My dads first car

[Andrew]

Hello I’m Andrew. My dad worked hard to save up $600 when he was 13 and bought a 1973 Mustang Mach 1. A couple years later he bought a 1970 Mach 1. My grandfather took the 73 made it his own. Later he traded my uncle for an old ford f1. My uncle had it for a few years and gave it to my cousin. My cousin didn’t do anything with it. It just sat there and got in kinda rough shape. He fell on hard times and put it up for sale. I could not let the car my dad bought when he was 13 that has been in the family for 40 years leave the family. I’ve wanted this car since I was old enough to walk. And now it’s mine. I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to cars but I’m doing anything I can to learn. My hopes are to get this ole girl back to her former glory. The body is in decent shape interior is in great shape. The 351c under the hood is not in bad shape necessarily but as of right now turns over but doesn’t fire. Just bought a new battery. Was told it needs a new fuel pump but I’m not really sure about that. She’s been sitting for a while so I’m figuring some fuel cleaner a change of all fluids is a good place to start. Looking for suggestions. Thanks in advance. The green picture is when my dad first bought it the red is the car now.

 

[mach71351c]

Welcome from San Diego.

 

[Paul Schmidt]

Welcome from Orlando. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[Cleveland Crush]

Welcome to the forum Andrew! Real nice looking Stang to work on.
As to your "no start" condition, get yourself a spark tester and a remote starter, they're both inexpensive but invaluable for your underhood adventures (available at any auto parts store). This will help confirm or eliminate spark/ignition is your no start problem.

https://www.autozone.com/test-scan-...ster/1267200_0_0?searchText=spark+plug+tester

 

[73pony]

Welcome from Iowa. Make sure you are not running old gas through the carb etc. It turns to varnish and will cause a lot of problems. I would suggest a temp tank set up until the fuel tank and lines can be cleaned properly.

 

[rcadd1ct]

Welcome from Plano, Texas

 

[Hemikiller]

Welcome from CT.

Agree with the others to not run any old gas through the fuel system. If you're unfamiliar with the steps of reviving a car that's sat, try watching some of the videos on YouTube by Thunderhead289, Pole Barn Garage, Junkyard Digs and Vice Grip Garage. You'll see that they all follow the same basic procedures.

 

[cv_72mustang]

Welcome from PA.

 

[Andrew]

Welcome from Iowa. Make sure you are not running old gas through the carb etc. It turns to varnish and will cause a lot of problems. I would suggest a temp tank set up until the fuel tank and lines can be cleaned properly.

This is probably a dumb question and I apologize for that but last time it ran was about 2 years ago. So fuel cleaner or conditioner would NOT be sufficient to get it fired up after that amount of time? Once again I’m sure it’s pretty self explanatory but just thought it might be worth asking.

 

[Hemikiller]

This is probably a dumb question and I apologize for that but last time it ran was about 2 years ago. So fuel cleaner or conditioner would NOT be sufficient to get it fired up after that amount of time? Once again I’m sure it’s pretty self explanatory but just thought it might be worth asking.

Today's fuel doesn't do well with sitting around for years. The cautious approach is to disconnect the fuel system at the pump and run it off a tank of fresh fuel.

At a minimum, drain the tank of the old fuel and blow the tank to pump line out with compressed air and carb cleaner. You can then dilute whatever nastiness is left in the tank with fresh fuel. If you go this route, you need to add a filter between the fuel supply line and the pump inlet.

 

[Andrew]

Today's fuel doesn't do well with sitting around for years. The cautious approach is to disconnect the fuel system at the pump and run it off a tank of fresh fuel.

At a minimum, drain the tank of the old fuel and blow the tank to pump line out with compressed air and carb cleaner. You can then dilute whatever nastiness is left in the tank with fresh fuel. If you go this route, you need to add a filter between the fuel supply line and the pump inlet.

Ok thanks so much i appreciate all the help!

 

[Bill Perkins]

Welcome from Opelika, Alabama