Part 4 (originally posted 30 Jan 2011)
*****Disclaimer: Neither myself, my wife nor any other family member works for, or received any financial incentives or considerations from the vendors, individuals, shops or businesses mentioned in the remainder of this write-up*****
Before I start this next part I have to give a shout out to the people at the Calgary based MustangShop.ca. They came highly recommended by several members of our local Mustang Club and they did not disappoint. They were extremely helpful to my wife in finding the various parts and pieces that went into the current rebuild of her Mach 1. They supplied everything from a disc brake conversion kit to an aftermarket A/C system to replacement structural steel to nuts and bolts etc… They ended up supplying about 70 – 80% of the replacement parts used in the rebuild. Their prices are very reasonable and being a Canadian company you avoid what I call the “rapage fees” when ordering something from across the border. Furthermore their customer service is exceptional as proven when they sold, shipped and took back three carburetors without any questions. Mark gave good advice to my wife helping her to avoid un-necessary and/or costly errors.
It is now the winter of '09 -‘10 and the wife starts collecting the parts and pieces needed to take care of the remaining problems picked up during the mechanical inspection that took place after the initial purchase. She also ordered a few upgrade items (i.e.) radiator bulkhead, shocks/struts, headers, various seals/gaskets, oil pan, alternator, battery pan, Ram Air part etc… In the spring of 2010, with the exception of the headers, rad bulkhead and Ram Air parts, the wife gets the remaining work done by our faithful shade tree mechanic (fully certified master mechanic who also, believe it or not, does house calls) who installed everything and got the drive shaft balanced for good measure. What a difference, the car ran much better however, as with any older car, problems kept popping up. The first incident occurred as the wife was pulling into a Timmies (Tim Horton Doughnuts, a Canadian institution) after appearing in a parade (Apple Blossom Festival), the transmission decided to blow a seal puking fluid onto the parking lot. A quick phone call to CAA and a flat bed tow truck shows up (the Trailer Queen is born), a quick trip to a member of the Antique Car Club, who is also a retired mechanic, and a few days later the seal is replaced, the transmission is flushed and filled. A little later in the season, on a highway cruise with the rest of the club a deer hops onto the highway, while braking lightly to avoid hitting the car in front of me I look in the rear view to see my wife lock up her rear brakes, one side more than the other, going almost fully sideways and leaving rather long black smoky skid marks. This happened again later that afternoon; I’m surprised she didn’t end up in the ditch. Needless to say we quickly got the brakes looked at, it turned out the fluid was well passed its prime and the balancing/proportioning valve was off, as you can imagine it was quickly taken care of.
Pushed into the garage to get the tranny seal changed.
The car ran smoothly for several months, so much so that the wife decided it was safe to take the car on 7-day summer cruise with the club along the west coast of Newfoundland. On day three, after stopping at a local attraction, the car decided to pack it in, it was hard to start, ran rough, wouldn’t hold an idle and was backfiring through the carb, the general consensus was that the timing chain had skipped a to a tooth or two. So, it was decided to have the car towed back home to Nova Scotia rather then trying to get the car fixed in what can be considered a remote location. Another call to CAA (Pittman Motors & Towing) and a tow back to our “Base Camp” in Rocky Harbour where it was temporarily stored at the tow truck garage right next to the drivers house who’s his wife, a retired nurse, could keep an eye on it (words alone cannot express the gratitude we feel towards the generous people of Newfoundland who helped us ways that if I took the time to write here would take several paragraphs in getting the car safely back home). Luckily one member of our club brought his F150 4X4 as a “Mustang Support Vehicle” after a couple of days trying to locate a trailer we were set and at the end of our stay safely made it back home where the car was parked in our garage until the wife decided what she was going to do.
The tourist site where the timing chain jumped two teeth, that’s a big crankcase.
An all to familiar sight.
Homeward bound via Mustang Support Vehicle (MSV).
After deep thought my better half decided that the time had come to bite the bullet and give the car a total mechanical overhaul. The work would be done during the winter of ’10-’11, concentrating on the engine, transmission and brakes. With the power train removed from the car the engine bay would also get a total overhaul replacing some rotten metal while adding A/C, a new, larger capacity brake booster and master cylinder to go with larger 11” SSBC slotted front disc brakes and converting the rear drums to a 10” slotted disc system also from SSBC. After some preliminary inquiries to various shops and referrals from club members my wife decided that instead of choosing one person/shop to do all the work she would act like a contractor and subcontract to different shops, arranging for delivery of the engine, transmission and body to the various shops herself.
Portland Automotive & Speed was chosen as the dis-ambler/assembler. Owned by “Big Block” Larry Legere, he is responsible for parting out the car, as well as installing the A/C system, re-wiring the engine bay, installing the Ram Air hood components, the new power brake boosted/master cylinder and new disc brake upgrade as well as getting the engine dynoed at Armstrong Brothers. The transmission went to a retired Ford transmission specialist with 30 years experience who came highly recommended by the members of the club as well a few drag racers. The engine went to Trick-Engines owned by Brian Hackett who is considered and artist with a die grinder when it comes to porting/polishing/machining heads. The rest of the car was sent to Overall Collision, one of the best body shops in the area, owned by Mark and Jeff Whynot.
Hopefully the last time she’ll see a tow truck.
Engine and transmission removed.
Box ‘O’ Spare Parts.
She looks a little light.
“Big Block” Larry himself.
End of part 4. Part 5 to follow.
