new member with basic questions

[project66]

"Mornin' folks. I'm a new member and am happy to have found this BB. My wife bought me a 66 coupe for Father's Day. It's a project and I'm getting ready to dive into it: 289 with 208k on the clock, runs OK but the adolescent children of the previous owner have made a real mess of the body. Lot's of questions! Here are three:
Best shop manual? I've used Haynes/Clymers and have been nonplused. Are there better ones still available? Question #2: Aftermarket? Don't wanna start anything nasty here, but are their favorite suppliers and/or places to be avoided? Last question: I belong to a vintage motorcycle (XS11) listserv and enjoy it immensely. Are there other, favored Mustang BBs/listservs that are frequented by members of MustangWorks?
Sorry about all the bandwidth. Great to be back in a Pony!

Jim O.(Project66)

[red]

Welcome to the Mustangworks Jim!

I'll give my answer to 1&2 together.
The best shop manual is the original FoMoCo manual. You can get a copy from a place I like to use for parts

http://www.musclecarparts.com/paddock/

The Chiltons manual is good too and much less expensive.

There are other classic mustang bulletin boards, the competition .

http://www.mustangsandmore.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi

http://forums.stangnet.com/

and if this isn't enough to keep you busy check out this site.

http://www.courtave.net/~tschmidt/nomusic.html

Let me say you are a lucky man to get a mustang from your wife for fathers day. Does she have a sister?

-JON

[2bav8]

Red,

Excellent advice!

You might also want to checkout vintage-mustang forums at:
http://www.vintage-mustang.com/forums/wwwthreads.pl

One of the best forums for a stock mustang.
Mustangworks and Stangnet are pretty good with the go-fast toys

------------------
http://www.comports.com/2bav8

[project66]

Thanks for the advice and links, guys. I've spent the better part of my work day playing on Mustang sites.

Jon, I'll readily admit that I don't deserve such a fine wife (sorry, no seeeeesters). I owned Mustangs as a kid (65 Conv, 67 Conv, and a 65 HiPo), and have talked most of my marriage about getting another. In addition, it's midlife crisis time for me and I think Patty would rather see me work through it in a Mustang than on my motorcycle (vintage Yamaha muscle bike). What a joy to now have both :=)

I've had the car less than a month and have just starting to prioritize its "issues." This weekend I'm working brakes and front end. In its present form, it's barely safe to drive and I get lots of clunking when turning or going over bumps.

Drive train is OK- leaks and burns oil, two weak cylinders and generally not a lot of punch. All the plugs are black, the exhaust is stinking rich but the tranny sounds solid. Stock two barrel that will get kitted soon. I used to use Autolite plugs in the 70s, am trying Bosch platinums now.

Speedo is about 10% fast at 55- probably a major contributing factor to the 208k on the odometer. To-do list goes on and on, but its gonna be fun.

Thanks again for the shout.

Jim O.

[red]

Jim, sounds like you have plenty to keep you busy. Have fun!

Matt, congrats on the new position as moderator at stangnet. Thanks for all your advice here too!

-JON