For Sale Highland Green 4-speed For Sale

[Mosesatm]

I'm going to look at this car on Wednesday, the 19th. I definitely don't want it at that price, or probably at all. I'll give it a full inspection in case anyone is interested in it.

 

[Mosesatm]

Here's the deal. The seller will go down to $30,000 but that's still more than I want to spend. I'm not saying the car isn't worth that amount but I'd need to put at least $5,000 into it to make it how I want. it's a great car with a few things that need to be fixed and I'd love to own it so please don't let all the negative things shown below scare anyone. Most of these items are easy fixes, but there are a lot of them.

My impressions:
- The paint is perfect except for one chip on the driver's side door ridge.
- It has an older 289 out of something. It's quite gutless
- The fog light brackets are missing
- The clutch doesn't engage until the pedal is all the way out. I don't know if that is an adjustment issue or a clutch issue.
- The brake pedal bushings are shot but the clutch pedal bushings are fine
- The windows roll up well except for the passenger rear - it's stuck
- Still running points, which could be one reason for its lack of power
- For some odd reason the hood turn signals are missing, the washers are missing, and the car has the wrong gas cap.
- It has the original style exhaust system.
- It has new convertible carpet which needs to be replaced with coupe carpet
- One shock tower is cut for access to the UCA
- The shifter is the sloppiest I've ever used. Shifting is pretty much a guess.
- The front tires (2011) rub in sharp turns
- It has the wrong seat belts and no shoulder belts
- The headliner is wrinkled at the rear C-pillar
- Tapping on the usual rust areas resulted in a lot of dull thuds instead of metallic tings
- It rides solid and tight but the steering box needs an adjustment
- The owner says it's running 3.55 gears but I don't think so
- Other small items that I can send to anyone who may be interested

 

[franklinair]

No P/S, PDB, A/C, would be a turn off for me. Plus some unknown maladies. JMHO.
I sold one nicer, well optioned for less $$.

Neil

 

[Mosesatm]

I think the engine is a late ‘70s or ‘80s 302. That would explain why it’s lacking in power.

 

[hatchdog]

Here’s a link to the Craiglist post.

https://spokane.craigslist.org/cto/d/rathdrum-68-mustang-california-special/6937957046.html


PS, Hey Neil, that sure is a good looking Highland Green GT/CS!

Mike

 

[franklinair]

Mike;
I had originally built it for ME.:smile:
I understand the new owners are happy with it.

Neil

 

[Mosesatm]

The owner of this car and I are still talking, and have more or less agreed on a price, but I'll need to sell one or both of my cars before I buy it.

The greatest challenge/problem with the car is its lack of power. I can do the basic tasks like carb, timing, and electronic ignition but I'm worried that Ford may have actually done more to the engine back in the 70s than those changes will fix. 302s from the Mustang II era produced a whopping 122-139 horses. Do any of you know what Ford did to drop the power that far? One thing was dropping the compression to 8.4 but that wouldn't lower the power to 130ish.

Is there a fairly simple way to get the power back up to the 200hp range where it should be? Will smaller combustion chamber heads, a better cam, and playing with the timing get it there?

I don't want to totally rebuild the engine or drop in a crate motor due to space limitations in my garage and my general laziness.:wink:

Thanks for any and all advice.

 

[franklinair]

Arlie;
I'd be talking to Rob about engine upgrades.
Off the top of my head, I'd first check compressions to see if its a tired engine.If they're acceptable then I'd think a cam upgrade, double row timing chain, 4BBL intake & carb.
If its a 70's era engine, IIRC, Ford detuned their engines for better mileage & pollution requirements. (Cam lobes were almost non existent, barely opening the valves.)

Neil

 

[Mosesatm]

The owner of this car wants it out of his shop so he'll sell it for $25,000. My car-buying mission is on hold so I'm going to have to pass on it.

 

[Mosesatm]

My delay is almost over so if no-one wants this car I'm going to buy it in three or four weeks.

 

[Mosesatm]

I think I figured out why this car was so low on power.
The Autolite 42 spark plugs were gapped at .40, the points were gapped at .04, and the vacuum advance was attached to the rear of the intake manifold. There was also what looks like mud in the distributor cap.

I haven't even gotten to the carb adjustments, timing, or compression test. With any luck a tune up will wake up the car.

Rob,
What do you know about a Holley 4412-2.

 

[1968Cally]

So you bought it! Are you happy with it? Do you think you got a good value for what you paid?

 

[Mosesatm]

So far I'm quite happy with it. It's running much better after the tune up.
I've noticed a couple surprises, like how the rear end makes some clunking noises but it's a locker so I don't know if the clunking is normal for those. I'm also going to have a bit of a challenge with the gas cap. The tail light panel is coming off next weekend so I can figure out what's going on with it.

 

[Ruppstang]

What is the structure under the cap? Is it part of the fiberglass tail light panel? I would assume that is why there is a twist of cap on it.

Judging from what you have posted so far you are going to have your work cut out for you on this one.

 

[Mosesatm]

Marty,
I can't figure out what's going on behind the panel. I'll check it out in the next couple weeks and fix it one way or another.

Another good surprise is that the engine is a '66/'67 block instead of a '77. That saves a lot of work and money.

Old cars are like a box of chocolates...…..

 

[robert campbell]

Just saw this post. Vacuum advance line should be off the carb. Dial in around 12 to 14 degrees of initial timing. The Holley 4412 is a 500 cfm two barrel. They are alright on larger engines such as a 390, but a bit of a gas hog on a 289/302. But it should perform ok. A good Autolite 2100 would be a better choice all the way around. Or upgrade to an Edelbrock 1403 500 CFM 4 barrel:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...1733674176587&utm_content=GSAPI+5ba2635f37202

Compression test would be very helpful to determine condition of the engine. The point gap problem was your biggest culprit for no power. A good points an condenser should run very close to a Pertronix system. The Pertronix just stays in tune way longer.

Rob

 

[Mosesatm]

I have a rebuilt 2100 sitting on a shelf but it’s a 1.02, which may be a little small. A 1.21 would probably work better. What was the stock carb?

Hmmm, I just looked it up. A '68 C-code apparently came with a 2100 using a 1.08 venturi and 48 jets. I may have a set of 1.08s in my parts bin. That still seems small, though.

 

[robert campbell]

The smaller one may run out of breath above 5,000 rpm, but it still should be ok. 48 jets sound small, but when coupled with a small venturi carb they work great.

Rob

 

[Mosesatm]

What is the structure under the cap? Is it part of the fiberglass tail light panel? I would assume that is why there is a twist of cap on it.

Judging from what you have posted so far you are going to have your work cut out for you on this one.

I removed the fiberglass tail light panel and found absolutely nothing wrong with the metal panel. The restorer either didn’t know the car was supposed to have a pop-off gas cap, or he didn’t realize he had to install it before he installed the fiberglass panel. I’m betting on the latter.

So far all the surprises with this car have been pleasant.

 

[Ruppstang]

I bet you are right. That would be a Oh crap moment.

Lucky for you!