Corvette Mustang – Corvette Mustang – Then and Now

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

Project SportsRoof Shifting Linkage Part IV

More work on my 73 Mustang’s shift lever. I have the pan off and removed the valve body. You can get a good look at the what needs to happen next.

 

 

Here is the bolt pattern for the valve.

The dots show the bolts to remove.

Over on www.7173Mustangs.com one of the experts modified a open end wrench like this:

We’ll see what I can find to remove this nut.  That will be coming up shortly.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

#ProjectSportsRoof

1973 Mustang – Project Sports Roof – Vacuum System Part II

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 …
Project SportsRoof Shifting Linkage Part II

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 …
Project SportsRoof Shifting Linkage Part III

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 …
Wrenchin’ Tip – ’70 Mustang Transmission Swap

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 …

 

Project SportsRoof Shifting Linkage Part II

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 make sure that it’s getting turned. I suspect that this may be the issue.

More coming up.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Project SportsRoof Shifting Linkage Part 1

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.  …

1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Compression, Rods and Heads

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 …

1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Fender Removal

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 …

 

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!!!

Tim

1973 Mustang Project SportsRoof – Exterior Walk-Around

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, …
1973 Mustang – Engine Bay Work

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 …
1973 Mustang – Project Sports Roof

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 …
1973 Mustang – Project Sports Roof – Pertronix Ignitor Update

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 …

 

Project BeepBeep – Oil Pan Gasket Part III

Wrapping up the oil pan gasket and what’s next for the 68 RoadRunner?

Take a look:


I have to add my note and this might rub someone the wrong way but I am going to toss it out here.

I took my 1970 Mustang to a shop run by a guy I trust with my cars.  After getting the Mustang back I leaked from two spots.  When I asked his mechanic about the said  “Old cars leak.”   That phrase really irritates me every time I hear it.   This day in age with all the improvement in gaskets from rubber to rubber coated metal to make your or form you own, this just no reason for your car to leak.  After the incident above, I took my Mustang home and replaced the gaskets and drove it for about a week and then went back to my friends shop and had the mechanic look under the car…it was bone dry.

Unless you have a part that can’t be found there is almost no reason, given all the options, for your old car to leak.   Having said that, Bill makes a good point – there are times when a leak, a non-engine killing leak, becomes to expensive or time consuming to fix.   But if I know Bill, you’ll be seeing a video with him fixing all the leaks.    (;^o)

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

 

73 Mustang (Project SportsRoof) Engine Dress Up and Venting/Vacuum

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 …
Introducing #ProjectBeepBeep – Code H 1968 Road Runner

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 …

 

Project SportsRoof Update

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.

Thanks for reading.

1973 Mustang Project SportsRoof – Exterior Walk-Around

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, …
1973 Mustang – Engine Bay Work

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 …
1973 Mustang – Project Sports Roof

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 …
1973 Mustang – Project Sports Roof – Fender Fitment Part I

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 …
1973 Mustang – Project Sports Roof – Fender Fitment Part II

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 …
1973 Mustang – Project Sports Roof – Pertronix Ignitor Update

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 …
1973 Mustang – Project Sports Roof – Vacuum System Part II

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 …

Tim

#ProjectSportsRoof

#ProjectBeepBeep

Auto Factoids for 12/17/2017 Datsun 510, Lexus, Ford Probe

#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.

Thanks for following #AutoFactoids.

Tim

Auto Factoid 9/8/2013 – 9/14/2013

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 …
Auto Factoids – Chevy’s LS9

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 – …

Update on Transmission for Project SportsRoof – ’73 Stang

Spend a few hours on this 2017 Labor Day, laboring over #ProjectSportsRoof and I wish that labor paid a bit more dividends.

The goal was to mate the transmission back to the engine but unfortunately that just wasn’t going to happen today.  The engine is set back a bit too far and tilted (on purpose).  Problem is if I bolted them up the engine hoist would be able to lift the engine and trans due to the height I needed the car to work on the transmission.

So I pulled the transmission out from under car and placed its wheels back on the concrete.

 

It was a major effort to get the car up high enough to get the transmission out.  I pushed the boundaries of safety with a floor jack and a couple of jack-stand.

As I stated in the video I may just take it down the street and have them get that straightened out for me.

More to come on #ProjectSportsRoof.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

1973 Mustang Project SportsRoof – Exterior Walk-Around

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, …
1973 Mustang – Engine Bay Work

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 …
1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Compression Test Part II

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 …

Project SportRoof – Transmission Update

It’s been a while but the new career is smoothing out and I’m hell-bent on getting back to my Mustang project.

Here is where we are with the drive train…going backward is necessary sometimes to get moving forward again.

 


 

HEY FOUND THEM:

 

 

More Coming Up on #ProjectSportsRoof.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

 

projectsportsroof

73 Mustang (Project SportsRoof) Engine Dress Up and Venting …

Mar 15, 2017 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 …
Average Guy’s Car Restoration, Mods and Racing – Rebuild Them …

#ProjectSportsRoof has been…languishing a bit but I have a new transmission jack and I’ll be back to it in the next week…right now it going to be about 120 …

Project BeepBeep – Brake Actuator Rod

Bill is getting soooooooooo close to having ProjectBeepBeep on the road again.  This update takes a look at the brake actuator rod.

The Rod


 

 

Bill mentioned 303 Protectant  and here is a bit of information from the web site:

Originally engineered for aerospace and aviation applications, 303 Protectant provides superior protection against harmful UV rays that can cause discoloration, fading and cracking of vinyl, rubber and plastic surfaces. 303 Protectant also helps repel dust, dirt, lint and staining. Safe and effective for vinyl, gel-coat, fiberglass, carbon fiber, synthetic or natural rubber, plastics and finished leather.
303 UV Protectant Wipes for Vinyl, Rubber, Plastic, Tires and Leather, Pack of 40:

  • 303 Automotive UV Protectant brightens surfaces and keeps your car looking newer, longer
  • This formula provides superior UV protection for any rubber, plastic, vinyl, eisenglass, PVC, gel coat and fiberglass surfaces of your vehicle, such as your dashboard, windshield wiper blades, and even your tires; not for use on unfinished leathers (such as suede), fabrics (canvas) or floorings
  • 303 UV Protectant not only protects against fading, discoloration and cracking from harmful UV rays, but repels dust and stains too helping to extend your vehicle cleaning
  • Rinse-free formula leaves a non-greasy, dry matte finish with no odor and is non toxic and water based; 100 percent free of grease-producing silicone oils and petroleum distillates
  • 303 Automotive UV Protectant is an easy to use spray on formula that comes in a 16 fl oz bottle with trigger sprayer
  • We guarantee our products

Warnings:

California Proposition 65 Warning: This product contains a chemical(s) known to the state of California to cause cancer.

More coming up shortly on the brake lines installation.

Thanks for checking in!!

Tim

projectbeepbeep

Diamond Valley Mopars Public Group | Facebook

Welcome back to #ProjectBeepBeep. Thanks for checking in on the progress of Bill’s 1968 Plymouth Road Runner. If you recall mixed in with some brake …
RoadRunner – Average Guy’s Car Restoration, Mods and Racing

RoadRunner | Bill continues with his march toward a complete brake system replacement for #ProjectBeepBeep his 68 Plymouth Road Runner. Here is the …
Infinite Audio – Home | Facebook

Getting some of the custom painted @fabfoursinc parts put on #projectbeepbeep. @factor55llc #jku #jeepproject #grumper #custompaint #stormtrooper …
68 RoadRunner Disc Brake Conversion – Part 5 – YouTube

Apr 24, 2017 Welcome back to #ProjectBeepBeep. Bill’s got the wheel cylinders installed for the 1968 RoadRunner and …dang…missing brake lines!!