69 Rustang

Uhhh, no. But everything is going to be new except the nozzles, so as long as they are clear I don’t expect problems other than a leaky washer bottle/pump.

Wasn’t sure what forum this fits in, but here’s my question. I ordered a windshield washer bottle as my original was broken. I went to install the pump and something in my brain said—check for a leak. Guess what—it leaked through the pump area...of course it does.... the washer bottle is a reproduction as the OEM Ford ones are no longer available. But the pump and its seal are 50 years old as they are the original. Is the leak from the pump/seal or the repro bottle? I looked in the hole where the pump is installed and there was a small burr where the fluid exits to go into the hose. I popped the burr off and tried it again, but it still leaks. Without throwing out my initial ideas to fix, what would you do?

Stupid car—it seems like it is fighting me every step of the way on reassembly. Everything I touch takes 4 times longer than it should. Install bolt—20 minutes.... Install molding, WEEKS... Grrrrr. I do have a question. I ordered a windshield washer bottle as mine was broken. I went to install the pump and something in my brain said—check for a leak. Guess what—it leaked through the pump area...of course it does.... the washer bottle is a reproduction as the OE ones are no longer available. But the pump and its seal are 50 years old. Is it the pump or the bottle? I looked in the hole and there was a burr where the fluid exits to go into the hose. I popped the burr off and it still leaks. Without throwing out my initial ideas to fix, what would you do?

Whew, I was afraid to click on this post. After looking at the Thingy, I could have helped a few weeks back, but my fenders are back on/aligned and the splash shields are in place. But you got some great help from our brothers!

Confirms what I need to know—thanks!

So does the seal install curved in towards the trunk opening or away from the trunk opening? Thanks!

Go Big Red—you get me.

Wow—definitely family first. Best of luck and prayers for your wife and baby. The car will wait. I know this from experience, come see all my unfinished projects and then look at my kids’ race cars that are completed/ongoing race prep....and their massive pile of trophies. We’ve made a jillion memories Soap Box Derby racing all over the United States, and I wouldn’t trade any of those memories for the time I gave up on my own stuff. Prayers!

Big news on my project—it’s shiny! Monday was paint day. I got up at 5:30am and called AAA because I had “car trouble”. The tow truck showed up and hauled the car to work for me. I got there early and moved everything into place and started my final prep work. Then I got the best gift I could ever ask for in this project. My co-worker Frank who runs the training center was going to help me! Frank is a fantastic painter and super highly skilled, so this was a major bonus. Frank did the tricky bits of masking, questioned a few setup issues and led me to better decisions, and made some prep suggestions that I followed closely. With his help I was spraying the first coat of basecoat before noon! When it was time to clear, Frank volunteered (at least that is how I remember it...LOL) and he went to work. Two coats later, it all looks awesome...and then it didn’t. We had used some of the hardener that I had opened up for painting door jambs and the trunk however long ago, and it wasn’t a good idea. There was some sort of reaction that looked a bit like chunky clear and solvent pop. Doh! Fortunately I blocked 2 days of my calendar and the training center for this, so in early again on Tuesday and I went to work. The training center has the coolest sanding machine called a Festool. It is a self contained electric Dual Action sander/vacuum system. I sanded the whole car in hours and created no dust anywhere. Frank showed up a bit later and did a lot of the hand sanding where I couldn’t with the DA and we were back in the booth by noon. There were a few touch ups where I cut through on edges but that didn’t take much time. Frank switched up the materials to use a different clear and laid down 2 of the slickest coats ever. He did get a run in the fender, but so what. Had I sprayed the clear, we would be measuring the number of runs per panel. So lucky for Frank’s help! I owe that guy! We were done early enough that he was able to spend some time showing me how to do woodgraining (picture attached). He convinced me to leave it overnight to air dry, then we baked it first thing this morning. After cool down I carefully stuck the fenders on and called AAA. Frank snuck in and sanded out the run, but I get to figure out buffing it. I said about 100 thank you’d to Frank and headed home. Now, time to put it together.

Yes, I have one. Depending on the amp draw of your new accessory, if it is low I would recommend you use the yellow/black wire going to the premium sound system. It is easy to access and will provide the 12v switched source you need. Good luck!

As I stripped the paint from my ‘72, I noticed issues. Some was paint, some was tape striping. The lower body blackout was not consistently comprised of paint, some of it (or maybe all of it originally) was tape. The lower body portion was all paint, but the 1/4” stripe itself was tape. Is this what everyone else has experienced? Uhhh, asking for a friend... LOL

For Timachone...pictures! First, the air compressor is fixed. I bought a direct replacement pump. Not what I wanted to do ideally, but with my time constraint it got the job done so I could continue with the car project. I really wanted to upgrade the pump to something that would move a bit more air and cool better, but its working again and wasn’t a major project so it fit my needs for now. Today I re-primered the front bumper and finished sanding the fenders and the deck lid. This is the first time I have used dry guide coat during a painting project—I can’t believe how much it has helped me. My eyes can’t see like the used to apparently, as lots of minor flaws were glaringly visible. In my defense, I was using older solvent borne paint products in the past and they were more forgiving of minor flaws. Now all that is left to do is to sand the rear body panel, sand lots of nooks and crannies, and sand the front bumper. Then I am ready for the booth—Yay! Tomorrow my wife, boys, and I are flying to see my parents. I haven’t seen them since before the pandemic. They have both been vaccinated and my wife is too, so I am excited to go. Dad is working on a Model A Speedster project that has a wood body—I am going to help him put a thin fiberglass coat over it to protect and strengthen it a bit. No progress on the Mustang for a week though, but I shouldn’t have any trouble getting it done. But I will get some quality time with my parents!

Good news, bad news update. The good news is I am in the process of sanding with 500 grit and only a few panels to go. The bad news, my air compressor pump seized up today. I was able to finish spraying primer on the bumper, but only the small amount of primer I had mixed in the gun and not the full build I was after. I have less than a month until ‘booth day’ and I am losing one week to go see my parents and one week for business travel in that time. This gives me two full weekends—It is going to be close by the time I get the compressor sorted. I did order a new pump today, I really wanted to upgrade the pump but that would mean some modifications to make it all work and I don’t have time for that. The front bumper also turned into a bigger project than expected. After first painting it with black DP primer, I sanded it and then hit it with white primer and YIKES—it looked like heck. Cracks appeared all over the place. So I used my die grinder and V’d out every crack and then filled them with a urethane bumper filler. I know there are probably more cracks buried under some of the primer, but they are covered and I am hoping for the best at this point. Today’s primer was the first after filling all the cracks—it looks fantastic right now, but I am still worried. I cut it with 320 grit hoping to get my compressor working and apply more white epoxy. Anybody with experience with these to coach me? And to end on a positive note, the repairs to the hood turned out great! The hood is ready to go.

I did a hydraulic release bearing on my ‘69 and retained my power brakes. Make sure you size the hydraulic clutch master properly or have a bellcrank setup for the clutch or you will have a very hard pedal. The release bearing was difficult to bleed, I ended up reverse bleeding it (forced the fluid backwards) to get it going, then did a normal bleed.

This is what I believe they were referring to for scotch brite. They also come in very-very fine, but I don’t have the part number handy for that one.

Been a while since I updated, but work has been continuing. The trunk came into focus and I went to work. There were a few spots on one side that had pinholes, so I dropped the tank and cut the metal out and welded new in. I worked the welds and the floor so it was smooth and you couldn’t see the repair areas, then lots of cleaning and sanding ensued. Then more cleaning and sanding. Then more. Finally today I primered it all, sprayed some white/clear where it needed to be, then sprayed the area to be splatter painted with dark gray followed by splatter paint. The dark gray allowed the coverage needed where the splatter paint by itself would have taken about 6 cans or more. I also painted the outsides of the mirrors, bases, side marker bezels, and the back of the hood molding in white and clear. They came out nice, but there is a chunk of dirt on the passenger mirror head I am going to have to attend to. The other project I have been working on is the front bumper. Lots of time fitting, a little more minor straightening, lots of sanding. Any place where the factory urethane was sketchy, I hit it lightly with a handheld 2” disk grinder. Then I used a 2K urethane filler to fill and repair the bumper where needed. That ended up being most of the bumper... It was sprayed with 3 coats of DP90 today. I used black for a few reasons, 1) I wanted to hit the backside and make it nice and black (it was sanded and prepped), 2) I figured as a base primer, an epoxy the same color as the bumper would be a good foundation; 3) I am almost out of white DP primer—LOL, the real reason! It is going to need some more work, but at least I know what I have now. Finally, I have a date with a paint booth. I made the appropriate inquiries at work and am now scheduled access to both booths on April 26 and 27. Now I get to work on final sanding of everything. 400grit dry block followed by 500DA with an interface pad. As i am getting old, I broke down and bought Guide Coat. I have never used it in my life, but as I get older I am having trouble seeing the spots that need a bit more attention. With only 2 days at the booths, I have to have the car ready to mask, final clean, and spray. I am hoping to base clear it on the first day, come in the next day, sand it down and re-clear it. I will probably take the mirrors in and hit them again to deal with the dirt spot. Progress!

I spent a bit of time last weekend replacing the fuel pressure gauge on my ‘96 Cobra. The mechanical gauge broke quite some time ago, so I am installing an electric gauge. I have everything in place except the switched power lead. Anyone with experience under the dash or hood of a SN95 working on electrical have a good hookup location for my gauge? There is a fuse box under the hood by the battery, but it seems most items are constant hot. I need switched hot, so I think I have to go under the dash.

Wow, seems a well optioned car. Looks pretty cold out there for my taste, be safe!

I always used a bit of gasket sealer and the gasket to hold it for the second or two of trying to stick in into place. I will have to look for these tabs and such, didn’t know they existed.

If it is a ‘95, then it certainly would have been a 302W. Did the WC T5 start use in ‘95 or in ‘96? I thought ‘96 for Mustang use. Hope it all works out!

The 96 GT had a 4.6 2V, not a Windsor. 1995 was the last year of the Windsor motor in Mustangs. Does the 4.6 have the same bellhousing bolt pattern as a 289/302/351? If so, I never would have expected that.

My Dad shipped a set of Cleveland heads to me—he built wood crates exactly as described above. From Arkansas to California was $60 or $65 each crate. Not cheap, but they made it safely. He used rigid foam around them from some appliance he had bought, but I like the idea of expanding foam as described above. If I had to do it again, I think I’d just buy aftermarket aluminum.

It’s been a month or two, but I am pretty sure I pulled my weather strips out from the top and inserted them from the top. I just had to work the edge over on the bottom side once it was in that far. I can’t image trying to install and remove from the bottom—there is a big chuck of rubber on the top that seems like it would make that impossible to do.

WTF is wrong with the police not charging the guy! That really sucks, but I am glad to hear you were able to get some recovery on the frame through warranty. It’s pretty easy to spend $2,500 and up on a bike these days, in fact, anything under $2,500 wouldn’t.be worth owning from my perspective (I am a Mountain biker). Whoa, I got off topic.... Lay the hood on the driveway and park a wheel of your car in the middle, take a picture. Done!

A lot of great work accomplished—well done. That is a lot of metal to replace! The 3.50 gears would be great with a TKO500 or 600. In my ‘69 I went with 3.70s and a TK6 and I can cruise at 80mph with the engine relaxing. If I remember correctly there are a few different OD ratios available, I went for the numerically lower ratio.