Deciding on the Next Project

I’m a little bothered by the problem with the Mustang dying randomly. It is difficult when you spend so much time restoring something like the transmission to have something else immediately stop you from driving the car. I expected to drive it around for a couple of weeks before starting the restoration of the rear undercarriage.

I already have the limited slip differential and installation kit. I’m really ready to put it on. However, I don’t look forward to stripping the entire rear undercarriage of the car. I really don’t like the job at all. The other problem is the carburetor is not tuned right, the intake leaks, and the car keeps dying. I’m not sure I want to keep moving on to another project when the last few don’t quite feel complete.

What I might do is just work to correct the issues with the car. If I get them handled quickly, I might go ahead and do the rear undercarriage. If not, I’ll just remove the rear axle, clean it up, and install the new differential and gears. This is not what I originally planned but I feel I should be doing what I enjoy with the car rather than slaving my way through the restoration when I’m not feeling up to it.

After thinking about it a little while, I was able to come up with the following list of items which need to be handled. It is a little longer than I expected. Many of them are small and could be handled quickly.
1. Fix Ignition Problem
2. Restore Core Support
3. Fix Exhaust Leak (leaking at new coupler)
4. Stop Brake Rattle
5. Fix Rear Window Handles
6. Paint Spot on Firewall (missed a small spot during trans tunnel stripping)
7. Restore Rear Axle & Install Gears
8. Check Water Pump (seemed like it could be leaking again)
9. Paint & Tighten Harmonic Balancer (damaged by water pump leak)
10. Fix Alternator Squeal (this has never gone away)
11. Reinstall Intake
12. Touch Up Valve Covers
13. Fix Distributor Angle (currently touches fuel line)
14. Fix Carburetor Hesitation
15. Set Choke Properly
16. Fix Shock Tower Caps
17. Work on Front Suspension (rides a little rough)

Tonight, I swapped back in the original coil. I ran the engine for 15 minutes and it did not die. This is good but it ran the same length of time a few nights ago without dying but then started up again. I decided I would let it cool a little and then take it for a drive. I drove a large circle around the neighborhood without any trouble.

I think I’ll leave the old coil in for now. I’ll start it a few times over the next few days to see if it will die. If it is the coil at least it is something simple. However, I will be upset that the coil is only a couple month old and is already not working.

I checked the water pump and I believe it has a very small leak. It is mostly visible as the fluid has taken the paint off the motor. It is very small but worth fixing when I take care of the intake. The radiator will already be drained so it will not add too much work.