Finally got her home

[bigvin]

I finally got my 86' home. Long story short, I went back down to South Jersey with insurance and plates in hand as well as some minor maintenance stuff but was unable to get the ole girl home. After cleaning the TB and IAC, new air filter, fresh oil change, topping off the fuel and adding some berrymans b12 chemtool...she made it around a 1/2 mile before sputtering to a dead stop. Pulled 2 plugs and they seemed fine. had spark and we didn't have a fuel pressure meter and being it was already late in the afternoon so what else to do?... called for roadside assistance. When they loaded her on the flatbed it was apparent that we hadn't checked the tires as well as we should have so even though they had around 75% tread left and looked good at a quick glance during first inspection in the rain.... the dry rot on all 4 tires was crazy since we were able to view them at eye level now. My insurance asked whether to tow to a Ford dealer NOT!!!!!!!
So lesser of the 2 evils was the next choice I was given Pepboys! lol

Their Ford tech/guru/primadonna as they called him wasn't in that day so I would have to wait for him to diagnose the following day which was Sunday. The culprit was the fuel pump, sporadic pressure drops and wouldn't get higher than 19 psi which explains why the car wasn't even able to turn over at that point never mind hold an idle. So after all is said and done, my bargain coupe find aint no bargain no more after a fuel pump install and 4 tires later (white walls of course) but was able to get her home last night Tucked away in the back of my driveway and visions of what she will look like, slowly but surely she will finally get the love she deserves and a fresh start in life. BOX LOVE!

My bad for not noticing the tires but it wouldn't have made a difference, I would have still bought the car and couldn't have offered any less than I had offered for it. She just looked too damn good.

Some pics of the under carriage, floors/frame/rockers and the trunk pan as well as the tires I never would have made it home 77 mile with because I'm frickin blind. A blow out was a guarantee


.

[adam.w.ackerman]

i've run worse.........on trailers.

[DerekTheGreat]

I've run better and experienced tread delamination at 75 mph. If you're going to be running over 50 miles one way, don't chance old, shitty tires. They get pretty violent when they let go at speed so it's just not worth it.

[BlackVic_P71]

Yeah, I had a tire come apart on the highway once when I borrowed my dad's car...bought a new set that afternoon so it wouldn't happen to him.

[87gtVIC]

John works at a Pepboys in SOuth Jerseyish area.....He is off Saturdays and works sundays....Hmmmm

[gadget73]

Primadonna Ford expert, must have been John.

[Rodentkiller]

I know the feeling when the fuel pump take a crap i my case my car barely ran but it idled so the only way was burn a tow to my go to shop and order the fuel pump.

[knucklehead0202]

I've driven a lot of sketchy shit but tires have always been a thing for me. I don't fuck around with tires. I drove my zephyr wagon 600 miles with a blown head gasket(only losing compression) and it sounded like a helicopter. I only changed the oil in it once, lol. It leaked so much it was always clean. My buddy overfilled the t5 in my '90 mustang so much that it puked fluid whenever run hard. Only time I ever had a tire blowout was when I fell asleep at the wheel and drove off the highway at 90mph in said zephyr wagon. Hitting the frontage road 20 or so feet below blew 3 of the tires off the bead, leading to a long, profanity-filled slide back to the embankment that rolled us back onto the highway. "Volvo my ass" my brother intoned. Long story short, tires are important. Don't fuck about.

Glad to hear you got a new baby home and nobody here is going to judge you for spending money on it, least of all me. I paid a grand for my other '90, which I promptly sunk probably 5k or so into, only to have it wrecked by some scumbag in a situation where thanks to sanctuary state California, I was paid absolutely nothing for my misfortune. I paid twice as much for another '90 and have already made way to spend WAY more money on it because; love. I fucking love these silly cars and intend to own many of them. It is heartening to know that there are other out there that share the same affliction. Long live the panthers!

[DerekTheGreat]

..Long story short, tires are important. Don't fuck about..

Glad to hear you got a new baby home and nobody here is going to judge you for spending money on it, least of all me. I paid a grand for my other '90, which I promptly sunk probably 5k or so into, only to have it wrecked by some scumbag in a situation where thanks to sanctuary state California, I was paid absolutely nothing for my misfortune. I paid twice as much for another '90 and have already made way to spend WAY more money on it because; love. I fucking love these silly cars and intend to own many of them. It is heartening to know that there are other out there that share the same affliction. Long live the panthers!

This is why cars are money pits. IMO they're really like electronics in that they're the worst investment you can make, short of having Jay Leno money/caliber. Some days I wish I had another hobby but it's too late for me.

[bigvin]

Money well spent on this one at least. I tend to be frugal with some things and others not so much ...example: that'll be the day I spend $600 on a phone (budget $129 android owner here with pay as I go). But my cars get some lovin'.
The Pepboys I was at was the one in Marlton NJ. I never got the name of the Ford tech there but all I heard is that he was going to be VERY excited to be looking my car over, so it sounded like another panther owner to me... find out what store John works at, it'll be interesting to know.
Waiting for an OEM replacement mirror glass for the driver side door mirror, get my inspection the end of the week because I just have a temp on it for right now.
Need to check the front rotors/calipers. During the highway ride with no heavy braking it felt great but as soon as I got it closer to home and things were stop and go the pedal vibration/flutter got pretty bad. It wasn't that way when I left Jersey and I 1st got on the road so either have paper thin rotors that were cut a few times and are now warped or a caliper isn't releasing all the way and warped them. I don't seem to have an exhaust leak like I thought, the air lines that feed both cats have some nice size rot holes in them so for now I need to get underneath and at least try to hose and clamp them. Other than that she runs, rides and feels great. All the rest is cleanup and cosmetic stuff. Going to try rubbing out whatever paint is left on the hood, roof and trunk and add a coat of wax to determine if I can live with it as is. While waiting for the tow truck, me and my son in-law got most of the clear coat off with our finger nail so half the job is done . Driving behind the tow was funny because all of the shit we scraped off was flying all over the place lol. Well thanks for the moral/mental support guys, I was starting to feel like "what the fk did I get myself into" for a minute but then snapped out of it.
The wife aint beatin' me up but I tend to beat up myself sometimes.

[DerekTheGreat]

I hate buying cars that have sat. When we bought our GMC C3500 animals had made a nest out of the engine bay at some point. That truck shit acorns for weeks on the expressway

[knucklehead0202]

I hate buying cars that have sat. When we bought our GMC C3500 animals had made a nest out of the engine bay at some point. That truck shit acorns for weeks on the expressway

Now that's funny shit right there.

As for bad decisions Vin, this doesn't sound like one to me. Just another chapter really. I scope cars on CL all the time and get relieved when they sell before I do anything about it. I know me, i'll go buy that shit if only because I went to the trouble to look at it and it isn't "that bad" lol.

[DerekTheGreat]

To someone else it may not be a great decision but you have to ask yourself if it was worth it to you and if you're still smiling about said purchase. If you are, then OK. Just don't go trying to sell it expecting to get every nickel back out of it...

[86VickyLX]

Hi Vinny. I work at that pepboys haha. The Ford Master tech was the only one to diagnose on Sunday. He being the greedy bastard he is, wouldn't let me do the job. But I'll tell you this much, though he's kind of a pompous ass, he's a very good tech. I put the tires on and made the decision to put the white walls out. I hope you liked that. Also replaced your headlight and reverse lights. Would definitely replace those reverse lenses as they're cracked. Had I known it was you, I would've told you to tell them that you were one of my friends and I could've gotten you a better price.

[GM_Guy]

Of all the randomn Pep Boys to be towed to, you got the right one. =-)

Alex.