Donor teardown started

I got the second coat of paint on the frame and it's been drying for a few days. It's supposed to cure for 14 days so I've moved Morton the donor Mustang into the garage to begin the teardown.

BTW, here are a couple of pictures of the trusty steed since I never posted any previously.






Before I brought it inside I did a radiator flush. While running the engine to circulate the flush, the car finally ran out of gas. Let me explain - the gas gauge has not worked since I got the car and I had no idea of how much gas was in the tank or what the driving range was. I'd been cruising around in the car the night before so I guess I'm lucky it didn't run out then. After adding about 3/4 gallon of gas, it started right up and I finished the radiator flush and backed it into the garage.

I collected all of the antifreeze and flushed goo into plastic bottles and hauled them to the hazardous waste area at the local dump. This allowed the engine plenty of time to cool.

Upon returning I started as per the FFR manual and removed the radiator and fan. The manual then says to remove the steering rack.



I'm looking into the engine bay and wondering why I should fight my way around and under the engine to get to the steering when the engine will be coming out later anyway. So, as is my habit, I skipped ahead in the manual and started working on the wiring harnesses instead.

I never realized just how much wire was in a car. I've got the ECU out and the engine harness removed from under the dash but it's all still connected to the engine. At this point I don't see a need to unwire everything.

The front light harness is completely out. The rear light harness is mostly out to where it goes along the rocker panel. To get to this point, most of the rear interior has been loosened, removed and carelessly tossed back inside. :-D

Here's what the inside of the hatch looks like right now.



I still have to remove the front seats and dash to get that wiring out but that should be about it.

My lovely bride has said she's going to help me pull the engine on Friday night. That will be a MAJOR step in the right direction. Once that's out, I can loosen all of the connections for the lower front control arms and rear axle and then move the car outside to it's final resting place before I strip them out. I haven't figured out how to move it with no wheels so that's why the final dis-assembly will happen outside.

Where I live, I'm allowed one inoperable car on my property and the Mustang will be it. To try to minimize the impact on home values, it will be stored behind another car and covered in tarps. Once the FFR is complete and titled, I can get rid of the carcass, but I've heard horror stories of titling hassles if the Police Inspector can't examine the donor vehicle. I just don't want to take a chance so I'll keep it for a while. Maybe I'll put up some fence to hide it.

So that's it for this update. Hopefully I'll have pictures of the engine and transmission out by this weekend.