What did you do to your car today?

vintageman · Jan 29, 2021

Finally got some time to work on the front bumper and grill. I have a 73 but prefer the 71-72 grill and the chrome front bumper so that is what I installed on mine. Still taking a heat gun to the bumper fillers to get them right but the drivers side looks pretty good so far. Here are some pics of the progress so far. I did notice that my bumper is slightly higher on the passenger side, I will be loosing the brackets at the frame and leveling that out tomorrow. BTW, the new hood latch that I bought from NPD had issues when I installed, the bolt for the part of the hood that inserts into the hood latch had to have the head ground down to allow the latch to actually lock properly.

Bentworker · Jan 29, 2021

Put the doors back on the car. They have been off for 12 years. What started as rebuilding the door hinges had a bit of project escalation...

Bolting things back up to make sure gaps are okay before it goes to paint.

mach71351c · Jan 30, 2021

Bentworker said:
Put the doors back on the car. They have been off for 12 years. What started as rebuilding the door hinges had a bit of project escalation...

Bolting things back up to make sure gaps are okay before it goes to paint.

View attachment 48326

I'm glad I'm not the only that's been building a car for over decade.

shaheenk · Jan 30, 2021

vintageman said:
Finally got some time to work on the front bumper and grill. I have a 73 but prefer the 71-72 grill and the chrome front bumper so that is what I installed on mine. Still taking a heat gun to the bumper fillers to get them right but the drivers side looks pretty good so far. Here are some pics of the progress so far. I did notice that my bumper is slightly higher on the passenger side, I will be loosing the brackets at the frame and leveling that out tomorrow. BTW, the new hood latch that I bought from NPD had issues when I installed, the bolt for the part of the hood that inserts into the hood latch had to have the head ground down to allow the latch to actually lock properly.

View attachment 48323 View attachment 48324 View attachment 48325

Thanks , that looks good

shaheenk · Feb 3, 2021

tony-muscle said:
I want to look into one of these. Can you suggest a brand/model? Also, where did you mount it internally?

Sorry for the delayed response , Ebay has a number of them , I like the Hirshmann stuff but trying to find one is difficult. placed on the drivers side windscreen

Galucha · Feb 10, 2021

Well I started today with the goal of getting the leaf springs off to replace the bushings. The bolts won that battle, but I got a case of the "since I'm here"s and ended up stripping and painting the rear end.

Think I'm gonna try again on the leaf spring bolts on the weekend. The nuts came off ok, but the actual bolts themselves are stuck in the bushings so I'm thinking about taking a sawzall to them.

Big Red Mach 1 · Feb 13, 2021

Kilgon said:
Finally got my a/f and trans temp gauges installed. Did a dry fit on both sides plus the rear of the shifter and the passenger side worked out best. Really no other place to put them. Easy to see and out of the way even for the passenger. Need to finish hooking up the exhaust and I will be back on the road again.

View attachment 48256

Hey Kilgon, Which B&M shifter is that? Are you running a manual valve body?

Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs · Feb 14, 2021

I actually went to shop yesterday and sat at bench and filed burrs off of small parts to refinish and go back on. Can't do much moving around or neck goes crazy with pain.

MKSpeedlab · Feb 14, 2021

Been tweaking some custom speaker grills that I was able to get a friend to 3D print for me. Ordered some SEM interior paint which should match a little nicer, but these are turning out really nice. There is one more revision that we came up with that will have some recessed screw holes to make mounting it a little more secure/stealthy. But should look much nicer once all said and done, plus some new Kenwood speakers going underneath.

Kilgon · Feb 14, 2021

Big Red Mach 1 said:
Hey Kilgon, Which B&M shifter is that? Are you running a manual valve body?

It's the Quicksilver Ratchet. Still have auto valve body with a shift kit in it and larger filter kit. If I was to change out down the road I will go with the below.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/pma-pa36301

droptop73 · Feb 16, 2021

I tinkered a bit more on the wiring harness install. No photos but honest, I did work on it. It's just bitter cold here.

jscott · Feb 20, 2021

well after owning my '72 for 370 days (as of today) I took her out for her first real run. Went to a car show that would take me round trip 125 miles., only went to the car show as a friend was going, I do not really care about car shows. This being the real first time I have sat back and looked at the car outside of the garage I was very pleased with how she looked. She ran perfectly, love the new Summit 750 carb, good gas mileage and performance. Only hiccups were the heat did not work great (but that could be tied to the A/C problem I am having addressed when it goes into a shop next month or two) and one of the exhaust tips needed adjustment!! For some reason it is creeping into the car, the other side is fine. It is not loose I cannot figure it out yet, may put a set screw in it (it is held by clamp).

jakosaur · Feb 20, 2021

Removed the driveshaft, pulled the yoke off, still trying to fight out the rear U-joint, removed the leaf springs, working on taking off all the brake lines from the rear end. Removed the rear brake drums as well.

Here's a question: the driveshaft is pretty rusted. If I knock the rust off and repaint, will I need to get it rebalanced?

Thanks, Jake

jakosaur · Feb 20, 2021

Galucha said:
Well I started today with the goal of getting the leaf springs off to replace the bushings. The bolts won that battle, but I got a case of the "since I'm here"s and ended up stripping and painting the rear end.

Think I'm gonna try again on the leaf spring bolts on the weekend. The nuts came off ok, but the actual bolts themselves are stuck in the bushings so I'm thinking about taking a sawzall to them.

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View attachment 48649

Nice job on the rear end, it looks great. I'll be doing that soon myself. Sorry about the bolts. When I took mine off a few weeks ago, I soaked them in PB Blaster for a few days, then they came right out. Just a thought. Good luck!

Jake

Galucha · Feb 20, 2021

jakosaur said:
Nice job on the rear end, it looks great. I'll be doing that soon myself. Sorry about the bolts. When I took mine off a few weeks ago, I soaked them in PB Blaster for a few days, then they came right out. Just a thought. Good luck!

Jake

Thanks! I didn't have much luck with the PB blaster, they were really stuck in there. Ended up rigging a kind of "press" like the one below to get the front ones out, and was eventually able to get the rear ones out after a lot of hammering.

cwalker509 · Feb 21, 2021

mach71351c said:
I'm glad I'm not the only that's been building a car for over decade.

2.5 decades here

Vinnie · Feb 23, 2021

I invested in the future and bought these from NPD:

https://www.npdlink.com/product/disc-brake-conversion-kit-wilwood-forged-dynalite-series/196828

Ever since I was a kid I wanted red calipers on my brakes, visible through a cool set of wheels.

These will also motivate me to keep moving forward with my super slow restoration

The box will also contain the matching hoses.

Kilgon · Feb 23, 2021

Vinnie said:
I invested in the future and bought these from NPD:

https://www.npdlink.com/product/disc-brake-conversion-kit-wilwood-forged-dynalite-series/196828

Ever since I was a kid I wanted red calipers on my brakes, visible through a cool set of wheels.

These will also motivate me to keep moving forward with my super slow restoration

The box will also contain the matching hoses.

Very nice. Its those extra touches that make the difference between "nice looking" and "wow". Also on my wish list for down the road.

tony-muscle · Feb 23, 2021

Vinnie said:
I invested in the future and bought these from NPD:

https://www.npdlink.com/product/disc-brake-conversion-kit-wilwood-forged-dynalite-series/196828

Ever since I was a kid I wanted red calipers on my brakes, visible through a cool set of wheels.

These will also motivate me to keep moving forward with my super slow restoration

The box will also contain the matching hoses.

Keep an eye for any gaps between the bearing retainer plate and bearing. I saw an issue when I installed my Wilwood's in the rear. See this thread:

If you need shims let me know since I should still have some around. They were not that easy to source.

Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs · Feb 23, 2021

WOW it was 66 deg. F. here today. My spring flowers are all up and about to bloom. I did go to garage and sit and sand a NOS front tag bracket for the Q vert. Got it painted Slop Gray so another bolt on piece ready.
Also looked at the T-5 five speed I bought on Sunday. The clutch measures 10.5" and looks to be about new. Flywheel also looks new. The Hurst shifter also looks new.
Since I have never put one of these behind a 351 C need to verify what all I need. The flywheel has 157 teeth. The bell housing is right at 7 5/8" deep. So I guess my questions would be is the flywheel good to go for the 351-C? I am not sure on balance being the same.
What starter do I need to search for?
Do I put a separator plate between block and bel housing? I am thinking yes they all do.
I do have three engines in shop our of cars so I can test fit.
I have put synchronize rings and plastic pieces in the shift on these before have the Ford manual for the transmission so I good there. Will take apart and check everything and shim if needed. That will be month out after back if fixed. I just want to know what to look out for while waiting.
I closed deal on 8.5' X 20' enclosed car trailer today. They are scarce as hens teeth. Covid has suppliers shut down and factory that does the outside sheeting has huge paint issue and also shut down. Could not get white had to go with Pewter. So the 73 Mach 1 will bet at the PITS on March 24 - 27 for the first big show this year. Then April 15 - 18 at the Mustang Owner's Museum and then June in Carlisle all Ford show. So lots of miles coming up. Need one of those new F-260 big canted valve V-8. I understand there will be on out drag racing this year. Stock heads, crank, block and with turbo over 1,400 hp. Some clutch, flywheel and trans pics.
Any info on the T-5 install will be appreciated. Going in 73 Grande body for Track car.