Back in a Mustang after 10 years! Not all is well!

[Co-brat]

Hey friends, after a 10-11 year hiatus from owning a Mustang I was browsing Facebook Marketplace last weekend and stumbled across this $3500 Competition Orange Mach one. That was not a typo, $3500 with clean title! Of course I bought it. Heres the catch, the engine is hurt. Secondary timing chain and cam sprocket are broke. Is this pretty much a guarantee that i have bent valves or is there a chance that its fixable? Anyone have any experience with this? If so do i pull the head, replace valves and get on with enjoying my new treasure?

 

[2003RedfireVert]

Hard to say. If this were my car, I would probably pull the heads and see if the valves are ok.

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

I think I’d grab a borescope/inspection camera you can flex around and take a look. Maybe you won the lotto, maybe pistons met valves and both lost

Next question is why did it fail - did cam lock up or what

 

[LS WUT]

If it were me. With the amount of money you saved getting it so cheap. Pull the motor, clean it all up. Do some nice Longtubes, maybe even cams and slap her back in.

 

[03DSGMach1]

^what this guy says. You can away with a sweet ride once the motors been gone through

 

[Recon]

Nice car! I’m biased though. It looks like it’s in good shape cosmetically. You’re in it cheap enough, and it’s nice enough to fix it right. Use a scope to try to see the valves,; if they’re compromised, get the heads off. That would be a great time to upgrade some stuff. What transmission do you have? Miles?


Sent from somewhere in the twilight zone…

 

[Co-brat]

I think I’d grab a borescope/inspection camera you can flex around and take a look. Maybe you won the lotto, maybe pistons met valves and both lost

Next question is why did it fail - did cam lock up or what

Im not sure why it failed. I bought it this way. Ive owned a couple of other mustangs with mod motors and a crown vick with a 2v but never really had to dig into them mechanically so it’s somewhat new territory for me

 

[Co-brat]

Nice car! I’m biased though. It looks like it’s in good shape cosmetically. You’re in it cheap enough, and it’s nice enough to fix it right. Use a scope to try to see the valves,; if they’re compromised, get the heads off. That would be a great time to upgrade some stuff. What transmission do you have? Miles?


Sent from somewhere in the twilight zone…

Its got a lotta miles, 166k. That’s probably also why the lower price but it its still in remarkably good condition still overall. Its an auto unfortunately which I do plan on swapping out for a 5 speed

 

[Co-brat]

If it were me. With the amount of money you saved getting it so cheap. Pull the motor, clean it all up. Do some nice Longtubes, maybe even cams and slap her back in.

Do cams make a big impact in these 4 valves and is it worth the cost?

 

[Recon]

Its got a lotta miles, 166k. That’s probably also why the lower price but it its still in remarkably good condition still overall. Its an auto unfortunately which I do plan on swapping out for a 5 speed

Keep the auto even if you swap it. That’s a rare Mach 1. One of 124 if I’m not mistaken. Even with the miles it looks better than my Comp project, with over five times less miles.


Sent from somewhere in the twilight zone…

 

[Deceptive]

Find a lower mileage Aviator engine and throw it in for now.

Devise a plan for what you want to do, tear down the current engine, start building.


Sent from my iPhone using svtperformance.com

 

[01yellercobra]

It's an interference engine. 99.9% chance the valves are bent. At the very least, I'd pull it and inspect it. You need to find out why the gears broke. The plus side is usually the pistons win that fight. I'd want to check the bearings, though. Make sure it didn't lose oil pressure.

If you're in a hurry, then pick up another engine as mentioned.

 

[Co-brat]

It's an interference engine. 99.9% chance the valves are bent. At the very least, I'd pull it and inspect it. You need to find out why the gears broke. The plus side is usually the pistons win that fight. I'd want to check the bearings, though. Make sure it didn't lose oil pressure.

If you're in a hurry, then pick up another engine as mentioned.

Im in no hurry, I simply bought it out of pure opportunity. I mean id like to drive it but ive got another car project im really heavy into at the moment.

 

[Co-brat]

So whats the deal with the Aviator engines? Same as these pretty much?

Also does anyone know where I could just buy a rebuilt long block for this car?

 

[01yellercobra]

I think the main difference is the compression ratio. But heads and cams are the same. It'll drop right in. I believe they also had the most up to date heads.

But, because I can't leave anything alone, I'd pull it and inspect it. If everything on the bottom end looks good then I'd put it back together with some nice cams and light head work. Maybe get some port work done on the intake. Make it a fun N/A car since it looks like you already have a blown beast.

 

[gimmie11s]

Next question is why did it fail - did cam lock up or what

This is my question as well.

Are we sure the bottom end insnt locked up?

 

[_Lariat]

So whats the deal with the Aviator engines? Same as these pretty much?

Also does anyone know where I could just buy a rebuilt long block for this car?

Aviator long blocks are IDENTICAL to an auto 4v.

 

[Co-brat]

This is my question as well.

Are we sure the bottom end insnt locked up?

Its not locked up. I actually got to hear the car run for a very quick few seconds before I shut it off

 

[Co-brat]

I think the main difference is the compression ratio. But heads and cams are the same. It'll drop right in. I believe they also had the most up to date heads.

But, because I can't leave anything alone, I'd pull it and inspect it. If everything on the bottom end looks good then I'd put it back together with some nice cams and light head work. Maybe get some port work done on the intake. Make it a fun N/A car since it looks like you already have a blown beast.

I wish! I sold my Comp Orange Terminator over 10 years ago unfortunately. Wish I hadn’t but nothing i can do about it now. Thats why im so stoked on getting this car, it might fill a little bit of that void for me! Lol

 

[CobraBob]

I think the main difference is the compression ratio. But heads and cams are the same. It'll drop right in. I believe they also had the most up to date heads.

But, because I can't leave anything alone, I'd pull it and inspect it. If everything on the bottom end looks good then I'd put it back together with some nice cams and light head work. Maybe get some port work done on the intake. Make it a fun N/A car since it looks like you already have a blown beast.

@Co-brat, I'm 100% agree with what Bob said. Heck, you got the car for LOW dollars, and though it's high mileage, if you do the engine repairs you'll end up with a good engine with new life. Being an auto might be an advantage if they only did a low number of them. And it's a sought after color, Competition Orange. Think this through carefully, put together a plan, and then go to it. In the end, I think you're going to end up with a nice Mach 1 that overall was a steal. JMO.

How is the interior?