1969 Mustang Coupe - 351w

That's going to look dead smart when back together!

End of the month i thought it would be back huh....!
I guess a little update is in order.

The reassembly didn't quite go to plan, car ran great for 10mins, then the noise was back.
Stripped again and rechecked, back together, still there. and so on and so forth for a while.

Eventually it was realised that a couple of the nuts holding the rocker arms were backing off ever so slightly once running, so a new set was ordered and that has *mostly* cured the issue. At this point we think what it really needs is a good run to really get the oil moving around and quieten everything down. Fingers are crossed!

So, in order to be able to give it a good run, I needed it to go in something resembling a straight line. After some mucking about and checking of various parts, the Power steering control valve was deemed well past its sell by date, so a new one was ordered from states. Once fitted, a test drive was in order to make sure all was well... This was the exact moment the MSD 6AL ignition box decided it no longer wanted any part of this.

So a newer Digital 6AL box was ordered and fitted, and she lived once more!

Test drive completed, car allegedly drives in a straight line, but the brake pedal travel was noticed to be getting pretty excessive. After a check of the braking system, the culprit was deemed to be the brake pedal bushing being practically non existent. At this point, with the car having been with the guys for so long, I figure I may as well get them to strip down the pedal box and rebuild with all new bushings etc for the clutch and brake pedals.

Unfortunately in the time the car has been in the garage, I got a promotion at work - I say unfortunately as the new role I am in I am no longer allowed to claim overtime, so although I got roughly a 9k pay rise on my base salary, I'm actually about £4k a year worse off! This means certain things had to be dropped in order to make sure I had the money to do the important bits and pay for stuff at home etc too. Exhaust work has been pushed back to next summer and ill have to fit the carpet myself, but that's no bother really! At least I am now going to have the car back in the garage ready for me to tinker with over the winter months

Pictures soon!!!!

Keep chipping away at it! She will come round and will be lovely to drive once done.

If the motor starts paying up, it is the perfect candidate to stroke out to a 408ci that'll be a monster then!

Imaginative name huh.....

It certainly does equate as read, unfortunately she hasn't been anywhere to be seen! Once i get her back and get some other bits done I'm hoping it will make it out and about on nice days!

I love this car.....
and its a bloody good job, because it would seem this really is the gift that keeps on giving!

I got her back, tucked her into the garage and started fitting the carpet. to do this you need to remove various trims etc, including the kick panels. When i removed said panels, i found these nice rusty holes waiting for me:







So, upon realising that before i can progress with anything else these bits are going to need some further investigation and welding ( I can't weld yet, nor do I currently own a welder!) I decided to take a little look at the drip tray as my suspicion was that these areas had rotted out due to water tracking back from there. After removing a couple parts of the dash it turns out i was right and i really wish i hadn't been. Would seem that at some point in its life when this issue first presented itself, the previous owner decided to "repair" this using fibreglass:







So I guess thats every panel coming off in the not too distant future so that i can really dig into what's rotten and where and then set about repairing it properly. So much for this being a Solid, cosmetic only build huh!

The drivers window mech also failed, so i'll now be using the opportunity to source and fit an electric window conversion instead.
After removing bits of the dash etc and getting a proper look at the wiring, i can't put it back together with the loom in the state that it is in either, so ill need to do a full frontal (at least) rewire. Luckily the car doesn't really have that much going on electrically, so a universal 21 circuit fusebox and loom should do the job. Just more time and faff i was hoping to put off!

Then i thought i would cheer myself up just a touch, and give myself a glimpse of what the additional gauges will look like when finished. I'm thinking to put the triple in the radio slot as i will be running a Bluetooth receiver hidden behind the dash which will feed directly to an amp in the boot for front component speakers and a sub. (and please ignore the wheel, ill be swapping that out for something sexier )




The big question now is, given the bits that have clearly been ignored or bodged over the years, do i remove the sound deadening that covers the entire floorpan and see what delights await me there?! Or do i ignore it, and be happy with what i can see from under the car.....

That's why I hate the car salesmans term ' solid' . Literally ' I can't actually SEE any holes ' . Translation- There probably are holes but I've purposely not looked to hard to find any , and of course they might just be behind that underseal or on the crispy bit that's not broken through the paint.

Interesting discoveries Dean,
I think with regards to the soundproofing removal etc. that if you don't check it out now you will constantly have the nagging thoughts of "is there something else hidden ??"
Whilst you're at this stage you might as well check it and rectify any issues, (& you may possibly be pleasantly surprised,)
Nigel

well.... Never rains but it pours eh!

So started the weekend with a positive, got myself a nice new Electric roller door fitted which has given me more clearance around the car, and freed up some space for additional shelving/hooks so I can take bits off the car and actually be able to store them safely rather than playing car parts Tetris!



However I did find that the brakes have semi seized on which makes getting it out and back into the garage a real pig - but more on that later, little clue in the above pic....

So anyway, Door fitted I figured I would get stuck in to removing the sound deadening and see what horrors awaited me under there!

the first area I removed (pass footwell) didn't look too promising:





But thankfully after a little wire brush action it was nothing to sweat:



I made some pretty good progress on sunday and managed to get the vast majority of it removed, the drivers footwell is proving ridiculously difficult to get everything up thanks to the cheap nasty asphalt type deadener used, but after 5 hours all I have left to remove is that, and the rear pass footwell. Another few hours should have it all gone.








Thankfully, I don't think it is too bad. There are a few screw holes where various things have been mounted over the years and a couple little patches needed here an there just to put my mind at ease, but nothing that makes me want to rip the whole floor pan out! The two previous repairs on the footwell whilst not perfect are absolutely fine structurally and so I can live with that. Inside wont be seen once new deadener and carpet etc are in, and perhaps a little dressing time with the grinder underneath and some new underbody seal will make them look perfectly presentable underneath. I still have the kick panels to be repaired, and the drip tray definitely needs looking at, but its kind of reassuring that it isn't a complete rotten mess 

So, what's this pouring all about I hear you ask.... well....

I had noticed that the PS fluid had a slow steady leak since I got it back from the garage - I had assumed that this was from the reservoir as it "found it's level", so I never paid it too much notice. there was also a bit of a drip from the rad overflow, but again I just thought this would level out once it had been run up a few times.
Well, when I fired it up and moved it out of the garage yesterday, it was a bit smoky. White smoke. I assumed that it was just due to standing and being cold, and let her warm up. It didn't really get any better.

When I was done with the car for the day, I fired it back up and it was a bit less smoky, reversed her into the garage and immediately the PS pump squealed like it was dry, then I noticed the rather large trails of fluid. Not only has the PS apparently dropped its load over the last few weeks, but now there is a puddle of coolant on the floor also.



Great. So I jack her up and climb under to see where it is coming from. the one place I sure as hell wasn't expecting to see it come out of was the sump! Being as I have just had the top end rebuilt, and a leak of this nature would be from either the head gaskets or Lifter valley via the inlet manifold gaskets, I got on the phone to the garage!

So, after a chat with the owner, it would appear that one of their mechanics has been let go for cocking up quite spectacularly on a number of classic vehicles, and now we add mine to that list!
Bottom line, car is going back in as soon as he can clear the space for it for the engine to be stripped down, cleaned up and put back together properly, along with everything else that was done to be thoroughly checked over. Unfortunate situation, but can't fault the way the owner is handling it.

I also have a full front power disc brake conversion, full weatherstrip kit, and some new springs and shocks all round on the way from the states, so hopefully once the engine etc is properly sorted, I can start making some good progress on getting this old girl back on the road in useable fettle. Perfect will take a good while yet, but if I can at least get her usable I'll be happy as a pig in the proverbial!