Leaderboard

A Project progress update.... Well, it's been more than 3 years since I bought the 1970 Calypso Coral Mach 1 M code with Vermillion Red interior and it's almost done. The Cleveland was stroked to 408ci with a Tremec 5spd, Eaton TrueTrac with 3.70 gears. Four-wheel disc brakes with Global West Front Suspension. Holley Sniper EFI and Holley Hyperspark Ignition. Lots of other mods.. Still needs the interior door panels and windshield installed. I can't wait to drive it, but I still need to bleed the brakes again, Bleed the Hydraulic Clutch, take it in for a wheel alignment, and some exhaust pipe work. Then I can get it inspected and drive it. I'll post a walk-around video next.... hope you like it. Still needs door panels and windshield and molding... Here is the switch for the power windows and the toggle switch for the remote power side view mirrors. I mounted them in the center console where they are accessible to both the drive and passenger to avoid putting holes for them in the door panels. The fold down rear seat with a pair of Kicker 8" sub woofers mounted in the trap door panel. I was able to install a 17" x 9" rim with a Nitto 45 x 245 size tire in the trunk even with a fold down rear seat trap door panel. This spare wheel matches my front wheels and is a bit smaller than my rear wheels. I did it by relocating the hold down loop. First I sweeeezzzed the wheel in to the trunk where I wanted it, and then I placed the hold down bar thru the dust cap hole in the spare and marked where to weld the hold down loop to the trunk floor. The space is so tight, that I have to release the latch on the trap door when putting the wheel in, or taking it out, but once the wheel is completely in or out I can latch trap door again. Here is a pic of it.... Below is a walk-around video....

Thanks for the introduction RPM. I live in Redding Ca. I have a 1969 mustang coupe, 351w 4v. fmx automatic with factory air, power steering, power brakes. ive had the car for about 15 years (im 30). Im looking into making it into a gt350/traditional front of a 69.

1970 Mach 1 Walk Around With Start & Lights Small Size.mp4

I thought I add my two cents to this thread... I use Evaporust on just about every rusty part I can. Even if I plan to media blast the part as it cuts down on the basting time. Evaporust is bio degradable and will not remove paint marks provided the paint is not over rust. My favorite examples are 1973 Mustang driveshaft where the paint marks were very visible after soaking in Evaporust for 4-5 days, the parking brake pedal and the clutch on my York A/C Compressor, which I wanted to retain a natural finish on it and could not use any gritty material to clean it.. Someone mentioned Dustless sand blasting. I had my 70 Mach 1 Dustless Blasted in my driveway by a service. First I'll say Dustless is misleading...No dust but very messy. Since they use a water solution of sand and a rust inhibitor, it prevents heating and warping of the metal and prevents flash rust for weeks provided the car is kept dry indoors. It's important to shake and blow out all the blasting material from every nook and cranny. I was removing the basting material from the rockers and rails for week afterwards. I wish I could have dipped the car in a big vat of Evaporust, but that much Evaporust would have been very expensive! Once the sheetmetal work was done, I sprayed the undercarriage, floors, engine bay, wheel wells, inside the doors, and trunk area with SPI Red Epoxy, which is designed to be applied over bare metal. They have gray and black if you don't like red. I then covered the floors, inside the doors, underside of roof, and wheel wells with Raptor bed-liner. Raptor provides very good rust protection for the floors and other hidden areas subject prone to rust. You can get Raptor in various colors or in a tintable version, if you want to use your body color. On the Undercarriage and the wheel wells again, I applied Lizard-Skin over the red Epoxy for sound deadening and to give it a textured "undercoating like" appearance. Lizard Skin is gray in color rather than black, which I was not happy about. Later I also applied 3M rubber undercoating to the wheel wells to give it a more stock like texture and appearance in black. Finally on the engine bay I sprayed Eastwood Chassis Black over the SPI Red Epoxy. EvapoRust at work... I used a 4" wide PVC tube, stuck the driveshaft it it, and capped the ends after filling it with the stuff. LEft it for a week or so... Submerged the parking brake assembly in Evaporust... Submerged the just the clutch face down in a pan of Evaporust... My 73 Convertible done with SPI Red Epoxy on the undercarriage. My 70 Mach 1 undercarriage with SPI Red Epoxy ... Gray colored Lizard-Skin over the SPI Red Epoxy. I did not like the gray color in the wheel wells, so the wheel wells were sprayed with the Red Epoxy, then the gray lizard-skin, and then black 3M Rubber undercoating. Hopefully good rust protection and some sound deadening. Engine bay with Eastwood Chasis Black over SPI Red Epoxy Raptor on the floors I used premixed Caution Orange instead of the tintable type. I thought it was close to the car's Calypso Coral body color. Kind of bright, but no one will see it once the interior is in...lol! Dustless Basting in my driveway... no dust, but a big cleanup job afterwards....

Dealt with a company that made the wedges out of Sandy Utah. Think, Pro-Motorsports. Used them with my b joints in doing a 2 inch drop.

Pics of my setup. I have Viking coil over spring/shock combo with adjustable rebound and damping. This also allowed me to adjust the ride height of the car.

It’s a shame. What’s the VIN on the car, was it a big block or something special to begin with? if not it may be time to get a good single malt have a farewell drink with the car, and give it a Viking funeral…

Some of your questions could be better answered if we knew what steering system u may have. Stock verses something else. I used the CPP steering box which is comparable to the Borgenson just a little quicker ratio. I actually plugged the grease zerk fittings on the end of nuts and drilled on the flat of nut putting the zerk fittings pointing straight out which allowed me to move the upper control arm back about 1/4 " or so which gave me more positive caster. With 1" drop and more positive caster my car had a more modern feel. The car handled beautifully. None of this tho except the 1" drop is necessary if you are keeping stock steering.

LALALALA ,Can you hear me now ? Can you hear me now ? LALALALALA WOOP WOOP WOOP !!

Kris, sorry for the delay, I was away for the long weekend. I used a holley filter near the gas tank (see picture below). I think it came with some rubber hose and clamps which I used to connect the tank line to the filter and then to the two part stock 3/8" hard line, which I had replaced with new, then again maybe I bought the hose.. I also used the same fuel Injection rated rubber hose to connect the two parts of the stock hard line together just behind the drivers side torque box. I ran the hardline to a hole in the rear inner fender apron below the brake master cylinder and distribution block..from this point I ran 6AN PTFE E85 Braided Fuel Injection Nylon Stainless Steel hose with 6AN fittings of various types as needed to the Holley EFI supply port and I installed a plug in the return port. Below are the parts I bought, most which you can buy on Amazon. EFI return plug - AC PERFORMANCE Black Aluminum -6 AN Male Hex Head Socket ORB Port Plug With 6 AN AN6 O Ring Rubber Fuel Injection Fuel Hose 30R9 3/8" I.D. I used these to connect the rubber hose to another 6AN fitting, such the Aluminum 3/8" hardline connector below....EVIL ENERGY 6AN Straight Push Lock Hose End,-6 Female to 3/8 Push on Barb Fitting 3/8 Vapor Guard Hose Clamp Screw Type Various 6AN fittings as needed Aluminum Hard Line Tubing Fitting 3/8 Tube to 6AN Male Fare Fuel Hose. Used to connect the stock hard lines to braided hose line. 3/8 Fuel Line Tubing Mounting Clamps Stainless with Rubber Insulator EVIL ENERGY 6AN PTFE E85 Hose Braided Fuel Injection Line Fitting Nylon Stainless Steel Black (Hose ID: 0.315 inch) I also bought Quick Fuel Throttle Ball Assortment to connect the stock accelerator cable to the Holley EFI. Rubber hose connecting the two parts of the 3/8" factory hardline just behind the torque box. The Holley filter. I used the rubber hose and clamps here to make it easy the replace the filter as needed. I used a stock coil bracket to mount it. Cheaper than the fancy aluminum FI brackets sold for it. The 3/8" rubber hose fitting to 6AN hardline fitting. I would do this one below differently the next time. Next time I will bring the braided line out thru a grommet and the fender apron and connect it to the hardline in the fender well or just eliminate the second hardline and rubber hose connection entirely all the way back behind the torque box. This is the 3/8" hardline to 6AN fitting which passes thru the rear inner fender apron below the master cylinder.

We arrived here on the 8/15 & the movers arrived on the 17th with the rest of our stuff. After unpacking a lot of boxes for almost two weeks, all the boxes on the first floor are unpacked, not counting the boxes in the basement. Now the house feels like our home now with all of our stuff here.

154-1501 https://www.summitracing.com/parts/arp-154-1501 https://www.jegs.com/i/ARP/070/154-1501/10002/-1

If you are mounting your relays somewhere in the engine compartment, I would suggest using a relay box with fuse slots, or use weather proof relays. Here is what I did....

Ya, that's them. You didn't confuse me at all bigmal, just pointing out that the 2 inch can be done if ya got the correct parts.

For what it is worth, here is the 1" drop template I received from Global West. I wrote the measurements all over it, if you want to make your own. The instruction are simple... Bolt it thru you existing upper control arm shack tower holes and drill two 1/4" holes thru the 1/4" holes in the template below the factory holes.. Also attached below are the alignment instructions, if you are using Global West's upper and lower control arms, Strut rods and Eccentric lock-outs... 1967-1973 Mustang Plus 3 Upper Control Arms # MNR-733 (Sold as a Pair)Global West has engineered an upgraded upper control arm for 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, and 1973 Mustangs; the arm provides additional positive caster by moving the upper ball joint back towards the rear of the car. This particular kit is used for street and handling applications. (Global West also manufactures a control arm for drag racing / street.) The new Plus 3 Mustang arms are shipped assembled with billet cross shafts, Del-a-lum bushings and ball joints. The a-arms are black powder coated and the cross shafts are blue zinc (silver). Global West manufactures this product in its own facility here in San Bernardino CA. Tech Information: Caster With upgraded suspension and present tire technology, caster plays an important part for proper handling of the car. Caster does the following: provides straight line stability, has a self centering action on the front suspension, improves initial turn in during cornering and also resists pulling (right hand drift) caused by road crown. The Alignment Adjustment and Limitation: Caster on 1967-73 Mustangs is adjusted by moving the lower control arm forward via the strut rod. The strut rod is threaded at one end where the rubber bushings reside. By loosening and tightening the jam nuts you can pull the lower arm forward gaining more caster. This was not an option on 1967-1973 Mustangs. The real limitation on how much caster you can get is mainly based on the rim and tire combination you are planning on running. The larger sizes limit how far you can move the lower arm forward because the tire runs into the lower portion of the front fender when the wheel is turned. If this occurs, you will have to reduce caster, which is not the best answer. Now with Global West Plus 3 upper arms you will be able to get the caster you need! Global West Plus 3 upper arms have 3 degrees of positive caster built into them. This will eliminate the need to pull the lower arm so far forward in order to get the desired alignment. Coil Springs are stock height #: s-27 performance street with 640 pounds per inch. Global West has engineered an upgraded upper control arm for 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, and 1973 Mustangs; the arm provides additional positive caster by moving the upper ball joint back towards the rear of the car. This particular kit is used for street and handling applications. (Global West also manufactures a control arm for drag racing / street.) The new Plus 3 Mustang arms are shipped assembled with billet cross shafts, Del-a-lum bushings and ball joints. The a-arms are black powder coated and the cross shafts are blue zinc (silver). Global West manufactures this product in its own facility here in San Bernardino CA. Tech Information: Caster With upgraded suspension and present tire technology, caster plays an important part for proper handling of the car. Caster does the following: provides straight line stability, has a self centering action on the front suspension, improves initial turn in during cornering and also resists pulling (right hand drift) caused by road crown. The Alignment Adjustment and Limitation: Caster on 1967-73 Mustangs is adjusted by moving the lower control arm forward via the strut rod. The strut rod is threaded at one end where the rubber bushings reside. By loosening and tightening the jam nuts you can pull the lower arm forward gaining more caster. This was not an option on 1967-1973 Mustangs. The real limitation on how much caster you can get is mainly based on the rim and tire combination you are planning on running. The larger sizes limit how far you can move the lower arm forward because the tire runs into the lower portion of the front fender when the wheel is turned. If this occurs, you will have to reduce caster, which is not the best answer. Now with Global West Plus 3 upper arms you will be able to get the caster you need! Global West Plus 3 upper arms have 3 degrees of positive caster built into them. This will eliminate the need to pull the lower arm so far forward in order to get the desired alignment. Note: When using Plus 3 arms, there is now a right and left upper control arm. The original control arms (factory or first generation Global West Negative Roll control arms) are universal. 1966-1967-1968-1969-1970-1971-1972-1973-mustang-cougar-fairlane-falcon-ranchero-mustang-eccentric-loc-out-kit-instructions-loc-2.pdf

Bigmal I don't have any pics for measurement of my 2 inch drop. I ran a two inch Shelby drop for a while, but you need an upper control arm that has the proper ball joint angle to keep the bj from binding as the oe would do. Me being a crappy driver with no feel couldn't tell the difference between the one and two inch drop. Back around Y2K when I was looking into the drop, I think the info I got was from a place called Dr Gas out of Utah that made wedges to angle the ball joint for a drop more than one inch. They said that 69s could handle up to a two inch drop, so more of anything is better, right? I think I've read somewhere that 1-3/8" is the optimal drop. I've since gone back to the popular one inch drop.

looks like a home brew version of these: https://www.npdlink.com/product/reinforcement-plates-shock-tower/199383?backurl=search%2Fproducts%3Fsearch_terms%3Dshock%2Btower%2Breinforcing%2Bplate%26top_parent%3D200001%26year%3D

Whoa now there Strix, not so fast. Welcome to the forum Mustang brother. Tell us a bit about yourself and your Stang. Ya know, the regular interrogation. Age, where ya live, how long you've owned your 69, what you've done to it, any future mods...Ya, pretty much everything. Oh, and pictures. We love pics.

I made a bracket and mounted the relays above the steering column. I had to cut the cable ties off to get the slack to move them there. But I'm adding a lot of additional wiring so they had to come off anyway. Vic fridge is also doing a lot of custom wring changes. Infact I made a riff of his spreadsheet to track my circuit changes. I'm not sure on the AC. I went with vintage air mostly because Dakota digital has a climate control upgrade for their system.

The Borgeson has the same problem with return to center if there is not enough caster. I have that setup on my '68 Mustang, and I ran out of space in the front wheel well when I tried to dial in the required caster that Borgeson specifies. On my 1970, with the (+) 3 UCA, that is not an issue. Bigmal, to answer your question, I am not sure how much caster the 1" drop adds, or if it adds any caster at all. The Boss 302 chassis mod book I attached earlier in this thread shows a 2 degree positive caster with the Shelby drop (Stage II), as opposed to the zero degree shown in Stage I. Not sure if that is due to the drop, or a required change in the caster to accommodate the revised suspension geometry . I am sure there are some suspension experts out there that can answer this question.

Hi mate, these are really good articles. Thanks for that. It appears most people just do thye strait 1" drop. The DazeCars article describes the 'increased Caster' drop as well. Has anyone done this with their 69 and if so, what is the feedback? With the RRS rack it feels like it does not centre as quickly as it would normally. It still centres but just not great, so thinking of the increased caster with the drop.

As I recall, you have to put the transmission shift lever in low- at least on an automatic. Remove the radio knobs (and nuts?). Take the two screws at the top of the wood grained bezel out, center the heater sliders, grab the bottom of the wood grain bezel and pull out. It has some pins or studs that engage with spring clips to hold it in- just yank on the bottom and watch for clearance to the knobs on the sliders.

Ralt962 happy that helped. Post some pics of your install, I am sure others have run into the same problem. Rich - Yes, welding required to install the panhard bar mount on the drivers side frame rail. The instructions show those details. Yes, there is room to get the exhaust around the panhard bar and rear anti-roll bar, but requires some measure/bend/fit skills that I just don't have. I wanted to run 2-1/2 inch exhaust the whole way back. I also wanted to do something different, so I thought that filling in the reverse light holes in the rear valence, and running the exhaust through the valence similar to a '66 GT would be cool. Came out great. I cannot take credit for the exhaust system "artwork" ....that is all done by my friend Mike (latoracing) a long time member of the forum. I did all the under the car detailing, but the exhaust is really exceptional. Based on a 1970 "Pypes" 2-1/2 inch SS exhaust kit. As I have a convertible, this was a real challenge as the exhaust needed to sneak on top of the center reinforcement plate on either side of the driveshaft. Pics below

As a quick update, I was able to find one, and it seems these are more difficult to find than I thought they were.

Be careful: adjusting the steering box adjuster nut more than what is listed in the Shop Manual can damage the worm gear and the bearings.

Done. Added some notes to help interpret the way I built it. Speed vs RPM Chart.xlsx

Vinegar

I also used the Gobal West (+)3 UCAs. This will allow you to run large tires up front with more Caster. I also needed that because the Borgeson steering box needs extra caster. I used Open Tracker LCAs and their roller idler arm. High Quality Stuff. To answer your question, I have attached the Original Ford Boss 302 suspension mod book. The "Stage II" mods include the 1" drop and the shock tower mods. It also has the caster and camber settings and the ride height. Hope that helps. BOSS302ChassisMod.pdf

Sorry bigmal I have seen some nice racks but I know nothing about steering racks so I can't help u there. Not sure if CPP or Borgenson makes a right hand drive box or not but it keeps all your steering geometry correct. If u ever tried one I believe u would like it.

That's interesting and definitely the first time I've heard that. What other suspension mods do you have? Anyone else have this experience?

Don't know anything about caster/camber templates ? The RSS steering rack or right hand drive. So no help here. Brian

Here's where the car is now so you can see what i'm working with and why I decided to stop working on the original shell: Literally... i think the only good piece of metal on the car is the passenger side outer rocker. That's it.

looks great.. thanks for the reply I really appreciate the help. I was able to make the old lines work for a temporary solution. I will redo them all when I get the car home. going to tackle the fuel lines tomorrow.

Hi Rich, I replaced all of the brake lines. Don't use 50 year old lines with your new brake system. I bought the 1970 Mustang kit from Inline Tube. All the lines will need some modification. I prefer to use Stainless Steel. but it is much harder to work with...hard to bend, and if you need to trim them, it is impossible to flare the ends with hand tools. So I would recommend using Steel lines. The line from the rear to the Proportioning valve will need some bending to line up, as will the two front lines. The lines from the valve to the master cylinder will need to be bent. My conversion kit cam with rubber lines to connect the two rear lines to the rear disc caliper, but I chose to go all hardline instead. The rear lines after the junction "T" on the axle will need to be trimmed and bent to line up with eh rear calipers. The critical part for me was finding the Banjo to 3/8" female inverted flare to connect the existing hardline fitting to the rear caliper. My front Granada disc brake assembly came with the flex lines. I needed to add an adapter to connect the hardline fitting to the flex tube. I also need to install a mounting bracket to secure the hard line and flex tube to the frame. Finding all the right fitting adapters took a lot of time a searching and some trial and error. If you have access to a hydraulic flaring tool and know someone who can help you make the tubes with the right flares and fittings, then that may be a good route to take. Finally, you will need to make some mods to the parking brake cable ends to adapt it to the rear brake calipers. Also you will need a GM Proportioning valve Brake Warning light plug. Our Mustang have two wire plugs and the GM plug is one wire. Just twist the two wires from you Ford harness together and connect it to the GM one wire. Let me know if I can provide anymore info.

I like the black carpet, dash, console, and rear fold down. I think those parts in black contrast nicely against the red seats. Thanks

A couple of the rubbers were missing from the window limiting stops so i went and bought a selection of vacuum caps at my local supplier. After matching the cap to the bracket i sprayed it with a little silicone and then warmed it with my heatgun. They fit quite tightly as the heat allows it to stretch and then constrict when cool. Probably will outlast the car. In the pic the original is in the middle and the ones on either side of it are the ones i did. . In my opinion its better than wrapping tape around it. Hope this helps someone who runs into this situation. John

A 1" bore master. I asked if he can give me advice on how to set the bias and he basically told me every car is different and gave me a list of the master cylinders he sells..... Yeah... Well I ordered a wilwood tandem but the dual remote reservoir and adj porpotional valve kit. I like it because it has the pushrod already and lines from the master to the porpotional valve. I just learned that the tandem feature makes it two independent systems. I didn't know that. That sold me I just didn't care for the oem style that needs to be opened to view how much fluid you have.

Thanks MAch1 Driver, Restoring the driveshaft on my 73 vert was really fascinating ... Finding the soapstone mark (the loop) made by the guy balancing the driveshaft to mark the spot to attach the counter weight was really a surprise. I did my best to capture and recreate all the paint marks and inspection marks I could. The C6 Transmission was full of inspection markings.

Hi Bob, They make a Gel version of Evaporust. I have not used it much. In my experience Evaporust does not like to be exposed to air. Its looses its effectiveness faster when exposed to air. I would try brushing the Gel and cover the area with something like thing painters plastic or plastic wrap to keep the air away. Just allow the plastic to cover and stick to the Evaporust surface.

Hi Bob, It looks like he was working on it in his garage and was leaning over thru the window to start it, or put in gear and off it went... With Ring and surveillance cameras so common now these kind of videos are plentiful on the net. Yes it was on TikTok. I did a video capture to save it off to my computer, but here is the link....https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRkG1XLC/

I don't know for sure but i believe the only dot approved would be sealed beam lights.

I have found a lot of times if the gauge is reading low it is usually a ground problem, that is if the sender is in proper working order. I always run a dedicated ground from where battery ground connects to engine block to the rear of car. Speaking of the Dakota gauges the VHX series that I used on the chev had a menu selection for different resistance ranges. I don't think they were close enough tho if the proper selection does not work that you could select another one higher or lower to help correct the situation.

Edelbrock pro flo 4 is what I was speaking of in post above. I used it on a 454 well pleased with it.

@lalojamesliz I have the 6000k. From Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L45VCT7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 - https://www.octanelighting.com/5-34-crystal-clear-glass-metal-headlight-6k-set-033-034-3rd-gen-led-3.html Octane lighting link: https://www.octanelighting.com/5-34-crystal-clear-glass-metal-headlight-6k-set-033-034-3rd-gen-led-3.html

I just installed the Holley Sniper EFI with the Holley Hyperspark Ignition box, distributor, and coil on my 1970 M-code Cleveland which is stroked to a 408ci. Also installed a Holley Retrofit return-less fuel pump for 1970 mustang 22 gallon tank. It can use your existing 3/8" fuel line. You will need to modify each end of the line to connect the EFI, filter, and pump, but its fairly straight forward. There is a significant amount of wiring and a few fuses and relays needed to bring it all together. When adding the EFI, ignition and fuel pump, make sure you have enough available voltage. I doubt a stock 50- 60 amp alternator and the 10 gauge supply wire in the stock ignition harness is enough to support it all, particularly if you have previously added other power hungry components (i.e. a modern stereo and amp). Correct wire size is important too. Holley is very clear about this in there installation manual. Make sure you have no exhaust leaks before the O2 sensor. Even a pinhole leak can draw in ambience outside air and cause an erroneous lean fuel condition and the Holley EFI ECU will be constantly adjusting the fuel mixture incorrectly. Ask me how I know! As far as I am concerned Holley has fantastic customer support. They have technicians available 7 days a week and until 10pm Eastern time. A few weeks after installing my Sniper, the ECU failed, Holley sent me a shipping label and 10 days after I sent it to them, I got it back. They had replaced the ECU and the handheld display completely free of charge. All that said, my setup is running well. Still making adjustments. I have no regrets picking the Holley Sniper and Hyperspark Ignition components. The Hyperspark ignition is designed specifically for the Sniper EFI so the integration details is already done for you. Ps. The intake manifold I have on my Cleveland is an Edelbrock Air Gap dual plane and has a cutout in the divider between the two planes, which I have read is important to have when using a dual plane intake mani with the Holley EFI. The Holley Sniper EFI on dual plane intake mani's without the cutout in the divider can cause inconsistent fuel mixture issues between the left and right sides. Single plane manifolds do not have or need a divider and therefore do not have this issue.

I got the new front section in and today I plan to clean up what's left. I was considering a paint gun with part A and B primer and ..... then I remembered @JayEstes gave me all of this great info on what specifically to use and not to over complicate this like I usually do. Ordering 4 of the primer and 4 of the paint. I hope it's enough. This will be for everything I can touch while inside the engine bay. Just not the frame rails. That will be with the bed liner. I don't plan to use seam sealer. For the underside, wheel wells and under the fenders I ordered some raptor bed spray liner. My son sprayed that on his trucks bed and it's holding up great and it's been over a year at least. Even the thin coated areas I told him to hit again and he didn't look good still and the sun is always on it. I'm off today, kids are at school, wife is on her online classes and studying and it's not hot yet...... time to get to work.

Light smoke might also mean leaking head gasket. I'd double check oil and coolant to be sure the coolant isn't low, and theres no water in the oilpan. This possiblity though is down the road from all the other advice....

Thanks, it’s getting there slowly

Took a picture today of both son’s cars against the Blue Ridge Mountain backdrop in our back yard. Thought they turned out well!