Documenting the restoration of my growing collection of classic Mustangs
The body is off to get blasted so I am here in the shop looking for things to do. I have the blast cabinet and air compressor online in the new shop, so I figured I could start cleaning some things up for later. I like rebuilding the hinges, so I started there.
Continue reading “Breaking Down and Blasting”
Most of the external parts are removed, leaving the power train and the suspension. Once I get that removed, I will need to figure out how to get it on the body cart without a lift. It turns out a body cart is kind of tall compared to where the body sits on its own suspension.
Continue reading “On the Body Cart”
As I continue my dismantling, I have found a theme from the previous owner who clearly slapped it together to unload on to some unsuspecting sucker: Hand Tight. I didn’t find many parts that needed convincing to be removed. In some cases, like the shocks, one bolt was tight, the other was half on. This takes dedication to do it that poorly as they are lock nuts and the harder of the two to reach was done right.
Continue reading “Theme: Hand Tight or Not At All”
Several months ago, my daughter sent me a picture of a Playboy Pink 66 coupe, saying she thought it looked beautiful and she would drive a mustang if it looked like that. Now, I have had my coupe since before she was born, and while it didn’t always run (it mostly didn’t run), it’s always been around, taking up space somewhere, but she was never really interested in it. When her younger brother started high school, he said it would be cool if he could drive it to prom if we got it fixed up, and I was on it. Even through all that, she was never really interested. She did appreciate how it was looking nice as I was putting it together, but not really into it. So when she sent that picture, I saw my opening.
Continue reading “A Princess in Frog Form”
After spending some time sorting out the original wire harness on the 68 F-250, I started leaning heavily towards a new aftermarket harness. This truck needs to be solid for the owner who doesn’t want everything exactly vintage as much as the vintage look with reliability as a focus. With all the cut wires and hacks under the dash and under the hood, we decided to do a few upgrades and focus on keeping it looking original, but making it easier to get working again while also adding some reliability.
Continue reading “American Autowire Upgrade Part 1”
A friend has a 68 F-250 that has been in his wife’s family for years that he recently came into possession of. It needs a bunch of electrical re-assembly and unfortunately, the previous owner is no longer able to help provide any clues as to what was being done when work stopped. Since it’s a Ford and the same era as what I have built up some experience working on, I offered to put it back together. It’s a beautiful truck and in great shape with some good restoration work done already. The only real problem looks to be electrical.
Continue reading “Getting a 68 F-250 Back On the Road”
My list of big projects to get Derek’s coupe back on the road is getting short. I think most of the engine work is done, but I wont start it without an exhaust. With a flat tappet cam, it requires a 20-30 minute break in on first start, which I wont be doing without exhaust. With that, I took it to the local exhaust and welding shop to have his exhaust kit installed.
Continue reading “Exhaust for Derek’s Coupe”
The 65 has been sitting for too long. My blocker has been several welding projects that need doing before I can start working on body work and paint. Blocking that has been my total lack of welding experience. So, over the past year, I have been making progress on addressing that. First, I got a welder and took a welding class. Next I got a rotisserie so I can get the 65 into a place I can start the welding and eventually paint prepping and sanding. Time to get the 65 on the twirler.
Continue reading “New Tools – Rotisserie”
Derek’s 67 is close to done, but I haven’t been home to work in the shop for quite a while. I would like to get it back on the road so I can free up some shop space to ultimately get back to focusing on the 65. Currently, he needs the clutch connected to the pedal, a new driveline, and an exhaust. At that point, it should be ready to start and figure out what needs attention to make it road worthy. Starting from the front, I decided to get the clutch working first.
Continue reading “Modern Driveline Cable Clutch Kit”
While the vast majority of Eric’s coupe is original, I decided that it was more important that it was reliable than original. I continuously had issues with it running smooth, and I think it is the carburetor. I decided to get a Summit 560 CFM, which is a more modern version of the Autolite 4100 that came with the car. I knew I would have some fabrication projects to make it work since the stock carb was hard lined in with custom bent tubes for both fuel and vacuum. Not to mention the linkage wouldn’t work. That said, it is an easily doable job, so I went to work.
Continue reading “Swapping Carburetors”