94 GT Barn Find HELP!!!

[jasonchavez214]

I recently purchased a 52K mile 94 Mustang GT from an old man. The car sat for about three years due to him no longer being able to drive stick. This will be my weekend cruiser, but I plan to add 373 gears and a mild exhaust in the coming year. My questions are:
1. What brand of oil and filter is recommended? I will drive about 2-3K miles a year
2. Can anyone recommend a convertible shop in Los Angeles?
3. What other issues should I look for in an older car? New plugs? Gaskets?
4. Can anyone recommend an honest shop in the San Fernando area for my Stang needs?
Any tips to keep this Stang running perfect is greatly appreciated.

 

[ttocs]

the soft fuel lines in the engine bay are probably due to be upgraded. There is no reason not to pull a plug that is easy to inspect and see what it looks like. If it looks ok then put it back or if you want then just go ahead and swap them out.

 

[apsmith49921]

You cant go wrong with motorcraft synthetic oil and a motor craft filter.

I would do like ttocs said and check the plugs might as well just replace them while you're there honestly. Replace the fuel filter too.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[ttocs]

you would also be wise to drain the tank and put fresh gas and probably a fuel system cleaner as well. You can drain the tank a little easier if while you change the filter by powering up the pump while you have the filter disconnected. Just put the end that would go into the filter into a bucket or something to drain into and turn the key on/off and let the pump prime for 5 secs to drain it.

 

[Lonnie2]

I recently purchased a 52K mile 94 Mustang GT from an old man. The car sat for about three years due to him no longer being able to drive stick. This will be my weekend cruiser, but I plan to add 373 gears and a mild exhaust in the coming year. My questions are:
1. What brand of oil and filter is recommended? I will drive about 2-3K miles a year
2. Can anyone recommend a convertible shop in Los Angeles?
3. What other issues should I look for in an older car? New plugs? Gaskets?
4. Can anyone recommend an honest shop in the San Fernando area for my Stang needs?
Any tips to keep this Stang running perfect is greatly appreciated.

I was in a similar situation but my 94 sat almost 10 years.

A major tune-up along with fluid changes, Belts, hoses, and filters are probably required. Unless you know for sure if these things were done.

I have found the factory brakes to be lousy on my 25 yr old Mustang so I am changing to drilled and slotted rotors, ceramic pads, and stainless steel brake lines. Next week actually.

I can't help you with LA shops because I'm on the east coast but I can tell you that everyone here has been great trying to show and explain things to me. I'm a newbe too.

It's all about the love of our Mustang cars. Young and old, rich or poor so no judgments. I love that.

Good luck and welcome aboard, you are in a good place!

 

[mcglsr2]

The normal "new to me" type stuff should be done:

• Oil and filter change (I use Mobile 1 fully syth oil, and Purolator BOSS filters)
• Brake fluid FLUSH (don't just top up)
• Coolant FLUSH (don't just top up)
• Power steering top up or flush, based on what the fluid looks like or if you hear power steering noises
• Transmission fluid flush, if auto get as much old out as you can, if manual you should be able to get just about all of it out
• New brake pads, they are cheap and you will know for a fact they are good
• New or resurfaced rotors, depending on how the current ones look and feel
• New tires, depending on tire condition
• Techron or equivalent fuel system cleaner, I would personally do a couple treatments because the car was sitting for a while (do before changing the fuel filter)
  
• Fuel filter, even if Previous Owner says it's new
• New spark plugs, even if Previous Owner says they are new (you can check them if you are on a tight budget but personally I'd just replace them)
• Spark plug wires depending on condition/age of the current ones

Basically, for certain things, it doesn't matter if the Previous Owner claims to have just done them. You should (re)do them anyway. It's better you know it was done for sure, then hope the PO was not wrong or lying to you. One can argue that some of this may not be necessary. If you implicitly trust the Previous Owner and they said "I just did <insert thing from above list>" then feel free to skip it.

Me, I like peace of mind though. The cost of the items above is well worth the comfort of knowing those things have been taken care of.

And then....drive it until something breaks. Then fix that. Repeat. Since this is your weekend car you can afford to have it sit a couple days or whatever while you diagnose the issue, wait for parts to arrive, and then fix.

Good luck!

 

[jasonchavez214]

Once I use Mobile 1 fully syth oil, there's no turning back right? I should keep this brand/style of oil in the car?

 

[mcglsr2]

Once I use Mobile 1 fully syth oil, there's no turning back right? I should keep this brand/style of oil in the car?

Meh. You can go back and forth between regular oil and fully synthetic. The main difference between the two is the interval between changes - with regular oil you need shorter intervals, with synth you can go a little longer.

What's more important is the oil weight. Use what the instruction manual calls for in your car. It will list a couple options based on the outside temperatures you are likely to see. Use only these weights.

 

[ttocs]

its not like tearing the tag off the back of a matrass the gov isn't going to come after you.

 

[jasonchavez214]

Great stuff guys. After changing my oil, the car feels so much more responsive.

 

[Paladin1001]

Great stuff guys. After changing my oil, the car feels so much more responsive.

Its weird but they do always seem to run better after an oil change even if it wasn't overdue. It's probably in your head but I have seen it time and again so its in my head too.

 

[sluggish94]

I recently purchased a 52K mile 94 Mustang GT from an old man. The car sat for about three years due to him no longer being able to drive stick. This will be my weekend cruiser, but I plan to add 373 gears and a mild exhaust in the coming year. My questions are:
1. What brand of oil and filter is recommended? I will drive about 2-3K miles a year
2. Can anyone recommend a convertible shop in Los Angeles?
3. What other issues should I look for in an older car? New plugs? Gaskets?
4. Can anyone recommend an honest shop in the San Fernando area for my Stang needs?
Any tips to keep this Stang running perfect is greatly appreciated.

Answer to question 4: I always recommend Albert at TBD Performance in South Gate to anyone in the Southern California area. He built a Heads/Cam/Intake 306 for my dad and swapped it into his 91 Grand Marquis. Definitely not just a remove and replace type deal. He's a knowledgeable Mustang enthusiast, honest, sends many video updates on work performed, and fairly priced for the clean work he performs. I do about 90% of my own work and know a few knowledgeable mustang guys here in the 805 area that help me locally, but if I had another serious build I'd take it to him without a doubt.

 

[Flade]

Replace all the vacuum lines, they are likely dry rotted. Replace the PVC, Rotor, distributor cap. Consider replacing the three brake flexible lines even if they look good. They fail from the inside out. Grease the suspension and u-joints.