First trip to the gas station in over a decade

[86lx]

Finally got the 86 sorted out enough to drive. Put insurance and plates on it today and took it for a drive into town to get gas.

Car has been in storage since we brought it to Michigan over 13 years ago. Before that it was a garage queen while I installed a IRS from an 04 cobra and upgraded the front brakes and suspension. Even though there are still a lot of little details to sort out it felt kinda good to drive it after so long.




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[Dave9052]

Looking good!

[ashley roachclip]

More pictures ?
Looks good , and I like the original paint with patina look .
I also have done an IRS swap on a coupe , makes for a great ride .

[ZephyrEFI]

Congrats!

[4-barrel Mike]

Mike

[chazman]

Something about a notch.

[86lx]

Took it for a slightly longer cruise tonight. About 3/4 of the way into the 10 mile trip the coolant temp started creeping up. Never got out of the normal range, but definitely was in the “L” on the gauge. We let it cool back down before heading back home and it did the same thing.

Cooling system is stock, with the exception of a black magic electric fan in place of the stock clutch fan.

Before I go and drop money on a 4 row radiator, does anyone have any tips on keeping a 3.8 cool?


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[1982GLX]

Before you start spending a lot of money, try just a simple temp gauge first. I remember changing all kind of parts and then I tried a new gauge and that was my problem. Leave it loose or just a screw under dash so you can see if everything ok. Nice car too....

[AldeanFan]

I never had a problem keeping one of those engines cool.
Start by checking the temp gauge. I use a laser thermometer to verify my gauge is reading correctly.

What kind of shroud are you running?
My factory five wouldn’t stay cool with the electric fan attached to the rad but cools really well after adding a shroud to force all the air through the rad


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[gr79]

First- cool pic of fine looking car. Will be looking for it when in that part of town.
Into town. Wherever that is. Rom, Belle, Ypsi. Oh yah the air show.

Had the water temp creep up in traffic at the Woodward Cruise last Saturday.
Although it was the Ranger 2.3, puts out heat like any other engine.
Stock a/c level cooling sys, all newer componants. Except:

Mech temp gauge creeped up 200, 210, 220,225. Ok when moving.
Factory gauge usually reads N 190. Got up past 1/2 way 225 temp.

Was fan clutch. New one installed. Temp 180-190 idle in driveway 20 min.
Solid N or tick below.
Same time span as when it got too hot in traffic.

If engine does not cool down when moving, got to be rad or thermo not opening enough.
Air pockets, low coolant, rad cap, belt, tensioner. No or not enough circulation.
A 3.8 should be fine w/ stock size rad unless its plugged or old or bad hoses.

Had the fan dragging on the shroud once on the Ranger. Stopped it from turning.
Plastic fan and top inside of shroud had rub marks.
Bad front cab mounts. Dropped the front end of cab (rad support with rad) just enough to cause problem.
Even then, once moving was fine. Only got hot when trolling side streets. Cure- new mounts.

[gr79]

Drove the Mustang Friday to taylor and then the east side.
Noticed the gauges read higher when the tank was nearly full.
Temp was in mid position downtown. Never really gets up there.
Got worried.
As fuel was spent, gauge settled down to normal N, 1/2 tank of fuel.
Then topped off in Warren. Temp gauge went back up to O-R.
Not used to that, nor keeping the tank full.