One of the questions was why the glove box was in the trunk. There didn't appear to be anything broken, so why was it out? I started to put it back in and I think I solved the mystery. The carpet by the heater box was slick with moisture. Rubbing my hand along the bottom of the HVAC I felt the unmistakable feeling of coolant. That also might answer the question about why the radiator appears empty (I assumed there was a leaking hose somewhere as much of the rubber is fairly old). A leaking heater core isn't a huge surprise. I may loop the lines under the hood for a temporary fix because I want to focus on making sure its driveable before I yank the dash. One more thing on the to-do list!
I enjoy the simplicity of your builds. I should do the same with my project cars, but I don't. And won't.
I did the timing belt and V-belts today in between coats of bedliner we were rolling on the van floor. I didn't take any pictures, but just image a shiny new Gates tensioner and Tbelt, along with some closeout private label V-belts from Rockauto.
The radiator was pretty cruddy looking.
We capped off the hose ports and pressure checked it. I found at least 6 different leaks in the tanks and tubes. So its safe to say it isn't going to work.
The biggest problem is that 2.3 Mustang 2 radiators do not seem to be available. V8 ones are, but they have bigger hose ports and they are the opposite side of the tanks. Im going to dig around some more but I may be looking at making brackets for a Ranger radiator or something.
The oil filter put up a heckuva fight!
I'd check around to see if you can find an old time radiator shop in your area that can take the tanks off your radiator and put them on a new core. Those places are getting harder and harder to find, but there are still some around. They can probably fix your heater core as well.
In reply to stuart in mn :
There is one of those around here. Talked to them this morning and it would be between $600-800 depending on actual condition. Ive only found 1 place with new ones and they go for 480 shipped.
The gas tank was what I suspected, super icky! Luckily a new one was 120 shipped and I would rather buy that now spend hours shaking bolts around the inside. Plus it reeks so it gets to sit outside in all the snow now!
Would an early Fox Mustang radiator work? They used the 2.3l motor as well. Maybe more readily available.
Just a shot in the dark, but a 76 Pinto radiator may work, $270.79 on RA
wawazat said:
Would an early Fox Mustang radiator work? They used the 2.3l motor as well. Maybe more readily available.
That was one of the first ones I looked at. It looks like it will be too wide and for some reason the ports are opposite. Which I dont really understand but I cant say I have ever been under the hood of a 2.3 Fox Mustang
06HHR (Forum Supporter) said:
Just a shot in the dark, but a 76 Pinto radiator may work, $270.79 on RA
I looked at that one too. Before I ever researched this I would have assumed the 2 cars used the same radiator. The size looks the same. For some reason the ports look like they are angled. Its in the pile to research further.
So far the leader in a non-correct radiator is an 87 or so Ranger. They are cheap, looks like brackets would be easy to fab, and even though the ports are larger than the 1.25 inch Mustang 2 ones, it looks like Ranger hoses would work. Decisions!
Ranger radiator
logdog (Forum Supporter) said:
wawazat said:
Would an early Fox Mustang radiator work? They used the 2.3l motor as well. Maybe more readily available.
That was one of the first ones I looked at. It looks like it will be too wide and for some reason the ports are opposite. Which I dont really understand but I cant say I have ever been under the hood of a 2.3 Fox Mustang
That's really strange. We had a few oddball early Fox Mustangs back in the day including two turbo 2.3's Mustangs, a straight six Capri, and a few SVOs. I can't recall radiator details though.
Update from the last few days-
The ranger radiator came in. Out of the box, looks promising. I had to shave off some the plastic brackets to fit in the car better, which wasn't a big deal because I knew I would need to make brackets. Problem number 1 though is the position of the outlet. Its several inches higher on the Ranger radiator. That means I had to position it lower in the Mustang to get clearance of the AC compressor.
For lower brackets I just used a couple pieces of metal with holes for the plastic studs, and I put some scrap heater hose on them to act as an insulator.
It sits in there ok. Hoses from a 1987 Ranger fit with minor trimming. I cut some metal to make a bracket for the top. BUT..... I hate it! To make it work I need to add an electric fan and either figure out a way to use the Ranger trans-cooler, or add a second. It just doesn't look right to me. If I needed to make this work I absolutely could, but I wanted to keep this original and its going to end up looking hack. So this morning I sucked it up and just ordered the expensive replacement I found. It should be here in 4-6 weeks. I have plenty of stuff to do to the van and other areas on this car to keep me busy.
The radiator showed up in mid March. I was so excited.... I opened the box.... AND....... I ordered the wrong one. It was a non AC radiator that is several inches smaller. I called the company, explained I screwed up, and they sent a call ticket for the mistake, made me the correct one, and shipped it back. I paid the shipping and they waived the restock fee. Such a silly mistake. Anyway, the right one is here and its beautiful!
I also ordered 5 tires. They are loaded up and once the tires for the wife's daily show up, I will be dropping off a pile at my tire guy. I haven't been touching the car while waiting on the radiator, plus I was focusing on the van, so this weekend the 'stang will get moved to the front burner.
You can built a bit of a beast from a 2.3, but $$$ A buddy of mine has a 2.0 in his sand rail, but 2.0 parts are non exsistant now. Hes got a workes over head from eslinger, cam, 4 mikuni carbs (its a bit over carbed) and a DIS ignition system. Thing screams to 6k where the rev limit is set, I know a 2.0 will go quite a bit higher than that. But cost of building a sweet N/A vs slapping a turbo and megasquirt on it...i dunno. Definatly needs a 3rd pedal though. cant believe there are any rust free ones left, let alone any running musty tang 2s. Good stuff!!
I've been lurking for quite a while, but a Mustang II thread has brought me out of the closet. I've owned a MII since just after high school (back when they were just moderately used), and after that one died and I discovered significant rust, I bought a both a '78 Cobra II and a '78 Ghia, both in black. I've been hauling these from house to house for 20 years, and with retirement approaching, it's now or never!
Good luck on your coupe, I'll be following along, and hopefully starting my own build thread soon.
In reply to logdog (Forum Supporter) :
What did you find for the 13" tires? I wanted something sportier than base 78 series, but all I could find was racing slicks and Radial TA's.
In reply to 78CobraII :
My tire choice was not very sporty. I went with a Hankook all season in 175/70/13. If I keep it long-term I would likely upgrade to something in a 15, but I needed something fresher than the 90s era pre-date coded tires that were on it.
Ive had good luck with a brand called primwell for 13s, usually sold at firestone
Yesterday the radiator went in. Since nothing is ever an exact bolt in I had to make some brackets for the fan shroud, tweak the trans lines, and drill holes for the bottom mount. But it looks great and I made the right choice in not using a Ranger one.
Today was all about the carb.
It was a little gross on the inside.
