The good news, The Timing Belt looks new. Plugs are in good shape, There is a thick layer of clear coat on the paint, so I can wet sand the Horrible orange peel off. I did a few small area's tonight, and got the paint flattened out fairly easily. I have about 2 days of sanding, and another day buffing. I adjusted the clutch cable by just playing with it. I used my knowledge of adjusting cables on Bicycles over the years. I also got the pedal lined up with the Brake pedal via the adjustment screw. The hood didn't pop on it's own, so I adjusted the main post/spring that latches the hood. Now it opens fine.
The BAD news is two of the plug holes were filled with oil, So new gaskets are needed. The passenger side upper ball joint is bad, the wobble wasn't from bushings. (maybe that's a good thing??) If you look at the uploaded pics, You can see the cracks in the bondo/paint. ( and I have no idea what color this black paint is, but have the kid tracking down the info, fingers crossed) You can see how ridiculous the exhaust is. The Cat's insides are rattling around, and there is a cork in the place of the cat-oxygen sensor hole. The pipe running off the cat just ends, and the stock 2 1/2 is just sitting loose up inside of it. (explains the horrible exhaust fumes in the car, see pic above) You can see the orange peel in the photo of the passenger side of the car. My suspicion of cut springs is reality, so I have to find some stock spring in the junkyard or something.
[/IMG] That's my 1997 Ford with 166,000 miles.
