What did you do to your car today?

[Mister 4x4]

Got home Thursday evening to the 'drip, drip, drip' of the water heater's top seal leaking. Great. So, I spent Friday replacing (moving the water softener out of the way and replacing the 'heater) and Saturday being all achy and unmotivated. The water heater emptied, fortunately, so it only weighed about 130lbs... no biggee. The new 'heater said 118lbs on the box, so it was no big deal. I'd just put 80lbs of salt in the water softener, and with its full tank, I'm guessing it was over 300lbs... had to use the floor jack to get it back into the "closet."

Yesterday, I stuffed a bunch of wires... and not much more. Got the leads for the amp (that will live in the trunk), and the extension cords for the driver-side power windows. I still haven't received the "correct" power circuit conduits for the doors, so I didn't cut any holes or run anything into the doors... but I did manage to get the passenger side lock actuator mounted.

Greg, the pictures for the power window units will be coming soon. The second set of conduits/boots I ordered (pictured earlier) are HUGE. I decided I did not want to cut 1-1/2" holes in the doors and A-pillars just for wiring. I got on ebay and ordered a set of used conduits from '79-'93 Mustang - hopefully, those will be less ridiculous in size. Otherwise, I may have to come up with something "custom." If you remember gpierce's thread regarding his Electric Life windows, I'm doing very much the same thing with the Autolocs: http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-power-windows-for-your-convertible

I'll be adding to that thread once I get a little further down the road.

 

[Mister 4x4]

So apparently, there's a nationwide shortage of BF Goodrich T/A Radials in the 295/50R15 size I ordered from Summit Racing sometime in mid-July - they shipped everything else from that order, but put the tires into back-order status. I spoke to customer service at Summit, and they're still waiting on the manufacturer to ship to vendors/distributors. Summit's been posting estimated shipping dates, which have been kicked down the road as date arrives. As of Friday, it was showing: 9/08/14 - and now the latest is: 10/10/14.

Unacceptable.

I called one of my local Discount Tire stores, and went by at lunchtime. They have 2 295/50R15 Cooper Cobras in stock, and will have 2 245/60R15s here by the weekend... so they can mount them up onto the spankin' new Cragar S/Ss I have sitting on the floor in the living room. Of course, I purchased and will have the rims ready when they call... now I just gotta drop the back-order from Summit Racing and figure out what to do with the 2 245/60R15 BFGs I have already received. Bummer... because I really wanted BFGs... oh well.

Looks like I'm gonna be having lotsa fun this coming weekend.

 

[turtle5353]

So apparently, there's a nationwide shortage of BF Goodrich T/A Radials in the 295/50R15 size I ordered from Summit Racing sometime in mid-July - they shipped everything else from that order, but put the tires into back-order status. I spoke to customer service at Summit, and they're still waiting on the manufacturer to ship to vendors/distributors. Summit's been posting estimated shipping dates, which have been kicked down the road as date arrives. As of Friday, it was showing: 9/08/14 - and now the latest is: 10/10/14.

Unacceptable.

I called one of my local Discount Tire stores, and went by at lunchtime. They have 2 295/50R15 Cooper Cobras in stock, and will have 2 245/60R15s here by the weekend... so they can mount them up onto the spankin' new Cragar S/Ss I have sitting on the floor in the living room. Of course, I purchased and will have the rims ready when they call... now I just gotta drop the back-order from Summit Racing and figure out what to do with the 2 245/60R15 BFGs I have already received. Bummer... because I really wanted BFGs... oh well.

Looks like I'm gonna be having lotsa fun this coming weekend.

I am running cooper cobras too. Good tires and make really nice white smoke LOL! I was looking at bfg's also but they were out of stock back in June when I was looking too. Coopers were a good bit cheaper too!!!

Keep up the good work on the car.... cant wait to see finished product.

 

[cudak888]

They have 2 295/50R15 Cooper Cobras in stock, and will have 2 245/60R15s here by the weekend... so they can mount them up onto the spankin' new Cragar S/Ss I have sitting on the floor in the living room.

Eric, you might want to read through that hydroplaning thread on the forum. Coopers got a bad rap.

-Kurt

 

[turtle5353]

They have 2 295/50R15 Cooper Cobras in stock, and will have 2 245/60R15s here by the weekend... so they can mount them up onto the spankin' new Cragar S/Ss I have sitting on the floor in the living room.

Eric, you might want to read through that hydroplaning thread on the forum. Coopers got a bad rap.

-Kurt

How often you gonna drive that car in the pouring rain??

 

[Mister 4x4]

Thanks Kurt - I read it. Trust me, the Cobras were not my first choice. I would've even preferred Mastercraft Avengers, but they're back-ordered, too. And, the Goodfellow Car Show will be here before the BFGs back-ordered at Summit Racing apparently will be. So...

Besides, I think the more important question should be: how often does it actually rain in West Texas?

 

[Totalled]

Summit has Mickey Thompson sportsman S/Ts in that size.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mtt-6031/overview/

 

[Austin Vert]

Got home Thursday evening to the 'drip, drip, drip' of the water heater's top seal leaking. Great. So, I spent Friday replacing (moving the water softener out of the way and replacing the 'heater) and Saturday being all achy and unmotivated. The water heater emptied, fortunately, so it only weighed about 130lbs... no biggee. The new 'heater said 118lbs on the box, so it was no big deal. I'd just put 80lbs of salt in the water softener, and with its full tank, I'm guessing it was over 300lbs... had to use the floor jack to get it back into the "closet."

Yesterday, I stuffed a bunch of wires... and not much more. Got the leads for the amp (that will live in the trunk), and the extension cords for the driver-side power windows. I still haven't received the "correct" power circuit conduits for the doors, so I didn't cut any holes or run anything into the doors... but I did manage to get the passenger side lock actuator mounted.

Greg, the pictures for the power window units will be coming soon. The second set of conduits/boots I ordered (pictured earlier) are HUGE. I decided I did not want to cut 1-1/2" holes in the doors and A-pillars just for wiring. I got on ebay and ordered a set of used conduits from '79-'93 Mustang - hopefully, those will be less ridiculous in size. Otherwise, I may have to come up with something "custom." If you remember gpierce's thread regarding his Electric Life windows, I'm doing very much the same thing with the Autolocs: http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-power-windows-for-your-convertible

I'll be adding to that thread once I get a little further down the road.

Hi Eric,

Keep up the good work. Thanks for your update as to how you're progressing.

With the conduits, why don't you try any wrecking yards around your area for a decent set. Just a thought mate. When you're good and ready, i'll look forward to your report and pics about your windows.

Also, sorry to hear about your order problem with the BFG's. What's going on over there with that company? I feel your pain. I can't give you any decent advice with the Cobra's, as i have never owned or used them, but i love my Mastercraft Avengers big time. Shame you can't get them as well.

I know it's a fair bit of mucking around, but you could always sell on your Cobras when the T/A 's become available later. You will drop some money there, sure,but you should be able to tee up a buyer no probs. Just a thought Eric. Then again, the Cobra's might satisfy you as well, after you drive around a bit and try them out. See how you go man.

Take care,

Greg.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Yeah... the local 'yards aren't really much to behold - there's really only one that I would ever go to, anyway... and it's fairly thin pickins'. Because of the heat and blazing sun, rubber parts tend to expire fairly rapidly as well. But, I'll take that advice and head over there if the '79-'93 Mustang (ebay) boots I have on the way don't work out.

I looked at the Mickey T's as well - the "problem" (good thing, actually) with Summit is that they continually update their website with back-order information. Some of the others, like JEG'S and others, only post "back-ordered - no estimated shipping date." When Summit kept updating with new dates, I remained optimistic. Now it appears, that ALL of the tires in the 295/50R15 size they offer (except the Hoosier slicks) are all on back-order for some period of time or another... even the Mickey T's. I was actually able to put my hands on the Cobras at Discount Tire yesterday, and have a confirmation number for the fronts. "Any port in a storm," I guess.

I keep a pretty close eye on the weather as it is. If it rains even just a little, and the tires turn into roller skates, I'll worry about it then and just park the car. I think they'll be OK. Usually when it rains, it gets really ugly and there's hail with it - yeah... definitely not going to be driving it during those conditions.

Thanks for all the info, guys! It really does help. ::thumb::

 

[TheJ]

Did some more work on the rear of my mustang. We spent a lot of time hammering out the driver's side quarter panel but its pretty close now.





Got the taillight panel and quarter patch kinda mocked in.





Can somebody give me some measurements of the taillight panel area? I can't find where I wrote mine down before I cut the old one out.

Thanks for looking

 

[1mach1]

Upper control arms and shocks.

 

[73vertproject]

Jayson -

If you don't get a reply here, maybe PM QCode, or post a thread in the Aesthetics forum.

 

[Stangace20]

took my 91 to my mechanic because it was slipping bad past 2nd gear, and he found that the gromits on the the downshift cable were screwing it up....so I'm gonna have to go pick it up from my parents cause me and my club are going to go to the classic car racing at NAS North Island this weekend.

ALSO.....with THREE WEEKS to go, the Mustang Medic is helping hype my club's car show next month. Looks like he's going to sponsor a trophy SPECIFICALLY for 71-73's (since he's a fan of them)

[video=youtube]


Not sure how many we'll have there this year (since myself and another club member sold ours) But should be an awesome show all the same.

 

[TheJ]

Jayson -

If you don't get a reply here, maybe PM QCode, or post a thread in the Aesthetics forum.

That's a good idea, Thanks Doc.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Not a lot of pics lately, because I've been doing mostly stuff that's not really "picture worthy." For instance, yesterday I swapped the front calipers because despite everything being new, I was not getting a pedal whatsoever. Turns out, I'd installed them on the wrong sides - the bleeder valve openings were not at the top of the pistons, so I never could get them bled properly. It's all good now, and the pedal is quite firm. Still gotta swap out the booster, but at least it stops confidently now. ::thumb::

Today, was different. We started out realizing I'd never taken a picture with the Sport Covers Kurt hooked me up with, so that was the first order of business. They still need a proper restoration, so I put the best ones on the 'picture side' for today.





After that, I jacked up the rear end and pulled the wheels, fabricated a rock shield for the Holley fuel pump mounted near the tank out of a newer model splash shield found at the Auto Hobby Shop. I'll put up a pic of that later. Then, jacked up the front end, pulled the wheels and bored holes into the fronts of the doors for the electrics (power windows, locks, and speaker). While I was in there, installed the front fender splash shields and made sure everything was kosher before slapping on the new rims and skins.







Oh. My. Gawd. I can't believe how cool this looks. Everything clears just fine (thanks again for the "confidence pics," Austin Vert), and I hope the 5-spring pack is up to keeping the tires out of the sheet metal... I certainly hope I don't have to go down to 275s on 15x8s after this.

Today also marks one of the first times I've actually gotten everything done I've set out to do during the day, as declared to some friends on Facebook. This was a great Mustang weekend! ::thumb::

So... what'cha think?

 

[matrixx]

Looks awesome man! Hard to believe how rough that car was when you started.

OT: put base coat of paint on this weekend.

Didn't take any full car shots as where I'm painting is a tight spot for pics. It's no where near done and I'm going to have a lot of color sanding and polishing but for a DIY on a budget job it'll be fine.

Before pic for giggles:

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Austin Vert]

Eric,

Ouuuuuuiiiiiiiiiii !!!! Man that's lookin' real good.::goodjob::

After all the blood sweat and tears, it's big reward time for you, as she takes on the finishing work. You must be very pleased and proud.

Two things that sprung to mind as i was looking at those coooooool wheels, and the car in general. Make sure your shocks are top quality, as that obviously plays a part in preventing rubbing issues as well as the 5 leaf springs. Secondly, i noticed your hood sheet metal, is distorting down around the driver's side hood lock. You may have to adjust the lock so it doesn't do this to the metal on the hood.

Congrats Eric on a great job!

Greg.

 

[Austin Vert]

Looing pretty good there matrixx. Makes a big difference.

Greg.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Eric,

Ouuuuuuiiiiiiiiiii !!!! Man that's lookin' real good.::goodjob::

After all the blood sweat and tears, it's big reward time for you, as she takes on the finishing work. You must be very pleased and proud.

Two things that sprung to mind as i was looking at those coooooool wheels, and the car in general. Make sure your shocks are top quality, as that obviously plays a part in preventing rubbing issues as well as the 5 leaf springs. Secondly, i noticed your hood sheet metal, is distorting down around the driver's side hood lock. You may have to adjust the lock so it doesn't do this to the metal on the hood.

Congrats Eric on a great job!

Greg.

Thank you, Sir! Your generosity with the "confidence" pics of yours gave me the shove I needed to get those big meats (I'd considered only going with 275s, since Totalled's car looks so good with 'em).

I noticed the distortion and will check on that, for sure! I haven't actually had 'em locked down before. Let me ask: are properly adjusted hook locks designed to help keep the hood down, or just keep it from popping open (with very little tension at all)? Mine never worked when I bought it (thanks to Hillbilly Engineering), so I haven't had anything to compare.

 

[OMS]

Eric,

Ouuuuuuiiiiiiiiiii !!!! Man that's lookin' real good.::goodjob::

After all the blood sweat and tears, it's big reward time for you, as she takes on the finishing work. You must be very pleased and proud.

Two things that sprung to mind as i was looking at those coooooool wheels, and the car in general. Make sure your shocks are top quality, as that obviously plays a part in preventing rubbing issues as well as the 5 leaf springs. Secondly, i noticed your hood sheet metal, is distorting down around the driver's side hood lock. You may have to adjust the lock so it doesn't do this to the metal on the hood.

Congrats Eric on a great job!

Greg.

Thank you, Sir! Your generosity with the "confidence" pics of yours gave me the shove I needed to get those big meats (I'd considered only going with 275s, since Totalled's car looks so good with 'em).

I noticed the distortion and will check on that, for sure! I haven't actually had 'em locked down before. Let me ask: are properly adjusted hook locks designed to help keep the hood down, or just keep it from popping open (with very little tension at all)? Mine never worked when I bought it (thanks to Hillbilly Engineering), so I haven't had anything to compare.

Eric twist locks are for looks