What did you do to your car today?

[1973grandeklar]

Nice one rocket. I had to sell off all my cars back in the early 90's. I got to keep the GTO Judge for about 10 years, but never had time to do anything with it. Wife did not like that I had it as every time I would try to do something to it to get it running, it would cost money. Rather than a divorce I got rid of it.

So now the boys are grown up (21 and 19) and the baby girl is 16. The 19 year old wants to buy a 1972 Mustang, wife thinks its a great idea. I can spend time bonding with the boy. His older brother comes over often to help out. Mom is happy as all get up. Then I find another Mustang. Wife says I should get it! My job is paying well and we now have some extra cash each month.

Point, some times you give up a dream and the Lord will bless you with a double blessing. Now I have Q code Mach 1 coming. Amazing stuff.

 

[rocket366]

Thank You Sir!

I'm happy you can feel me and there is nothing like getting your boys involved in a project like my father did with me.

I was washing parts in a pan of gasoline in 1965 just to hang with DAD... awesome!

Benefit was full time job as mechanic right out of HS ... held that job for 10yrs b4 going into construction it was a free education.

Best memories I have is working on cars with dad...PRICELESS!!

Regards Brother

 

[Qcode351mach]

Been trying to get the car ready for alignment drive but keep running into these small annoying issues..Got the brake situation straightened out,,When you install a front disc conversion your supposed to use a proportioning valve not a distribution block DUH..Installed the new front sway bar..Decided to take the new wheels & tires I had bought for the q-code & put them on this car before they dry rot & become useless..I had to paint the rears though since when I bought them I couldn't get a matched set in the sizes I wanted so the fronts were black & the rears silver.

What a royal pain had to remove all the small rivets WITHOUT messing up since you can't get them from Ruff racing any more..Lots of work into just refinishing the rears to match the fronts..Came out perfect..Although the torque thrusts were Nice..17" 16" with the size tires the p.o. installed just doesn't cut it for all the suspension mods upgrades I did..Plus I think these give the car a more sinister look. Hopefully I can get her aligned next week & really start to drive it..

 

[matrixx]

sweet wheels!

 

[droptop73]

Looks nice Scott!

 

[Elizabeth73]

Right after I woke up and before breakfast, I ran outside to install the Pertronix Ignitor, and Pertronix Flamethrower Coil I picked up last night. Took about fifteen mins to install everything and the car fired up so fast. What a difference compared to points! The best part is that everything looks stock still since the changes are inside the distributor.

I also installed the hood pins my dad made for me out of stainless steel. He works at a machine shop and molded them out of a block of steel. They are not functional locks because the previous holes in the hood don't line up with the new support. But they look good and won't rust.

Oh, does anyone else use Carb + Choke Cleaner for EVERYTHING? I even use it to clean my hands from oil and grease after working on car (which isn't recommended). It works wonders

 

[matrixx]

+1 on the pertronix ignition. Probably the best mod anyone can do.

Edit: apparently a text message got imported to tapatalk and posted here. :damn iPhones:

 

[Gold Rush]

Oh, does anyone else use Carb + Choke Cleaner for EVERYTHING? I even use it to clean my hands from oil and grease after working on car (which isn't recommended). It works wonders

You would be smart to get a box of the blue latex gloves. I work with chemicals all day and this stuff is bad for you. Contains MEK and Naptha not the worst for you but still a level 2-3 on MSDS. Known Cancer causing agentsI used to laugh at the guys wearing those gloves but now I know why and wear them all the time if only to keep the grease and dirt off making cleanup a breeze... Just Sayin

MSDS 00000128[1].pdf

 

[Mister 4x4]

So, the new headlight buckets came in Thursday, and today I took the old ones back out. The body shop guy had cut a bunch of corners, by not aligning things or even putting fasteners in some places. On each side, the plan was to remove the hood lock bracket and the old bucket, install the side marker lights, adjust the fender caps, install the small plastic trim panels, then the new buckets & hood lock brackets. That went pretty well for both sides, except that I also had to also tweak the front cross member to install fasteners to the corresponding places inside the fenders, and drill holes for the chrome bumper filler pieces. Took some time, and a lot of breaks to get up and move around, as I'm not used to being crumpled up in a pile on the floor in front of my car for hours on-end. Once both sides were back together, I installed the grille and had to make a bunch of adjustments to the buckets - and also discovered the grille mounting bolts are too small for the receivers in the new buckets. Crap. Oh well - I'll get some more at the hardware store tomorrow or something.

Then the bumper went on, and required a ton of adjustment - since the body guy simply tossed the new repop fenders on without any kind of alignment or adjustments. Then, for a good measure and to finish it off (even though it was gettin' late), tossed in the headlights and doors.

Here it is - sorry for the crappy auto focus fail:

It's come a long way from this:

I think next up is getting the door handles, locks, door glass, and quarter windows installed... then start working on the interior.

 

[Totalled]

The before... and then the after... Mister 4x4...

 

[cudak888]

So....

... then start working on the interior.

Mmmm - talk about a work-up routine, Eric! You've got me all fired up to do some Sunday wrenching

You'll find the quarter windows much easier - though I'd install the door glass first if it isn't installed already.

-Kurt

P.S.: Scott, I've been wondering where your contender for "Best Panel Gapped '71 Since Jeff Lilly's Wild Horse" had gone...

 

[Mister 4x4]

Mmmm - talk about a work-up routine, Eric! You've got me all fired up to do some Sunday wrenching

You'll find the quarter windows much easier - though I'd install the door glass first if it isn't installed already.

-Kurt

I scored the quarter window roll-up/down mechanism from the '73 coupe parts car and all the glass from the '72 Mach 1 parts car Auron1973Mach1 and I went in halfsies on. So, I have plenty of quarter glass to choose from at this point. But I wasn't so careful with my original glass... didn't have it removed or covered when I was cutting/grinding (insert face palm smilie here).

 

[cudak888]

I scored the quarter window roll-up/down mechanism from the '73 coupe parts car and all the glass from the '72 Mach 1 parts car Auron1973Mach1 and I went in halfsies on. So, I have plenty of quarter glass to choose from at this point. But I wasn't so careful with my original glass... didn't have it removed or covered when I was cutting/grinding (insert face palm smilie here).

Roll down conversion? You've just quadrupled your work, my friend

-Kurt

 

[Qcode351mach]

P.S.: Scott, I've been wondering where your contender for "Best Panel Gapped '71 Since Jeff Lilly's Wild Horse" had gone...

Nowhere still at the smg..Waiting for me to be done with the green one..Then back to the q-code

 

[Elizabeth73]

What did I do tonight- just simple running of engine, noticed some oil near the center bolts on the intake. Took the bolts out, cleaned them up and applied RTV sealant. Should work well. I also picked up a nice radiator cap for five bucks. I was going to paint the original but paying 10bucks for paint wasn't worth it.

 

[matrixx]

Just some more body work. I really need to get me a power sander.

Everything else on this car has been halted until every last square inch shines.

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[kcmash]

Just some more body work. I really need to get me a power sander.

Everything else on this car has been halted until every last square inch shines.

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Me, I just cleaned up weatherstrip channels and rear window bright trim. They look great though!

 

[Stangace20]

Had my club's 35th anniversary party and D&B over the weekend (w/ 36 cars including 4 foxes and 2 71-73's) which was ok. Otherwise I got my confirmation for my club's annual show here in san diego this coming october.....and I'm apparently the first one to sign up in my fox class since my # is 1701.

If anyone in the southern CA/AZ area is interested I made a topic for it

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-mustangs-by-the-bay-2014-stay-tuned-for-updates

 

[cudak888]

Given that I've been saddled with a couple thousand in bills for due to production equipment upgrades, I haven't been spending anything on either car. However, the weekend has presented itself to be quite interesting:

Yesterday:

Found a 3-ton Taiwanese jack at the scrapyard for dirt cheap due to a rounded-out gear shaft:

Welded some material to the gear shaft along with a bolt to increase some of the surface area. It's not a high-torque area, so a few spots did just fine after filing. The other sides have more weld on them than this side; it's not this uniformly sloppy:

Cheap score, right? Maybe, but not that afternoon. I proceeded for the next 5 hours to figure out how to get ATF over everything - including myself - trying to learn how it works. Never rebuilt a jack before, and had to take a crash course in hydraulics so I could figure out why it would pump fluid into the cylinder, but leak it back into the reservoir on bringing the arm back up.

Turns out the main valve is missing one of the two ball bearings and springs - of which I have no idea what diameter it should be. Great.

Today:

Less cinematic, but more successful: The '71s left headlight adjustment screw had split apart when I was working on it a while ago, and the headlight retaining ring shortly afterwards.

I didn't want to put an aftermarket ring on it, but after looking at one "Needa" cheapo that's been sitting in the sale bin at Pep Boys for 6 months now, I went ahead and got it:

The real irony is that this "universal" ring, by virtue of being a solid stamped piece, won't split it's lousy little spot welds like the originals. Go figure. Next up is the RH bezel, which doesn't sit right at all.

There's a strange, stupid sentimental part of me that makes me feel good that that retainer ring finally found a home - and a good one.

-Kurt

 

[matrixx]

Basically more bodywork this weekend. I'm a bit behind as I should have had Thursday off but that didn't happen when one of my guys got rushed to surgery. So I was a bit tired. I removed the bottom chrome trim from the rockers as I just didn't like them and they aren't in the best of shape. Just as I pulled the trim from fenders I was greeted with about 12 rivets down there so I cut those off and sanded them down.

I've been working on a nice DIY paint job method that I'd love to show off but it's just not quite ready. That'll be another day.

For those of you new to the site my builds mission is to scout deals and build the car with the least amount of cash possible, best way as possible.

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