Rebuild or not?

95GT · Sep 4, 2008

Well as some of you know I bought a 95 5.0 GT with 97000 miles on it last week, $1500 but it does need some work, when I bought it I knew this the previous owner didnt know much bout what happened to the car just that the son left it sitting there for awhile like 3 months fixed a couple things on it but gave up on the vehicle. The car runs okay,I just finished the power windows problem today thanks to the tutorial you guys got here in the forum, i know it needs new shocks and suspension and all that. But i want to start in the engine 1st to make sure it wont one day just die on me thats why im thinking on rebuilding the whole engine and I would like the opinions of you guys on were to start?? Im not looking to build it to be fast yet, just so it runs with out giving me problems. I'm a noob on this but I learn quick. So if you guys can give me some input on what parts I should worried bout first, and what should i buy, i will really appreciate any help I can get on this.
Next week ill be doing the compression test to see what else is wrong with the engine. :TY:

97 king cobra · Sep 4, 2008

95GT said:
Well as some of you know I bought a 95 5.0 GT with 97000 miles on it last week, $1500 but it does need some work, when I bought it I knew this the previous owner didnt know much bout what happened to the car just that the son left it sitting there for awhile like 3 months fixed a couple things on it but gave up on the vehicle. The car runs okay,I just finished the power windows problem today thanks to the tutorial you guys got here in the forum, i know it needs new shocks and suspension and all that. But i want to start in the engine 1st to make sure it wont one day just die on me thats why im thinking on rebuilding the whole engine and I would like the opinions of you guys on were to start?? Im not looking to build it to be fast yet, just so it runs with out giving me problems. I'm a noob on this but I learn quick. So if you guys can give me some input on what parts I should worried bout first, and what should i buy, i will really appreciate any help I can get on this.
Next week ill be doing the compression test to see what else is wrong with the engine. :TY:

Wait til you get the compression test done to see if you need to do any major work on it. And if you do decide to completely rebuild it, you might as well do the performance upgrades now since its already apart and better to do it once than twice. Also keep in mind that you may have to take it to a shop to be done since this can get tricky and you will need tools that u may not have. And depending on the condition, thats a really good buy! Good luck.

95GT · Sep 4, 2008

thanks 97 king cobra, so the compression test should be the first thing i get done? and then go from there. aight. The car is in decent condition ill say, the paint job is faded, the driver side door has a dent on it, the interior its dirty but i aint worried bout that yet, power windows didnt work but I fixed that today, it has cobra rims(im guessing) cause everyone its always asking me if i want to sell them or trade. So I thought it was a good buy...Maybe? will see what the test says. And this test tells you everything that needs to be replace etc?? and does anyone knows how much this test actually runs for$$?

2slo95fiveoh · Sep 4, 2008

yes, a compression test will give you a very good idea about how good of shape the cylinders/piston rings are in.
Doing so first will let you know if one of the cylinders is significantly lower than the other, requiring a very significant
rebuild. you can purchase a cylinder compression tester at many auto parts stores, cost i believe is less than $100.
performing it yourself is very easy, you remove all spark plugs, then insert the tester into one cylinder, crank the car for 2 sec.
then see what the number is. then move on to the rest of the cyl. and see where your numbers are compared to spec.

zero_chance · Sep 5, 2008

Exactly. Do the compression test because you might not even need anything done. Ive taken 5.0s well into two hundred thousand miles without ever having them apart. Of course, if you WANT to upgrade then by all means, upgrade away.

97 king cobra · Sep 6, 2008

2slo95fiveoh said:
yes, a compression test will give you a very good idea about how good of shape the cylinders/piston rings are in.
Doing so first will let you know if one of the cylinders is significantly lower than the other, requiring a very significant
rebuild. you can purchase a cylinder compression tester at many auto parts stores, cost i believe is less than $100.
performing it yourself is very easy, you remove all spark plugs, then insert the tester into one cylinder, crank the car for 2 sec.
then see what the number is. then move on to the rest of the cyl. and see where your numbers are compared to spec.

A compression test wont tell you what all you need replaced, just if your engine is running normal or not. You will have to wait for the test to see if it needs taken apart, then youll see what needs replaced. And yes that is a great deal if the engine is fine after all, and dont get rid of the cobra rims.