Author Archive

Inch by Inch

Posted September 20, 2011 By jack

Charlie is almost, if not, taller than I am. With brothers, height is all-out warfare. And every inch counts. The tape measure is the battlefield, and hair gel is strategic weaponry. And as my brother and I inch along, so too does progress at TLG.

Another milestone day this past Sunday. The interior is finished (well, except for the rear lap belts and brake pedal, but that’s pretty much it). Thankfully, I remembered to take pictures this time. Dad brought the camera with him to the Goodwood Revival, so I was forced to used my phone, but we nevertheless have photographic coverage.

Your assignment: match the following pictures with their description (answers below, but don’t cheat). 

a) windshield wiper motor (requires much wiggling and many blows with a mallet to separate from the wiper arms beneath the cowl vent)

b) steering column (held in with a bracket attached to the underside of the dash and bolted to the firewall—don’t forget to disconnect from steering box)

c) transmission (I only steam-cleaned this, it was pulled months ago)

d) fuse box (finally removed the last part of the wiring harness—this pops out after you loosen a single screw on the cabin side of the firewall)

e) heater core (be careful not to damage the core fins when removing–also, the fluid hoses must be completely pulled off to remove this; don’t cut them like I did)

f) heater assembly (some five bolts on the engine side of the firewall hold this one in place)

g) front windshield defroster duct (remove two nuts under the dash and the whole duct pops right out)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7


ANSWERS: a) 4; b) 6; c) 2; d) 7; e) 1; f) 5; g)3

Don’t expect too much progress next weekend: I have plenty of part inventorying to catch up on…

BOSS!

Posted September 18, 2011 By jack

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of stopping by the 55th annual Hillsborough Concours d’Elegance with my camera. The range of cars was incredible, but one in particular caught my eye:

Beautiful plumage!

Back from camp, back to school, and back to work! Right before I left for Kona I managed to pull the entire rear wiring harness (the only thing holding in the front wiring is the firewall). Packing, however, managed to rob me of a chance to blog about it. The fact that I didn’t take any pictures of the process will make for an interesting post later on…

Last Sunday, I finished some parts inventorying and cleaned up some old parts to list and sell on eBay. The automatic shifter, oil pump, water pump, timing set, rocker arm nuts, and transmission are all being peddled for some funds in the coffers. Most of these were fairly clean already, with the exception of the tranny, which was covered in gunk. Some engine degreaser, a steam cleaner, and many shop towels helped polish it up a bit. Pictures and info on the parts will follow, along with links to the eBay listings if you’re interested in buying any (please help pay for my paint job!)

Meanwhile, Dad added a touch of flair to the normally drab garage doors:

A little more legit than your average nametag

 

Inside-out!

Posted July 16, 2011 By jack

ACK! I only just got back from a writing program, and now I’m leaving for Hawaii? WHERE DOES THE GARAGE FIT INTO ALL OF THIS?!

The sad fact is, it doesn’t. You’re not alone–I hate it too. At the rate I’m moving, my car will be drivable by the time I pay off my first mortgage. Well, here’s a catch-up post.

I hope we're not moving the pony anytime soon, because there's no way to steer it...

Last weekend I sated my appetite for innards with some more interior work. First off came the steering wheel. I have an original ’68-’69 standard two-spoke wheel, which sports a foam crash-pad across the front, held in with two screws in the back. Next, I removed the steering wheel nut, then fixed a gear puller into the center of the wheel to detach it from the steering column (usually a few hefty tugs will do the job, but ours didn’t feel like parting with its vehicle). If you need an original ’68-69 Mustang wheel, check out the eBay listing.

To make dash removal easier, I pulled the glove box, console, and heater control unit. The GB door screws in to a hinge in the lower dash, but don’t forget the retaining cable that holds it up when in the open position. Finally, removing a few bolts separates the liner from the door.

 

Cable linkage to heater

The whole console is only held in with a couple of screws around the edges, but it has to come out with the heater control unit, which is a pain to remove. The heater temp switch and the fan mode switch connect to the heater behind the dash with two cable linkages. These consist of a wire wrapped around a post which pivots with the switch. These buggers are hard to reach; I recommend using a trusty set of needle-nose pliers to pull the wire free of the post. After this is completed, pull the unit out as a whole.

Only a few bolts hold in the lower dash, yet an array of wires need to be disconnected from the following switches: ignition, windshield wipers, lights, and an arbitrarily placed ground wire at the very left side of the dash. The dash pad must be out before this whole process is started, and it helps to have the windshield out of the way as well.

On Friday I leave again. I’ll be going to the garage tomorrow to finish up some cataloging and do a little more work; I promise a post before I leave on my trip. Stay tuned…

 

Another Productive Day

Posted June 6, 2011 By jack

Didn’t get too much time at TLG this weekend; I was busy driving (everybody off the roads!). Nevertheless, Dad and I were able to work a for a few hours last night.

Since the next major step in our restoration is removing the interior, I started with the windshield for better access to the dash and headliner. Before I could do that, I removed the wipers (which pop right off the pivots) and the cowl grille.

Note to self: wearing eye protection on one's forehead defeats the purpose

There was no weatherstripping attached to the windshield, so there was no need to use our handy-dandy window molding remover. The only thing holding the glass in was a rubber adhesive which somebody had applied much too liberally. A special tool is required to cut through this, but you can easily make one by stringing piano wire in-between two wooden dowels. To take out the windshield, just run the wire through the adhesive while working it back and forth with the handles. NOTE: Be careful not to wear away at the edges of the windshield while doing this. We ended up trashing ours, but we’ll try to save the rear window for reuse.

Clearing the car of glass dust (yikes!)

Today, I went to the garage while Dad was at work to make some more progress. I got hung up trying to remove the wiper motor, so I just started pulling the plastic interior panels in the rear before Mom had to pick me up for my physical.

Spring Cleaning

Posted May 19, 2011 By jack

This past weekend Dad, Charlie, and I were able to put in some time at TLG. Dad moved the trailer to his very helpful friend Rob’s house make room in the garage for us to work on our cars. I had been been storing a significant amount of parts on it before it was sold, and these were all lying around after the trailer was moved. It began to get annoying walking over my seats, rear bench, interior panels, and quarter caps, so we moved them up on a high shelf (with the help of our Little Giant ladder) to get them out of the way. Finally, I drained the rest of the ATF from the transmission, which I’ll be cleaning and selling.

With a little more space to work, I began cleaning out all accessories in the engine compartment. Removing the battery tray revealed a small, but significant, spot of corrosion (MIG welder, here I come!). I also removed the rubber hood-bumpers, the windshield washer fluid container, the starter relay, and the regulator assembly.

Next time I should be able to finish cleaning out the engine compartment and begin with the windshield and interior.

P.S. Charlie, when will you start posting?!

IT CAME FROM BELOW

Posted May 13, 2011 By jack

Finally, underside work!

Like rebuilding the engine, this is so much more interesting than normal trim and body work. Seeing the mechanical processes that operate an automobile is a privilege when compared to the usual drudgery of removing taillights or bumpers or quarter-windows. Also, I get a basic understanding of what makes the car tick.

Now that I’m done with my AP European History course and lacrosse season, I’ve been able to work at the garage weeknights with my dad. We put the Mustang up on the lift for better access to the underside, and started by taking out the driveshaft.

The driveshaft connects the transmission to the rear end, and is attached on both sides with a universal joint. In the front, it connects to a cylinder which slides right into the back of the tranny. In the rear, a slip yoke latches onto the universal joint with two retainers. I removed these and pulled the front end out of the transmission, with some help from Dad. We let the excess ATF spill into a container, then I used a garbage bag and some masking tape to seal off the end of the transmission.

After detaching the speedometer and a couple of linkage rods, we removed the C4 auto from the car last night. First, I put a panel across the lift runners to hold up jacks for supporting the rear of the tranny. (When I pulled the engine last year, we used old coathangers to hang the front from a 2×4 we rested on top of the engine compartment.) Then, I took out the final support holding the transmission and lowered the lift to the ground. Using two hydraulic floor jacks, Dad and I lifted the tranny off the jack stands and let it rest on the ground.

Note the makeshift ATF plug on the end

Catching Up

Posted April 25, 2011 By jack

No, we are not dead. And no, the Mustang has not disappeared.

It has been VERY long since I’ve posted. I haven’t gotten too much done since my latest activity on this site, but we’ve made some  decent progress here at TLG. For the sake of catching up, I’m not going to go into painstakingly meticulous detail on everything we’ve done since.

Here’s what I’ve accomplished:

  • trunk lid and hinges
  • tail lights
  • rear side-marker lights
  • rear quarter caps
  • filler cap and tube
  • gas tank (many spills ensued, very grateful for kitty litter)

Last weekend, Dad and I spent a significant amount of time moving cars around to get the Mustang on the lift for the process of transmission and drivetrain removal. We plan on replacing our current 4-speed auto with a manual T5 World Class tranny for improved highway mileage.

On Saturday, I pulled the exhaust pipes with the mufflers for better access to the underside. With Dad’s help and an impact wrench, I removed and replaced the oil pan to drain the transmission fluid, then cut the cooling lines which led to the radiator. Next time we’ll hopefully have the whole transmission out.

Back to Business

Posted January 17, 2011 By jack

Sigh…… back to body work. Engine rebuilding was much simpler: attach this, torque down that, lubricate part, etc. But removing accessories and trim is just downright aggravating; the car must’ve been made in a way to keep people from trying to take it apart. All bolts are hidden and impossible to access, screws are normally stripped, and there is no one single reference that outlines every necessary step of the process. To make matters worse, some idiot went and glued the whole damn car together with some non-drying goop.

I finished with the rear quarter-window removal about two months ago before Dad and I started the engine rebuild. Moving back to the body now, the next step was removing trim. The side scoops came out easily, as they were only attached by four bolts right behind the interior panels I removed a couple months ago. The chrome quarter-window trim, however, was much more complicated. First, the door sill weatherstripping had to come off. This was attached on both sides with three bolts in the 1/4-window area (one of which was partially hidden under some sheet metal, so Dad handed me his trusty Dremel tool which I used to grind away the small amount of metal hanging over the nut to get a socket to fit over that bastard) and at least one metric ton of the aforementioned gunk.

I didn’t bother trying to get the sticky stuff off of weatherstripping I am planning to replace anyway. After the rubber door seals were off, I could remove the chrome trim on the upper door sills. This, also, was tenaciously held in place with the dreaded sludge. After removing all of the retaining screws, I used a putty knife Dad gave me to carefully separate the chrome trim door surround from the car. But I couldn’t leave the toxic waste all over two chrome pieces I was most likely going to reuse. On one, I made the mistake of attempting to soften the slime with Goof-Off before scraping it off with the putty knife. Bad idea. The Goof-Off softened it so I couldn’t take it all off in one piece any longer. On the other trim piece, I was able to scrape the bile off in clumps, only leaving behind a thin layer I would clean later.

With both the weatherstripping and chrome parts removed, I could finally take out the 1/4-window trim. They came out pretty easily. The snot all over them didn’t.

The whole time I was working, Dad cleared off the accumulated debris from our workbenchs so we could actually utilize them. He also set up our abrasive blasting cabinet, so we can clean parts to reuse. Before we finished for the day, I emptied and inventoried all of the stuff we had in the Mustang’s trunk.

Next weekend: trunk lid and gas tank and filler tube (oh my!)