A 180 point inspection?

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Joined
Jun 14, 2019
Messages
551
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Location
Coachella Valley (Palm Springs)
My Car
1973 Convertible, 351 4v CJ, C6, Mach 1 Decor options, power: steering, brakes and windows, a/c, Rally Pac gauges, Deluxe interior.
[url=https://ibb.co/ZVjjKXW][img]https://i.ibb.co/zrMMbxG/s-l1600-2.jpg[/img][/url]
I’m a little stuck trying to figure out what next on my ‘73 Q code ‘vert, with some things still undone, and a majority of what I expect is needed being beyond my personal capabilities (welding, paint, etc). Plus there are things I’m sure I’m not even considering for the long term — after all the car starts, runs and drives giving me great joy, and sometimes that’s enough.

With all that said, I see the Mustang Shop San Diego does a 180 point inspection to tell ya just what needs fixing. Does anyone have experience with them? It would be a two hour tow so I can’t take it lightly. While I’ve found (mostly) great mechanics for different parts of restoration locally, beyond this forum I’ve not found any Mustang experts I can turn to.

Good idea or not? Given it will involve a two hour tow to and back, I know it won’t be cheap. What’s a good range you’d expect for the 180 point inspection price?

Or do you think I should continue to wing my way through locally with each item as I see them? Am I just suffering resto-fatigue? 🤷‍♂️
 
Gotta say a two hour tow is kinda crazy. Find a decent reviewed local independent shop to do this. A decent inspection takes about an hour so expect to pay an hours labor to do this. If the shop does not charge for an inspection, choose a different shop as you get what you pay for.

180 point inspection is standard on every car in a decent shop.
 
I would not tow a car for back and forth for 2 hours for an inspection. If the car has not never been restored, and has a good amount of mileage, it probably needs basically everything. To tow the car 2 hours to have someone tell you you need everything, is not worth the time or money. For what you will spend towing the car back and forth buy all new components for your front suspension, steering and brakes. When you look at these cars nowadays, if they have not been restored, they usually need all new steering, suspension, and the brakes to start. Even if some components are still serviceable, like some ball joints or tie rod ends, the rubber boots are always cracked and falling apart, and the parts just will not last. All rubber components after 50 years have undoubtedly perished. So your brake hoses, bushings, any rubber boots, engine hoses, will all need to be replaced. If the engine and transmission are working fine, they are probably leaking and you will need to reseal them, same for the rear end. I know that this is not what anyone wants to hear, but it is just the way it goes with these old cars.
If you just want to take care of what needs immediate replacement, and just keep the serviceable parts going, you should be able to use local mechanics. There are always old school guys locally that work on old muscle cars. These cars are very simple, and anyone of them can tell you what needs to be replaced immediately and what can wait. Find one of them and have them look at the car for you.
You can always take photos of the parts you want an opinion on and post them here. Members will be more than happy to help. There are also a ton of videos on YouTube on what to look for and how to replace it.
 
I think they would just see dollar signs bringing in an old car for a 180 point inspection. If it was an inspection to purchase the car, then ya that would be a good idea. But if you can’t do any basic mechanical repairs because of health or other reasons, then I would definitely find a local shop if possible.
If you are able to do some repairs but not sure what or how to do them, then you are at the right place. Everyone here will help you out with any questions you have. The guys on here have done everything from basic repairs to full rotisserie restorations. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!
 
That's why now-a-days oil changes are so cheap at dealers. They include a XXX-point inspection for "free". Off course, they are doing you a favor:unsure: They will find a few things that need immediate replacement and since they have you there they will be glad to fix them for $$$$$$.
 
@tony-muscle
Over here you get the inspection during the so called "APK", the 2 yearly tech control for cars older than 40 years. They test brakes and steering the most. Then inspect closely the state of corrosion of the body.
While for my wife's car by some kind of magic, the small stuff like wipers and many other details that they have on the shelves or that can be obtained within max a day are always defect or should be replaced asap. For my mustang, they are more honest or better said, unless something is really wrong, as they know that even if I would agree to let them touch it (over my dead body) if they'd find something, they would not even know where to find the parts. Aware that giving a price up front for a repair on a car that they have never seen before is a bad idea. They know the car would occupy a lift for xxx days, so by magic, all goes smooth and you end up with "tech recommandations".

Cheap oil changes doesn't exist over here. They charge insane prices to loose that bolt, watch the oil drip and refill with the cheapest oil they have bought by the tens of gallons! I won't even talk about "real" maintenance prices. Here shops use fees per hour as if they were rocket engineers! It's beyond me how so many people accept to pay that much for so little.
 
That's why now-a-days oil changes are so cheap at dealers. They include a XXX-point inspection for "free". Off course, they are doing you a favor:unsure: They will find a few things that need immediate replacement and since they have you there they will be glad to fix them for $$$$$$.
I used to own an auto repair shop in the early 2000's. We would send tons of coupons out once a month for the special $14.95 oil change, and tire rotation. We used good oil and filters, can't remember the brands now although I am pretty sure the oil filters were Purolator. The idea was to get cars in and be able to check them from underneath, for any leaks, and to look at all the suspension/steering components, and do a tire rotation so that we could look at the brakes, and by changing the oil we could look at air filters, belts, hoses etc... Almost every older car on the road needs something, so we would basically do a complete inspection on the car and let the owner know what needed doing, without specifically having to ask to do an inspection. If we did not get any additional work we lost money on the oil change, but we used to get at least a half dozen cars that needed a ton of work, that would make the loses worthwhile.
 
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