Fabrice's 429CJ 71 project

[timachone]

Just "Simple Minds"  :biggrin:  

For the pitman arm: do you have a 2-claw or a 3-claw extractor? That could do it... 

Sounds good for you anti-rust solution - for me Evaporust had the charme it's not toxic, ready to use, no smell and easy to manage in the house. Better with some children, wife and dog... After washing the parts with water I spray them with some oil so nothing can rust until I will paint them. Your solution will be the much cheaper though... 

I have never seen this "protection shield" on mine or any other Mustang  :classic_blink:

 

[7173Vert]

That piece should be reinstalled when you re-do the brakes. Most brake parts rebuild kits include it and it helps to stabilize the caliper and I believe, for anti rattling purposes. 

 

[timachone]

That piece should be reinstalled when you re-do the brakes. Most brake parts rebuild kits include it and it helps to stabilize the caliper and I believe, for anti rattling purposes. 

Interesting! 

 

[7173Vert]

Interesting! 

Floating caliper secured to the main hub with this bracket. I just completed this brake job on my 73 Coupe. Ford refers to it as a "stabilizer" in the Master parts catalogue.

 

[Fabrice]

@timachone

I only use armless products as I don't want to grow a third arm on my forehead
That you use phosphoric acid or evaporust, you don't want the kids or dogs playing around with that for sure!! Worse, having the wife around while working :O!!!
FYI, I plate the zinc with vinegar, salt and sugar!! If you read back this thread you will see I have even plated copper with baking soda! (with great results too lol)  I also do not passivate the zinc the way pro's do using chromates (AKA poison, the yellow one especially). All my "juices" are reused over and over. 
I did plate few small parts with nickel (radiator brackets, trunk latches, hood latches), and the acetate that I made in low quantity (2 liters), is in this state mild toxic, it's kept in a sealed container till I need to plate nickel again.

For the pitman arm, i've ordered one extractor with other missing details for my steering components at rockauto, which is surprisingly friendly for shipment to Europe vs many other shops. So will remove it in 2 weeks.

 

 

[Fabrice]

Ford refers to it as a "stabilizer" in the Master parts catalogue.

I've search for these and I did not see that "gasket" anywhere.
I have the plates in house as shown on your pict (as part of a 71 rebuild kit) they were NOT on my 71, only that gasket thingy. The 4 small bolts holes are also not present on the original 71 parts for that plate. I renewed my brakes on my 73, 2 months ago, and there is indeed that plate but no "gasket".

 

[timachone]

Floating caliper secured to the main hub with this bracket. I just completed this brake job on my 73 Coupe. Ford refers to it as a "stabilizer" in the Master parts catalogue.

View attachment 49413

Ah, Ken, now I now what we are talking about. Yes, THE stabilizer part. I had them on and I will put on new ones, I already have them in my new parts boxes togehter with all the other brake stuff. Will do all new but the spindles and the splash shields - they will be reworked  :thumb:  

Thanks for clearify! 

 

[Fabrice]

now I now what we are talking about. Yes, THE stabilizer part.

yeah, but do you have these "gaskets" on the spindles too? I did not see these on the 73 and I wouldn't know how to name them to eventually find a pair...

 

[timachone]

yeah, but do you have these "gaskets" on the spindles too? I did not see these on the 73 and I wouldn't know how to name them to eventually find a pair...

No, I have and had not these gaskets on the spindles nor did I hear about them until now...

 

[7173Vert]

I've search for these and I did not see that "gasket" anywhere.
I have the plates in house as shown on your pict (as part of a 71 rebuild kit) they were NOT on my 71, only that gasket thingy. The 4 small bolts holes are also not present on the original 71 parts for that plate. I renewed my brakes on my 73, 2 months ago, and there is indeed that plate but no "gasket".

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

Looks like lots of great work going on over the pond. I am going to head down to shop and do a little today. Looks like the show will still happen in Tennessee but the first big swap meet and show that is always the first week of April in Charlotte is cancelled. Second year for that. North Carolina has not lifted the ban on gatherings yet. I did get my Covid shot. The April show at the Mustang Owner's Museum in mid April will probably have to be cancelled also due to state requirements.

 

[Fabrice]

@7173Vert
I don't see that calliper bracket gasket on the diagram. Never seen it before either...

----------------------------------

After few weekends in a row handling and looking at dirty things, this one was....  exact same!
Tho, for first time in months, some things ended the weekend much better looking than they were before it.



Among many parts that have been enjoying a bath this past week, I've started to zinc plate the most demanding on my little power: the top arm. Not a bling bling beauty (won't polish that part) but now rust free under its new durable jacket. I'll epoxy + paint it when we'll finally have descent weather over here. My power got hot from that one. Very hard to plate everywhere with its many curvy concave shapes inside.



Much more easy to plate, all the hardware that cooked whole week for the spindle/brakes and even a few for the steering box are now done...



As usual, while I make bubbles, I'm doing other stuffs too. And finsihed that side.
First acid, then once the "brown stuff" was gone, soda and all finished dry with heat gun.
Very happy to see rust was gone even in hard to reach places



Then a quick thinner pass before receive a protective zinc primer layer to wait safely till I spray something durable.
Passenger side done! Yeah!



Problem with cars, is that most is in double... so here we go again! Driver side needs be done same way.
I still have some welding to do too there, but can't think about that with old bitumes/stone guard layers applied over the years in the way.
So paint mask on, I've applied that paint remover and in 3 passes I was able to get to the raw metal. Absolutely fantastic magic stuff, the most sticky bitumes and even the original red primer and green went out in no time.. If only I had that stuff when I did my hood!!
As suspected, I've found rust behind the dried out bitumes supposed to prevent it.

Now in same state as the other side was 2 weeks ago. I'm happy to see there is hope to get rid of that $%& rust 100%! Just need to get to it

I've done more things, but wil post on them when they'll be finished. As was said last week by a member in a thread, amazing the time that goes into these things!

To be continued...

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

If you noticed there was no primer under the sealer or what you are calling bitumes that is the reason it rusts. The sealer gets hard shrinks and cracks then lets the water into the bare steel and rust. That happens in the cowl, doors and quarters along with torque boxes and other areas. That is why I do not wash car with running water because I know the cracks are there and you feed the rust.

Have you ever made an anode to fit the form of the parts you are plating? I will plate much faster and more even. Get lead sheet at your local plumbing supply. You need something on your part to create about a 1/2" or 12.5mm gap. Form the lead around it then remove carefully. Then when you apply the current you have more equal spacing to your part and get much better plating. I use to work at a hardware company we had to plating lines. The real good custom plating shops always do that. They get much better plating finish.
Your cars will last 100 years the way you are doing them.

 

[Fabrice]

Your cars will last 100 years the way you are doing them.

I need to! Kuz it takes me 99 years to build them  

I do use local anodes. sometimes I even start plate with these only to make sure they deposit more. But some metals simply do not plate easy using low acidic bath (the price of not using dangerous more effective chemicals). To give you an example. did my calipers. cast iron. They were with first local anodes then wider anodes around them. perfect, real thick deposit in just 1/2 hour, went from rough to the touch to silk smooth. This weekend also did the calipers brackets, also rough surface. Some corners and the part as a whole did not take as it usually do, you clearly see something that looks like magnetic fields, and it took ages to cover them, had to move anodes many times. That part is relatively small, smaller than the calipers and of a similar cast iron (you'd think) . Then tried one spindle, it was covered in no time despite its complex shape. So there are diffs in metals that greatly do affect the way the plating occurs. On plating sites, some pros recommend to flash acid them first as cast iron parts can have different levels of carbon, which creates some hydrogen gas that some how protects the surface from the zinc. Lots to learn in this field for sure.

For the top arm, the problem is my too little power, it was at its max and could have used some extra juice, but got it covered as I wanted it, it just took ages. These do not need to be nice, they need be protected against corrosion. When you saw how they were, you know they've earned a better second life
thx for the lead sheet tip, gonna go search on that method. Lead would introduce toxicity (trying to keep the game safe), but may be the same principle could be applied by very thin sheet of another metal as its about conductivity and resistance. 

 

[Fabrice]

Finally found some time for a little update!

Been busy on the house and will remain busy with it for a while, but every weekend I try to get some things done on the 71. Here a few picts of the activities...



Old monkey as I am, I couldn't let these "new" Koni's shocks go. I've helped install them! Car ran at most 300 miles with them before engine broke and for more than 20 years their body rusted quietly waiting for some action on the car with the nose up and no engine. So gave them both some love and they are on my growing to be painted pile. May they'd need be changed, I'll change them, but having placed same ones on my 73 at the same time, I'm pretty sure they'll do just fine. Worth the small effort



Similar story for the coil springs. These will prolly receive a powder coating jacket.



Also finished de-rusting and removing all paint from the driver side wheel passage. Here while the temp zinc primer is drying..  I should be busy welding there (holes connecting to cabine from a prior massacre ) in a not too far future. 



Restored also other parts and hardware like the springs saddles nuts, because I've bought new ones, they came with the bolts but no nuts!! And these are non metric.
And did the two spindles as well. Very challenging parts to plate, but patience got me there. 
They now look much better than on the top left, same for the 2 calliper brackets
They've all joined the to be painted corner not before receiving some grease on the shaft and in every holes with threads..

The weekend was over and realised that when I'll have done the strutrods and finished derust the front member that there is nothing left to derust or restore from the windshield to the grille. :O

To be continued...
 

 

[midlife]

You do know, right, that Koni has a lifetime guarantee on their shocks.  You could have sent them in and have them refurbish/paint or replace them. 

 

[Fabrice]

You do know, right, that Koni has a lifetime guarantee on their shocks.

After that you mentioned it, vaguely recalling this claim. As Koni is/was a Dutch company (their headquarters are here), I went looking... after 1/2 hour going from blablawerethebestblabla screens to blablareallytoughblabla screens I've stopped. It's just another non transparent corporation doing its best to not be accessible to the average joe. Same for their distributors here. Took me less efforts to have them as they are now

They will receive a paint job when I'll spray other parts and that's when they will be better than new, because the hardware might be tough inside, the paint they've used on the outside is a really crappy porous thing that allowed rust to form underneath while the car has only been exposed to the dutch air, mainly the reason why they needed a massage rather than be just cleaned up. I have the very same ones on the 73, also repainted car color years ago and I do not expect have any issues with them.

These together with the top arm, spindles, guards and few other bits are the only things dimmed of quality/worth keeping.

For the rest, I've hurt piggy bad and all is new: most the steering components are Moog's (lower arm, sleeves, saddles, strut rod, tie rods etc), brakes are all new, rotors, callipers, SS lines, flexible...



New doesn't perse mean durable. I will probably plate/repaint a few of these parts as many are just protected from rust by an oil film or some cheapo black paint.. 

 

[Fabrice]

Been very busy on many fronts lately and realised I did not post an update for a while now. So here's a glimpse of what i've been doing...
 



On the mustangs side of things, it's been heaven for a few weeks. The weather was terrible most of the weekends but the moment it was dry, I could enjoy taking the 73 for a spin into the nice surroundings of my town. Put a few hundred miles on it..



Back home or forced to stay because of the rain, I've been busy on the 71. Done lots of time consuming things, here for instance, I've started to look at the gearbox
Removed the pitman arm, and because the one I got was delivered with a cheapo finish, basically oil on raw metal, plated it, and while at it all the bolts and nuts of the unit.

Because this unit is out of the car only once every 50 years, it doesn't leak and has no play, but I have ordered a rebuild kit that should arrive in ???  
That's a big question mark, as after placing 2 orders at NPD and not receiving/hear anything while I'm used to a good service from them, I've contacted them and a manager there told me the entire sales team is home with covid and the team supposed to replace them contracted that shite as well!
Short story, that rebuild kit and many other parts I need badly are waiting for NPD's immune system to kick in...
 



Bad news or not, stuffs needs to be done, so continued to restore other badly corroded dirty parts like this coil spring, now looking bits better than it used to!
 



While making bubbles, I've also been busy repairing the last damaged apron, it now regained the strength you expect from it and is not longer having that swiss cheese look I hated so much!
Making the patch took a while as folding it to match the exact shape was more easy said than done.
Also removed, derusted, plated and welded back the reinforcement for the bolts.
I still have one patch to go on this apron, just under the cowl vent and fire wall, that was butchered at some point to reroute the lights harness under the fenders. Because the cabine metal has also been butchered (now fixed) where it connects, and because my garage is too small to even think about having a loose dashboard around, I will make some temp patch till I can safely weld it without the risk of fire as there is plenty flammable stuff behind the firewall. I'll post on that once I get to it.
 



I said above it was heaven. Yeah driving and restoring at the same time been a blast till last saturday! For once not only it was dry, it was also not so cold and sunny, so took the lady green for a ride. After +- 50kms enjoying the dutch mountains, I went back home and while I was at a stop light after a not that legal run, I noticed smoke on the other side of the car...
Lucky me, I was just a mile away from my house. So inspected and discovered that my rear end started to leak onto my brakes...  niiiiice!!
So ordered parts to fix that, as the axle needs come out, new shoes, bearings, retaining ring, gaskets etc... Lots of fun awaiting ahead for me!!
But there will be no fun till NPD sends me my parts!
 



Oh well, there is another and last thing that is leaking on my 73: the FMX. I had that plan to swap it with an AOD for a while, but when I was underneath checking the rear end leak, I've noticed that the leak has become worse.
So as the car will not drive any time soon again, I have started to work on that AOD swap that I want to do for years. It's not the one from my 93 T-bird as my friend prefers to keep the car movable (gave it to him).
Instead got another one he had laying around, a 87. As I will restore it completely, I don't really care if it was ok, low or high mileage or perfect. The trans will be as new when I'll mount it under the 73.
Already took contact with Ken at bad shoe and I'll be learning the guts of that baby coming days to be able to inspect it and order what I need this next weekend..
 



As you can see on the previous pict, the casing was seriously corroded and filthy (not leaking tho). So before I even think about opening it, I needed first to give it a massage, first with high pressure, brushes solvant and TONS of elbow oil!
It took a while, in fact most of the afternoon, but ended up with a much cleaner unit. I even tooks some time to shave many casting flaws, not just to please my eyes, but because most were sharp and I was tired look at bleeding finger tips! 
From one blur to the other, ended up filing loads!
Like my 71 C6 that I did last year, it will be painted and just need be clean/oxide free for a nice long lasting result.
 



Yesterday it was time to start remove a few things, not planning to empty it without knowing more, but removing the pan/draining it, remove the body and take some picts should be safe.  Also removing the front pump should be easy and quickly done...

NOT !!

Turns out the pump did not want get out. Once the bolts are out, only the o-ring keeps it in. It should come out easy after a good pull they say... well they lied!!!

After a long time looking at a way, having some kinds of metal constructions in my head to build some kind of extractor, I saw that on 2 of the pump casing's holes, there were threads. 
Not the bolts thread but bigger. And then I got it. Pretty sure Ford had these threads set into the pump casting for a reason! THAT REASON! 
And here comes the tip for those having the same issue: with a rubber mallet, wood, whatever, after you have the o-ring full of penetrating oil, tap from the side to rotate the pump just enough so the trans casing holes no longer align to it. Insert bolts (ones with that thread less tip) and screw gently till the tip reaches the body and starts to move the pump outward. 
Of course if you are in Europe, because the expected bolts are not metric (while the other bolts on the trans are or seam to be) it will cost you some time to find bolts that would fit (trust me it did!), that would be long enough and strong enough (you don't want to break one in there so make sure its high grade). Lucky me, I never throw away any US used bolts and have a box full of them, collected over the years. The only ones I had that would fit were just a tad too short but with a strong grade. All clean and oiled, I took my time and went slowly applying torque, till they were at their max length so finished by pulling while hammering and after 3 hours (yes it took me 3 freaking hours to get that pump loose!!!), I could enjoy the sight of what was beyond it...

As you can see, I had a quite busy mustang life in these past weeks
The 73 as now the prio to return on the road asap, but as usual, i will continue to work on the 71. Even if that is only one little thing at a time, progresses will and are made each and every weekend on it!

To be continued...

 

[bishoppeak]

You are my hero!

 

[Don C]

Well done, as you always do.