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.
Hoping the frame isn’t bent…but it might be. That would require some framework. If that doesn’t work then it might require a new front end.
I’ve done all the clean up and all the adjustments necessary to get a good reading on the health of the ’72 351C engine in my 1973 Mustang. The next step is to check the compression. First up was to warm the car a bit and then pull the plugs. Here’s what the …
Thanks for checking on #ProjectSportsRoof. So here is the last set of initial questions. Here is an image of the current set up: Any diagram I find has the hose vacuum from the Distr going to the Valve assy. The Valve assy has nothing attached which is located on the front …
Thanks for checking back in on #ProjectSportsRoof. My 73 Mustang doesn’t what to get it in gear so I have to troubleshoot the shifting linkage. For this round, I’m putting in new bushings to remove the slop when shifting. Here is the video: I’ll be tightening up the shift lever and linkage to …
Welcome back to Project Sports Roof (#ProjectSportsRoof). The struggle is real!!! You saw in the last video my replacement of the linkage that was lost by the repair shop (along with my new battery and started). This repair shone the light (as often happens with older cars) on a previous …
As I get ready to start the new round of mods for my 1970 Mustang Coupe, I’m reminded of a couple of issues that came up when I was assisting a fellow Mustang owner doing a trans – transplant. The first tip is partially dependent on what stage you are in …
Welcome back to Project Sports Roof (#ProjectSportsRoof). The struggle is real!!!
You saw in the last video my replacement of the linkage that was lost by the repair shop (along with my new battery and started). This repair shone the light (as often happens with older cars) on a previous repair. Some might call it a hack and I get it, there are times when you need to take short cuts, but as usual short cuts often have short life spans.
Take a look at the video:
When you have issues with shifting an automatic transmission and it’s related to the linkage you have the option of fixing it right or fixing it “wrong” (i.e., short cut). At some point in my Mustangs earlier life the C4 transmission was swapped our for a used C6. It seems that the C6 (from a 1972 Ford – which really doesn’t matter the C6 has changed much in all this time) had a broken shift lever. Take a look:
Here the run down:
A is the broken shift lever. What you should see there is something like this:
B is what is commonly called a ratcheting shift lever. It’s a replacement that is ‘clamped’ on to the stub of the shift lever to shift the trans. This is done because to replace the unit you have to drain the transmission, remove the pan, the filter and the valve. This is a PITA. Especially true, if you just put the transmission in and filled it with fluid!!!) So the after market ratcheting shift lever is common. This what the parts looked like when I took them off:
Custom hack
Of course C is a washer and D….well, D is a very special customization or it’s just a hose clamp.
As you can see at the end of the video the ratcheting shift lever was just sliding. I suppose I could have just tightened clamp down and see if it shifted, but how reliable would it be…might as well fix it right!!!
Thanks for checking on #ProjectSportRoof.
I have more coming up on my 1973 Stang and more on Bill’s ProjectBeepBeep as well.
Welcome back to my 1973 Mustang project #ProjectSportsRoof. In the last post I mentioned that some how the shift linkage bar was lost when I had the car in a local shop to help put with the transmission. They took another look around their place and I did the same…no luck. …
Thanks for check in on #ProjectSportsRoof. If you remember a of couple months back, shortly after bringing the ’73 Mustang home, I conducted a compression test on all the cylinders. The 351C was running rough (to put it mildly) and smoked like a pile of tires on fire (only the smoke …
In case you didn’t notice, the fenders that were on #ProjectSportsRoof look as though car had driven into a half pipe at a skate park. Left Fender – major dent a lot of rebuilding necessary Right Side Fender – lots of crinkles, a few creases and good size dent. Now, these …
Welcome back to my 1973 Mustang project #ProjectSportsRoof.
In the last post I mentioned that some how the shift linkage bar was lost when I had the car in a local shop to help put with the transmission. They took another look around their place and I did the same…no luck. So I purchased a replacement link.
Take a look….warning the audio is not great in spots.
Well we are now moving into, what I hope is an adjustment phase for the transmission. However, it might be something….more expensive!!!
The story didn’t match the damage… View On WordPress. 73 Mustang is back!! Project SportsRoof is Alive! 73 Mustang is back!! Project SportsRoof is Alive!
Well this day was long time coming. My 1973 Mustang has finally returned home and it sounds fantastic!!
You followed #ProjectSporstRoof, you may recall I ran into time issues and ability, to get the transmission mated back up to the engine and the components had to be placed back under the hood and new radiator installed. I had disassembled the engine, send it out to be bored (.040) and crank was milled a bit and rebuilt. That was over a year and half ago. In Feb of this year I decided to get some help getting it running.
A relative had an acquaintance that was starting a second shop here in Tucson to match the success of their first shop that was about an hour way. I wanted to keep the car local so I could check in on the work being done. So I asked and received an estimate and the price was fair. My only stipulation was that the car stay in Tucson and not their out-of-town shop. What I didn’t know was that their idea of starting a shop was to use a garage at a start-up/pop-up used car lot. In return they would be doing really cheap work for the car dealer in lieu of paying expensive rent.
There’s very few times such a plan works out and one day my Mustang disappeared and I wasn’t informed. I eventually (weeks) got a hold of them and found that my car was right where it I didn’t want it…at the out-of-town shop.
Now, I understand business deals falling part, especially when you start-up with little capital and hook-up with another start-up with little capital. What I didn’t like was not knowing that my car was now no longer in the city. Checking on the progress was going to be impossible and as it turned our some of my parts were left/lost at the Tucson shop. An additional problem was that I forgotten to pack a few parts and it took massive coordination effort to get the items to them.
So lets total this up real quick:
1. Missing car
2. Found car
3. Missing/Miss placed parts
4. Lost parts
5. Long periods of un-returned text and voice messages.
6. Lack of trust.
Number 6 is huge!!!
If you don’t have trust in the shop then everything, even the normal things, that arises when you are restoring a car are suspect. Combine that with a newly rebuild engine, never fired-up, well lets just say I was concerned that the proper cautions would be attended to and I’d end up with a pile of ugly Mustang parts in my driveway that I’d have to get rid of or sell the house to afford to fix it!!! So I held my breath and reluctantly had them push on.
Only two real issues came up, one was the drive shaft, it has been repaired a some point in the car’s history and poorly done at that and the yoke was in rough shape. A local shop said that could fix it for a set price, they couldn’t and ended up replacing the shaft and for the original price quoted. The other issue was a panic call/video from the shop, showing my Mustang vomiting radiator fluid in the air like Hawaii’s Kīlauea. That of course is what happens when you put a Windsor thermostat in a 351 Cleveland.
So I reduced my expectations and told them all I wanted was for the car to be mobile. I wanted it driven off the trailer and driven in my driveway and I’d be finished with them. The manual shifting you saw in the video is a result of a lost part.
Now #ProjectSportsRoof is back and I can get on with all the little projects that are left…like installing the shift linkage…yea…that should be first!!!
Thanks for reading and I can now say…there’s more coming up for #ProjectSportsRoof!!!
Welcome back to #ProjectSportsRoof. I run my car projects much like I run my IT projects. You always have to know where to start and know the end game. As with any project that isn’t being built from scratch, in other word, you have to work with what you’ve got, …
If you look back at #ProjectSportsRoof post you’ll see the condition engine bay. During those videos I mentioned that I was going to clean it up and hit it with a rattle can. Again this isn’t going to be a concours restoration, it’s going to look nice and it’s going …
As I posted before, after a vigorous (not read ‘desperate’) I finally found my next personal project. The 1973 Mustang Sports Roof Fastback is what I settled on. Now we start the project that has been dubbed #ProjectSportsRoof (yes I find it necessary to use the ‘hash’). 1973 Mustang Color …
Well win some and you lose some. If you’ve seen my other posts related the replacement of the points and condenser for the 351C you’ll notice that I gave conversion high marks. This was all based on the years of use I got out of the conversion I did on …
Well it has been a while since I’ve updated readers on #ProjectSportsRoof and frankly there hasn’t been a lot going on.
As the regular readers know I do all the work I can on my car, when practical. This work happens in my driveway, which unfortunately has a rather steep slope.
You’ve seen the videos of my work pulling out the engine and the transmission and putting the engine back in and attempting to put the transmission back in.
I few weeks ago, after suffering from a huge bout of guilt for not working the Mustang, I attempted one more time to get the transmission reattached to the engine.
This endeavor, required me to put the car up a lot higher than normal on the stands, to get enough room to maneuver the trans and the transmission jack around. this was a huge mistake. After a few tries I decided to pull the transmission back out for under the car and wait for some help later in the week.
Everything went fine and the transmission was safely strapped to the transmission jack and rolled back into the garage. Since the car was lifted higher for the failed attempt, I decided to lower it back on to the ground. As I lifted the car with my floor jack, so I could remove one stand one of the remaining stands slipped from its place and the car dropped about 5″ on to the tires. This didn’t seem to be to dramatic of a fall until I noticed that the motor mounts had separate (broke to be frank).
That was depressing, to say the least and another set back. Of course this depression was compounded by the fact that I had very limited free time coming up to work on the car. I am a full-time Junior High teacher and I had just signed on to coach our boy’s basketball team which was a lot of fun (we when 10 -2 for the season) and very time-consuming.
I purchased the motor mounts and was attempting to schedule a couple of relatives to help out. That proved difficult.
So a relative mentioned a successful automotive shop that was opening a new location here in Tucson and I contacted them to see they wanted to tackle the engine and transmission re-install, build a custom drive shaft and add headers and exhaust. They looked it over and we agreed on the cost estimate.
So off she goes to get the complete drive training straighten out and hopefully back on the road soon.
There is still a lot of work to be done and as I get ready for my summer break from teaching, I should be able to but more time into it!!!
I have a lot more coming up on #ProjectBeepBeep as well.
Welcome back to #ProjectSportsRoof. I run my car projects much like I run my IT projects. You always have to know where to start and know the end game. As with any project that isn’t being built from scratch, in other word, you have to work with what you’ve got, …
If you look back at #ProjectSportsRoof post you’ll see the condition engine bay. During those videos I mentioned that I was going to clean it up and hit it with a rattle can. Again this isn’t going to be a concours restoration, it’s going to look nice and it’s going …
As I posted before, after a vigorous (not read ‘desperate’) I finally found my next personal project. The 1973 Mustang Sports Roof Fastback is what I settled on. Now we start the project that has been dubbed #ProjectSportsRoof (yes I find it necessary to use the ‘hash’). 1973 Mustang Color …
Ok so these were suppose to kick off while I’m over here in Italy, but they failed to post up, so I’m taking a few minutes to fix that. Oh well as long as I’m typing, here is my favorite Italian road sign: Welcome back to Project Sports Roof (#ProjectSportsRoof). We stripped …
In these next two videos, you’ll see just how ‘off’ these fenders are in some areas and surprisingly how well they fit in other areas. If you have an experience or a hit for anyone taking on this part of a restoration – drop a comment here and we’ll share them. https://youtu.be/Ga9EHbDpSfg https://youtu.be/FBKs7EG4kK0 Thanks …
Well win some and you lose some. If you’ve seen my other posts related the replacement of the points and condenser for the 351C you’ll notice that I gave conversion high marks. This was all based on the years of use I got out of the conversion I did on …
Thanks for checking on #ProjectSportsRoof. So here is the last set of initial questions. Here is an image of the current set up: Any diagram I find has the hose vacuum from the Distr going to the Valve assy. The Valve assy has nothing attached which is located on the front …
#AutoFactoids are back!!! I will be changing them up a bit but they’ll still be fun.
Factoid – The Datsun 510 in the late 1960s it competed with the likes of BMW on the front lines of the then-new sports sedan category. Paul Newman use to race one.
Factoid – Lexus SC300 shared a lot of important parts with the now-legendary Toyota Supra, including the same straight six engine.
Factoid – Ford Probe was basically a Mazda 626, and was originally intended to become the new Mustang. Thankfully, those plans were scrapped because Ford was concerned of the back-lash.
Auto Factoids are back!!!! Lets just get started. Happy Birthday (Sept. 8, 1903) Preston Tucker – nice cars!!! On Sept 9th 1935 Studebaker put the first car on a Pennsylvania RR rail car headed to NYC but the final destination was London. (Actually there were 163 cars in that shipment.) These are …
Here some interesting facts for the new in 2008 LS9 engine. – It was a combination of upgraded LS3 and LS7 components and took 3 years to develop – All 2000 units were hand-assembled in GM’s Performance Build Center in Wixom, Michigan -It displaced 6.2 liters – Bore and stroke 4.06×3.62 with a compression ratio of 9.1:1 – …
I’d like you to take a look at one of my constant readers classic muscle car. First let me say that Bill has been an a long quest to find a car to replace this car: Back in the day. It was a long search with lots of phone calls with many …
Did you think I sold #ProjectSportsRoof? Nope. I’ve been busy and I’ve been serving as editor to another cool project – my constant reader Bill’s ’68 Plymouth RoadRunner (#ProjectBeepBeep). However, I have been doing some work on the sports roof and in this video you’ll see a little bling under the …
1968 Ply Road RunnerProject BeepBeep Welcome back to #ProjectBeepBeep. Bill is looking at the brakes and gets some professional assistance to help him make a crucial decision. You know if you’ve got a lot of GO…you need a lot STOP. It not an easy decision to alter a car’s originality, especially …
Ready for some more #ProjectBeepBeep? Bill takes you through a few tips for restoring your B-Body door panels. Take a look: Great stuff!!! Thanks Bill!!! Have a few Mopar tips – Post them up or drop me a note @ agcarestoration@cox.net and we get you video/tip posted on the site. Thanks for reading Tim Introducing …
Welcome back to #ProjectSportsRoof. I’m finishing the re-positioned shifting rod above the transmission’s cross member.
Next I’ll need to go top side and give the selector a try. If that is working properly, hitting the proper gears I can spin the torque converter and properly torque its connection to the flex plate.
If you look back at #ProjectSportsRoof post you’ll see the condition engine bay. During those videos I mentioned that I was going to clean it up and hit it with a rattle can. Again this isn’t going to be a concours restoration, it’s going to look nice and it’s going …
I’ve done all the clean up and all the adjustments necessary to get a good reading on the health of the ’72 351C engine in my 1973 Mustang. The next step is to check the compression. First up was to warm the car a bit and then pull the plugs. Here’s what the …
This is the wrap up on the compression testing for the 1973 Mustang w/ a 1972 351 Cleveland power plant. You’ll might have notices that I referred to the remote tester, which is my code for remote starter…yeah…that’s it!!! All of these tests were dry test and I should have done a …
