stangs-R-me

Are you tired of dealing with the possibility of splash-out when filling your classic Mustang with fuel ?? I was certainly fed up with gas pump drama with my 1969 and searched the internet for solutions a few times over the years and basically found nothing. In the fear of splash-out onto my bumper, license plate, and the painted surfaces around & below the filler neck I would squat down with my ear near the pump nozzle and listen to the fuel going in. Listening carefully, you can hear the sound change as the tank gets full and the goal was to release the lever in time to avoid splash-out. This was always a nerve-wracking routine, especially if there were other noises (traffic, etc.) to distract concentration so I dreaded the experience at each fill up. I've owned this car for 38 years and this problem has been a part of fueling since the late 80's when leaded gas disappeared. The leaded nozzles were designed to shut-off in an open filler neck, so my guess is they were more sensitive than unleaded nozzles. However a defective leaded nozzle could cause splash out too, so it was still a crap shoot even prior to unleaded gas becoming the only option. Anyway, I finally found someone who installed an off-the-shelf "unleaded fuel insert" that was a viable solution (credit goes out to forum member Mach1 Driver). His method however required major neck modification ... including cutting ... which was not appealing to me. So I ordered a couple of the same inserts to play with hoping to come up with an easier solution. After some brainstorming, I ended up adapting the insert to fit up the neck with minimal modification to the neck itself ... far simpler. I've now had it in my car for over a year and it is by far the most functional mod I've ever done. Like a modern car I can now just put the nozzle in, set the nozzle flow on the 1st or middle notch, let go, stand back, and wait for the nozzle to shut-off on it's own like it is supposed to do ... with ZERO SPLASH-OUT. To be able to finally fuel up my classic Mustang without any drama and "hands-free" is pure satisfaction. I then realized there are 9 different 1965 thru 1970 Mustang Fuel Filler Neck variations available, so I bought a sample of each and figured out how to adapt the insert to each one. There are both painted/powder coated and zinc plated necks and both styles are available for all years but 1970 ... which so far I've only found painted/powder-coated versions. I sell both complete new necks with the insert installed as well as insert kits with instructions for your own installation. If you want to do your own install I strongly recommend using a new neck, and I show all the necks that I know work on page 2 of my Price Sheet (page 2 of Tool List has even more details). See attached PDF files for all the details including pricing and contact info. Fuel Filler Insert Instructions-R7.pdf Fuel Filler Insert Tool List-R7.pdf Fuel Filler Insert Instructions-AD.pdf Fuel-Filler-Neck&Insert-Kit-Price-List.pdf

I had bought the Scott Drake repro "Autolite" switches too and they went right back. On one of them the plunger would stick and then the OD of switch flange was smaller than original so that was the final straw for me. Something was goofy with the connector too, but don't remember it being that bad !! Doug

Front Bumper corner brackets: When I got my car back from paint in 1982, I first re-mounted the old & bent up bumper that came with the car so these brackets did not line up at all with my brand new valance. When I finally got new bumpers, I got all new and correct hardware for these brackets and then painted the brackets black. With the new bumper in place, they still were off as far as lining up with the holes so instead of spending a bunch of time bending them to fit then re-painting them, I just left them off. Shortly after, I rear-ended a Nova (low speed) and flattened the nose of my new bumper and the upper valance behind it. The ends of the bumper also popped away from the sides of the car and if these two brackets had been in place they would have likely ripped though my brand new lower valance which I would have also have had to fix or replace and re-paint. Instead I just needed to straighten and re-paint the upper valance that goes between the headlight buckets and replace the bumper. May have needed to replace or repair / re-paint the lower trim panel and edge trim, but don't remember exactly. Not having to touch the lower valance saved me a bunch of $$. I bought a NEW set of these corner brackets about 10 years ago thinking I would finally try and install them but they needed tweaking too to fit so I again gave up. Quite honestly, I think the bumper has plenty of support from the inner and outer brackets that I doubt there is ever any "movement" way out on the ends. Doug

1969 has TWO switch holes 1970 has only ONE centered switch hole 1969 options included Cruise, Power Top, and Rear Window De-Fog Blower (Hardtop only). 1970 options included Fog Lights (Mach 1 only), Power Top, and Rear Window De-Fog Blower (Hardtop only). Pretty sure that is it. Doug

I've been running my hood pins about 1/2" above the hood plates and the cables fed thru the grill with some foam centering the cables in the two grill openings since the early 80's when I bought a new O.E. Ford Set. They were not cheap to my then 19 year old self, so I did not want them rubbing anywhere including my new paint job. They only touch the front edge of the hood trim and the snap rings occasionally touch the inner top surface of the S.S. hood plates (there are marks, but being S.S., nothing other than shinny spots). When they do touch is out driving at speed if the wind catches them. Running them thru the grill certainly is NOT Ford Spec therefore the Concourse Correct crowd would not approve, but pulling them down and retaining them in those two locations in the grill make them curve nicely around the top of the hood and symmetrically towards the center that is pleasing to the eye and my OCD. I'm probably the only one in the world with my '69 hood pin cables running this way ... about time I share !! Doug

My brother had a Winter Blue convertible ... it looked OK and I've seen pic's of Winter Blue Mach 1's and it looks better with all the black accents but don't think I could go with it. Always thought Acapulco Blue was nice but saw a 1969 Mach 1 over the weekend in this color at the Sturgis Mustang Car Show and it seemed kinda dull. Saw a few Lime Gold cars at the show too (my cars original color) so I was able to show my wife & sons that vs. the Calypso Coral they've only known it as. No '69's, but both a '67 & '68 Shelby and one looked to be original paint. So imagining this color with Mach 1 black accents, I think it might be a sharper looking combo than either Winter or Acapulco Blue. Anyway ... I think your son made a wise choice with the flashier blue !! Doug

Beautiful car … I'd leave it alone too !! 2010-14 Mustangs with the SADDLE color interior just had the seats in SADDLE along with inserts in the door panels … everything else was BLACK (actually Dark Charcoal as Ford last used a true Black in 1999 or 2000). Anyway, this was a decent look and I almost ordered it with my 2011 with Kona Blue exterior … in the end I wimped out and went with all black as most people I showed the two interiors picked black. I was also worried about denim die transfer which is common on the lighter colors in these cars. As Barnett stated, vinyl die is really just paint and it will rub off eventually in wear spots which will look worse than if you left it black. Much better off leaving all your black plastic surfaces black. Doug

Wonder if this is an early production car and Ford did not start doing it until later in the model year. Or it just was missed, as I'm sure this happened often enough too. Interesting, Doug

Funny, my parents had a '78 Country Squire wagon in Champagne Gold and it looked good with all the woodgrain to accent it. Never thought this color fit a Mustang until I saw a '69 Mach with all the black out to compliment it. Very nice work. Those inner headlight buckets should be "blacked out" like the factory did … they really stand out on lighter color cars and now would be the time before you get any further. I did it on my Calypso Coral car after the fact back in the 80's because I hated how that orange glowed out of those corners and later found out it was actually something the factory did too. Doug

Wow that turned out real nice … looks kinda dark for Acapulco Blue, but then overcast sky would do that. Is that the factory color ?? Went back in thread to answer my own question … YES !! Doug

Vigfreg … thanks for that … got turned on to JJW in the late 70's. My cousin who was the shop forman would switch the radio station at work from rock to country to piss everyone off in the shop. I ended up liking a bunch of the songs of the era including JJW's Pissing in the Wind. Ended up seeing him a few times with my wife in the 90's. Best was at Biddy Muligan's in Evanston IL where the stage was like 10 ft away from the side of the bar where we were sitting … nothing like watching a show and just spinning around on your stool when you need another drink. Other times we saw him at Summerfest in Milwaukee. Think we own almost everything he ever recorded. Doug

My cat makes all sorts of goofy noises too ... I should show him this. Never seen that Ford video before … nice … back in the day when anything goes for driving shoes !! Doug

That was quite the string of crap … much better without !! Thanks GROUP, Doug

I got the message on MS Edge, but works fine on Google Chrome. Doug

I've still got a couple of vernier calipers at work, need glasses now to read them though ... much prefer the more modern DIAL type. Still don't own a digital version yet. Doug

Well that simplifies things !! A 1969 Mustang Zinc Plated Neck with insert installed is $97.00 + $14.00 USPS = $111.00 Total USD funds. I've attached the Price List in case your car is not a '69 which has all the details including my contact info and also has pictures. Also attached are the instructions I follow in modding these necks in case you want to do the mod yourself on your existing filler neck. Thanks, Doug Fuel Filler Neck & Insert Kit Price list.pdf Fuel Filler Insert Instructions-R5.pdf

I'm still doing them, just not advertising. Shipping a complete modified neck to Germany is expensive, as I found out when I quoted a guy earlier this year. Shipping cost of one vs. two or three was the same so he was trying to find a few others to share the shipping cost. Have not heard back from him though. Here are the shipping costs I got for one neck to Germany back in March: Priority Mail (6-10 Days) ... $83.00 USD or First Class Package (time varies) ... $44.00 USD BigDuke6 if you are interested, PM me your email address as well as "ship-to" address and I'll send you over all the info as well as the cost of shipping. Doug

Just a further detail ... He has a non-tach dash car, so it can only be for the parking brake light. Seat belt light would be in the gauge cluster on a non-tach car. Doug

BINGO … that was the 1st thing I noticed … thought why would someone spend the time & effort to make headers / manifolds from square tubing ?? Then I saw it was a SB-Cheeby … guess I never realized how WIDE a SBC was in comparison to a SBF. I'd guess '65 Falcon/Comet shock towers are same distance apart as '65-66 Mustang and space for exhaust next to that SBC looks tighter than a BBF in a '67-70 Mustang … his ho-made "Rube Goldberg" manifolds are likely the only way he could make it fit. Car is an original "T" code, guessing 200 Six with 3-on-the-tree. No idea what trans is in it now but shifter was on the floor. Sorry ... thought I posted this in the "GARAGE" forum. Doug

1965 Mercury Comet ...

Beat me to it Bob … was going to ask the same thing !! Thanks for sharing OP … very nice car. Doug

Finally got around to changing out the switches today and I now have WORKING LUMBAR !! Found a couple of new-old-stock USA made McGill momentary DPDT switches at work … of course this was AFTER ordering a couple of cheap China made ones off of ebay !! Good ones off of McMaster Carr were $23 each, so I ordered 3 off of ebay for under $14. When I got them and saw how cheap they were, I took a second look at our old switch stock at work and low and behold I found a few mixed in with the SPDT momentary ones I used originally. Anyway, I first tried adding spade jumpers and it just took up too much space and it is tight between the two switches & the AC duct above. The DPDT switches were bulkier to begin with vs. the SPDT switches I had now, so I made a slight mod to both switches before installing. I drilled a small hole at the base of the two spade terminals that wires needed to go to and soldered in 18Ga jumper wires between these added holes and the existing holes in the other two spades that no wire was going to. Then added heat shrink over the 3 unused terminals. 4th pic shows a side view of the original SPDT switches in place and limited space under AC duct. Doug

My 2011 had the mid-range 500W / 8-speaker "Shaker 500" system (vs. Shaker 1000 1000W / 10-speaker system at the top end) My current 2016 has the base 160W / 6-speaker system (vs. Shaker Pro 550W / 12 speaker system at the top end) My wife's 2014 & current 2018 SE Fusion have had the 80W / 6 Speaker system (vs the 210W / 11-speaker system at the top end) Funny, the 1994-04 Mach460 was a 460W / 8-speaker system and it sounded much better than the 500W Shaker system. I do miss the Mach460 (lived with it for 16 years in 3 cars) but I'm perfectly content today with the 2016's system and it does not bother me a bit listening to the 1978 vintage Ford FM radio with 4 aftermarket speakers in the '69. When I do upgrade the '69 radio with an audio input, RCA outputs would be nice so I can add a 4-channel or 2 2-channel AMPS and better speakers. Not looking for high power and thumping subwoofers, just a clean sounding system. Doug

This MOD has been at the back of my mind for many years. I just don't yet have any of my music in a computer or thumb drive as my wife & I are still perfectly content listening to CD's in our cars. That will have to change in a few years when I get my next Mustang as Ford eliminated the CD player in 2019 for the base radio. In order to get one, you have to get a Premium model then add the B&O by Harman Sound System which adds $3,910.00 to the sticker price and obviously a bunch of other "Premium" features that I could care less about in a car. If I could get the B&O system added to a base model, I'd be tempted as I ordered the Mach460 sound system in my 1994, 1998, & 2004 base model Mustangs. So when the time comes in a few years, I'll finally need to put my music on a thumb drive or MP3 player and would then obviously want to add this feature to my stock looking AM/FM in the '69. Doug

OK ... that is MUCH easier ... glad I asked !! Was wondering if maybe this is mentioned in the shop manual and I just missed it. Just skimmed through the Manual Shift Trans section again and there is no mention of this ... so again, glad I asked. Thanks, Doug