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Morning y’all! Sorry I haven’t been posting of late. Been fairly busy since we’ve moved back home in 2015. Lots of work for those of us in the service. Bad guys ain’t afraid of viruses, you see... The car is going great. It now has 17.000 miles on the odometer, since it was restored back in 2014-15. Every time I get in it, I am privileged to feel like what I think they did, back in the day, when those were still available new on Ford sales lot. My wife and I are planning a road trip down the south of France in a couple weeks, for Easter. And that will be in the Mustang, of course. I am still in touch with my hot rodding friends from the Panhandle and visited them twice since we moved back. Always very happy to go back. A pic taken last fall in the Burgundy vineyard. G

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?

I upgraded my shop recently, went from 1,500sqft to 2,400sqft out in the country away from city taxes and such. You really don't know what all you have until you have to move it in one week. Went from nothing in the way... ... to having to get everything under roof. Our old property sold rather quickly and our new place was on the verge of being completed. A month and a half later, things are starting to get put in place, but there is still a bunch of stuff to go through before it is completely opperational. Got to get the lift put back together and finish wiring the rest of the building, construct the restroom and small office, go through some more boxes... this is taking forever.

I am partial to the Acapulco Blue myself, but I do like the Grey with black hood or strips and an option.

Oh lord! Y'all have real shops. I do a lot of work in my garage but it's more gentrified and pristine. When the going gets tougher, like pulling an engine or transmission, I head to my friends shop that has 3 of everything.

... and I feel like I got a deal for a $2 bottle of wine at Trader Joes. Two buck Chuck. Oh well, bad wine... had to toss it.

Just spent the last 2 hours reading this thread. What an uplifting story and re-news my interest in getting my car back on the road.

Guillaume, I just read your build thread, and felt so bad when you got hit! I love the color- she's a beauty.