danno

I thought all doors had the lights on them. Maybe that was only deluxe interior? If you had the light, you just replace the wires for the light with the new wires. My car is in storage now, so I cannot get the photos. If you do not have a door light, look for a hole on the front edge of the door that has a rubber plug in it.

Yes, I understand that about originality. Everyone of us cares a bit about originality or we wouldn't bother with cars 40 years old. :-) I tried selling it on ebay and nobody was interested, even for $5. So that says a little about the demand for this carb.

You mean it is not even worth me giving away?

Where did that panel ocme from? I have never seen one like that.

I have a 1978 4300 carb I will give you if you want. You pay for shipping. In 1978 it had that smog stuff and might not be of much value other than for parts. Shipping will be about $10. Where do you live in Iowa? I am from Minneapolis and travel that way from time to time.

As some of you know, I am a participant in this forum who does these conversions of AM FM and 8 track radios to add MP3 or CD inputs. I have another one on ebay, search for 70 Ford AM FM MP3 and you should find it. Mine is the one with all the pictures and wires on the back. If you have read my postings on this forum, you know you can trust this purchase. So if you might be looking for one of these, consider this one. Danno

As mentioned, the depth of the speaker is an issue. Ones with big magnets will hit the window when it is down. So make sure the window is down when trying it. I mounted mine with a 1/4 inch spacer between the speaker and the door panel so it would not get in the way of the window. But you go out too far and the window crank handle can get in the way. I have power windows, so I don't care about that.

If all 4 lights are on all the time, it sounds like your dimmer switch is bad. It is supposed to turn off the low beams and turn on the high. You can verify this by unplugging it and using a paper clip to make connections in the connector. Connecting the red/green wire to the red/blk should turn on the low beams, and connecting the red/green to the green/black should turn on the high beams.

The simple thing is to switch to Halogen headlights, which are like those from CJ pony parts. You can probably get them cheaper from a local car parts shop, most still have them available. What really helps a lot is the headlight relay system. I measured it on mine, and the wires drop 2 volts. So if your battery is at 13 volts, your headlights only have 11 volts at them. The relay system solves this problem.

I am not sure the 3 pin connector is a factory clock. That has a black, green/yelloe, and blue/red wires. I see nothing in my factory schematics in the vicinity of the radio that is a 3 pin connector like you see. That is why I think it could be something someone added. Can you find out where the wires go?

Mike, you mentioned an upgrade with auxiliary input. I can do that mod to this radio if you want. I just did it for LiLMike, so ask him if you wonder about it. It allows you to keep the original radio look, I have done this mod on dozens of these radios. The mod does not destroy anything, but allows you to hook up a CD player or MP3 player and use the volume control on the radio and play it through your normal speakers. Let me know if you might be interested in that, it usually costs about $100 to do. The later model radios had a little better sound quality and radio reception, but none of them had enough volume to drive nice speakers. You need an external amplifier with any of them.

If you are going to clean it, you really need to take it apart. If all it does not get that loud, though, it is probably working ok. Radios back then were not that loud. The odds are you need an external amplifier, a very common thing to do with these. But the cleaning idea will not hurt. You will need to take the top off so you can spray the potentiometers directly. The potentiometers are the things that move inside the radio when you turn the knobs. I think you can still get electrical contact cleaner at radio shack. I have the original AMFM radio in my 69, and it does not have the word MUSTANG on it. It looks like the one on ebay that someone is trying to sell for $1200. Also as mentioned, those mounting brackets in the picture do not look like what either a Mustang or Cougar would need. I have never seen those.

Do you have pictures of the connector? Where do the wires for it go? My guess is that it is not a factory connector, it is something put in maybe to connect the previous radio to the speakers?

It could be the headlight switch, because as mentioned, it has a circuit breaker inside it that shuts off the lights if it has too much current. It can be getting too much current from a short in your wires or too heavy a load. Do you have halogen or some bulbs that are high wattage? The dimmer switch that was mentioned could be the problem also if there is an intermittant short in it to ground. It shorts to ground, trips the circuit breaker in the switch, and the headlights go off. When the circuit breaker cools down, it reconnects and the lights come back on until the next time the intermittant short occurs. The easiest way to fix it is probably to just try replacing the headlight switch and see if that fixes the problem. If that does not, you have an intermittant short between the lights wire and ground.

Now you have me wondering. I am going to check my 69 vs my 99 cars and see if there is a difference. I plug my cell phone into either and it seems to work fine. Maybe some dimensions are just slightly differenct?

Try your new lighter in just about any car. They have not changed that part in probably 30 years on almost every make of car. If it stays in on a different car, you have a problem with your socket. I have one I can send you for only the cost of postage if you want. I must have a dozen at home. Everytime I am at a bone yard and see one, I grab onto it. Let me know if you want it.

I have Randall's with long tube headers, and it worked fine. The tranny can clutch should not be a problem. I also have a 302W, but there should not be too much of a difference down under. It really depends on the exact dimensions of you headers, and that will be so hard to tell.

What has been said about the connections is true. The place where the hose connects to the cylinder is plastic, and that is where mine leaked. i replaced one of mine 24 years ago with the factory part, the other is still original to the car. My top goes up and down about a hundred times during each year, so I think the Ford product is alright. I would say to just replace the one that leaks. You could also put a bucket under it and keep refilling the fluid with the one you have...

I replaced one, you should not have any problem with that. You have to take the rear seat out and the side cover, but then it is easy from what I remember. YOu have to work it a bit to get the air out, but just going up and down an few times does that. You will need to keep topping off the resevior and letting the air out, but it is easy.

You can use your existing double filament sockets and bulbs fine. Just connect both wires from the socket to your backup light wire. Make sure one of them is not ground. Or install the correct socket and grind off hte nibber deal...

I think I know what it is. The heater and radio lights are controlled by the dimmer on the headlight switch. When you pull on the headlight switch, turn it all the way clockwise 9 I think) until it clicks. The clicking is it turning on the interior lights. But when it is in this position, the instrument lights will be at their brightest. The dimmers on the headlight switches are known for not working. That is why sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. When it works, you have the knob turned so the lights are at maximum brightness. Give it a try! Danno

I will bet that feels good to finally get it going. I know what it is like. By the way, I previously mentioned a person in Arkansas who had a lot of Mustang parts and you replied that it was somebody close to you. I checked, and it is not the same person. The place I worked with was Matthew's Mustangs in Rose Bud. he had over 40 vintage Mustangs back when I bought my parts from him. Keep him in mind if your local guy does not have the parts you need. Rose Bud is about a hundred miles away, maybe worth a cruise some day? So now that you got it running, it is on to more projects! Danno

You can test it by disconnecting one of the large wires to the solenoid and short across it to start the car. If the starter stops when you remove the wire, you have a bad solenoid. I was also wondering if your starter drive on the starter is not disengauging when the motor starts?

That heater hose is one that you purchase with a factory bend in it because it is such a tight bend. Are you trying to bend an off the shelf hose, or is it one that is pre-cut and bent to the right dimentions?

My earlier reference about removing the ignition wire was about the motor not turning over. The key switch has one wire that goes to the underhood wire harness. For 1969 models you can disconnect it right at the firewall where there is a connector. With this disconnected the car will not run, but you should be able to get the starter to turn the motor over.