Putting together a field-parked Fox

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JS - 30 May 2007 15:15 GMT

It's been a while since I've really had V-8 torque under my right foot,
and I'm thinking of getting one of my old 5.0s (a 1986 Mercury Capri
5-speed) put back together again. it's been sitting in a field for
quite some time, though, and other than the paint and interior issues,
what other things should be looked at while trying to make it a
road-worthy car? When it was parked, the only things wrong were a
missing header-to-H-pipe stud (MAC headers and H-pipe) and a bad ball
joint. The 2-chamber Flowmasters are probably rotted to shreds by now,
so I'm assuming something will need to replace them, and somewhere in
the back of the fuel line area, something has chewed through (hopefully
the rubber hose) and a small-drip gas leak occurs when the car is
running. The last time it was started was probably two years ago, and
it hasn't really seen road duty for about 7 years. If the chassis
appears to not be rotting away, the engine will probably be removed for
a complete oil-control gasket job (pan, rear main, intake, valve covers,
front cover, etc) and all of the above things will be taken care of.

Is there anything else to take into consideration on a car that's been
parked outside in the grass for years on end?

JS

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Les Benn - 30 May 2007 16:54 GMT

> It's been a while since I've really had V-8 torque under my right foot,
> and I'm thinking of getting one of my old 5.0s (a 1986 Mercury Capri
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> JS

Well first of all oil, grease, gas needs to be changed, filters too,
probably all of the rubber in the suspension is shot so at least ball joints
will need to be changed. Must likely hoses will need to be changed and all
the belts, tune up with wires and cap replaced. fuel filter replaced,
cooling system flushed and refilled, back flush the heater core too. That
would be minimal place to start to get the car ready to drive.

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chumley - 30 May 2007 17:32 GMT

>> It's been a while since I've really had V-8 torque under my right foot,
>> and I'm thinking of getting one of my old 5.0s (a 1986 Mercury Capri
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> replaced, cooling system flushed and refilled, back flush the heater core
> too. That would be minimal place to start to get the car ready to drive.

If you had much gas in the gas tank, it probably got water in the bottom of
it, and could have rusted some parts out, fuel pump stuff too.
Expect the fuel system to be full of crap, tar like stuff, shellac, lots of
grit etc.
I got a car out of a field after sitting for 18 months, all tires were bad.

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JS - 01 Jun 2007 01:32 GMT

>>> It's been a while since I've really had V-8 torque under my right foot,
>>> and I'm thinking of getting one of my old 5.0s (a 1986 Mercury Capri
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
> grit etc.
> I got a car out of a field after sitting for 18 months, all tires were bad.

Thanks for the run-down, guys. I'll get a belt and a hose kit for it
and do the coolant flush... ball joints were planned to come out due to
their pre-parked failed state. Fuel system needs inspected due to the
leak... but apparently it had been running last year and there was
Stabil dumped in when I parked it... no telling how much that actually
helped after this long.

Thanks again. Here's hoping for a good resurrection, provided the body
is willing.

JS

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Big Al - 30 May 2007 19:51 GMT

> It's been a while since I've really had V-8 torque under my right foot,
> and I'm thinking of getting one of my old 5.0s (a 1986 Mercury Capri
> 5-speed) put back together again. it's been sitting in a field for
> quite some time, though, and other than the paint and interior issues,
> what other things should be looked at while trying to make it a
> road-worthy car?

If you lived here in Tucson you would need to get the 4 tons of pack rat
stuff out of everything:)

Al

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