My first car was a 1974 Mustang II. I actually WANTED a Mustang II. I had initially saved up about $500. I started car shopping specifically for a Mustang II, but then due to an accident (not in a car), I ended up in the hospital, and the money was gone.
Later, I saved up money again. A buddy of mine and I went to a can auction. I found a 1974 Mustang II and bought it for $425. It was green, had a V6 engine, and a vinyl top. It was actually a sporty looking little car.
I was driving my new (used) car home on the freeway with my buddy following me. About 5 miles from the auction lot, my car suddenly lost power, and I pulled over to the side of the road. No matter what we tried, we could not get it to start again. We towed it home.
I had it taken to a mechanic, and the mechanic said the timing gears slipped. The engine was toast. He dropped in a used 6 cylinder engine, and got it running. My $425 car got more expensive, and I only had driven it 5 miles.
This became my daily driver. Over time, I found that oil was not getting to the top end to lubricating the rocker arms and push rods. So the push rods would wear down. I would periodically pour oil over the rocker arms, and re-adjust the tappets. I got pretty good at this. And it got about 19mpg I think, which wasn’t bad, since gas wasn’t that expensive then. The 1974 engines had had a bunch of anti-pollution stuff added on. But a previous own had apparently removed a bunch of it.
One day on a trip to the ocean, I got stuck behind a lady doing 10 mph below the speed limit. I was stuck behind this lady for close to 20 miles. It was a windy twisty road where it was not safe to pass. Cars stacked up behind this lady She would slow down for every curve. If the warning sign suggested 40mph, she would slow down to 30 mph. Signs said it was illegal to delay more than 5 vehicles, but she ignored these signs, and never pulled off in the spots for this. Finally we hit a straight away where I could pass. I went to pass her, and she sped up. I found myself doing close to 80 mph trying to get around her. I had a truck coming at me, when I finally managed to get over in front of her. It was then when I heard a loud rattling coming from my engine. I knew what it was. I pulled over to the side of the road and popped the hood. I had tools with me. I always had tools with me with this car. A push rod had popped out of place. It took me about 10-15 minutes to put the push rod back, and readjust the tappets. If there was ever someone deserving a little road rage…
I eventually replaced this car with my 1967 Mustang. The 1974 Mustang II lay dormant in my Mom’s driveway. When my 1967 Mustang was wrecked beyond repair, I tried to get the Mustang II running again. The engine had frozen. I didn’t know how to fix it then. I ended up having it towed away to a wrecking yard. Too bad we didn’t have the internet back then. I could have easily looked up the solution unfreezing it.
My Mustang II was- by very far- the worst car I ever owned. It had the four-banger; got (maybe) 20 MPG on a good day. It’s “get up and go” had “got up and went”; coluld barely get out of it’s own way. The electrical system was a disaster; the front suspension was a joke. I had a better idea- never by another Ford product!
Comment by Patrick — February 20, 2010 @ 9:02 pm