So the process was fairly straight forward. Only thing not obvious was the removal of two trim pieces that hid the front bracket.
Philips screw..wow how ugly was that old dash???
Top screw removal
There were 3 philips screws along the dash next to the windshield. A nice long screw driver worked nicely. The holes in the dash cover for the screw were pretty deteriorated, but it was good do know that the dash was really metal covered with the padded vinyl so the screw would hold forever.
passenger side screws – remove and done!
There were 4 more screw on the passenger’s side. Now if this were a Mach I it would have a clock located there, but instead there is just a plastic panel. You could actually place a LCD monitor there for DVD player. The panel is below:
passenger’s Side Panel
The next set of two screws that needed to come up were located above the radio. These were a bit awkward to remove. But they weren’t philips screws..that pieced together with what we found after taking the dash pad out led to a conclusion of…well I’ll hold off mentioning that until I give you the other piece.
Arrows show the position of the two screws
After removing these two “non-philips” screws (flat) the dash pad would lean forward and you’d think it would pop right off …but nope!!! The next photos show why.
Dash Pad leaning forward.
Additional Trim piece that needed to be removed.
One screw and off it came.
Caption is wrong here the side screw was removed but there was still one below.
Bottom screw had to just be loosened and the pieces sliped off
One this pieces of trim was removed you can see the screw/bolt that need to be removed.
Not a great pic..but you get the idea.
One on each side and the dash pad was ready to go. Check out the videos. If the videos don’t work..let me know.
I enlisted the help of my son Ryan. He was over for dinner and he lent me hand, so I could film as well.
This first video shows us discovering the front brace hidden under the trim piece.
Here is the backside of dash pad.
The paper tag on the bottom of the dash pad.
Reading that you can see the date of 1972 on the tag. Since the Mustang is a 1970, the date doesn’t make sense. Adding that the screws near the radio that don’t match (straight vs. philip for the rest) I wondering if the dash wasn’t replaced. The original owners didn’t mention it, but there was no real reason too. This could mean that the dash was replaced with what appears to be NOS (new old stock) (from 1972)..that’s a possibility. I’ll do some more research just to find out.
The last few pics are of the other markings.
The two eights – one upper in maker and the one in the glue.
Parts code perhaps 3 24 (d) 2
Sorry..that one’s upside down. 🙂
The original Ford speaker.
Speaker with part number.
So what’s next? I’ll check out the wiring and pull the gages if I need to for repair (although all the gages are working fine). Oh..yeah..do a bulb replacement.
I’ve been think about doing this but the rules seem a bit tough to come up with. But I’ll give this a try.
I’m looking for some project car posts from the readers. Your projects. Anything from a huge wreck of car project to something smaller (bigger then an oil change). It has to be your car and you are doing “some” of the work on it. That the only hard and fast rule.
I’ll need a couple photos and some brief details. You can post them up here or find me on Facebook and post the them up or email them to me (timsweet@cox.net). I’ll post them here and then on my website (www.tucsoncarevents.com) for everyone to look at.
If I get enough entries I’m pick a car of the week the week and then out of the we’ll vote on the car of the month (if I don’t get votes posted up I’ll have one of my regular readers pick it. The winner the car of the month gets a $100.00 online gift card as an auto parts dealer (Summit Racing or even on tailored to your car). Simple as that.
So let’s get started. Remember anything from a total wreck to just a transmission swap, body work, paint, interior upgrade, hood swap. That all works. Sorry Pdawg giving Burt a bath and vac isn’t going to cut it (but he could use one!!!…just kidding). It doesn’t have to be done and I don’t need a before and after, just what you are working on.
I’ll this run until I get at least for to choose from, then we’ll vote.
Note: If you noticed my site is not commercial, there are no ads, no click through links, no pop ups. It’s just me type to hear myself type and a few of you reading it. I like it that way.
Follow the steps and you’ll be able to remove those rusted exhaust bolts and it makes using an easy out on broke bolts…um…well… easier!!!!
1. Heat the bolt or stud with a torch errrkkk….”Yo…us averaged guys don’t have a torch set!!!!” Yeah, I know…I use a regular propane torch from ACE Hardware. ….errkkk Double nut the studs.
2. Once it hot…doesn’t have to be glowing red, touch a candle to it, until there is wax penetrated between the threads.
3. Remove the bold or apply the easy out and you are home free.
Being an average guy …say it with me…..”with an average budget and average tools”…I travel light to the drag strip.
I don’t have a trailer and I don’t have spare tires, or worry have about NOS (Nitrous Oxide System). I don’t carry a timing light (but that might be handy) or dwell/tach. What I do carry with me is a small toolbox with open-end and box-end wrenches, socket set and screw drivers. I also bring along a lawn chair, a cooler (No Alcohol) and Fire Extinguishers. Now it helps that the strip is less than 10 miles way and I have a very nice GM towing/travel package (AAA like coverage – under 10 miles the tow bill is free) so I don’t really need a trailer and the works.
The tools I carry are just enough to make carb adjustments and plug adjustments. (I have replaced the points and condenser with the Pertronix electronic ignition parts in the Mustang…(very smart idea by the way) and there really aren’t any adjustments I can make to the Corvette as it is currently configured – the computer which is crude 1980’s technology – just returns the car to original operation specs (fuel to air ratio) or close to it anyway.
So I look really small compared to the guys with the covered trailers and the double axle pick-up trucks. But there are a lot of average guys there, taking up no space in the parking lot.
At the drags Pic 1
At the Drags Pic 2
As you can see by these pics there isn’t a giant tool box there and no pit crew. BTW these photos are from my first time at the track, right after the new engine:
New engine just before installation.
And before the new paint.
I have a ton of fun at these events. I’ve attended to two charity events, Race for the Cure, in support of cancer research and a several weekly test-n-tunes. Generally at the test-n-tunes you see a lot of kids (relative depending on your age) with their imports. You can tell there isn’t much of a budget there and that I think is what makes it fun.
In most of these events you aren’t running against the other guy (not really), you are running against your own skill as a driver and a mechanic – your own tune-up work and your last run’s time. The kids with the tuners (a slang term for modified imports) generally have a Nitrous Oxide Systems (NOS) and a lap top to adjust the computer that controls nearly everything to do with the way the engine runs. I know some old school guys that really frown on that but I think it pretty cool.
Do you have a racing experience? Drop it in comment.
Coming up next (if I can find it) is an article I wrote that covers the finer point of bracket racing and some tech tips.
This is a tough one. Strictly from a budget point of view…nope. I run my Mustang and Vette with the street tires.
What not to do: (Read and heed)
At most tracks they have the water area where most cars with drag rubber will run through. It helps to get the tires spinning. Avoid that!!! On my very first run, I thought I’d be cool and do it like the big boys. Got the tires wet…..oh..they’ll spin alright..no problem…but hey aren’t soft enough to grip and well…lets just say it gets a little hairy and all I wanted was to just trying to get them to smoke a little..would have been fun. Well..what did happen was the Mustang started going sideways toward the concrete divider, mind you, I’m not even to the line yet, (and I’m think..”Hey honey..can you move your car so the tow truck and back in to the driveway).
So not only did they not smoke, they didn’t even get hot, just wet. Now take wet street tires and place them on 1/8 inch of rubber sticking to strip and…ta dah…you have a Mustang on ice…great!!! I recovered from that and got to the line. This was a charity race and I looked a cross concrete divider at this front wheel drive Ford Focus and I smiled…..but only for a second. The tree started and I popped the clutch and heard my bored out 302 engine rev and felt it go…. nowhere….the tires just spun…I see the Focus take off and I let up on the gas the Mustang took off, fishtailing…..I think I did two miles on the 1/4 mile strip, during that run. I did manage to get her up to 86 miles an hour that time but..I was at the end of the run and Focus has already turned off.
What to do:
Avoid the wetting down area. Your street tires will spin….trust me…on all that rubber the other cars have left for you. Warm you tires up only a little.
Now as an average guy..I only have a street car…just like it came off the show room floor, no trans-brake…nope… just a clutch and a gas pedal. So with a manual shift..and street tries you have to be careful taking off. I have out treed a few cars but you have to be light on the clutch. The tires will spin a little and you can limit that a bit with the clutch. A few feet out you will find more grip and 2nd and 3rd will be fine…um….I don’t have a 4th in the Mustang…so that’s pretty much it for me.
My next few passes went much better with my best being 93.43 mph with a 15.391 time. Now that’s pretty good with street tires and only 3 speeds. (Considering the first pass..documented above had a time of 17.54 at 78.98 mph.)
In a previous post I talked about psychological hurdles that an average guy, with average skill, average tools and an average budget has to deal with when he owns a classic car (ok…doesn’t have to be a classic…just “loved”). One of those was the fear of something breaking, either while you driving it or working on it. Can I fix it? Do I have the right tool? What if I can’t? Do I know anyone that can? For free? Can I afford to get it fixed? Even worse – long will I be deprived of driving it?
These are my concerns–always.
So with these worries..what in H….E. double L (does everyone get the H..E double L??) am I doing drag racing!?!?!?! Where’s my head at?!??!?!?!!
I hope you aren’t sitting there waiting for an answer!!!! ‘Cause I don’t know. I just do it.
But dude….you are so average….especially in the budget….heck..in all the areas listed above…oh and BTW….how about SWMBO (she who must be obeyed)…how’s that going to go…..”Hey honey guess what? I was at the tree and the light turned green and I got a huge jump on the V.W. next to me and the darndest thing happend…little pieces of my u-joint flew everywhere. Would you mind moving your car so the tow truck back into the driveway…thanks snookems!!!”….Um…sure…… good luck with that!!!
So over the next few post, I’m going to give some average guy tips for handling a little test and tune drag racing.
Next up…do I need different tires?????
Thanks for reading.
My Coupe taking of from the line. Before the new paint!!!
Just about every auto blog, has a place where the reader can upload their cars. I think that’s great but I’d like to take it a bit further. If you have a project car, no matter the condition or state of restoration it’s in….erk….even if it’s just sitting out in the backyard and you’re thinking about restoring…let me know. I want to feature it on the front page this blog. There is a following for the Average Guy’s Car Restoration, Mods and Racing blog, (over 60 view in one day) and it’s followed on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.
So become part of the Average Car Guy’s Nation. Drop me a comment and we’ll get your car featured. If we can muster up a good flow of cars, we’ll have a car of the month contest with a gift card give away.
I received a couple emails referring to the images on the blog. Generally, I can’t get copies of the Robert Hooper’s prints, but I can get copies of the Mustang interior.
If you are interested let me know…sorry..they aren’t free…but very reasonable.
Thanks for the interest. Remember, a blog’s life’s blood are comments. Drop me some.
