Hello,
My 1986 Mustang SVO showed up on the truck today from Oregon to Houston, TX.
I looked it over really good, and have already identified some things that need fixed immediately, but overall I am pleased with the purchase. I also got a couple of surprises that I wasnt expecting, but what old car doesnt want to surprise its new owner?
The hood latch cable has broken off because the old battery leaked acid which ate through the cable. I have one on order and will be replacing that immediately.
The horns are missing, and I will need them in order to be able to pass the vehicle safety inspection. I have them on order and will be replacing immediately.
I was told that the car is medium canyon red, and that may be the color that it is, but the color code on the door is 2R which is either Bright Red or Jalapena Red depending on where I look. Either way, that is news to me. SURPRISE!
The engine on this car is very modified. It also appears to leak a little bit of oil. I will need to find the oil leak, it is somewhere underneath since it is not splashing about the engine bay and all around the head looks clean and dry, but their is an oil slick on the oil pan and oil on the steering shaft. I am going to have to try to figure out what all mods have been done to the car, but that may be easier said than done.
The wiring harness is a hack up and spliced together mess of wires. I expect no less from a car of this vintage, but I will have to sort it out and get rid of wires that don't do anything.
It has some stuff that I didn't expect it to have: sunroof bag, parcel cover (although it does not retract anymore), the koni shock adjuster, and the original Hurst shift boot.
It is missing some things that I didn't expect as well: The quad shocks for the rear are gone, and I think that may be causing the ride quality to be less than superb.
The steering wheel is an aftermarket Grant wheel (not super), the shift knob is some round plastic POS, the flocking on the dash front is gone, the dash top is cracked (I am hoping that a dash top out of any Mustang of this vintage will work?), the driver seat is pretty worn, the AC system is gone, and I do not feel any air coming from the dash front vents when the heat is turned on (only from the defroster and floor vents). The paint is ok from 20 feet and really bad from 5. The trim work and plastics are tired and some of them are brittle. The spats and fog lights are MIA.
Basically, I have some work to do. I am not looking to turn this into a 100 point show car, but I want to get it to Sunday driver status so I can take it to cars & coffee meets and cruise around when I feel like it. Luckily I have the resources to make this happen, and I want to keep it running as much as possible throughout the process. I do not want a non-running project car because I lose motivation when the thing wont move under its own power. Step 1 is to get it to where it can pass the inspection so I can register it, and then I will start checking things off of my to do list.
TLDR: Yay, I have an SVO Mustang...it needs work
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