I know it’s been a while. But final my 1973, 351 Cleveland powered Mustang (the last of the big Stangs) is back on the streets.
Here the ride’s home. I’m not sure what’s up with the audio but at times is sounds like I’m recording under water.
Thanks for stopping buy.
Tim
#ProjectSportsRoof
At the some of my students @ CFMS (Go Jags) and those that watch plastic house honeys of Alaska will get the play on words – (or play on letter).
I’d like to say more, but….I’ll just let Bill roll with this:
Thanks for stopping by.
Tim
#ProjectSportsRoof
#ProjectBeebBeep
Now most of you know I love old abandon cars. This one is part of a display in the ghost town Pearce, AZ.
Pearce was a mining ghost town named for Cornishman James Pearce, miner and cattleman, who discovered gold nearby at what became the Commonwealth Mine in 1894. The Pearce Post Office was established on March 6, 1896. The railroad station opened in 1903. By 1919, Pearce had a population of 1,500. The town declined in the 1930s and became almost a ghost town in the late 1940s when the mine closed for the last time.
The Commonwealth Mine became one of Arizona’s major silver producers. Over 1,000,000 tons of ore were produced from 1895 to 1942. There are about 20 miles of underground workings.[11] The mine produced about $8 million worth of silver and $2.5 million in gold at a time when silver was priced around 50 cents an ounce, and gold was $20 an ounce.
They left a lot of mining equipment behind as well as this 1930’s Chevy flatbed truck. This truck my be powered by a 3.2 l straight 6 (that’s 3178 cc or 193 cu in). The bore and stroke would have been 3.31 in x 3.75 in and had 2 valves per cylinder and produced about 60 hp w/ 130 ft-lb of torque. It was topped by a 1 bb Carter Carb. All that massive power was delivered by a 3 speed transmission.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Thanks for checking back on #ProjectSportsRoof.
Valve gasket installed, zinc added and now it’s time for quick power test. I have yet to get the pedal to the floor and now it’s time and I took the captured the fun….and…well…take a look:
A quick troubleshooting proved that the car was still getting fuel but would not start. After setting for a bit still not firing up. I suspect distributor. When I have time I’ll dig into.
The day ended with a flatbed trip home. 🙁
More to come!!!
Thanks for reading.
Tim
It’s been a while!!!!
Ya know, one would think that as you get older there’s more time for leisurely things. But as second year teacher (at the age of “past 50”) and coaching our school’s basketball team there is no slowing down. That’s my only excuse for not working much on Project SportsRoof. Ok there’s one more….we’ve had a colder and wetter than normal winter. This episode is purely due to “Spring Break” and having our taxes done (almost).
If you’ve followed along (did you know you can find Average Guy on YouTube as well?) you’ll know it’s been a long road with my 73 Mustang. Multiple starts and stops, often caused by me exceeding my ‘Average Guy’s’ skill set and man power and even my car disappearing for a couple of weeks (but I found it). Oh and don’t forget the tow truck driver that “broke” my front end!
Now SR73 (not SR71 the blackbird aircraft) or #ProjectSportsRoof is back on the road. Having only driving about 30 miles since the engine rebuild, I noticed a lifter noise. Not something you want to hear after all the time and $$ spent on it’s 351 C, in fact it’s a bit concerning.
The best place to start troubleshooting is to make sure the engine is getting the oil it needs. That requires pulling the valve cover and running the engine. Since I put the heads together myself, it’s a good idea to check the torque on the valves. What better time to check that than when you have to take the valve covers off anyway?
Here is my quick video recap. There are a couple good tips in this one and here is a one more great tip. I can’t take credit for it because was shared with me sometime back. Should you have an old set of valve covers, cut the tops off to make viewing possible. That way when you let the car run (it’s the easiest way check if oil is flowing) the spraying oil is somewhat contained. You won’t see that in these videos….but you will see the mess it makes when you don’t use them!!!
Don’t forget to drop a comment, if you are so inclined. Oh, if you have an event you’d like to tell other car peeps about, let me know and I’ll post it up!!
Tim
1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Compression Test Part I
1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Compression Test Part II
1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Compression, Rods and Heads
1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Engine Bay Components.
Bill’s 68 RoadRunner takes First Place in local show, Best ’60’s Muscle Car!!!
It was a good show with some awesome 1960’s cars – GTO’s, Mustangs, Corvettes.
Congrats Bill!!!
Thanks for reading. More coming up on #ProjectBeepBeep and #ProjectSportsRoof
Tim
68 Road Runner Gets it’s Beep Beep back!!
73 Mustang (Project SportsRoof) Engine Dress Up and Venting/Vacuum
Introducing #ProjectBeepBeep – Code H 1968 Road Runner
Over on Facebook one of the groups has a Then and Now series of posts. That consisted of folk posting the cars they were driving 10 years ago and now. I thought that was cool so I put quick clip together for my rides then and now.
For sometime now I have a Mustang Corvette combo, my ’70 Mustang/84 Vette combo and my ’73 Mustang/’07 Vette combo.
Just a little trip down memory lane!!
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Let me start out with a couple of pics of something most followers of my sight haven’t see in a couple years.
Project SportsRoof – not up on jack stands!!!!
The Stang getting a full tank….IN PERSON!!!!
It’s great to have it back on the road!!
As you know, I had a recommendation to have some work done on #ProjectSportsRoof. The story was this shop was expanding into Tucson and the son of the owner was going to run local ‘branch’. That was only 20% true. The son (for whatever reason) rented a bay from a garage here in town. Instead of paying rent he was going to do free repairs for the shop owner. Shortly after the Mustang was at the location, his deal with the owner went south and so did my car!!!
For two weeks I could not get hold of guy and when I showed up at the place he was supposed to be working, I was told they had no idea what was going on. Shortening the story about 2 months, my car is finally returned to me. Running great, but missing ‘stuff’. You can see the that part of the story here: https://wp.me/p2YxYx-5fK
BTW Twisted Addiction was the name of the shop and I still hear good things about the work they do in a town about 50 miles from here. But my experience was beyond crappy!!!
After wrestling with the shifting lever I needed to get the car on the road (O.K. – more like a want) I turned to a unique garage. They are unique not because they are one of a kind, in fact they are a chain. They are unique because the owner/partner pushed the envelope on the range of cars he would allow his team to work on. Work on older cars was (and is) not part of the chain’s business model, and certainly helping out the locals on their old project cars wasn’t either. But they did and with the new owner/partner, they’ve grandfather me and my project in. They were there when I needed help on my current project. From my 1970 Mustang to my 1984 Corvette and now with 73 Mustang (#ProjectSportsRoof) they didn’t hesitate.
I had the SportsRoof towed to the shop and the damage to the suspension wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but there was not need for it to occur. You can see the story here: https://wp.me/p2YxYx-5hV.
I have the Mustang back and there was a mix of used and new parts added to fix the suspension damage.
And now I have it back and still stinging from the series of set backs, but happy to have it drivable again. Here is a video update.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
1973 Mustang Project SportsRoof – Exterior Walk-Around
1973 Mustang – Project Sports Roof – Pertronix Ignitor Update
If you caught my last blog post (here) you’ll know that Project SportsRoof had another set back.
After disappearing while in the hands of a local shop and then turning up 50 miles way and then being returned missing the new starter and my new batter and a host of unfinished task, which were paid, the Stang was still not road worth.
The manual shift lever was butchered and a ratcheting shift mechanism was installed. After ordering parts and removing valve body, I realized it might be best to get this professionally done.
So I called a towing company to pick the car up and drop it off at the local shop I use from time to time when I get behind or run in to an issues. The tow driver showed up with a flatbed and winched my copy of the largest Mustang to be produced on board. He did not get it centered and decided to winch it sideways. Only problem, he wrapped the chain around the lower control arm. I was on the phone and heard a sickening snap. The bottom of the lower control arm is now facing the front of the car and the Strut bar has an “L” shape on the end of it!
The company paid for all the new front end parts, the alignment and labor. I had my local shop put it all back together including the shift lever.
Finally today I picked up my butt ugly Stang and drove it for the first time in nearly 3 years.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
So today the Mustang was going to make a quick trip the shop down the street to have the valve body put back in the transmission. The tow truck driver got the ‘Stang off-center on the flatbed and decided to winch it sideways. Only problem he wrapped the chain around the lower control arm. I was on the phone and heard a sickening snap. The bottom of the lower control arm is now facing the front of the car and you can see the rest here. Video is below the pic.
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Will update when I have news.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
#ProjectSportsRoof
