1998 GT convertible

http://www.autostyles.com/prod01care.htm
http://www.worlduph.com/topcare.htm
http://www.premiumautocare.com/convertible-top-care.html
http://www.karonline.com/cleaninginstructions.html
http://www.properautocare.com/besprodforco.html
http://www.autogeek.net/motcontopcle.html

No ArmorAll on the top!

Are you familiar with clay bars? - there's some good car finish tips at:
http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc
and the photos of customer cars are hot.

Light bar: http://www.classicdesignconcepts.com/catalog/Ford_Mustang/Light_Bars/

Time to check all those important things:
tire pressure !!
fluid levels !!
condition of belts & hoses
condition of pads/rotors/shocks
condition of air filter
condition of jack, spare, tools
whereabouts of the key/lug to the wheel locks
the leather probably needs some conditioner & maybe shampoo carpets & trunk
if the dealer did not do this, it would be a good time to change oil/filter - lets you know for sure where to start from - good time to switch to synthetics.

It's easy to get big eyes when you come in here w/us crazy folks and start thinking about changing this & that -- if you never changed anything on that car, it would still be sweet. Great color combo on great body style. One of the best looking convertibles around for sure. I feel the light bar actually detracts from the lines of the car (in additon to being heavy & pricey) when the top is down and I won't be putting one on my 2001. If the boot for the convertible top, visible in one of my pics, wasn't included with yours they can be found on EBay for $75-100. Really helps to clean up the look when top is down. Might want to remove the lower cushion to the rear seat (easy) and check under there for moisture, leaves etc. Mine needed some cleaning up.

Don't know if you're interested in Shelby cars (Cobras, GT-350's, etc.) but the 2006 SAAC get-together is in Danville, VA at VIR - a great chance to see how the legend got started:

SAAC-31
Virginia International Raceway
Danville, VA
June 30-July 1-2, 2006
www.saac.com

Have fun/drive safely -- Jeff

Thanks Jeff. When I first got the car it kinda stunk a little inside and today I was in the backseat and was looking around, and where the top lays when its down, there was a moldy wet jacket, a shirt, pair of pants and a old shoe. They all had mold on them, and stunk horribly. It was a little damp back there so I dried it out, then sprayed febreeze and wiped it up and then threw a air freshener back there. Ive got armorall on all the dash and doors, and have the inside clean. Its full of brake fluid, power steering fluid, oil (of course). Tire pressures are all the same. Then when I opened the trunk (I had seen it before I bought it. But but of the covers that go over the spare tire were wet so I set them out to dry, along with the top cover. spare tire is there with the jack, and the sockets, and all of that. I crawled around to see what kind of exhaust I had, and it's a Y pipe with dual somethings, they are just gray mufflers with no names written on them, so I guess Ill never know. I went to check the air filter , but I couldnt figure out how to get the cover off, I know it sounds stupid but I couldnt. I took the clamp off and jiggled the housing around, and never could seem to get it aloose. So everything looks good, Ive just gotta get the stink out, its not bad but it doesent smell good.

trash said:

Thanks Jeff. When I first got the car it kinda stunk a little inside and today I was in the backseat and was looking around, and where the top lays when its down, there was a moldy wet jacket, a shirt, pair of pants and a old shoe. They all had mold on them, and stunk horribly. It was a little damp back there so I dried it out, then sprayed febreeze and wiped it up and then threw a air freshener back there. Ive got armorall on all the dash and doors, and have the inside clean. Its full of brake fluid, power steering fluid, oil (of course). Tire pressures are all the same. Then when I opened the trunk (I had seen it before I bought it. But but of the covers that go over the spare tire were wet so I set them out to dry, along with the top cover. spare tire is there with the jack, and the sockets, and all of that. I crawled around to see what kind of exhaust I had, and it's a Y pipe with dual somethings, they are just gray mufflers with no names written on them, so I guess Ill never know. I went to check the air filter , but I couldnt figure out how to get the cover off, I know it sounds stupid but I couldnt. I took the clamp off and jiggled the housing around, and never could seem to get it aloose. So everything looks good, Ive just gotta get the stink out, its not bad but it doesent smell good.

Click to expand...

1) the moisture in the car - we may have a bad weatherstrip someplace or some plain neglect by previous owner but it's still serious. Do pull the bottom rear seat cushion out; you just push the whole thing towards the rear and pull up - may have to push the seat belts through it when removing. Mine had moldy leaves and junk that got in there when the top was down. The Fabreeze & air freshener hide the smell, not fix it. You want something stronger: Lysol? Mild bleach & water solution? - be really careful if use bleach not to get it on anything. Your parents may have some good suggestions. Look at the weatherstrip around the trunk lid for cracks or dry rot. Mine was okay but am sure previous owner left top down in rain and top also has small hole on one side. It's important to your long term enjoyment of the car to try and solve this soon. I eventually replaced the carpeting in my car as a final step. Might be a detailing shop in your area that has professional shampoo equipment? Good place to work a few hours a week to learn some tricks and get some stuff done to your car for cheap or free? You did the right thing by taking the pieces out of the trunk to dry; did you check under spare to see if it was wet there as well and check under the interior carpet someplace? If carpet is also damp, I truly suggest taking it out so you can really clean underneath. Finding source of water leak, if any, is important.

2) Air filter: using the search "air filter replacement" AND mustang AND 4.6, I came up with the following:
http://www.mustangworld.com/ourpics/fcar/knln1.htm
http://www.mustangworld.com/ourpics/fcar/intke.htm
should help

3) tools - did you find the lug for the wheel locks? Easier to find it now than at 2:00am in the rain. Do you know how to remove the center cap from the alum wheels and where to put jack? Does spare have correct air pressure? Way easier to check in garage than on side of road.

4) Lowering springs - these cars are lowered by using shorter springs; ideally, a spring/shock combo. - I'd be real surprised if one of the Forum members didn't have a stock set laying around. May be that someone simply cut some off of your car's stock springs. Problem is that stock height is really high; maybe there's a compromise, for example, the springs from the Bullitt special edition which are known to be a bit stiff but only lower car around 3/4". Yours is down 1 1/2" I'd say. Look at classifieds here, at corral.net, and on Bullitt forums: www.imboc.com. I did not save stockers from mine or could help you out. The car DOES look better slightly lowered but understand your driveway issues. If you can live w/that for a bit, I think some other things are more important but your call.
http://www.mustangtuning.com/springs.html

5) Tire pressure - you said they're all the same - what was the pressure? shouldn't be more than around 32 cold.

Let me know if I can help more.

The spare tire and all the tools were dry so I think the underside of that is dry, but Ill check anyway. Tommarow Ill have to check under the backseats and all that. I might have a leak but I washed it today, and I never found any leaks. I think this guy either had a leak, and the clothes got wet and then he got the leak fixed, or he let a wet top down on the clothes and left them there. Ill spray some lysol back there tommarow, maybe that'll take the smell out. But ill be sure to check tommarow. I think the tools were all there but I need to double check, cause you never know what might happen. The tires were about 29/30. Im 15 and over the past summer, and fall Ive been working trying to put forth as much money to this as I could. I ended up with 4400 dollers and my parents payed off the rest, and Ive got to pay them back the majority of the money they had to pay, and I got insurance on the car today when the bill comes I have to pay whatever extra it is for the mustang, so I dont think ill have the money to be doing any lowering or lifing or much of anything right now. Turn 16 in april so Ill have a while to get things straight with it. Then my Big insurance bill comes haha. Thanks for your input, have a good one. ooh btw my name is matt.

Thanks yall, I cant wait till I get my liscense so I can drive it more often, im still 15. I gotta look at some of the cleaning tips for the top. I was wondering what is the best thing to do for scratches? There are more than a few up front and I accidently made a long deep scratch in my trunk with an antenna My touch up paint is all dried up. I suppose ford sells touchup paint? and maybe even walmart or autozone has a close color. I do plan to go to the drag strip this summer mainly just to see what it will do, and maybe race some ricers but Im pretty sure any modified GT will beat mine unless the driver cant drive. The closest one to here is a 1/8th mile though, but its still a drag strip :tongue Im all for stop light grandprix's from zero to the speed limit but i really dont need a ticket and cant afford one. Im gonna try my best to be safe, alot of the older guys who were around in the 60's and 70's are telling me all the time that my car will hurt me and Im trying to take all that to heart, but Its so hard not to drive it for all its worth.

YEAH glad to hear that you've made the best choice, a Mustang of the year 1998, the BEST YEAR for modular stangs
congradulatins on not listening to all the 99+ lovers I'm proud of ya



This is my 1998 mustang GT convertible