Continuing on with the felt install for the 1973 Mustang (#ProjectSportsRoof), I’ve already removed the old felt and we are about to replace it with the new piece from Repops (I misspoke in the video, but you can clearly see the name on the paperwork).
Seems simple enough and done in no….time…..but wait….small glitch!!!
So the company is called Repops and to be fair, the pieces that went on the outside of the door were near perfect.
Thanks for checking back in on #ProjectSportsRoof. For a long time I thought installing door window felt or window seal was an impossible task. Either you couldn’t.
Thanks for checking back in on #ProjectSportsRoof.
For a long time I thought installing door window felt or window seal was an impossible task. Either you couldn’t get the pieces because they aren’t reproduced or it was done in such a way that make it possible for the Average Guy to make it happen.
It’s been a while since I had to consider replacement – my 1970 Mustang restoration didn’t require new felt, so is wasn’t a concern. But the 1973 SportsRoof needed it badly, as you can see in the video for exterior walk around (click HERE to review). Before I began the search I was concerned that I wouldn’t find them – 1973 was a unique year in a lot of ways (fenders – grille) and with the differences between the 1971-1972 and 1973 it wouldn’t be hard to image these just weren’t profitable to reproduce.
Thankfully I was wrong. I found these on one of the Mustang part sites and they are produced by “Repops” (which I may called something different in one of the videos you’ll see in these posts). The were very good quality, but needed some modifications.
Let’s take a look at them.
Repops’ Window Felt
Just a side note: The audio on this set of videos it not great. I forgot that I had my fan on and at times that over powers the audio – especially when I move in side. My apologizes ahead of time!!!
BONUS VIDEO SECTION: In the last section of the video above I covered a little tip for keeping the interior of the door dry. As I look back, I realize that my 1970 Mustang DID have two holes in the bottom of the door originally. However, they were a bit smaller than those in bottom of the ’73 and prone to getting plugged very easily – which is why I added a few more.
To install the inside felt (the outside is rubber – which make sense) I had to remove the top door panel inside, which was just two screws. Then I need to take a look at how to remove the felt from that piece.
Next two videos show the removal of the felt from the top interior section of the door panel.
After cutting the fold ends of the staples the felt just popped off with a screw driver.
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, …
I get a lot of questions on just what I’m going to do with the Sports Roof. Some of those are posed as inquires of interest and others can be interpreted as “What the hell were you thinking when you bought that!!!”. Truth is I don’t …
#ProjectSportsRoof will be the way I want it, which I haven’t nailed down yet, so suggest way by dropping me a comment (got your crate motor idea swimming around in my head, Bill) and that will happen fast or slow and cost …
Dynacorn Mustang body. Dynacorn’s new 1967 Mustang fastback body. Mormon Meteor III. Ab Jenkins’s Mormon Meteor III. For all its grandeur and provenance, nobody paid attention to it at SEMA. (UPDATE: It got a little love …
If you look back at the video (to view click here) of the exterior walk around for my 1973 SportsRoof you’ll notice the two front fenders were, not perfect!!!
Right Side Fender – lots of crinkles, a few creases and good size dent.
Left Fender – major dent a lot of rebuilding
The right fender has some pretty sharp creases breaking the lines of the finder. The belt line can be fixed but it’s tough to get them back to the original look and I don’t want a ‘bondo’ build out. The left fender is as bad, with that huge dent – almost completely straightening out the belt original fender lines. Again these can be fixed but it takes a lot of work. Additionally, I’m not even sure these fenders are original to the car – one appears to have holes consistent with a belt/side molding.
If you recall from earlier posts, the car came with two fenders. Although a bit delayed getting into town they did arrive and I took a look at them. I determined they were going to be as much work to fix as the fenders currently on the car. That’s way I opted to not add to the clutter in my garage by dragging them home.
So that left me with attempting to find good original fenders or repros. You’d think finding used fenders shouldn’t pose too big of an issue, Mustangs are everywhere, right? True in many respects, however, the 1973 Mustang had unique fenders. Often the 1971, 1972 and 1973 Mustangs are thought of as being the same car, but for 1973 the major difference is the change in bumpers that were Federally mandated. For 1973 the Mustang got the urethane bumper and no longer required the filler panel, which the ’70-’71 fenders accommodated with 4 screw holes to attach the panel.
Given that, it’s no wonder that most of the used fenders will need a lot of work, if you do find them and I already have a set that needs repair.
So that leaves me with reproduction sheet metal. There are a lot of forums out there that discuss the differences between ‘brands’ and I’ve done the research and the results were not conclusive.
There are 3 main providers of repop sheet metal, Dynacor, Legion (or Gold Legion) and Goodmark. There’s a lot of discussion on which are the best, but apparently the all come from the same place in Twain. Part of that discussion was that the manufacturer sells the sheet metal parts by quality grade and the above mentioned companies are some state what quality grade they will buy or have an exclusive deal to only get the top grades while the other companies are left to the poorer quality. I don’t know how much truth there is to this, so it’s grain of salt time. But the over all conciseness was that use parts would be better and the real difference for reproduced sheet metal comes down to the dealer’s customer service (read – return/replacement policy).
Even pricing varies by dealer. Summit has fenders for my ’73 Sportsroof for $365, NPD has them for $392, Ohio Mustang Supply for $315 and Laurel Mountain Mustang for $294.00. That’s a pretty good range.
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.
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, …
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 wet test on cylinder 2 to help determine if the rings were shot, I’m thinking it’s just a valve issue.
The left bank of cylinders looked like this:
Cylinder 5 (front right) – 160
Cylinder 6 – 155
Cylinder 7 – 160
Cylinder 8 – 140
Here are the videos.
Cylinder 5
Cylinder 6
Cylinder 7
Cylinder 8
Those are some pretty good numbers. But the heads will have to come off and sent out for a spa day…UNLESS…I replace them with something else? Like?????
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.
There is a quick walk-through of the 351C tucked between the fenders of the 1973 Mustang Sportsroof. (It took about 5 takes to get this video…a slight improvement.
#ProjectSportsRoof will be the way I want it, which I haven’t nailed down yet, so suggest way by dropping me a comment (got your crate motor idea swimming around in my head, Bill) and that will happen fast or slow and cost …
Continuing on with the leaks and Pertronix install on the 351C, below you’ll see the cleaned up valve covers (BTW – only the right side was leaking – which may explain.
During the course of a restoration that are the major processes that need to be tended too, like body work, engine rebuild or interior work that takes the lime light and a the bulk of the time spend on the project. There are often small gaps when there’s a some free time, like waiting for parts, etc. or just a break for the big stuff to take care of some of the little.
For example: If you’ve watched the videos, in particular the engine walk through post (Link it) you’ve seen the radiator reservoir was….um…a little lower than what would be considered normal.
A tad bit low.
Broken!
Here’s a little clip on the repair.
It’s always great to accomplish something on a project, even the little things.
There is a quick walk-through of the 351C tucked between the fenders of the 1973 Mustang Sportsroof. (It took about 5 takes to get this video…a slight improvement.
Continuing on with the leaks and Pertronix install on the 351C, below you’ll see the cleaned up valve covers (BTW – only the right side was leaking – which may explain.
#ProjectSportsRoof will be the way I want it, which I haven’t nailed down yet, so suggest way by dropping me a comment (got your crate motor idea swimming around in my head, Bill) and that will happen fast or slow and cost …
Thanks for checking back on the #ProjectSportsRoof progress. Wrapping up the Pertronix install, I’ll had an issue. After install the system the car would not start. So I re-gapped the Pertronix and still it wouldn’t start. I was sure I didn’t screw up the firing order when I put the new cap on, but I pulled out the book and rechecked. Not the problem.
So I went about putting the points and condenser back in and it still didn’t fire up, put the old coil back on and still no luck. I put the Pertronix back in and of course the beast would not fire up.
This video covers it.
If you read the previous post and watched the video, you would have noticed gas seeping from a crack in the rubber line just above the “steam punk” fuel pressure gauge and the collection of hose clams. Truly a work of art – no doubt, but totally a mess.
Ye,s I should have looked that over better and replaced it prior running the car. However, it’s better now and a solid temporarily fix. Here a clip.
Again, this is a temp fix and a proper line will be installed eventually.
Here’s a wrenching tip: When install hose clamps on a gas line, be sure you’ve tighten them all before your start the car. Gas has a tendency to not flow in the desired direction, when not well contained. Yeah…gas everywhere and not just a little. Here’s garage tip: Cat Litter – buckets full!!! ‘nough said!!!
Thanks for reading and as always….let me hear from you.
As I march down the dark path that is the diagnostic process to find out the health of the 351 Cleveland, the first steps are to clean up a few leaks (mainly so it.
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.
Continuing on with the leaks and Pertronix install on the 351C, below you’ll see the cleaned up valve covers (BTW – only the right side was leaking – which may explain.
As I march down the dark path that is the diagnostic process to find out the health of the 351 Cleveland, the first steps are to clean up a few leaks (mainly so it doesn’t bleed fluids all over the garage floor and driveway) and replace the points and condenser with a Petronix system.
If you are not familiar Petronix it’s a simple electronic ignition system (as compared with a MSD electronic ignition system) that keeps your car looking stock, as it all tucks under the distributor cap.
First I need to trouble a few leaks. If you wonder why I’m whispering in the any of the video it’s because to avoid the 100 plus temps I get started early.
Of course the power steering has nothing to do with the engine, but it is substantial and annoying. As a side note, when is a garage not a garage? When it’s the most used entry way into your home. Hence the desire to tackle these leaks before move the Mustang under cover. Of course I can put something on the floor but you know as well as I do, that doesn’t matter, because one of the unpublished laws of physics, that goes something like “Car fluids defy all published laws of physics and go where the hell they want.”
Here is the power steering cleaned up a bit.
We’ll see if it leaks again. On to the next leak!
Now we’ve got one more leak to take care of and that is the valve covers. Check it out:
I’ll get Part II post up here shortly. I’m breaking it up as too many videos tend to slow the loading on the page.
I get a lot of questions on just what I’m going to do with the Sports Roof. Some of those are posed as inquires of interest and others can be interpreted as “What the.
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.
I get a lot of questions on just what I’m going to do with the Sports Roof. Some of those are posed as inquires of interest and others can be interpreted as “What the hell were you thinking when you bought that!!!”. Truth is I don’t have that all planned out yet and the direction can change base on the results of the discovery process.
It would be very difficult to produce something horrifying if you stick to the bare bones of the car. There may be some catastrophic cause such as the 351 Cleveland not being able to perform up to par. That would allow for a host of different directions, such as bringing it back to originality by installing a slightly beefed up 302 or dropping a monster crate engine in, maybe even a conversion to a manual 4 speed. There is always a ripple effect – carb changes, exhaust changes (it just isn’t loud enough now) and more. Having plan set in stone is not in the cards for this project at this point.
Here is what I can tell you. The car will be returned the factory color Bright Red. The interior will be redone most likely with kits from TMI kits and back to stock, with Dynamat as sound and heat barrier. A/C will be re-installed. There will be changes to the wheels for sure and everything else will be as stock as can be.
So number one priority is to shake down the Cleveland and go from there. That is where we start and the next few posts will cover getting the 351 to run a well as it can – removing the little things that can impact functionality. For example, removing the points and condenser and replacing with Pertronix system, new distributor cap, rotor, plugs and wires and tackle the vacuum system (NIGHMARE!!).
There is a quick walk-through of the 351C tucked between the fenders of the 1973 Mustang Sportsroof. (It took about 5 takes to get this video…a slight improvement.
#ProjectSportsRoof will be the way I want it, which I haven’t nailed down yet, so suggest way by dropping me a comment (got your crate motor idea swimming around in my head, Bill) and that will happen fast or slow and cost …
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, …
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.
It’s a great week for muscle car fans all around the country as the Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] has started building customer examples of the new Mustang Shelby GT350 and GT350Rs. The cars are built at the same Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Michigan responsible for the standard Mustang and the first ones off the line are actually 2015 models.
Just 137 of these ’15 models are being built to honor the original 1965 Shelby GT350 built by Shelby American—100 GT350s and 37 GT350Rs—and no doubt all of them are accounted for. Once this initial batch of cars is built, Ford will switch over to 2016 models that will be built and sold in higher volumes. Deliveries commence this fall.
Chase the source link for the rest of the press release:
The folks at Mustang6g have gotten ahold of the pricing for the 2016 Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang and it is much lower than we expected, with pricing beginning under $50k for the GT350 while the GT350R starts just over $60k – making the new GT350 …
Official 2016 Shelby GT350R specs are not available at this time, but early speculations believe the GT350R will use the same 5.2-liter flat-plane-crank V8 motor as the standard Shelby GT350 and will make identical power as well. However, the beauty of …
