Thanks Bill, it's definitely coming along. Fuel pump admittedly was all about the angle and to some of the others advice, was more about "moving things out of the way, rather than battling them". Once I removed the power steering unit and the AC platform, I was able to get the right angle on turning the engine more efficiently while manipulating the pump. It still took some time, but it allowed me to get it exactly in the right position. I actually kinda cursed myself for not doing that out of the gate. Again, it was, as a lot of people have called out, a lesson on doing this work. Take your time, move things out of the way, and most often it will solve the issue. And again, admittedly I was not doing that. Learning as I go...so that's a positive.
It actually actually ended up benefiting me in a number of ways, as I discovered that the power steering unit only had one working bolt holding it in (someone had simply reassembled it by simply pushing in a stripped bolt to hold it, but it was not secure hence the belt being loose) so I corrected that issue, and I discovered that they didn't have the correct bolts on the old fuel pump as well, since one of the mounting holes appears to be stripped, so they basically had a home-style bolt in there with a nut holding it in from the back side. As I mentioned, there are a lot of half-assed fixes and go-arounds on this thing that never fail to surprise me. Obvious that someone had this thing and instead of realizing the potential, just did what they had to do to "drive a mustang around."
More to come, but stoked that she is running smooth now. I took her for about a half hour drive yesterday around the side roads and she did pretty well. Definitely some suspension issues, definitely needs an upgrade on the brakes, and as I said, when I go in to do the AC, I need to start taking a complete look at all my connections and hoses, vacuums, and connections for airflow and circulation. Although I'm not leaking fuel anywhere after inspecting everything, there is a really strong presence of gas fumes when she runs. Really strong inside the car, so I'm not getting proper ventilation somewhere.
Prior to that however, I also discovered she needs a new gas tank. Once I got the fuel pump properly installed, the amount of crap visible in the fuel filter obviously became apparent. Lot of sentiment and orange colored, so obviously there is **** in the old tank and that is the first priority before that screws up the engine. Found the complete kit on NPD and ordered it, so that will be Saturday's project.
More to come.
PBR