How to keep a Mustang healthy

[Vinnie]

Hey folks,

I bought my '73 Mustang a little over 3 years ago and I still love the car. I don't see it very often however due to mainly 2 reasons:

1) Family life.

2) It's parked a half hours drive away

The car is pretty solid but every winter I try to do a few improvements and I had it checked in a garage once where a few unseen issues were fixed.

During the summer I try to take it out for 15-60 minute rides but that only happens maybe 8 times. The rest of the time it sits in a garage under a cover where it's dry and not freezing in winter.

I do worry a bit about this not being great for the car. The tyres seems to loose their shape a bit, nothing has been moving for nearly 6 months now.

I'm wondering about a few things now:

a) Which things need to be checked before safely taking it out on the road again?

b) What can/should I do to store the car this way whilst keeping it in shape?

Thanks,

Vincent.

 

[72HCODE]

for spring start up, i usually jack up the car take off the tires and inspect the brake system for rott, damage, leaks.

this also lets me inspect the suspension for problems. one year i found my spring isolators and perch had fallen apart. i had no indication of a problem so the inspection reveled it. inspect the brake hoses, every 2-3 years i flush the brake fluid and replace it, just to keep it fresh.

push the brake pedal make sure its solid.

2-3 years replace coolant as it will turn into acid over time and eat water pumps, rads etc...

transmission check the fluid see whats leaking under the car try to deal with it.

rear end check if the seal is leaking or other leaks have started to occur.

Regrease the Zurks every 2-3 years, inspect driveshaft for play and zerks re grease.

inspect the tires for cracking tires last about 5 years before they start to become unsafe.

inspect fuel lines, Ethanol will damage rubber. i've had to replace soft fuel lines twice thanks to this garbage fuel.

you may need to inspect the carb or clean it out from time to time.

every since holley came out with the ethanol conversion kit for my old 4150 things have been ok but i always keep an eye out.

usually do an oil and filter change cause it is easy to do and i inspect the oil and filter for problems like pieces of the engine where it shouldn't be. this save me 2 times as i found parts in the oil that didn't belong and had no visible engine issues.

make sure you keep the battery on a minder.

so once the inspection is done and all the fluids look ok, take a look at the engine wiring make sure no mice have found them and chewed on them.

this can be a fire starter so you want to look for signs of a nest and wires getting damaged.

since it is short term storage at this point i go for pre start up,,, kick the motor over and run the starter for like 15-30 seconds to prime the fuel system and make sure the battery is good. push the throttle pedal to set the choke to start position and set the fast idle.

then start her up.

fill up the tires to pressure.

check brakes again. go in reverse and hard stop 1-2 times to set the star adjusters in the drums. go for a ride and make sure everything is working and shifting ok.

last year when i put it away i found a suspension issue that i will deal with in april or may when i do my spring start up.

i looked my my car in December and i saw some additional stuff i will need to tighten up in the spring.

basically putting the car away depends on how long we are talking about 6months to year and you don't have to do much to store the car, a battery tender is a must, maybe disconnect the clock if you have one... the old mechanical clock in our cars can be an issue if you do not use a battery minder.

the coils inside the clock fire off switches for the movement, when the battery gets low the coils can get stuck on and then burn out so some people disconnect the clocks.

over a year in storage and then you have to take additional steps like putting the car on jack stands.

 

[Vinnie]

Thanks for that extensive reply! There are definitely things there I can do myself. For fluid related things I might have to bring it in to a garage though.

Which parts of the fuel line are made of rubber? I recently replaced the ones in the engine bay. The long stretch is metal no?

And I probably should start saving for new tyres...

Cheers!