About a year ago somebody tried to steal my Mustang (I hate Fords) and totaled my car. Before that I had an 89 Accord LXI that had a blown head gasket. I didn't have the time or money to fix it so I sold that to get the Mustang (didn't know I hated Fords then). When I saw a little DX on Craigslist for $700, I knew I had to buy it because these cars are so fun to drive.
I took the car for a test drive and the steering was awful, but I figured I could fix it. I made a deal with the guy who was selling it and bought it for $650. The car had 305,000 miles but the motor ran great (could be a replacement). I drove the car home and immediately threw the jack under the car to see the outer tie rod ends to be completely shot. So a trip to AutoZone and $20 got me a new set of tie rod ends. After throwing them on the car, the steering solidified quite a bit.
A month later I noticed that the steering was a little funky again. The upper ball joints were just about completely shot, so I ended up fixing changing the upper control arms (with a ton of help from this community).
Awhile passed and I blew the drivers tire and it was shredded on the inside, the passengers wasn't any better. Got some tires and went to get an alignment. The mechanic told me that the clutch was slipping and the brake pedal was "scary" and that I should send the car in for scrap (the nerve). The car was aligned anyways and I went on my way.
My next goal is to fix my swollen brake lines (probably about 26 years old), and replace the rear drums. I have a thread about the SE-I disc brake conversion as my next project because I hate drum brakes.
The exhaust was full of holes so I covered them with muffler tape, but I will need an exhaust system too. Does anybody have suggestions on a good cheap exhaust system?
The interior is almost prestine, minus the holey seats and carpet coming up and dirty. The dash has no cracks and the headliner looks new. I want new seats and a carpet, but since they aren't any kind of safety feature, I am not that worried about them. My ashtray will not stay in its socket though. If I budge it, the tray will fall off the tracks with no hesitation. I keep it open now but if there is a permanent fix, please let me know.
I found a maroon center console at the junkyard that was in used but great condition about 7 months ago or so (I have a thread about it here somewhere). I thought it was my lucky day and snapped that up immediately.
Other than that the only issue is with the exterior. It is rough, and I mean rough. There are rust spots on every panel of the car, although it hasn't eaten through. I really want to sand the rust off before it eats my metal but the car needs some body work and I can't afford that or paint. If I sand the rust off it will probably make it come back in more places. I will probably do the work myself as well but right now I don't have the tools or materials and can't afford those either. Does anybody know how I can stop the rust without compromising the body more?
The front window seal leaks, and the rear window had been caulked at one point. I believe a truck backed into the back of it at some point in time, the rear bumper has no damage, but there is a dent on the passenger quarter panel, as well as damage on the strip below the tail lights, and there is a hole in my right tail light casing. There is no prop rod and I damaged the hood slightly using my tire pick to prop the hood open when changing the control arms, so I will probably need a new hood. The last thing that I can think of is that the tail light clips that hold the tail lights to the trunk lid is are broken, so the tail lights are duct taped (not my idea) to the trunk lid. I will probably have to get a new lid to fix that unfortunately.
Anyway all in all I really love this car. It is a beast in the winter, and good on gas as well.
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