed a car, Chad's sister didn't want the car, and Chris wanted to find someone who would love and care for it as much as he did. We went over and started tinkering with it, and we've got it up and running! This will be our transportation for the summer, and hopefully longer.

Ain't she a beauty! Navy Blue and Rust, a lovely
color scheme.

Chris has a mechanic friend... guy... they call him "no problem." He looked at the car enough to figure out that it needed a new fuel pump. To replace it, the fuel tank needs to be removed... that's expensive. Chad helped me tow the car to my house, and I did it! I dropped the tank, and put in a new fuel pump. Awesome.

Then we took it to our favorite mechanic and had them do a used car evaluation. It would need all the fluids replaced. New tires. New spark plugs, new PCV valve, new air and fuel filter, new vacuum tubes, new brakes... all told it would be more than $1,200 worth of work.

So I got to work! With a little youtube, a phone call to a friend or two, and a little guesswork from previous experience, I've done all the work myself.

The old fuel pump, and the shiny new one!

Work Done:

Fuel pump - replaced
Fuel tank gasket - replaced
Spark Plugs and wires - replaced
Radiator Flush
Power Steering Flush
Transmission Flush
Oil Changed
New Air Filter
Rear Differential Serviced
Rusty Transmission Crossmember - replaced (with a little welding help from a high schooler in a welding class - awesome)
New Distributor Cap
New Distributor Rotor
New PCV valve
New tires - bought
Hatch back lift arms - replaced
Timed engine
New Battery Cables

What would have cost us $1200 has cost us about $350 in parts - and a lot of hours of work. The tires were about $300 more... But we have a running car! It's amazing what you can do yourself, this has been a very fun experience. And in the process I've become very attached to the car- I'm sure it will be a great companion for our summer adventures!

Old school, no airbags!

Work to be done...

-Brakes - replace calipers, pads, and discs... and drums...
-Replace Vacuum tubes
-New air intake hose
-New drive belt (the timing belt has been replaced fairly recently)
-Fix power steering leak (Possibly replace pump)
-Fix oil leak (hopefully replace some easy to get to seals... hopefully...)
-Put in a stereo
-Fix passenger side door lock

I'm not done yet! But it's coming along!