What did you do to your car today?

[griffbl]

Removed the three bolts securing the front license plate holder, and replaced the bolts without the License plate holder itself. I thought that looked better than empty holes. Front plates are generally not required where I live, and I sure think it cleans up the front of the car!

 

[Don C]

Assembled the bottom end again. I took it apart because I wasn't happy with the way I installed the rear main seal and I'm glad I did. I got silicone all over the crank and it wasn't spinning nicely. This time I only put a tiny bit of silicone where the halves meet. I didn't put any under the main cap this time though, so I may take it apart yet again and do that. 

I can re-torque the crank without pulling out all the pistons, right? 

I would use a thin coat blue thread sealant (Locktite) at the rear of the main bearing cap. It's an anaerobic and it won't cure until after the cap is bolted down.  All excess will squeeze out and there is no chance of it messing with bearing clearance as is possible with RTV. 

Yes, you can remove and replace main bearing cap without removing pistons.

Did you set the thrust bearing cap correctly?

 

[OzCoupe72]

Vehicle being stationary for a few years when I removed the fuel tank it was a bit rusty inside so I refurbished it with a KBS fuel tank repair kit, similar to POR15 but without the price tag.

 

[downwardspiral]

Assembled the bottom end again. I took it apart because I wasn't happy with the way I installed the rear main seal and I'm glad I did. I got silicone all over the crank and it wasn't spinning nicely. This time I only put a tiny bit of silicone where the halves meet. I didn't put any under the main cap this time though, so I may take it apart yet again and do that. 

I can re-torque the crank without pulling out all the pistons, right? 

I would use a thin coat blue thread sealant (Locktite) at the rear of the main bearing cap. It's an anaerobic and it won't cure until after the cap is bolted down.  All excess will squeeze out and there is no chance of it messing with bearing clearance as is possible with RTV. 

Yes, you can remove and replace main bearing cap without removing pistons.

Did you set the thrust bearing cap correctly?

Thanks, I will do that. I will also align the thrust bearing as outlined in my shop manual.

edit- DONE, thanks again Don you're definitely a guru. Now I'm just waiting on the timing cover seals and a degree wheel. I plan on degreeing the cam on the lifter before I put the heads on. I don't really want to mess around with removing valve springs and all that.

 

[mwilson7]

I'm finally home from my 3.5 year assignment in China and was able to take my 71 Mach 1 out for it's first ride today.  Overall I am VERY pleased with the car but I have a few things I need to work on.

- Pedal slowly goes to the floor at the stop light followed by the "BRAKE" light going on.  A quick pump turns it off.  I'm guessing the brake booster needs to be replaced.  Not surprising for a 50 year old car.

- Sounds like there is an exhaust leak on the drivers side front.  Can't see where it's coming from but looking at the exhaust I'd say it's at least 20 years old.  Might be time to replace it.

- Boy those dash lights are dim!!!  I have the LED's on order and will be installing them this weekend.

For a 46 year old unrestored car I'm pretty pleased.  I have 3 weeks until the Woodward Dream cruise and I'm hoping to get at least the exhaust and lights fixed by then.  I can deal with manual brakes so they will probably be the last thing to fix.

I was utterly shocked at the number of looks, thumbs up and positive comments I received while driving this car.  More attention that a Ford GT!

 

[Don C]

Your brake problem is typical of an internal leak in the master cylinder.

 

[tony-muscle]

Installed rolling spring perches from DazeCars (http://www.dazecars.com/dazed/Testroller.html).

Like everything, the first side I tackled took me about 6 hours, while the second took me less than 2 hours. The first time I had issues compressing the spring and installing the bottom end shock. The issue with the spring is that I was not compressing the spring evenly at the bottom coil so it will tilt after removal of the perch, which made it a challenge to install on the new perch. It is a bit nerve racking to work with a compressed spring so I had to be careful. I ended up using a ratchet strap and a bar to move it into location. For the second wheel, I made sure I hooked the bottom of the spring evenly which required unscrewing one of the hooks of the compressor and installing it from below, easy peasy..... :-/  The second issue is that with these spring perches there is very little room to install the washer and bushing on the bottom studs of the shock. I struggled and spent a lot of time with the first one bolting those suckers.... The lesson learned for the second one was to screw the side facing the engine first, and to insert the shock studs into the perch holes while holding the washers underneath - used three hands. Also, I ended up trimming one side of the washer to make it fit. Off course, once I was done, while cleaning up, I saw the instructions sheet, which suggested this same procedure... dahhhh! :shootself:

 

[downwardspiral]

Degreed the cam. I did the whole process 3 times. I think I did it right, but am attributing the error I am seeing to my indicator and setup. I'm going to say it is OK..

I found true TDC, found the intake centerline then found the open/close at .015 and .050. The intake centerline was within 1/2 degree, but the others were a few degrees off. 

Measured Intake CL= 107.25-107.5º // From Cam Card = 107º [Fine to me]

Measured open / close @ .015 = 39-40º BTDC / 72.5-73º ABDC // From Cam Card = 37º / 71º

Measured open / close @ .050 = 15º BTDC / 44-44.5º ABDC // From Cam Card = 12º / 46º

I think it's close enough for me, I'm just gonna send it.

 

[will e]

I started it for the first time in a few months. It ran like crap. Didn't want to idle. So I keep it at about 2000 RPM for a couple of minutes and then shut it down. It did this one time before when I let it sit for a very long time without starting and the next time I tried it ran fine. I am hoping for a repeat... The weather is going to get nice again in a about 8 weeks. I am looking forward to some seat time.

 

[downwardspiral]

I started it for the first time in a few months.  It ran like crap.  Didn't want to idle.  So I keep it at about 2000 RPM for a couple of minutes and then shut it down.  It did this one time before when I let it sit for a very long time without starting and the next time I tried it ran fine.  I am hoping for a repeat...  The weather is going to get nice again in a about 8 weeks. I am looking forward to some seat time.

Everything is probably gunked up in the carb / fuel system. I'm dealing with the same thing in an outboard boat.

 

[Bentworker]

Currently wrestling "Classic Tube" "pre-bent" brake and fuel lines into my car. So glad I kept my old lines, this classic tube stuff is off by a mile

 

[jpaz]

I just removed the power steering gear box from 72 Mach. Wasn't bad at all, wish I would have done this in the first place. Tried to replace the input shaft seal while still in car, but it didn't work. It still leaked bad so now I am just either getting it rebuilt or use it for a core.

 

[downwardspiral]

Degreed the cam again because the numbers didn't quite add up to me after sleeping on it. Now I'm even more unsure since I got different numbers altogether. I made the setup as rigid as possible but I think my problem may be that I am indicating on a curved surface of the lifter. I ordered indicator extensions so I can hit a flat surface on the lifter, they should be here Weds.

 

[downwardspiral]

My rockers were on backorder since May, and those came in today. Got some beefy 3/8" pushrods to check the length and some other boring stuff. I might actually assemble the engine this weekend if all goes well. I am a realist though, and this thing has been apart for 3 years so we'll see.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

My dryer for my 73 vert came and I got it on the air cond. system. Of course the holes for the two screws that secure it to the condenser did not line up so left them out. Pulled vacuum on the system and let set during lunch and did not leak down so I let it vacuum for 30 min. Was going to add the Druacool refrigerant but my filter for gas tank did not get here. I hooked up temp fuel tank and found out the the darn fuel pump had died while sitting the last year. Could not keep the engine running except squirting gas in car. So got new fuel pump on last night and have to get the power steering pump back on and see if I have fuel now. Local Mustang show on Saturday don't know if I will make it. This car has sat for 25 years before I got it running a couple years ago. I have had pretty much the whole car apart detailing and checking.

 

[mwilson7]

Keep plugging away David and you will get there!!

 

[mwilson7]

So I have had a pretty interesting 24 hrs with my car.  Started yesterday afternoon when I got my tires replaced.  Decided not to go with the repo wide ovals due to being double the price of the BFG radial TA's I just couldn't justify it on a driver.  After that I cruised over to Woodward to meet up with some friends where I can into bumper to bumper traffic on the freeway.  Car has a slight dead spot off idle but always catches and then goes except this time it got worse.  Pulled off the freeway and limped onto a side street where I let the car sit for 20 minutes and then I could go about another 3-4 blocks before it started acting up again which was convenient since that was where I was parking.  Had dinner at Duggans Irish pub and watched bumper to bumper classics roll by for 2 hrs then jumped in the car and drove home 35 miles with no issues (and no bumper to bumper traffic).

Today I drove down to Watson Racing where I had the precision exhaust system bought from Don at Ohio Mustang installed on my car.  Ohio Mustang gave me a great price plus it was delivered quicker than the quoted time which is always a bonus! Fit pretty good but we did have to make a slight bend on the drivers side rear most pipe to get the tips to fit.  When everything was all said and done I think the tips stick out 2-3 inches too far but I need to do some research.  They are not past the bumper but seem a little too far out for my taste.  I'll drive it for a few weeks and look at a few cars and decided what to do.  Car made the 92 mile round trip through 4 rain storms with no issues.  

Car now drives and sounds great and is turning into the occasional driver that I'm looking for.

 

[mwilson7]

Completed my 5 days of driving the car for Woodward Dream a Cruise activities and put appeox 475 miles on the car. What a great time but it was not without incidence:

- I'm guessing this car hasn't been driven much in a number of years as the more I Dave it the better it was getting.

- found that the car does not like stop and go traffic. After about 5 minutes of stop and go traffic is starts to run horribly and then stalls when put in gar.

- I found that when you finally get the nerve to floor the car to see what's she's got you stand a good chance of blowing the heater core.

- also confirmed that bypassing the heater core is pretty easy and can be done at a car show with smile tools.

- Discovered that 71-73 mustangs are way more popular than I realized. I was shocked at the number of conversations that were started with the phrase I or someone I know used to have one of these and we never should have sold it......

- created a list to fill up my winter schedule with small little projects to work on

- rediscovered the joy of driving an old car. I have decided to leave this car stock and just fix what needs to be fixed and it is quite liberating vs. worrying about every nick and scratch.

- meet at least 5 forum members throughout the week and had some great conversations

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

Completed my 5 days of driving the car for Woodward Dream a Cruise activities and put appeox 475 miles on the car.  What a great time but it was not without incidence:

- I'm guessing this car hasn't been driven much in a number of years as the more I Dave it the better it was getting.

- found that the car does not like stop and go traffic.  After about 5 minutes of stop and go traffic is starts to run horribly and then stalls when put in gar.

- I found that when you finally get the nerve to floor the car to see what's she's got you stand a good chance of blowing the heater core.

- also confirmed that bypassing the heater core is pretty easy and can be done at a car show with smile tools.

- Discovered that 71-73 mustangs are way more popular than I realized.  I was shocked at the number of conversations that were started with the phrase I or someone I know used to have one of these and we never should have sold it......

- created a list to fill up my winter schedule with small little projects to work on

- rediscovered the joy of driving an old car.  I have decided to leave this car stock and just fix what needs to be fixed and it is quite liberating vs. worrying about every nick and scratch.  

- meet at least 5 forum members throughout the week and had some great conversations

Mark,

Glad you got to enjoy some time with the car. I know what you are talking about with the carb hesitation. My 73 vert that has sat so long has same issue. I am sure the power valve in the Holley is bad and have a friend that is good with them will go see him.

 

[mwilson7]

A friend of mine is very familiar with the quadrajet and he said the exact same thing.