Just a suggestion but you may want to wrap the starter wires in header tape. I was having starting issues with my Coupe and the wires were routed a good ways from the BBK shorties. I ended up pulling the wiring harness I built out and it was hard from the heat embrittlement. Built a new harness and wrapped it in header tape from OReillys and used the stainless steel ties and its been good ever since. Did this on the clutch cable on both cars as well due to melting the one on the T-Bird with the 1-7/8" headers on the 351W.
Car is looking amazing by the way.
Thanks, good to know! I haven't finished the wiring yet, just loosely run. I put the wires in loom and have it routed using the factory engine bracket ... but yeah, it's close to the exhaust and I can see how that would be a problem. Gotta figure if heat sink is an issue for the original style starters ... it's gonna be an issue for the wiring.
I got the driveshaft reinstalled and buttoned up a few more things underneath ... she's got a ways to go yet, but we got all four on the floor for the first time in a long time.
Here's a few of the upgrades/mods that I've added as well. Replaced the stock exhaust manifolds with SN95 3.8L factory shorty headers, fox Cobra brake booster and master cylinder, Maximum Motorsport caster/camber plates, 3 row aluminum radiator with new edge Cougar (Contour) electric fan, MN12 3G alternator, and PA Performance mini starter.
Ditched the old ratty hood liner that was falling apart as well. This is a glue on style one ... hopefully it holds up and doesn't sag. The cat head logo is just a sticker that was added after install.
Looks good! I didn't know there was a glue on option. Did you have to cut to fit or did you buy a certain one that is close?
The material is some type of airline firewall material ... more of a thick, pliable foam than the factory insulation. It still mounts using all of the factory spots and retaining clips but they recommend using a specific heat rated 3M spray adhesive to keep it attached to the hood. If you don't, it will sag in the areas where there are no clips. It's kinda cool though ... once glued down it looks like it is molded to the underside of the hood.
Car looks great. It will definitely be a nice cruiser. What wheels are you gonna go with? 10 holes would give it that’ factory look . I think white ( or black)mesh wheels would complement the car really well but they are such a pain to keep clean.
Thanks! Haven't made any firm decisions on the wheels yet. The car had the original spoke hub caps on it and I originally replaced those with some beat up factory 10 holes. I have a set of pony wheels on it now. They'll probably stay until everything else is addressed and she's back on the road.
Had the valve covers and a few other bits powder coated to help freshen things up. Got the transmission back in this past Saturday and the front wheels touched the ground for the first time in 14-15 months.
Man that is a lot of work but definitely getting done right. That car is going to be squared away when you are done. Excellent work sir.
Thanks. It's been a test of my patience at times ... lol ...
Last week I replaced the oil pan gasket and rear main seal ... no better time then while the transmission is out of the way. I also replaced the separator plate and flex plate (got an NOS one no less). I don't know what happened previously, but the old separator plate was pretty gouged up and looked like it had been in contact with/rubbing the flex plate. Didn't feel right to put it back together that way ... especially with the flex plate being balanced.
Here's a shot of the interior somewhat back together. I'm still working on the mess that is the back seat with all of the convertible specific stuff. I won't bother putting the driver's seat and center console in until I have that much more squared away ... it just gets in the way.
Yes, thanks for asking! I've had a pretty good couple of weeks as far as progress goes.
I got the new TC/Mustang 11" front brakes mocked up ... not fully "installed" just yet, still need to run the soft lines and fluid. StopTech rotors and Hawk pads.
Since the transmission was out, I decided to convert to a floor shift. Cut the hole, mocked it up, removed all of the column shift linkage, replaced the steering shaft seal in the firewall (to avoid having an extra hole there), reinstalled the steering column, and converted to an buttstuffog gauge cluster.
Kept the nice original grille and put it away for now, had a spare that had been roughed up over the years ... painted that body color with blacked out mesh. Got that installed and the front end is pretty much locked in now. Put a nice junkyard headlight harness in ... the original was breaking down around the starter relay and alternator areas. Got that all cleaned, new loom, and tested.
Good progress this weekend, got all of the stuff inside the fenders taken care of and the front end pretty much squared away. It's always time consuming getting body panels to space out evenly. Still need to "fine tune" a few spots but got the fenders, hood, bumper, and header panel all reinstalled.
Pulled the leaky trans. Car has 120+K on it ... just gonna bite the bullet and get it rebuilt. Figure just replacing seals isn't worth the effort of having to take it in and back out again. Probably going to convert to a floor shifter while I'm at it.
The car sat for 20+ years (inside on a lift) before I bought it. To get the car running, the previous owners replaced the fuel tank and pump before I went to look at it. After I got it home and started digging into things, I noticed that they either replaced the fuel tank with the wrong size tank or straps ... the straps appeared to be the stock units, but they were not fully seated/installed where they bolt up. Upon further inspection, the wiring and lines were also being pinched between the trunk floor and the tank. So, I took all of that back out and ordered another new tank. I replaced the wiring harness where it had been pinched and had the new tank and original straps powder coated black. While the tank was out, I also noticed that the stock filler tube was extremely corroded on the inside. Luckily I had a nice spare in my parts stash. I cleaned that one up and replaced it.
Finally started making some headway on the reassembly, got some good time on the car over the holidays. Front suspension is going back on the car. Upgraded to Mustang GT front sway bar and spindles (11" front brakes going on the car), had those items powder coated black. Putting in new SN95 V6 springs, SN95 struts, and replaced the lower control arms with new FRPP units.
