What did you do to your car today?

7173Mustangs.com

Help Support 7173Mustangs.com:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Today, I got the old girl ready for a 4 month sleep. Refreshed most of the coolant with new Prestone to bring it back to 60/40 and changed the oil. Tomorrow I'll fog the motor, disconnect the battery, dust it down and put the covers on it. I do occasionally trickle charge the battery over winter. The gas tank is full with a can of Seafoam added for stabilizing. Say bye till spring ol' girl.
 
Today? I drove it like I stole it! Sunny and 70 in KC, so I couldn't resist.
 
Since I'm finally out of the break-in period on my engine and transmission, I've been letting mine eat a little more. Today's the first time I hit 4000 rpm. It sounded magical.

I did launch it about as hard as it would at a couple red lights. Its a 2.75:1 open diff. Still rocking probably the original leaf springs and some new QA1 adjustable shocks. I got some wheel hop and it felt like the passenger side only. Will need to figure out my game plan for the rear axle.
 
Since I'm finally out of the break-in period on my engine and transmission, I've been letting mine eat a little more. Today's the first time I hit 4000 rpm. It sounded magical.

I did launch it about as hard as it would at a couple red lights. Its a 2.75:1 open diff. Still rocking probably the original leaf springs and some new QA1 adjustable shocks. I got some wheel hop and it felt like the passenger side only. Will need to figure out my game plan for the rear axle.
Right side wheel hop for sure, driving wheel. That's what mine was like before I had a Traction-lock dif installed keeping the 3.25:1 ratio. If my "guy" had a 3.50 gear set, I'd have gone for that.
I did try an extra 1/2 leaf to dampen the hopping. Actually, I bought 4 1/2 leaf Grab-A-Track springs which I believe are from Scott Drake, not totally sure as they were not labeled as such, but the shackles supplied were. Now, they are where I wasted my money.
Buy Eaton Detroit Springs 4 leaf 138 lbs spring rate if you need new springs would be my suggestion if you need rear springs as well as a dif upgrade. There are other types of dif upgrades available as well.
Good luck, seems like you got a nice engine upgrade.
 
Built the tip over brackets using the steel from the body jig in my previous post. Just got through turning the sled onto its side. Now I can work on the bottom comfortably.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3988.jpeg
    5.7 MB
  • IMG_4011.jpeg
    5.2 MB
  • IMG_4042.jpeg
    5.2 MB
  • IMG_4043.jpeg
    5.2 MB
pulled apart my passenger side door, about 4 months ago i got fed up with the fitment of the hinge on the passenger side it was outta wack for the last 5 years. i had rebuilt the hinges but still had a problem with the door not closing all the way 100%, so i man handled the door and managed to finally pop it into the correct position which threw off the lock and window adjustment.

so i fixed the lock asap, but the window never sat correctly.

today i finally got around to adjusting the window fitment, and also discovered my pop in place was still not 100% so a final twist of the door frame and upper hinge adjustment finally got the door into a great position. I spent 3 hours adjusting the glass and making some minor repairs. now the door adjustment is as good as its going to get and hopefully no more whistling noise on the highway, hopefully.
My solution to man-handling the door was at Harbor Freight. They sell a 4-wheel cart that has a hydraulic lift bed. I put the cart kittycorner to the door bottom. Then I have the door level and supported. Remove bolts and viola, reverse for the re-install. The cart goes high enough to parallel the back hatch level on my Navigator. This helped me do a one-person lift for my 9 inch axle, complete.
 
You got a super deal on that car! Looks great! Glad it was saved and still on the road.
i am yet to repair it - frame, new tank, panel alignment and wheel bearing. This February will work on rear bearing and reataching exhaust pipe that hangs. Only had time so far to get the carb running right and patched hole in the old tank.
With new fuel tank, i also plan on coating underbody woth Pro15, prior to new tank.
Yes, deal was relly good, payed more then he was asking.
 
Last edited:
Front tires looked like a guy with two eyes not quite looking in the same direction. So I measured the two tie rods end-to-end. They were off by almost an inch. So I shortened the long side to match the short. End result, the tires now look in the same direction, so next step is off to alignment shop. I also measured the front-to-rear tire distance on both sides. They matched, so no need to fool with the strut rods. All in all, a good day.
.
 
Pics of the progress on the bottom of my sled.

image1.jpeg
image0(2).jpeg
image2.jpeg
Front motor mount cross member. Its a little dented. I looked inside it with a light and a small mirror. I determined it had to be removed.

image5.jpeg
image3.jpeg
image4.jpeg
The new cover piece arrived from NPD yesterday. I'll be prepping and welding it in today.
More pics to follow since I know you guys like pics. 😁
 

The new cover piece arrived from NPD yesterday. I'll be prepping and welding it in today.
More pics to follow since I know you guys like pics. 😁

That "Tilt-a-Stang" tool you made sure comes in handy. What's the purpose of engine lift and straps in the center? I would think the ends would be enough to support it...
 
That "Tilt-a-Stang" tool you made sure comes in handy. What's the purpose of engine lift and straps in the center? I would think the ends would be enough to support it...
The straps are attached to a 2ft 2”x2” square steel tubing. Each strap hook is attached to a steel eyebolt. The engine hoist hook is attached in the center of the tube also with an eyebolt. When I lifted the driver side with the hoist the sled came up and started to tilt correctly as soon as the center of gravity shifted, I guided the body on to the floor where the brackets I fabricated hold it up solid. since the straps and the hoist are not in my way, I left everything attached but loose no sense in removing it to reattach it later.
 
Back
Top