1978 Mustang II
 

Hey guys, its a early morning so i will try and do my best to explain my situation. This morning a friend of my boss came to the company i work for. He was coming to pick up some compressor guns...while he was here he saw my bosses mint condition 1974 280 benz and we started talking. After 10 minutes of conversing he told me he had a 1978 mustang II for sale because its just rusting in his yard. Apparently Motor runs and tranny works. Im planning to go check it out today, but what really caught my attention was the price tag. Hes letting that beast go for 500 cash in hand. So to get to my point....

What would you do?

I'd look it over pretty carefully before I bought it. Parts are hard to find, other than suspension stuff. If there isn't much rust, and the interior is pretty good, then go for it. It's probably going to be a 4cyl or V6, neither of which is much of anything powerwise, but it could have a V8, although the late 70s factory motors are pretty turdy. A 302/351 swap is easy, but with anything over 250hp on a 4/6cyl rearend, figure on breaking it quickly.
They are great looking little cars, especially the Cobra II versions.

To confirm it is the v8 version.

buy it, get a 20's/30's car and chop the front suspension and steering in and have a good start.

If the body isn't bad, then it would probably be worth it. again, parts are hard to find.

Thats my main concern...i mean im only 18...turning 19 in oct....this would be my third car. Im going to go check it out today. Apparently motor runs fine and tranny works. Are parts really that hard to find?? thats my only set back i guess. I love old school muscle cars so this would be a first for me.

wouldnt really call those year mustangs 'muscle cars.' max power was in the 140 range and they were pretty ugly to boot.

I do agree

Parts are easier to find than everyone is making sound like. The Mustang II was based from the Pinto IIRC (just verified that this was the case), and the engine can be built for peanuts. It sounds like you have the Cobra version, which isn't rare, but rare enough (like the SSEi's around here).

If it's been sitting for a while, put a few squirts of transmission fluid down each of the cylinders, and let it soak overnight. This will free up the rings and help break potential "rust welding" in the chambers.

Very informative, much appreciated. Im going to go take a look at it...i mean for 500 i really cant go wrong. Maybe have it as a project car? but i might still be too young for that sort of thing :D

For $500.00 it would make a great project car. Hmm...not rare ... but I cant even remember how long its been since I have seen a cobra version or even a regular version of the mustang II.

Yeah it was not all that fast or powerful but NO cars we that fast during that energy crisis era even the corvette was gutless.