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My 2005 Mustang for $1,300

35K views 374 replies 77 participants last post by  doublec78 
#1 ·
Ok so I bought another mustang (in addition to my wife's). BUT this was pretty much a deal I couldn't pass up. Since I'm driving the Saturn right now, I think that this will make for a better daily driver than the Saturn, and I have every intention of either dropping a 5.0 into it, or if I'm too lazy I'll just flip it for a profit when I'm done. And it's kinda cool cause it's the same model and color as my wife's.

Story is I had a girl trade this 05 mustang in for a Jeep. After much arguing with my manager who wanted to give her $5k for her car, I convinced him to give her $1000 for it. Had to replace the battery in her Jeep and since we weren't making any money on the deal in the first place, boss said he was tacking it onto the cost of the trade making it $1200. I get to buy cars for $100 over our cost, hence $1,300 mustang.

It's Satin Silver exactly like my wifes, even has the same black stripe and all. V6 Automatic with red leather. Now let's get into the bad. This girl was the biggest pig you've seen in your entire life. Here's some pics from when I first traded the car in.



The disgusting trunk








And yes if you're wondering, those are thank god unused tampons laying in the back.


Day 1
So after getting a ****ing mask and gloves, I start emptying the trunk out.


Yes that is her nasty ass old underwear and bra in the trunk



Along with empty vodka bottles, fast food wrappers, and more I found 9 of these in the trunk. Apparently she would just eat yogurt, and toss the empty container into the trunk.




Day 2
Moved to the inside. Let us look at how disgusting this ***** was.
The film of dirt on every inch of everything


That's not discoloration, it's a film of dirty nasty **** over it.


Yep, that black **** is mold on the leather


And yes that white **** you see in the back of all the trash, had some mold in the carpet.


I don't even know how the **** she got stuff down into the shifter.


So I pull out the extractor and scrub brush and hit the carpet with hot water, and some chemicals.


Day 3
Decided to get to work on some of the interior stuff. Let us look at the E-brake. Groce!




Not perfect, but much better.


Now lettuce see what made me almost puke. I start using a screw driver to chip the stuck coins out of the drink holder.

But one of the detailers gave me some all purpose to spray in and leave it over night.


I come back and find that some of it has drained. Oh great, now it's a sludge and where did the liquid go? Well I put some gloves on and start feeling around to find that there is what appears to be a hole in the rear of the cup holder. But it isn't. There is apparently and insert in there I didn't know about.


What I found under the insert almost made me puke.
cup holder liquid - YouTube

So I took the wet vac and sucked it out, then got to cleaning.
cleaning the cupholders - YouTube

They came out pretty good.


---------- Post added at 12:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:30 PM ----------

Moving on to the dash...
So much groce



Film on everything



But after many much scrubbing and a lot of all purpose


^Not to bad!

 
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#129 ·
Having worked at a car wash in high school 10 years ago, I can appreciate the work you did cleaning this thing up. I just read this entire thread and want to see the story continue, lol.


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#134 ·
^ That there is what you call a keeper.
 
#139 ·
Well I went and picked the thing up last night, let it run for 10 minutes while I talked to the mechanic. Checked, no leaks or fluids so I got in and headed home. About halfway home steam was pouring from under the hood. I checked and coolant was pouring out. Unfortunately, it was dark so I couldn't tell where, but it looks like possibly the water pump. Not sure.

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#140 ·
You just cannot catch a break with this car, can you? At least its probably just a gasket. Hopefully.

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#144 · (Edited)
Meh, I paid the shop $1,040 total for all this. I'm coming out on top in this big time. I didn't think it'd be anything too bad and it wasn't.

That sucks man. So much work to put into this thing to have it break on you so much :/

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It's completely expected. Based on how the girl treated the car, I'm not surprised by any of this thus far.

It does suck, but if he keeps a good attitude about it (as it seems like he is) it doesn't have to suck. He bought it for only $1,300 and it was in disaster-condition. Yes he is having to put a lot more money into it, but if he thinks about it as a "project" it's like a challenge or a puzzle, almost a game. So Austin - keep those spirits up! There's a lot of people following this thread who are rooting for you to rescue this poor pony and treat her like she deserves.
Thanks man, it is good to hear that. This has been and is a fun project. Don't get me wrong, I hate that part where I have to swipe my card repeatedly, but other than the spending money part, it doesn't bother me at all. If I had infinite funds this would be even more fun, but as it stands I'm still less than $3,000 invested in this car.

Hmm I'm no expert but thermostat housing went maybe? Common problem on those 4.0s, happened to me (steam, thought it was the water pump).
That's exactly what it was. They had ordered a supposedly better one online for me cause I asked them to do so, but apparently it was not a good quality. About 10 minutes into the drive it busted and started spewing coolant.

The girl met me in the Publix parking lot yesterday and in just a few hours we had another thermostat in it, free of charge for me, so that part was nice.

For now it's just a cheap O'reily's thermostat, since they were buying it for me I didn't argue. I'll look for a better one and replace it myself later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UyQBQpL554


And the good new is, after driving it last night and this morning, no leaks!





Drove it to work today and it seems to be doing well.
 
#141 ·
That sucks man. So much work to put into this thing to have it break on you so much :/

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#142 ·
It does suck, but if he keeps a good attitude about it (as it seems like he is) it doesn't have to suck. He bought it for only $1,300 and it was in disaster-condition. Yes he is having to put a lot more money into it, but if he thinks about it as a "project" it's like a challenge or a puzzle, almost a game. So Austin - keep those spirits up! There's a lot of people following this thread who are rooting for you to rescue this poor pony and treat her like she deserves.
 
#145 ·
Damn dude under $3k total WITH engine work? That's a hell of a save. Hopefully you aren't driving around in it and a diaphragm falls out from under the dash or anything haha.
 
#146 ·
Thus far my expenses are:

car - $1,300
cleaning supplies - $20
having two tires mounted - $80
Head gasket and other engine work - $1,040

Total: $2,440

I can't complain about that.

And I don't expect anymore surprises on the interior. I've torn enough of it apart that I think I've found everything there is to find.

Next I'll be cleaning the engine bay out. Unfortunately I didn't get to do much yesterday as I was A) lazy, and B) it rained.
 
#147 ·
Ever figure out wth is wrong with the rear axle? I remember it made noise when you got up to higher speeds.
 
#150 ·
It's always interesting to hear about the drastic change of care and attention a vehicle may go though with different owners. OP's car has done a complete 180. Hell, my GT was 4 years old with 15K and bone stock when I bought it. Now it's 35K with full suspension and cams 1 year later haha.
 
#153 ·
New issue arose, it rained pretty heavy yesterday, when I got into the car last night I looked over and noticed this. Bad news is, that's water leaking from the place the ECU is located.

I haven't actually checked yet but I'm about 99% certain this is the issue.
When will it ever end? I hope that you are lucky and it didn't get your ECU.
 
#155 ·
I don't think it did. I drove the car to work today so I could vac the water out. No issues driving or anything this morning, so I doubt it got the ECU. Today I stuffed a towel around the ECU to make sure that water doesn't get into it until I can get those grommets replaced. I have the part number already so I just need to make sure that's really the problem and then order them.

And these are all expected issues man. I'm not upset about it really.
 
#156 ·
And these are all expected issues man. I'm not upset about it really.
You must keep telling yourself that you got a killer deal because I have to commend you on your attitude. Good for you. :thumb:
 
#157 ·
Eh, that's going to be a cheap or free fix, no biggie. Just something else on the pile of things wrong with this car lol. Still, the price was right.
 
#162 ·
Eh, I'd still give it a shot. I mean the whole top end was just off but who knows. Might just be a clogged tube though you are right.
 
#166 ·
Got some more stuff accomplished. Went down to Jacksonville and found some Mustangs in a junk yard. Got some good parts for cheap!





Unfortunately I checked all 3 mustangs, and they all 3 had a broken shift indicator just like mine.



I got an alternator cover, the door lock grommet, an AC vent, and that black cover that goes over the lock and wires for the trunk.


Also, my grommets came in.



Got my 3rd brake light fixed. And thank you zip ties.



Cleaned off the underside of the trunk. See all the wires and stuff hanging...


Gotta clean up this piece.


Got the boom mat spray in it.


Sprayed the boom mat sound deadener and also got the plastic cover fitted in.



before and after pic



Pulled this piece out so I could spray the bottom of the trunk too.




Got it cleaned up so I can start spraying it with the boom mat spray. Unfortunately I ran out.


Got my lock grommet fixed.


Time to fix the ac vent.




Unfortunately, the ac vent I pulled was from the left hand side, and it does not fit the right hand side.

Took the wife's blow dryer to heat up and soften all the clips, and it turns out if you slide the exterior silver sleeve off, the inside black cylinder is the same.





So after getting the sleeves swapped...



Got my ac vent fixed.

All in all a somewhat productive day. Fixed the ac vent, got the cover for the trunk release and wires cleaned up and put on, got most of the trunk sprayed down with the boom mat spray, got my lights fixed, and the door lock grommet.
 
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