stangs-R-me

Back in 2006 Checker Auto Parts was marketing "84 Month Autolite" brand car batteries.
Logo on the side of the case had a classic look to it, so I bought one for my '69 Mustang and one for my '67 Fairlane in early December 2006.
Sold the Fairlane in 2010, so I don't know how long that battery lasted but the one in my '69 was still cranking strong this summer.   Not a ton of miles in the past 17 years but it has always been plugged into the same classic 1.75A Battery Tender year-round.   Cleaned up terminals once a year and topped off with distilled water when needed.
Well, it was last driven sometime in September~October with no issues and this past weekend it was time to put it to bed for the winter and "no-crank".   Cleaned up the terminals, and still no-go.   Put it on my bigger charger and got it up to 80%, dropped it back in and it cranked but very slowly.   
This battery finally gave up the ghost ... I don't think I've ever had a car battery last this long !! 
I now work at a CarQuest auto parts store so a DieHard Gold replaced it.   Never was a huge DieHard fan when it was part of Sears, but it is now just a name owned by Advanced Auto Parts (as is CarQuest) and the batteries are still made in the same factory as the former CarQuest brand batteries were.
Doug    
 
 
 

Yep, broke.

I am looking at getting the Summit M2008 carb. I am still undecided whether to get the 500 or 600 cfm carb for my 5.0, but I want to use the Trans Dapt 1" phenolic spacer with the rear pcv port also.
Trans Dapt 2584: 1" 4-bbl Carburetor Spacer Ported With PCV - JEGS

Well, I decided to make a new PCV Tube that put it right behind the carb where it is supposed to be.   Found a black plastic dual 3/8" tube support bracket in my misc. plastic parts box and that set me off in this new direction.
Could not find a 3/8" tube to 1/2" hose barb 90Deg elbow, so I just used an elbow to 1/4" male pipe instead.   Drilled I.D. of pipe thread end to match I.D. of 3/8" tube and used some black RTV on the threads so the hose would seal on it ... no one but me knows there is NOT an actual hose barb there !!
Doug
 
 
 
 

Email Doug. 
 

NPD shows the '70 System:
5210-29: use with turn downs
5210-27A: use with Mach 1 Tips
There is also the concours correct option, but you need to buy all the pieces separate.
Doug 

As aslanfe stated above ... 
All single exhaust cars had the fuel sender wire exit the trunk floor in the middle right by the sender.
All dual exhaust cars had the fuel sender wire exit in the passenger side drop off due to the transverse mounted muffler.
Info & pics of the dual exhaust version is here:
Dual Exhaust Fuel Sending Unit Extension Wire Harness - Dead Nuts On
My car was originally single exhaust, but I added the factory transverse muffler dual exhaust system to it back in the 80's when it was first reproduced.   
Pics below show the issue and how I made it work ... back then, I just assumed this is what Ford did on the dual exhaust cars.   
I did buy a new Alloy Metal Products taillight harness with the Convenience Group from NPD last year and it only comes in the Dual Exhaust version.   Have yet to swap it in but when I do, I'll do it right and drill the hole in the drop off and put a rubber body plug in the old single exhaust wiring hole.
Doug 
 
 
  
 

Ethanol Free 91 is still available around me (separate HOSE even at my local station), so that is all I run and thankfully Ethanol is not a concern for me.
I've also thought about EFI, but way too much stuff to modify or change which makes it even more difficult to try to maintain my desired "stock look".   Plus the tuning aspect of it scares me.
When the engine was built in 1987, I originally ran a stock Autolite 4300 carb and swear it got better MPG's then.   I switched to the Holley 600 CFM Double Pumper within a year or so and ran that for 32 years.   It has 30 over TRW Forged Pistons (about 9.5 CR), a Crower 280HDP street/strip cam in it that gives it a nice & healthy sounding idle, and behind it is a Wide Ratio Toploader 4 Speed and 3.50:1 T-Lok 9".
When adjusting the idle screws / setting the idle on this Summit carb, I could not get the vacuum into the "normal" range no matter what I did ... as if there was a big vacuum leak somewhere.   I don't remember if this was the same with the Holley and at the time I did nor feel like swapping it back on to find out.   During all my tests to try and find this vacuum leak, I stuffed a rag into the top of the secondaries at idle and this will snub it out.   So I think there may be an adjustment that may need to be done with the secondary butterflies (unless this is normal).   Another reason swapping the Holley back on is even more tempting to see if a rag in it's secondaries will also snub it out !!    
Other than the 3.50 gears (3000 RPM @ 63 MPH), you would think it could get better MPG's ... at least around town.   I always felt that the Holley could use a little tweaking by someone with more carb knowledge than me and obviously now the Summit carb could definitely benefit from an expert's touch.
It starts, runs, and drives great "as-is" though, so I've just not had the time or ambition to play around with it any further.
 
Bottom line is this carb is definitely worth the cost & effort to try out on any small block Ford before the big switch to EFI.
Doug 
 
         

Ethanol Free 91 is still available around me (separate HOSE even at my local station), so that is all I run and thankfully Ethanol is not a concern for me.
I've also thought about EFI, but way too much stuff to modify or change which makes it even more difficult to try to maintain my desired "stock look".   Plus the tuning aspect of it scares me.
When the engine was built in 1987, I originally ran a stock Autolite 4300 carb and swear it got better MPG's then.   I switched to the Holley 600 CFM Double Pumper within a year or so and ran that for 32 years.   It has 30 over TRW Forged Pistons (about 9.5 CR), a Crower 280HDP street/strip cam in it that gives it a nice & healthy sounding idle, and behind it is a Wide Ratio Toploader 4 Speed and 3.50:1 T-Lok 9".
When adjusting the idle screws / setting the idle on this Summit carb, I could not get the vacuum into the "normal" range no matter what I did ... as if there was a big vacuum leak somewhere.   I don't remember if this was the same with the Holley and at the time I did nor feel like swapping it back on to find out.   During all my tests to try and find this vacuum leak, I stuffed a rag into the top of the secondaries at idle and this will snub it out.   So I think there may be an adjustment that may need to be done with the secondary butterflies (unless this is normal).   Another reason swapping the Holley back on is even more tempting to see if a rag in it's secondaries will also snub it out !!    
Other than the 3.50 gears (3000 RPM @ 63 MPH), you would think it could get better MPG's ... at least around town.   I always felt that the Holley could use a little tweaking by someone with more carb knowledge than me and obviously now the Summit carb could definitely benefit from an expert's touch.
It starts, runs, and drives great "as-is" though, so I've just not had the time or ambition to play around with it any further.
 
Bottom line is this carb is definitely worth the cost & effort to try out on any small block Ford before the big switch to EFI.
Doug 
 
         

Can't believe I'm already on my 3rd summer running this carb.   
The engine really does run a lot better and smoother with it than it did with the Holley, and I can basically drive it out of the garage cold and the electric choke does it's job allowing me to drive off without letting it warm up a bit.   
With the Holley (also with electric choke), it was a drama queen ... stumbling & sputtering if I did not let it warm up for a few minutes.
This 351W is still getting 8-9 MPG's ... I really thought the Annular Venturi's and Vacuum Secondaries would have made a difference.
Doug     

Nice work & thanks for sharing the info since this is the carb I might use.

Wow it's been a while. I've finally finished my winter/spring projects and am back on the car. The roof panel needing those cuts and the drivers side quarter panel where it meets the rocker having that gap has been bugging me since I originally fitted the parts. On a hunch I went to NPD and bought another new roof panel. Plopped right on with an excellent fit! 


I have been told that I need to get my doors fitting very very well before welding and even go as far as putting all the window guts in and being able to lower and raise the window into the seal to make sure it has a good fit. So, the passenger side went really easily since the quarter panel fitted against the rocker tightly. I also realized through lots of cursing and wasted time that the door striker can be adjusted DOH! Wow that made a really huge difference in how quickly I could get the doors lined up. Once I figured it out, getting them aligned was a piece of cake. Now I am aware that once I assemble the door guts they will be heavier and I will have to re-adjust, but I am going to take this win because the gaps are great and the lines are straight. 
I also took the opportunity while the quarter panel was off to pull both quarter's together another 1/16th-1/8" inch to get them as close to the factory glass opening width as possible. Pretty much nailed it. 








I am hoping that the door interior assembly goes smoothly and that the door glass goes into the door seal tightly. Once that is done I'll fit the fenders and hood one last time to make sure everything is straight before I take it all apart again to start welding! 

Trimmed . Now with a tensile strength of 1,200 lbs per square inch ,1/8 inch thick ,most back seat activities are good to go !

IIRC ... 140 MPH Speedometers were only used on 1969 Shelbys, so pretty much the rarest 1969-70 cluster out there.
That cluster is probably worth a whole lot more than a Deluxe 120MPH 1970 Tach Cluster.   May as well try and find the correct cluster and re-sell that one.
Doug   

IIRC ... 140 MPH Speedometers were only used on 1969 Shelbys, so pretty much the rarest 1969-70 cluster out there.
That cluster is probably worth a whole lot more than a Deluxe 120MPH 1970 Tach Cluster.   May as well try and find the correct cluster and re-sell that one.
Doug   

Back in 2015 I was toying with the idea of swapping in a complete ready to bolt-in EPS (electric power steering) system that included a modified Ididit tilt column that would accept the stock 1969 steering wheel.   
So maybe it has been available for a while !!
Doug
   

Damn, that's the first correct answer out of the last 8,439 responses!  I'm slipping, I tell ya...

FYI ...
If the Deluxe Belts was a "factory installed option" on a "non-tach / standard instrument cluster" car, the seatbelt light is in the instrument cluster (RH side of FUEL/TEMP Gauge Pod), not on the lower dash like it would be on a factory tach cluster car.
The harness for the dash cluster belts light is different in that it has a twist-in plastic bulb socket (see pic) and is likely more common.
Just thought I'd throw this out there too.
Doug

Still working on my center console project.  I actually have a brand new console that I will install all of this stuff on once I am done mocking it up on the old, original console.
Getting close.  Need to add a couple relays and that should be it.   I will post schematic/block diagram when all done.  I installed blue LEDs in the Phantom gauges.  Looks good.
 

I bought and installed one in my '69 with factory A/C in 2011 and here is the write up I did on it back then ...
- New Deluxe Molded Firewall Insulation Pad from Quiet Ride Solutions (MUST6970-CM1).   After 7 weeks on back order with CJ Pony, I finally called the supplier (Scott Drake) direct, and their CS said they expected them in any day but had nothing firm.   Not liking this answer, I searched other vendors, found one IN STOCK at Mustangs Unlimited, and canceled my BO w/ CJ.   Paid $31 more for it but had gotten $20 / per $100 in gift cards from CJ (that I've since spent), so it was almost a wash.   Anyway, it is a high-quality part ... better than the disintegrating OEM one I took out ... and fit nicely.   All the needed holes were there, and I was able to re-use all my original hardware. 
Doug

I bought and installed one in my '69 with factory A/C in 2011 and here is the write up I did on it back then ...
- New Deluxe Molded Firewall Insulation Pad from Quiet Ride Solutions (MUST6970-CM1).   After 7 weeks on back order with CJ Pony, I finally called the supplier (Scott Drake) direct, and their CS said they expected them in any day but had nothing firm.   Not liking this answer, I searched other vendors, found one IN STOCK at Mustangs Unlimited, and canceled my BO w/ CJ.   Paid $31 more for it but had gotten $20 / per $100 in gift cards from CJ (that I've since spent), so it was almost a wash.   Anyway, it is a high-quality part ... better than the disintegrating OEM one I took out ... and fit nicely.   All the needed holes were there, and I was able to re-use all my original hardware. 
Doug

We'll I got a new project, purchased a 1969 Mach 1. 
got alot of work to do, but priority is gotta replace the cowl/floor boards first and finally rear trunk brace/tail panel/qtr panel. car been through hell, but 90% of the car is there. will post pics of the progress. 
had a 351w w/ fmx, all drums, definitely needs alot of TLC, this will be a long project, but the goal is to slightly bring it back to its former glory and go with a original look. paint is super last thing on my mind, so may paint it primer or use a matte color. 
Original color was Silver Jade, San Jose car and was in LA most of its life.

Getting close with my console build.  These are 19mm pushbutton switches with blue halo led backlight.   Plus, cupholder, of course…
 

Update
 
So the last few days I've been working to get the front clip squared up. I didn't like the gaps from the fenders and hood or that the front clip just didn't look right. I'm glad I kept the original front end as that was very helpful along with the Mach 1 to get the measurements I needed.
 
Overall, I'm really happy with the fender/hood/cowl gaps. Even in this rough mockup, I like the results. I'm actually quite surprised how tight the gaps are.
 
The fender apron brackets were a pain. I even tried using an original one, but that fit worse than the new ones. The metal is noticeably thicker on the original versus the aftermarket bracket FYI. I don't know how that will affect strength, but there is a significant difference in metal thickness.   
 
I ended up having to buy a second passenger side inner fender apron because the Canadian one I bought fit terribly (I didn't read the description on NPD's website, and it does mention the fit). So far they both seem to fit terribly, but the import brand (which is less money by the way) required less cutting away of material to get the measurements I needed. Neither of them hug the contours of the firewall precisely, but they will have to do for now. 
 
I tried mocking up the new fenders I bought recently, but they were not cooperating. I tried installing the passenger side one on the Mach 1 too and it just didn't fit right. The original fenders just fit better. They don't fit the doors that well. I wonder if I should try installing the original doors now too and see how they go together. 
 
The front bolt holes on the aftermarket fenders also do not line up with the core support at all. I don't like that. The original ones like up well enough. I'll try installing the new headlight buckets and see how those fit next. 
 
The hood is just laying there, no hinges installed, but looks nice and straight
 
The front end is about 1/16th - 1/8" off from being perfectly square. I just can't get it closer than that. It'll have to do.