Well, I finished my wiring on my ignition system today, and decided to fire up the Mustang after all that hard work and see how it'd paid off...
Cranked a few times to build up fuel pressure and oil pressure, got both up there, pumped the pedal twice, and turned the key one more time...
BINGO! Baby fired right up like she should and settled into a nice steady idle. I noticed a leak at one of the gaskets on the Holley though, so I shut it right off, thrilled to have it back running.
I called my dad to tell him the good news, and get out my wrench to tighten the banjo fitting at the carburetor that's leaking, and my screwdrivers to fix the idle mixture that's way off (exhaust smoke was proof enough).
I get the screws turned in a turn apiece, tighten the fitting, and fire it up again. This time there were no leaks at the carb, so I start fiddling with the mixture screws again, trying to get it steadied a bit.
Well, I'd left the radiator cap loose so the system could burp a bit, but I wasn't ready for what happened all of 30 seconds after I got it running well (less than 3 minutes after I started it the second time).
Apparently, the car has at least a blown head gasket. She'd been overheating all summer, but flushing out the system had helped some, and she'd held 20psi in a pressure test for a few hours, so I'd ruled out a head gasket at the time. That radiator cap shot off of the inline filler from the pressure, and the foamy stuff being shot out of the overflow hose were dead giveaways something horrible had gone wrong, and checking my oil confirmed my fears.
It's not like this is a major setback, I've got two more 302s sitting in the garage, one from an '88 Mustang with forged pistons that is fresh from the machine shop and just waiting to be re-assembled (forged pistons and all), and another from a '95 Ford Econoline that has a burned piston, but is otherwise in great shape. I'm a flywheel, cam, and rebuild kit away from having the car running again, but I was kind of hoping to drive it while I built it's next engine instead of it sitting and waiting on it. I was also hoping to give my dad the engine from this car (which turned out during the installation of the new top-end parts to be a much better vintage of 302 than the original (late 60s block and heads) and would've done nicely powering his Capri, but it's not like we don't still have options there either.
Oh well, I'd been looking for an excuse to blow a few grand on the new goodies for the new engine, and now I have it!
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1976 Ford Mustang II Ghia: 302 with a 600cfm Edelbrock carb, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Dynomax Blackjack headers, 2.5" exhaust with Flowmaster Super 44s. RJS 11-gallon fuel cell, C4 tranny, chrome 16" pony wheels, fuzzy dice, brown vinyl half-top, and painted in the tackiest color ever (harvest gold, that's why I call it "The Goldenrod").
Also have a 2003 Dodge Ram (lightly modded daily driver/tow rig/office/dining room/home away from home/workshop... I call it "The Big Blue Dawg".)
ohh i know that feeling when i finally got mine threw the parts in that my in laws mechanic...(did not get to diagnose the problems fist hand.) thought it needed. cused kicked hit busted knucke and hit my head on the wall tring to get it to run right...after it ran right it required a few more hits to the head because it was stupidly easy
was to fix so hence forth mine is called stubborm mule best f luck to ya bud i hope she gets up from her limping and comes back screaming
Won't be driving "Butterscotch" for awhile. 
best f luck to ya bud i hope she gets up from her limping and comes back screaming
