Ash

It's been almost a year now since I purchased my 69 428CJ R-code. I've been floating around this forum for a little while, but thought it time to share and to keep a bit of a log with my car.
 
Ever since I was a little kid, all I have ever wanted is a 69/70 Mach 1. In February 2011 I flew to the USA, met up with a guy who I had been talking to for a few months, and purchased his 69 Mach 1 R-code 428 Cobra Jet with a 4 speed close ratio transmission and 3.91:1 traction lock diff.
 
Here's some pics of it during the purchase process:
 
The pics that were emailed to me when I found it
 

 

 
Coming back from my first drive in Louisiana. It was the first time I had ever driven a Mustang, first time to drive a LHD manual (the day before was the first time to drive a LHD car which was the hire car) and also the first time I've driven a big block. So it was a very quick learning curve.
 

 
It loaded up to go meet the truck for delivery to Los Angeles
 

 

 
Waiting 4 hours in a Wallmart carpark, the truck was extremely late even though we were told they would be 20mins after we arrived. Standing in that carpark was an eye opener on its own. Many people stopped to take photos which was awesome! And many others stopped to buy drugs from someone dealing not far from where we were. I've never seen anything like it.
 

 
Going onto the truck in Lafayette to make the journey to L.A.
 

 
After arriving in L.A. and giving it a wash
 

 

 

 

 

 
And me with my new toy, extremely over whelmed and extremely exhausted from all the travelling and lack of sleep.
 

 
I'm was so happy with my purchase, I couldn't describe the feeling. It's the one and only car I have ever really wanted and the one car I will never sell. EVER!!
 
I finally got word of it arriving in May and was quickly down to pick it up. Here she was waiting for me. Unfortunately it was running like shit! It wasn't running great when we dropped it off to the exporter but knew it had a few things needing attention.
 

I can't even comprehend what that would be like to live in, such a different climate to here. But we are hoping to experience it before too long, looking at doing a road trip in an RV across a fair chunk of your country, either in Nov/Dec but is now looking like it'll be Feb next year as it's a fair bit cheaper to travel at that time.
 
Hope the good weather continues for you anyway, get lots done!

That looks neat, Bob.
 
Are you badging it or polishing the edges also? I kind of like it as is.

Mine sat pretty similar. Very similar tyres too. Mine had 215 fronts and 295 rears. That was when I first got it but plan to use the same components when I put it all back together. Similar reasons to yourself. My front left was rubbing at full lock. Plus our local roads are disgraceful and the more ground clearance the better.
 
I'm happy with the look. Old school muscle look I think.
 

Wow that is so impressive!!
 
I don't know if I could cover over that artwork though. It looks too good to hide away. I completely agree why you'd cover it up but such a shame it can't be left.
 
How many mm thick are the flange plates that mate to the heads? They look about 20mm?

I absolutely love that colour. I have seen two 2016 models in that colour here in Aus and I think it is by far the nicest. Right on dusk it has a lot of depth, absolutely beautiful.
 
Well done on getting to this point. For myself I feel it is many years away. I can't wait for the day when you can see the bottom of the list of the things to do. Enjoyment time from then on in. Congrats. Especially that you got to do the last bit of the adventure with your son!

That looks neat, Bob.
 
Are you badging it or polishing the edges also? I kind of like it as is.

Wow that is so impressive!!
 
I don't know if I could cover over that artwork though. It looks too good to hide away. I completely agree why you'd cover it up but such a shame it can't be left.
 
How many mm thick are the flange plates that mate to the heads? They look about 20mm?

That looks neat, Bob.
 
Are you badging it or polishing the edges also? I kind of like it as is.

A wife excuse to help speed things along is a great excuse to have. Ha

Thanks Jim, appreciate the welcome!!
 
No, the 70 stripes will be going. There is a paint imperfection under the graphic which I think the reason for this put on, to actually cover the imperfection.
I'm considering painting the car now while it is in pieces and going for a colour change. I love the blue, it's a beautiful colour. But I love the black/red stripe combo. I figure why not sort out all the little things while I have the chance now. I really do not want to be pulling this 428 out again anytime soon!

It's been almost a year now since I purchased my 69 428CJ R-code. I've been floating around this forum for a little while, but thought it time to share and to keep a bit of a log with my car.
 
Ever since I was a little kid, all I have ever wanted is a 69/70 Mach 1. In February 2011 I flew to the USA, met up with a guy who I had been talking to for a few months, and purchased his 69 Mach 1 R-code 428 Cobra Jet with a 4 speed close ratio transmission and 3.91:1 traction lock diff.
 
Here's some pics of it during the purchase process:
 
The pics that were emailed to me when I found it
 

 

 
Coming back from my first drive in Louisiana. It was the first time I had ever driven a Mustang, first time to drive a LHD manual (the day before was the first time to drive a LHD car which was the hire car) and also the first time I've driven a big block. So it was a very quick learning curve.
 

 
It loaded up to go meet the truck for delivery to Los Angeles
 

 

 
Waiting 4 hours in a Wallmart carpark, the truck was extremely late even though we were told they would be 20mins after we arrived. Standing in that carpark was an eye opener on its own. Many people stopped to take photos which was awesome! And many others stopped to buy drugs from someone dealing not far from where we were. I've never seen anything like it.
 

 
Going onto the truck in Lafayette to make the journey to L.A.
 

 
After arriving in L.A. and giving it a wash
 

 

 

 

 

 
And me with my new toy, extremely over whelmed and extremely exhausted from all the travelling and lack of sleep.
 

 
I'm was so happy with my purchase, I couldn't describe the feeling. It's the one and only car I have ever really wanted and the one car I will never sell. EVER!!
 
I finally got word of it arriving in May and was quickly down to pick it up. Here she was waiting for me. Unfortunately it was running like shit! It wasn't running great when we dropped it off to the exporter but knew it had a few things needing attention.
 

I think Ridge's delivery guy may have a new job working at eBay's global shipping. After the best part of a month, the new A-pillars arrived today. It took 12 days to go from California heading west (?) before it was in the air heading back east. Then the guys in Sydney must have been stoked to have seen them as they held onto them, after clearing customs, for about a week. Either that or possibly Ridge's delivery guy must have been tired from walking across the US with them in hand that he decided to leave his employment at eBay global shipping and now resides in Sydney schooling Aus Post on the method of mail delivery by foot.
 
Any who....I now have them and I'm not letting them go. hehe
 

 
I lined them up in place on the 69 and realised they are going to need a little assistance to sit where they need to go. They will be ok, definitely stronger than the originals but I can see the difference between factory and aftermarket.
 
I drilled a few holes for some plug welds, cleaned it up and brushed on some epoxy.
 

It cranks and starts with ease now. I hope this video works.
 
https://youtu.be/UGzqFxmOS7g
 
 

I think Ridge's delivery guy may have a new job working at eBay's global shipping. After the best part of a month, the new A-pillars arrived today. It took 12 days to go from California heading west (?) before it was in the air heading back east. Then the guys in Sydney must have been stoked to have seen them as they held onto them, after clearing customs, for about a week. Either that or possibly Ridge's delivery guy must have been tired from walking across the US with them in hand that he decided to leave his employment at eBay global shipping and now resides in Sydney schooling Aus Post on the method of mail delivery by foot.
 
Any who....I now have them and I'm not letting them go. hehe
 

 
I lined them up in place on the 69 and realised they are going to need a little assistance to sit where they need to go. They will be ok, definitely stronger than the originals but I can see the difference between factory and aftermarket.
 
I drilled a few holes for some plug welds, cleaned it up and brushed on some epoxy.
 

It's been almost a year now since I purchased my 69 428CJ R-code. I've been floating around this forum for a little while, but thought it time to share and to keep a bit of a log with my car.
 
Ever since I was a little kid, all I have ever wanted is a 69/70 Mach 1. In February 2011 I flew to the USA, met up with a guy who I had been talking to for a few months, and purchased his 69 Mach 1 R-code 428 Cobra Jet with a 4 speed close ratio transmission and 3.91:1 traction lock diff.
 
Here's some pics of it during the purchase process:
 
The pics that were emailed to me when I found it
 

 

 
Coming back from my first drive in Louisiana. It was the first time I had ever driven a Mustang, first time to drive a LHD manual (the day before was the first time to drive a LHD car which was the hire car) and also the first time I've driven a big block. So it was a very quick learning curve.
 

 
It loaded up to go meet the truck for delivery to Los Angeles
 

 

 
Waiting 4 hours in a Wallmart carpark, the truck was extremely late even though we were told they would be 20mins after we arrived. Standing in that carpark was an eye opener on its own. Many people stopped to take photos which was awesome! And many others stopped to buy drugs from someone dealing not far from where we were. I've never seen anything like it.
 

 
Going onto the truck in Lafayette to make the journey to L.A.
 

 
After arriving in L.A. and giving it a wash
 

 

 

 

 

 
And me with my new toy, extremely over whelmed and extremely exhausted from all the travelling and lack of sleep.
 

 
I'm was so happy with my purchase, I couldn't describe the feeling. It's the one and only car I have ever really wanted and the one car I will never sell. EVER!!
 
I finally got word of it arriving in May and was quickly down to pick it up. Here she was waiting for me. Unfortunately it was running like shit! It wasn't running great when we dropped it off to the exporter but knew it had a few things needing attention.
 

And this week I turned this
 

 
into this
 

 

And just to show I haven't been a slack ass, I built this aluminium live bait tank for my boat.
 

 
and painted
 

 
and in place before fitting up the plumbing and lid
 

 

Cheers, Mike!
 
Today I've spent the best part of 4 hours cleaning the engine block for assembly. Yes, this is way over due but kids and a wife have a habit of causing that.
 
I had gathered a range of cleaning brushes and got my hands on a thread chaser set from Summit. The Dawn soap I got a little while ago from the US. The SPI guys recommend nothing but Dawn as a cleaning agent so thought I'd use it here too.
 

 
I spent quite a lot of time chasing threads and cleaning out all oil passages. The block got 4 hot washes with a high pressure hose down and a blast of compressed air between each go.
 
I bagged each main cap after washing them and soaked them in WD. The new ARP main bolts I put in a container of new oil as I know you are not meant to touch them so the though of them drying out would be a bad thing.
 

 
All nice and clean
 

 

 
and now tucked away. Next is to clean my workshop benches, clean the crank and then get ready for assembly.
 

And this week I turned this
 

 
into this
 

 

It's been almost a year now since I purchased my 69 428CJ R-code. I've been floating around this forum for a little while, but thought it time to share and to keep a bit of a log with my car.
 
Ever since I was a little kid, all I have ever wanted is a 69/70 Mach 1. In February 2011 I flew to the USA, met up with a guy who I had been talking to for a few months, and purchased his 69 Mach 1 R-code 428 Cobra Jet with a 4 speed close ratio transmission and 3.91:1 traction lock diff.
 
Here's some pics of it during the purchase process:
 
The pics that were emailed to me when I found it
 

 

 
Coming back from my first drive in Louisiana. It was the first time I had ever driven a Mustang, first time to drive a LHD manual (the day before was the first time to drive a LHD car which was the hire car) and also the first time I've driven a big block. So it was a very quick learning curve.
 

 
It loaded up to go meet the truck for delivery to Los Angeles
 

 

 
Waiting 4 hours in a Wallmart carpark, the truck was extremely late even though we were told they would be 20mins after we arrived. Standing in that carpark was an eye opener on its own. Many people stopped to take photos which was awesome! And many others stopped to buy drugs from someone dealing not far from where we were. I've never seen anything like it.
 

 
Going onto the truck in Lafayette to make the journey to L.A.
 

 
After arriving in L.A. and giving it a wash
 

 

 

 

 

 
And me with my new toy, extremely over whelmed and extremely exhausted from all the travelling and lack of sleep.
 

 
I'm was so happy with my purchase, I couldn't describe the feeling. It's the one and only car I have ever really wanted and the one car I will never sell. EVER!!
 
I finally got word of it arriving in May and was quickly down to pick it up. Here she was waiting for me. Unfortunately it was running like shit! It wasn't running great when we dropped it off to the exporter but knew it had a few things needing attention.
 

I've been able to sneak a little bit of time every day this past week and had a full day yesterday.
 
After getting the drivers side to fit, I traced its shape to the other side which made the process much quicker.
 

 
After drilling lots of holes, heaps of fun......not really. I then welded them in.
 

 

 
I used a squared off drill bit to clean the epoxy from the weld area in each drilled hole.
 

 
Then in went the floor for a test fit. It looks like a car again, kind of. ha
 

 
Following Ridge's tip of pulling the floor down to the chassis rail with some scrap and thread bar, I pulled it down to mark out the rail and cross member positions. I know these floor pans need a little work but with the mods I've done it's going to need a little more massaging. With the top of the tunnel cut out though, this will make it a little easier. I rounded over the edge on some scrap timber, some hits with a rubber mallet and it was shaping the floor nicely into the curvature of the cross member and firewall.
 

 
Back out the floor came to start drilling many more holes. I'm going to weld the sides of the floor to the undersides of the inner rockers that I installed. This actually worked out well as when I test fitted the floor way back, it wasn't quite wide enough to meet the inner rockers.
 

 
I've only been mixing up small quantities of epoxy, using some syringes has been working a treat to accurately measuring this.
 

 
After cleaning up the surfaces, my wife walked in to find me painting it on.
 

 
And she passed me a beer. She's a good wife!
 

Thanks Jim, appreciate the welcome!!
 
No, the 70 stripes will be going. There is a paint imperfection under the graphic which I think the reason for this put on, to actually cover the imperfection.
I'm considering painting the car now while it is in pieces and going for a colour change. I love the blue, it's a beautiful colour. But I love the black/red stripe combo. I figure why not sort out all the little things while I have the chance now. I really do not want to be pulling this 428 out again anytime soon!

I have the same gut feeling to tell you the truth. You can see the low point to the top right of it. Didn't really have that close of a look until I blew these pics up and then went back to look.
Looks like it is just another reason to bight the bullet and strip it right back. So much for the "finished project" I purchased in hope of driving straight away.
Still, looking on the bright side, I'm learning every square inch of my car. I'm gaining something out of it at least.

It's been almost a year now since I purchased my 69 428CJ R-code. I've been floating around this forum for a little while, but thought it time to share and to keep a bit of a log with my car.
 
Ever since I was a little kid, all I have ever wanted is a 69/70 Mach 1. In February 2011 I flew to the USA, met up with a guy who I had been talking to for a few months, and purchased his 69 Mach 1 R-code 428 Cobra Jet with a 4 speed close ratio transmission and 3.91:1 traction lock diff.
 
Here's some pics of it during the purchase process:
 
The pics that were emailed to me when I found it
 

 

 
Coming back from my first drive in Louisiana. It was the first time I had ever driven a Mustang, first time to drive a LHD manual (the day before was the first time to drive a LHD car which was the hire car) and also the first time I've driven a big block. So it was a very quick learning curve.
 

 
It loaded up to go meet the truck for delivery to Los Angeles
 

 

 
Waiting 4 hours in a Wallmart carpark, the truck was extremely late even though we were told they would be 20mins after we arrived. Standing in that carpark was an eye opener on its own. Many people stopped to take photos which was awesome! And many others stopped to buy drugs from someone dealing not far from where we were. I've never seen anything like it.
 

 
Going onto the truck in Lafayette to make the journey to L.A.
 

 
After arriving in L.A. and giving it a wash
 

 

 

 

 

 
And me with my new toy, extremely over whelmed and extremely exhausted from all the travelling and lack of sleep.
 

 
I'm was so happy with my purchase, I couldn't describe the feeling. It's the one and only car I have ever really wanted and the one car I will never sell. EVER!!
 
I finally got word of it arriving in May and was quickly down to pick it up. Here she was waiting for me. Unfortunately it was running like shit! It wasn't running great when we dropped it off to the exporter but knew it had a few things needing attention.