What did you do to your car today?

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I like my 73 Big car. Built a 66 20 years ago, 73 more room, better handling. What did I do to my 73 today, Light switch change out. Went for a cruse in the afternoon the day before, getting dark, pulled out the lights knob and shaft and all came out, could not get the shaft to say in switch. Got it home okay.
50 year old car always something.
 
The reason people do that, is because we are all just waiting, with bated breath, for their amazing opinion. Or not.
 
73pony said:
They are the CVF set up. I ran them on my last 351C that met an untimely demise do to the #1 intake valve having a date with the piston due to a failed valve spring. I run the Serpentine system with the 2 8 rib belts. I highly recommend them. Great guys to work with and great quality product.

Also went over to my shop on lunch break and got the oil pan mounted.

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73pony said:
They are the CVF set up. I ran them on my last 351C that met an untimely demise do to the #1 intake valve having a date with the piston due to a failed valve spring. I run the Serpentine system with the 2 8 rib belts. I highly recommend them. Great guys to work with and great quality product.

Also went over to my shop on lunch break and got the oil pan mounted.

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LOOKS GREAT! WHERE DID YOU GET SUCH A GOOD CONDITIONED FRONT BUMPER? I'M STRUGGLING FINDING ONE.
 
On Saturday evening, I met up with friends at the Stuttgart Night Cruise, an event held every week on Saturday evening. Getting there was unproblematic until about three miles from my destination. I was stuck in traffic and after about 10 minutes the engine started running a little rougher. I suspected a heat problem but I reached my destination and the Mustang had four hours to cool down. Even at the start for the drive home it took a little longer to run and it still ran a little rougher than before. On the way at a stop light it even quit and was reluctant to start again. My AFR gauge was at 6 on normal driving. I even had a complete electrical failure for a short time. Tonight I was able to track down the cause. The cause of the intermittent power failure was a faulty circuit breaker on the battery. The reason for the rough running of the engine was a float needle valve that was not closing correctly. This led to an over-supply of the engine and it literally drowned. I removed the circuit breaker, disassembled the carburetor, cleaned it and reinstalled it. Now the engine runs smoothly again at idle at about 700 rpm in gear D and the AFR indicator shows values between 14.4 and 14.9. I am happy and can participate in the classic car meeting at a nearby glider field next weekend.
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50 year old car!!! After getting 73 to run the steering was not up to par. Rebuilt the steering box, was leaking. Still not working as it should so next step, pump. That did the trick. So happy to drive a smooth ride. Got it home after a short test drive checking out all my fine work, what did is see PS
Fluid leaking under the car.
New pump took out the old PS hose. Hose on order.
 
Mark873 said:
50 year old car!!! After getting 73 to run the steering was not up to par. Rebuilt the steering box, was leaking. Still not working as it should so next step, pump. That did the trick. So happy to drive a smooth ride. Got it home after a short test drive checking out all my fine work, what did is see PS
Fluid leaking under the car.
New pump took out the old PS hose. Hose on order.
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Never fails, you think you got the problem fixed to find it out it caused another one. I was told a long time ago that if it involves pressure and hoses, to always replace the hoses.
 
Spent an day installing some Rallyarmor mud flaps. The paint is nice now, and I’d like to keep it that way. Started off with universal flaps and cut them a bit. Brackets were a pain, as I didn’t want to drill any holes in the car. They mount via the existing wheel well molding holes. Front brackets sandwich between the fender and the body using one of the 5/16” lower fender mount bolts. Rear brackets go back to the rails and use what I’m guessing was a fixture mounting point. All brackets are fabricated out of stainless I scavenged from a newspaper folding machine.

Some day I’ll probably take them off and go with paint protection film, but I kind of like the mad max look.

IMG_2800.jpeg
 
Dealt with the aftermath from the motor mount ordeal. Went and bought longer mount to bracket bolts due to the prothane bolts being a little thicker than factory. Touched up paint chips on the water pump. Installed the missing alternator bracket and got a new alternator belt. Productive weekend for sure! New 3 point belts will probably go in tomorrow.
 

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73QCodeMach1F said:
Dealt with the aftermath from the motor mount ordeal. Went and bought longer mount to bracket bolts due to the prothane bolts being a little thicker than factory. Touched up paint chips on the water pump. Installed the missing alternator bracket and got a new alternator belt. Productive weekend for sure! New 3 point belts will probably go in tomorrow.
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Looking good! I love the attention to detail, touching up chips on the engine. I also like the pillows under the car idea, but it looks a little too comfortable. If I did that I think I would probably just take naps under my car and not get too much work done. :D
 
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73QCodeMach1F said:
Dealt with the aftermath from the motor mount ordeal. Went and bought longer mount to bracket bolts due to the prothane bolts being a little thicker than factory. Touched up paint chips on the water pump. Installed the missing alternator bracket and got a new alternator belt. Productive weekend for sure! New 3 point belts will probably go in tomorrow.
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Regarding pillows- that is awesome!

Consider a visit to the patio section of your local box store at the end of summer. Lounge chair pads can be had with resilient fabric, and they often have designs that fold up into a cube shape to take up less space. Might be worth getting one on clearance.

Also, the ergo kneel brand standing pads are A+

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Bentworker said:
Regarding pillows- that is awesome!

Consider a visit to the patio section of your local box store at the end of summer. Lounge chair pads can be had with resilient fabric, and they often have designs that fold up into a cube shape to take up less space. Might be worth getting one on clearance.

Also, the ergo kneel brand standing pads are A+

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I like your patio furniture cushion idea. I actually use the shipping bags that a lot of the auto manufacturers send new bumper fascias in when a body shop orders them. They used to put them in boxes, but now they ship them in these bags that are plastic and are slightly padded to protect the part inside. I fold them in half long ways so it has double padding. Because it is plastic and kind of slippery, and it makes a really nice low profile creeper. I can get under my Mach without jacking it up on this where with my actual creeper I have to raise the car to get under it.
 

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AC Work
Question for anyone that knows AC on 50 year old cars, have a new York AC compressor, changed to R134, charged system to @80% 30 low 200 high. the compressor sounds like it getting ready to toss a rod, belt slap, pulls down the engine. Gets cool not cold air.
Seem like it is working too hard, Question are these York's not made for R134? too thick/heavy?
Took car to an AC mechanic he said the new compressor was bad, got another one doing the same thing.
Found that reducing the amount of 134 it gets better.
System flushed, new condenser TEV and dryer, system evens out when engine stopped no blockage.

1973 Mustang Coupe
 
tpj71mach said:
Looking good! I love the attention to detail, touching up chips on the engine. I also like the pillows under the car idea, but it looks a little too comfortable. If I did that I think I would probably just take naps under my car and not get too much work done. :D
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The pillows were for my fiancé, he’s had a few surgeries that make laying on hard ground a pain (literally). They do tend to get in the way a bit but helpful in the right spots lol
 
Mark873 said:
AC Work
Question for anyone that knows AC on 50 year old cars, have a new York AC compressor, changed to R134, charged system to @80% 30 low 200 high. the compressor sounds like it getting ready to toss a rod, belt slap, pulls down the engine. Gets cool not cold air.
Seem like it is working too hard, Question are these York's not made for R134? too thick/heavy?
Took car to an AC mechanic he said the new compressor was bad, got another one doing the same thing.
Found that reducing the amount of 134 it gets better.
System flushed, new condenser TEV and dryer, system evens out when engine stopped no blockage.

1973 Mustang Coupe
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Good questions. You should start a separate thread in the General Maintenance and Repair section of the Tech Forums. You may get more responses there. The York compressor should work fine with 134 but that style compressor certainly don't spin as smoothly as the rotary style compressors.
 
Cleveland Crush said:
Nice, about how many miles did you put in?
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About 250. It was a perfect day. Sunny and mid 70's. The new 408 is running great. I'm thinking my carb might be a bit on the small side for this set up though. Still working on some tuning. Prob going to spring for an AFR meter so I can dial it in perfect.
 

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