Leaderboard

I had a customer just 2 weeks ago that fried a wire at the starter solenoid. What was unusual was that it was the I (Ignition) line, typically brown or red/green. First time I heard of this problem in 13 years of working on harnesses. Scratched my head a bit, and came up with a reason, but I wasn't too happy with the explanation. This line burned half-way through the harness. Yesterday, another customer called me with the identical problem! After some back and forth, he confirmed that it was the I line that got fried. This one got fried all the way to the connector to the underdash harness. What is further unusual, is that both were 1967's (Yes, this is a 69/70 forum but hold that thought...) Both customers had starting problems: #1 ran out of gas, and cranked the car excessively trying to get it to start. #2 cranked the car, but the starter solenoid stuck (welded itself inside the solenoid). Hmmm...a clue here! Both cases had the wire insulation burn as though it was a short. But...that line goes to the coil, so there shouldn't be a short when one is sending 12V to the coil. But there is...the coil is only 1.5 to 0.6 ohms (depending upon model) and from there it goes to the points. Now then, the points are closed (grounded) 7/8ths of the time, and 1/8th of the time they open allowing high voltage to leak from the coil to the spark plugs. The majority of the time, the points act as a ground. Aha! Sending 12V through a 1.5 ohm system yields 8 amps of current through an 18 gauge wire, enough to cause the wire to get hot and insulation to burn off. So there you have it...the reason why one is told not to excessively crank the starter is not related to the starter or the battery, but to prevent excessive current from passing through a thin wire for longer than a couple of seconds. This is also the reason why aftermarket ignition systems want to use 14 or lower gauge wires from the I post to their system. And this has nothing to do with the year Mustang: they all will exhibit this problem if the starter sticks or you crank the car excessively at one time. I bet you didn't know this, eh?

Acapulco blue with blackout hood treatment.

A few years ago i had a guy drive up and ask me if i wanted an old mustang that a renter left on his property when he moved out ,didnt have to ask me twice ,i hitched up the trailer a headed over to his place ,what was an old mustang turned out to be a 1969 Mach1 with no wheels and setting on pallets . Not wanting to get to exited i took a quick glance at the vin ...hmm O code ? Loaded it up and got home to check that vin again to see that it was a Q code ,even better it was a gulf stream aqua white deluxe interior with fold down and AC. Motor and tranny was missing and about a week later i traded it for a ski boat that just had a new 429 cj and built jet put in it ,had a whole lot of fun with that boat !

I was being optimistic to be fair, but I have aligned most of the panels and striped a few down to bare metal. Major jobs are the Door skin to change, hood front to sort (minor dents) and the repro fender to sort out. my guy is pretty fast and he has capacity now, so that’s why it’s gone a little earlier then I expected it he re-painted my Mach 1 about 12 months ago so I know his work. Just need to decide on paint colour, I’m really torn on colour, Wish me luck Chris

Circa 1995 I was driving across town while working when I saw a boat for sale on the side of the road in front of a business. What caught my eye was it had a Mustang shaker air cleaner on it. What the heck? I flipped around and went inside the business to ask about it. The guys eyes lit up when I asked about the boat for sale, but he came down when I asked if he'd sell just the air cleaner. He agreed to sell the shaker, and I was leery when I asked him what he wanted for it. Twenty-five bucks. Holy crap, I couldn't pay him fast enough. $25 in1995 is $44 today, so... So now I need a shaker hood right? Call my buddy who owned a wrecking yard and asked him to try and find a 69 shaker hood for me. He calls back the next day and said they found one down in LA. Ok, how much will it cost me? Twenty-five bucks. True stories.

You guys in the US are so lucky to have space and relatively cheap real estate, unless of course you live in cities like San Fran, Seattle etc. Real estate and space over here in the U.K. is expensive and hard to come back. not long finished my new garage, 6metresx4metres which I think is small by US standards, but I managed to get in a 2 post hoist and lots of Dexion storage racking, id love a lathe to teach myself but alas unlikely as not enough space :-( chris

They call it the Disgustang