Tag Archives: Vintage Cars

70 Mustang Dash Gage Removal Bulb replaced 3/24/2010

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Well after the bout of bad video uploads I decided to stick with photos for the rest of this project.

This blog entry (I like the sound of that…’blog entry’) I’ll show some pic of the area behind the dash and the removal of the gage panel and bulb replacement.

As I suspected and as to be expected, the dash and gages have been out of this car before.  No big deal, it 40 years!!!  Clearing you can tell that because the screws are not matching that hold the gages in.

Right side of the gage cluster had philips screw with washer.

After the dash pad was removed there were really only 2 screw left that held the panel/cluster in place – seen above and below.

The Left side was not a philips

After these were removed the gage panel/cluster (ok….I’m just going to call it a gage panel…if you like cluster…read as “cluster”).  The only thing holding it in were two connections to the wiring harness.  Those just clip together..sorry….I had those on video… and pull off easily.

Part of the wiring harness

As you can see other than just being dusty, all the wiring was in good shape.  I had expected some issue due to age, but nope..not a one. (That’s not a complaint…no way…I hate electrical work…..I had a bad experience 🙁             )

This pic is of the panel on the right side of the and there is a LOT of space behind there.  A cd changer should slide back there as well as adding a dvd player to the plastic panel.  No I don’t believe I would, actually add one…..hmmmm…..I guess if someone donated an item I might consider putting it in…..or not.

The right side panel...lots of empty space.

 

Look at that room...for a donated dvd player....:)

So I did blew that out to get rid of some of the dust and wiped it down with citrus cleaner.

As I removed the two screws from the panel I thought it would pull right out but nope..the cover for the steering column had to be removed first.  Simple enough.

Cover for the steering column

Then……( insert…dooms day music)…a piece fell out!!!!! See below

queue the dooms day music...the loose piece.

Ok..not really a big deal.  It was just a clip that held the to pieces of the  steering column cover together.  It screwed back in slide of the two ends.

Now I didn’t take the gage panel out of the car didn’t really need to since the wiring was all fine. I pulled it out enough to allow my had to go behind and pull out the bulbs.

The position of one bulb.

Here is what the bulb and socket look like, together and apart.

Bulb and Socket

Bulb removed from socket

They come out of the housing by a simple twist. The socket has two copper conductors (you can see them in the pic above…one on each side) that come into contact with the electrical ribbon and provide the power to the bulb.  Most of the bulbs were still functional, very dusty..but I replaced them all. 

Ok that’s about if this “blog entry”  (come on..you like it too!!!…say it with me “blog entry”….I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!!!….BLOG ENTRY!!)

I’ve actually placed it all back together today and I’ll post more tomorrow.  But you want to see it before that, I’m driving it to work tomorrow…it not that long of a drive to Tucson…come down…I’ll spring for lunch…..            🙂

Thanks for reading.

70 Mustang Dash Removal Videos

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Sorry for the technical issues with the videos. It seems that WordPress has issues with longer videos, so I’ll have to keep them a bit shorter.

These next links will take you to the videos, but you’ll have to click the back button to get back to the blog.

This first video is when my son and I discovered that there was an additional bracket under the lower trim pieces.

http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm296/timsweet2200/?action=view&current=MVI_6869.flv

This next video is view of the partial removal.

http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm296/timsweet2200/?action=view&current=MVI_6876.flv

This last is the rest of the removal.  I tossed a little humor in there about feed my son Ryan only if we worked for the meal.  Not sure he thought that was too humorous..but I’m his Dad..he has to deal with me.  🙂

http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm296/timsweet2200/?action=view&current=MVI_6877.flv

Again, sorry these take you out of the site, I will work on this for the next video uploads.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Reminder:  PROJECT CAR CONTEST..GET YOU PROJECTS IN!!!!

70 Mustang Dash Replacement – Removal

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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.     

More to come     

Thanks for reading.     

Tim

1970 Mustang Dash Replacement – Old one is out!!

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Spend the last part of today taking the dash out of the Mustang.  It went very smoothly.

I was originally worried about rust up near the windshield.  But a quick check showed nothing major.  I’ll be giving it a good look tomorrow.

I still have to go through the videos and pics, so I’ll post them up late this evening or tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Wrenchin’ Tip Restoring emblems 03/18/2010

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Many of our cars have worn out emblems that were once painted…Ok..I’m a lucky average guy…the Mustang’s emblems are all chrome and my Corvettes are mostly plastic.  

But what about some those that need painting.  Look for a flow  pencil.  

Flow Pencil for paint your emblems.

 

These are pretty reasonable and make painting small areas a bit easier.  

Thanks for reading

Project Car Contest

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Don’t forget to get your entry in for the Project car of the Week/Month.

$100.00 Gift card to an online Auto Parts site, like Summit Racing.

Wrenchin’ Tip – Candle Wax Bolt Removal – 03/14/10

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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.

If you have a tip, post it here in a comment.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Muscle Car Peeves

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Ok, I’ve been wanting to do this for a while.  I have a couple of muscle cars and cars that aren’t but get “dressed up” like muscle car peeves.

So here are three right off the bat.

1.  Don’t put Yanko strips on your 2003 Dodge Neon.  It doesn’t look right, and you aren’t fooling anyone.

2.  I have nothing against body kits added to a car.  I, personally, wouldn’t do it to the two I have, but I’ve seen some pretty nice jobs done on Corvettes, especially.  I’ve even seen a lot of imports that look good with body kits.  But here’s my peeve, don’t put them on the car if you aren’t going to paint them the right way.  Save up the cash and get it all done at once.  And one more note on body kits, why would you want to take your Honda Accord and make it look like a 1946 pickup truck?  (OK, I’ve never seen one, but you know what I mean).

3.  I recently saw a 1970-something Camaro, mounted on the frame of a raised Chevy pickup…almost monster truck size.  Why people…WHY???!!!

Okay, there are a couple of mine muscle car want-ta-be peeves.

Post up some of yours. Come on, I know you’ve got them!!!!!

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Projects Reference Books – Book Review

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I thought I’d take a minute and drop a couple book titles at ya!!!

These books are extremely helpful with average project that you can tackle on your cars.  I have complete several of them on my 70 Mustang and my 84 Vette. 

The books are from MotorBooks.  They are a series called  MotorBooks Workshop and they are extremely well written

I currently have the following titles (had I’ve used them!!!!)

101 Projects for Your Corvette  1984 – 1996  (Excellent)

101 Projects for Your Mustang  1964 1/2 – 1973 (Excellent) (Although it says Mustang, many of these projects you’ll be able to do on similar Fords..so no you won’t find one for Mercury Cougar Station wagon (love the car Mr. Sears) but the under-pinnings are very similar.)

How to rebuild and Modify Your Manual Transmission (I haven’t used this one yet…I waiting to buy a test transmission to work on first…but finding one is tough for my 70 Mustang and then there’s $$$$ plus $$$ shipping.)  (Excellent)

I just pick up Weekend Projects for your Modern Corvette C4-C5-C6  (not very good – mostly C5 and C6 )

Each one has projects and it includes skill level you need may need (naaah….who needs skill when you have pictures!!!), tools you might need, time it will take and other handy tips.

You can find them at…yup…you guessed it  http://www.motorbooks.com/ 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Average Guy – Increasing Skill Set Training Parts

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Now, I keep saying I’m an average guy with an average skill set and frankly there’s no one I know that will argue the point.  That being the current situation, it doesn’t mean that I don’t try to pick up new skills, I do.     

So since I also have an average guy’s budget (selling cans back to the recycler for car parts…ok…just kidding there) I don’t have what I’d really like to have for “training purposes”.  If I did however, I have two of each car (in this case a 84 Vette with a Crossfire engine –has to be exact there and a second Mustang with a V8) and I’d experiment with parts cars until I get it right and then I’d work on its twin.  Of course that’s not affordable, so I next like to have a spare Crossfire engine to mess with and a Ford V8 do to the same.  Now that might be possible, budget wise (I know a couple of guys that will let me pick up a an old engine for free) but I have an average garage, with my cabinets and work bench, I can only get one car in there–nope no 3 bay garage for me.      

My garage with the Vette in it.

 

(Was I kidding???? NOPE!!!) Errrk…..And don’t think I haven’t approached the subject…but the misses doesn’t see the need to move to a larger house just so I can have a place in the garage to play.  So having two engines on stands won’t work out too well. So how do I get around this……I purchase a part to “study”.   Back in the day you’d have to go to the junk yard and pick your part and you can pretty much do that today as well.  There are drawbacks to that, though… here in a AZ during the summer time…taking the parts off the a hot car is a killer…not stolen…but a car that’s been sitting in the sun when it’s 110 degrees out.  Those metal part will be a bit warm…trust me.  But the Internet is a great thing and I’d like to take a minute and personally thank former Vice President Al Gore for inventing it…nicely done sir!!!  I’ve found most of my training parts online.  But don’t over look the local car clubs either, you can get help and I can assure there’s one or  two guys there that have or know a guy that knows a guy that has the part you are looking for.    

  When I first got my Mustang, it had a 1 barrel Weber carb, so I purchased  an old one online to take it apart and look it over.  Then I order the kit and rebuilt the usable one.  I’ve done the same thing for my C4.  I needed a rebuild of the fuel injector towers, so I went online and found a set for $20 plus shipping and took them apart and back together and used them as a model for when I did the real set.  Worked perfectly.    

 Here is my next piece:    

84 Vette Crossfire Intake Manifold

 

Which is seen here on the Vette:     

Corvette Crossfire Engine

 

The manifold is unique enough that I wanted to learn more about it before messing with it.  Now if you’ve been reading my blog since the beginning or are new and went back through my older posts, you’ll know about my psychological issue with breaking it myself. So the test part makes it even odds…ok..fine 40 – 60 that I won’t screw it up. (That’s a 60% chance that I’ll eventually have to take to someone and have it fixed when I’m done fixing it myself.)  Now I’ve mentioned that an up and coming mod will be to put on a newly designed manifold for the Vette, but I need to keep the original and will eventually rebuild it myself…or attempt too. Look this picture over and you’ll see why I love working on my C4:    

Hood up.

 

 Yeah..no fenders to lean over!!!!  It’s great.  Easy access to the engine. Just toss an old blanket (STOP..NOT THE ONE ON THE BED..NO NO..BAD….) over the wheel and you are home free.     

 Thanks for reading.  Always up for a comment or two.    

Tim