[Ranger1]

I recently inherited my uncle's 65 Mustang, 97000 original miles, 289 2 bbl, auto trans. The tranny is leaking fluid and the motor is covered in oil, needs rebuilding. I can rebuild the motor, but need advice on the tranny. Is that a DIY or should I have it done, or purchase a swapout? I also would like advice on any mods I should make to the motor, such as electronic ignition. The car is in great shape, no rust except on the rear bumper, but does need to be painted. Thanks for any and all advice.

 

[Print Dad]

Hello Ranger1,
Welcome to the forums
There are several thoughts on this:
1. - Don't be in too much of a rush to rebuild anything. It does get a bit expensive. - I would only rebuild the engine if it needs it.
To determine this, do a compression check etc.
The oil all over could be from a simple set of valve cover gaskets or a leaky
sending unit.
2. - As for the tranni - - same advice. Find out if it works first then look at where the tranni fluid is leaking from. Perhaps pan gasket or valve.

For me rebuilding the tranni requires skille zi don't have. if the tranni needs rebuilding I would take it to someone.

I don't mean to dampen your desires but just spend the money where it is needed the most.

Best of luck and welcome. Print Dad

 

[fonzoayala88]

id clean the engine down, and the trani, and just inspect them. try and find out where its leaking from, and then go from there. u should also find out what ur uncles done to the car lately, has it been maintained properly. it might just need a good tune up, and a few gaskets.
besides that congratulations man.

 

[Ranger1]

My uncle passed away and it sat for the last 3 years. I know he maintained it well, and if I remember correctly those motors were famous for oil blowing out of defective PCV valves and for valve cover leaks. I'll pressure wash the motor, and see if I can determine where the tranny leaks are then go from there. I think I will go ahead and install an electronic ignition conversion. Are any of you familiar with Pertronix, or have any other suggestions?
Thanks for the help.

 

[ubugme19]

if you do swap out the tranny keep the old 1 wrapped up somewhere. I would assume it's original to the car. It's a numbers matching thing but anyway, congrats on your inheritance sorry for your loss though.

After a car sits for awhile the seals and gaskets tend to get hard and brittle. I'd probably pull the trans and replace the front seal, pan seal, modulator and any other gasket I could find. While the trans was out I'd remove the x member, pull the pan and replace the rear main seal. When you pull the rear main cap off sneak a peek at the bearing and while the pan is off shine a light into the cylinders to check for scars and such. I'd get it running before I did any of this to check the oil pressure and compression. If the oil pressure is low you can swap out the pump while you have the pan off.

The rear main seal is simple to do. After all that I'd pull the balancer off the front and replace that seal as well. Then the valve cover gaskets. Put it all back together and you should have no leaks for a long time, unless it is a power steering car. Seals and gaskets are cheaper than a rebuild and in some cases are just as good. You could do all of the above over a couple weekends and for probably less than $100.

I'm running a Mallory Uni-lite distributor with a hyfire box so I could'nt really can't help you on the electronic ignition cheaply. With that said I know guys that simply swapped their points for a pertronix ignitor setup and have no problems what so ever. Good luck with it.

 

[Ranger1]

Thanks for the info. I live is SC and the car is in NC. I'm probably going to tow it home soon and get started. I know the exhaust system is also rusted out, which is common, so I guess I'll go ahead and put duals on it when I make the repairs. Thanks for the info.
Owen

 

[desdain]

Are you wanting to do a full ignition conversion, or are you mainly interested in replacing the points and condenser? The Pertronix ignitor replacement for the mechanical points and condenser is a really good and maintenance free alternative. You'll never be stuck in the rain because your distributor cap got wet ;-)

However, a full electronic ignition conversion is both expensive and time consuming, and many times really tricky to get running properly.

For a daily driver or weekend cruiser get a set of good plugs and wires, and a Pertronix ignitor, and tune your carb properly. This will be your cheapest and easiest way to get a reliable pony.

 

[Ranger1]

I'm not looking to go the full conversion at this time, and I've read that the Pertronix gives good results, which you verified, so I think that is the way I will go. Thanks for the info.