What did you do today instead of working on your Mustang?

[jdomke1]

The drugstore or gas station restroom might have something that would work, but it might look a little funny. Some have 'texture' so you can grip things better...

For me, I had Mustang work today...taking apart a parts car.

My wife had the same idea. Should I go ribbed for my car’s pleasure?

 

[Mister 4x4]

Not much in the way of pics of the Jeep stuff between yesterday and today - mostly just cleaning gunk off the motor mounts and inspection plates and chasing down bolts that seem to have gone walkabout. Between all the B-Day messages and calls from my awesome friends and family, it was going kinda slow anyway - which is just fine with me! Finally threw in the towel today and went to the hardware store and AutoZone for some new ones. Hafta see just how cold it is tomorrow to determine if it all goes in this weekend or not.

 

[detritusmaximus]

My wife had the same idea. Should I go ribbed for my car’s pleasure?

I don't think the car will care, unless it's a Peugeot, then make sure it's a tickler...

And the glow'n'the'dark make terrible flashlights.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Well, it didn't warm up today as much as I was hoping for (or at least, it didn't feel like it did - and the concrete was still cold). But I did manage to get the motor mounts loaded on both the engine and frame.

Unfortunately, I paid for my laziness the other day and stepped on one of the exhaust manifolds I'd removed last week, which promptly flipped up and gouged my leg in a couple of places (not horrible... pissed me off, more than anything), so I was pretty much done for the day (after moving the manifolds to a better location). Also a bummer: gotta go back to work tomorrow, but my buddy Harry's planning on coming over Saturday morning and helping stuff the engine and transmission/T-Case in. It's supposed to be mid-70s that day, and everything's pretty much ready to go, so it shouldn't take too long.

FWIW: Despite what AutoZone's website says, Dorman 14040 Torque Converter Bolts DO NOT fit AMC A904/TF999 Torque Converters... not by a mile. Better to just go to the hardware store and score some 5/16NR24 x 1/2" stainless Grade 8s when you learn that you've sent your engine fasteners to Phoenix along with the Jeep the engine and transmission came out of.

 

[Vinnie]

I have ordered this:

- https://www.npdlink.com/product/disc-brake-conversion-kit-wilwood-classic-series-dynalite/196759

Can take 3-6 months to arrive under current conditions...

 

[Mister 4x4]

IT'S IN!! Big Shout Out to my pal Harry LaClair for coming over and helping stuff the 304, TF999, and Dana300 into the Jeep! Couldn't have done it without you! Now the real fun can begin (rebuilding the steering column, installing the fuel injection, headers, exhaust, radiator, power brakes, rebuilding the wiring harness, etc., etc., etc.). Don't look too closely at the top of the engine... all that old junk is getting replaced with new go-fast goodies.

Just got the engine off the stand, and loaded up the flex plate and cover... torqued to 100 ft lbs.

After about an hour more than I'd anticipated of transmission jack gymnastics, and remembering that the skid plate mounted up further back, the transmission & transfer case are in.

Here's a nice view of the firewall, with the heat shield that came with 258 I-6 Jeeps. That would prove to be a minor PITA and have us scratching our heads for another 45 minutes before whipping out the body saw and cutting it loose. After than, the engine slipped right into position.

BOOM! It's in! Just had to crank down a few bolts to keep it in-place. I'll worry about the rest of them next time.

Looks a little dinky in there compared to the extra long and tall 258 I-6, but this is a hefty hunk o' junk in its own right. It's a bit deceiving with the grille missing and the fenders opened up... it's about to get a lot more crowded.

Thank You SO much, Harry LaClair. Had a blast shootin' the sh!t just as much as getting it all done. The Beatles were right: we really do get by with a little help from our friends.

All the old stuff will be coming out in favor of a bunch of new go-gast goodies. I've got some new chrome Edelbrock Signature Series valve covers to replace these and keep the bling alive along with the ceramic coated stainless headers and Edelbrock Pro-Flow multi-port fuel injection. Also a set of Accel cut-to-fit wires for a little splash of yellow, too. I can't wait!

With the fenders closed up and the grille up in there, it's already starting to look a little more normal.

It's a little 'less warm' today, and I'm pretty stiff and achy, anyway. I guess we'll see what next weekend holds in store for this project.

 

[Joelster]

Picked up 4 issues of HOT ROD magazine. I'm in there in a CHEVY! I won the UMI Autocross challenge back in July. Theres a small picture of my car in there. Car #137. It's a red 2015 Z/28.

 

[jdomke1]

I don't think the car will care, unless it's a Peugeot, then make sure it's a tickler...

And the glow'n'the'dark make terrible flashlights.

I finally got my stitches out and went back to work on my cars this past weekend. Only to find out the bell housing I bought at the beginning of December was the wrong one. So once again, all work on my coupe came to a halt. I didn’t investigate enough these C-4’s to 351C housings. I got it figured. I bought the case fill and I needed a pan fill. Too late to send back so now I have one for sale. I’m in the process of cleaning it up and will sell. The guy I bought it from said it would fit but he was probably like me. Lesson learned.

 

[Johnny57]

Today was a bad day! I was taking my 72 vert. down the street to my friend that runs a small auto repair shop out of his house. For those if you that missed the story, I ended up with the "price is right" 50th anniversary give away car. She looks good outside, but underneath was a disaster!
So a complete front end rebuild is being done. The steering system was so loose, the car was dangerous to drive, so It has sat for months undrivable! I would have done the work myself, but at the time we gots the co-vid thang and I wanted to get the car drivable, so I made an appointment with him. By the time all the parts showed up, I was almost at a 100% recovery, but will have him do the work anyway.
So, on to today, Another cold morning here in the high desert, and got ready to take her down the street, warmed her up a bit, backed out, and she wouldn't move forward!!!! Not in any gear. (auto) There was some "catching" but I was stuck sideways in the road going nowhere. After a bit of playing around, I got her to actually move and got the car to the shop. The mechanic will check into things. But it's not looking good. Just another huge thing the salesman lied about (IE everything out of his mouth) So, a new expensive adventure starts!

Now yesterday was better, in a way...
I had only gotten in one HD 5 leaf spring, so I got that installed yesterday... after a lot of cussing, a smashed finger, and a frozen backside. As everything had a thick coat of undercoating, IE bolt threads and nuts covered in the crap. So after fighting that, I got the car back on the ground, and was happy, as the HD leaf had gotten the stance I wanted by raising the rear enough for the nose down look of my era.

Will keep updates as we find more crap wrong... lol. (don't mind the traction bars, they were just a test for adjustment)

 

[EdM]

I was out again with my new Bergara B14R playing with various match 22 rf ammunition. The new trigger is flawless and the gun shoots.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Light day today. Cleaned up the brake pedal assembly and starting in on the steering column.

Got busy on the brake pedal assembly, and remembered I needed a 'before' pic. This is bringing me back to the days when the Mach 1 was like this.

Caved in a took it apart (just one bolt and slip the pivot shaft out). Made it a lot easier to get through the inside surfaces of the main bracket without the pedal in the way.

It's really not as bad as it looks. I hit it with the wire cup brush, anyway. I'll take it apart tomorrow and see what I can do with it. At least the tilt seems to work (unlike the Mach 1's column when I first got it).

Quick and dirty coat of Duplicolor Black Engine Enamel. Give it a little bit of time to dry and put it back together.

... And, we're done. Just gotta get a new brake light switch (maybe... I can't remember if I left the original one in the Jeep or not). The pedal rubber is actually not too bad, either. I might just get a new one, though.

 

[MikeGriese]

Finished the barn annex...

 

[Mister 4x4]

Had a 'Bench Work' day working on the steering column. It's actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The top bearing plastic cage disintegrated at some point before the Jeep came to me, so the steering wheel was flopping about. The key/lock switch was completely missing, and some of the other parts were in a box where the back seat should've been. I ordered everything new that I could and started in on it today. My buddy Dennis Allen at KWFR was rockin' the jams today, and even hooked me up with Red Barchetta to kick off the 5-O'clock Fast Lane with a shout out. Best DJ EVER!

Here we getting started. The steering wheel came right off with a few taps of a rubber mallet… mostly because it was missing the wheel nut, but I’m glad I didn’t have to use a puller. This was the hardest part of the day, because Dennis Allen dropped Red Barchetta that I requested on the 5-O’clock Fast Lane, and it’s hard to get any work done when you’re rockin’ out to one of your favorite tunes and playing the air drums. LOL!

Not too much gunk, as much as everything just being tight with a bunch of dried up dusty/grease grime everywhere. A little PB Blaster and some patience had it apart in no time.

After extracting what was left of the upper bearing, some Purple Power, and some carb cleaner, things are all cleaned up (except the rusty dust on the column itself), and I stopped here for the day since I need a 1/8-1/4" ID cylinder to drive the inner bearing surface onto the shaft. It'll be waiting for me next weekend.

Some of the pieces and parts I worked on cleaning up. I'll have to route the stray wire for the shift indicator's back light when I install the new signal combo switch - that'll be fun. I just hope I remember how it all goes back together.

Should be able to get it back together next weekend if the weather cooperates.

 

[MooseStang]

Worked on my '89 Jeep Laredo. Getting it ready for inspection. My heater core is leaking. I think it's getting jealous of the Mustang.

 

[Johnny57]

Made a snow angel... lol

 

[RIBS]

I went into the office to a cramped conference room with my entire department so we could talk about how risky it was to drive in, in the pouring rain and fog, and get the entire team together at the same time for an hour in a cramped conference room. Then I came home, in the cold, foggy rain.

 

[Stanglover]

Well over the last couple of days, we got our "big storm" of the winter. The guys in Michigan will know what I mean. This was supposed to dump a foot or more on southern Michigan and across into SW Ontario, but the storm did not track as predicted so we got a lot less than expected, about 5" at most. So today was cleanup day. While 5" of snow is quite within the wife's capability of shoveling!! I broke down and got the snow blower out, did our double driveway, then along the curb in front, across to the neighbor's drive, then across to another neighbors........ and..... by that time the wife had finished cleaning up where I couldn't get to, so I put the blower away likely for the rest of the winter.... Oh well, I had FUN!!!

 

[Mister 4x4]

Discount Tire let me know that my new wheels were in, so I picked ’em up this morning and swapped out the old ones. The Jeep’s only about an inch taller (over all), so it still fits in the garage, but the old ones were 26 years old and I wouldn’t be able to trust them at speed on the highway.

Here we go – 35×12.50 SSRs on 15×10 Pro Comp 69 rims.

Happiness is: a truck bed full of new Jeep wheels! Got all 5 this time.

That sure looks a lot more than just 2″ bigger diameter. Definitely a bit skinnier, though.

Fits like a glove. I will need to boost up the front a little, though. Looks like I finally get to use the 2″ Conn-Ferr shackles my old friend Mr. Murphy gave me back in ’96 to replace these stockers.

Definitely a bit skinnier (left vs. right). Gonna take a little getting used to.

I LOVE these new wheels! They look a little different without the ‘Side Biters’ the TSX’s had, though. Also can’t go wrong with the classics. Not to mention being aluminum, they’re almost 30lbs lighter than the old steelies I just pulled off. Still weigh-in around 100lbs each, though.

I am diggin’ this look. Can’t wait to get him running again.

 

[EdM]

Went to a gun show that I will be heading back to tonmorrow to buy.

 

[Big Red Mach 1]

Kept stripping down the wife's 69 SS 396 L78 Camaro her dad left her.