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Well, it's been a while since I posted any updates on this project, mostly because not much had happened with it (other than a bit more parts collecting) until today. Fortunately the chiropractor visits seem to have straightened whatever inflammed muscles were pinching on my sciatic nerve.
My buddy of 30 years, and assistant in almost everything automotive I've done in that time, Stu K., came by today for a visit. I had ordered in some parts for his 64 Merc, and he hadn't seen the Mustang in person yet. So I coerced him to stop by and turn some wrenches for a few hours while he was here to pick up the Merc parts.
I wanted to get the rear axle, exhaust, fuel tank, and front seats out of the car today. Earlier in the week I had started to unbolt the axle to control arm attachment points, but couldn't get the suspension in a position to fully remove the hardware. Having an extra pair of hands (and some more jack stands) made it much easier to get it all taken apart.
Forgot to bring the camera down to the shop until we already had most of the stuff removed, but these shots will give some idea of the progress we made.
Rear axle assembly out on the floor, nice clean housing to work with. It will be getting early SN95 5-lug axles (the extra length will work nicely with the 8" Saleen wheels), as well as 3.27 gears, and a Torsen diff.
The car had some cheapie Flowmaster knockoffs hanging underneath, I'm not a fan of the sound of those mufflers really. I will be replacing them with Walker Dynomax Super Turbos instead. That's what I had on my old 87, and I always loved the sound of them behind a 5.0L Ford. As well they were the mufflers of choice for the Fox Saleens. One of the techs at the dealership just bought a Fox 5.0L that happens to be missing its tailpipes, so these will do nicely for him:
Once the exhaust and diff were out, it was short work to remove the fuel tank. Because the car is so clean underneath, the straps and hardware are in very nice shape, and a quick hit with the impact gun zoomed out the bolts. Tank looks good, I am going to send it out for cleaning, since the fuel has been sitting in it for several years, and I have a Walbro 190 pump to go in too.
A few shots underneath the car, Stu was astonished at how clean and solid the undercarriage is. Of course we are used to working on crusty shite that has experienced the road salt of Ontario winters, something which must have never happened to this car.
Front seats removed, I've made a deal with Tom, the cousin of the previous owner, who helped me get the car out his aunt's backyard, to trade the seats for a T-5 bellhousing and block separator plate.
We found the original ownership warranty card in amongst the crap and loose change on the floor, after removing the seats:
Stu had a good used T-5 manual trans taking up space in his storage shed, so he brought that along today, along with a grey console to put in place of the original porno red unit.
The drum brakes appeared to have pretty freshly installed shoes and drums, so Stu salvaged all that along with the minty e-brake cables for a Mustang project of his own (a bastard 67 notch with a Fox rear clip grafted in). Got to use the set of brake spring pliers that have been banging around in the bottom of my toolbox for 20-odd years. LOL
After we were done for the day, I realized that the back of the shop was a mess with all of the stuff I had for the Mustang, as well as just getting the engine back for my 67 Beetle ... you can see it on a stand to the left of the 302 shortblock:
Back in the late 80s, as far as I know the only caster plates on the market at that point were the original style Global West units. I remember them being something like $270 at the time, so for my old 87 we took some onion-head mounts and grafted them on to fabricated slotted plates. However these days GW doesn't have much demand for the old style plates any more, so they have them on clearout for $115 on their site ... I couldn't resist ordering a pair, which they were nice enough to send by postal service so that I wouldn't get boned on customs and brokerage fees, as would happen if they were sent by UPS. SHINY!!
So that's pretty much it, once the front crossmember and suspension is out of the car, that will be it for the disassembly phase ... it will be time to start bolting the cool stuff on!
It was great to make some progress today after the last several weeks of inactivity. A big thanks to my buddy Stu for turning wrenches today, he has always been a "git-er-done" guy.
cheers
Ed N.
My buddy of 30 years, and assistant in almost everything automotive I've done in that time, Stu K., came by today for a visit. I had ordered in some parts for his 64 Merc, and he hadn't seen the Mustang in person yet. So I coerced him to stop by and turn some wrenches for a few hours while he was here to pick up the Merc parts.
I wanted to get the rear axle, exhaust, fuel tank, and front seats out of the car today. Earlier in the week I had started to unbolt the axle to control arm attachment points, but couldn't get the suspension in a position to fully remove the hardware. Having an extra pair of hands (and some more jack stands) made it much easier to get it all taken apart.
Forgot to bring the camera down to the shop until we already had most of the stuff removed, but these shots will give some idea of the progress we made.
Rear axle assembly out on the floor, nice clean housing to work with. It will be getting early SN95 5-lug axles (the extra length will work nicely with the 8" Saleen wheels), as well as 3.27 gears, and a Torsen diff.
The car had some cheapie Flowmaster knockoffs hanging underneath, I'm not a fan of the sound of those mufflers really. I will be replacing them with Walker Dynomax Super Turbos instead. That's what I had on my old 87, and I always loved the sound of them behind a 5.0L Ford. As well they were the mufflers of choice for the Fox Saleens. One of the techs at the dealership just bought a Fox 5.0L that happens to be missing its tailpipes, so these will do nicely for him:
Once the exhaust and diff were out, it was short work to remove the fuel tank. Because the car is so clean underneath, the straps and hardware are in very nice shape, and a quick hit with the impact gun zoomed out the bolts. Tank looks good, I am going to send it out for cleaning, since the fuel has been sitting in it for several years, and I have a Walbro 190 pump to go in too.
A few shots underneath the car, Stu was astonished at how clean and solid the undercarriage is. Of course we are used to working on crusty shite that has experienced the road salt of Ontario winters, something which must have never happened to this car.
Front seats removed, I've made a deal with Tom, the cousin of the previous owner, who helped me get the car out his aunt's backyard, to trade the seats for a T-5 bellhousing and block separator plate.
We found the original ownership warranty card in amongst the crap and loose change on the floor, after removing the seats:
Stu had a good used T-5 manual trans taking up space in his storage shed, so he brought that along today, along with a grey console to put in place of the original porno red unit.
The drum brakes appeared to have pretty freshly installed shoes and drums, so Stu salvaged all that along with the minty e-brake cables for a Mustang project of his own (a bastard 67 notch with a Fox rear clip grafted in). Got to use the set of brake spring pliers that have been banging around in the bottom of my toolbox for 20-odd years. LOL
After we were done for the day, I realized that the back of the shop was a mess with all of the stuff I had for the Mustang, as well as just getting the engine back for my 67 Beetle ... you can see it on a stand to the left of the 302 shortblock:
Back in the late 80s, as far as I know the only caster plates on the market at that point were the original style Global West units. I remember them being something like $270 at the time, so for my old 87 we took some onion-head mounts and grafted them on to fabricated slotted plates. However these days GW doesn't have much demand for the old style plates any more, so they have them on clearout for $115 on their site ... I couldn't resist ordering a pair, which they were nice enough to send by postal service so that I wouldn't get boned on customs and brokerage fees, as would happen if they were sent by UPS. SHINY!!
So that's pretty much it, once the front crossmember and suspension is out of the car, that will be it for the disassembly phase ... it will be time to start bolting the cool stuff on!
It was great to make some progress today after the last several weeks of inactivity. A big thanks to my buddy Stu for turning wrenches today, he has always been a "git-er-done" guy.
cheers
Ed N.
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