GypsyR

I'm curious now, since this thread is well into 6 months old. KMD88 did you ever make a move on this?

All else failing, there are templates out there somewhere that allow you to mark and cut a non-AC dash for the AC vent openings. There may be more to it than that, but people here will know. I didn't look any further into it after I found myself an AC lower.

I've had that happen. Key is to push the tool in just far enough to engage the clip. It's too easy to push right on through which tends to lock everything down rather than release. Push the tool until you just feel a "pop". It's very very small. Usually you have to work the tools left and right just a bit while pulling. Not all removal tools are the same, I can tell you that. The cheap ones (that I let other people borrow) quite frankly suck and are a struggle. But with the good ones some radios are still a bit of a struggle. Never have figured out why some pop out like corks where some seem superglued in. I recall one so bad I had to disassemble part of the dash trim and remove the glove box to release the clips by poking them with a very long screwdriver. Best guess is that someone tried to remove the radio before with improper tools maybe. That one was before I scored the genuine Ford clips tools though.

A 1990's something Volvo caught my eye once. Like Eastyorkstang says you could work the driver's door lock knob to operate the other door locks. I liked the idea because though I put in power locks, I had no interest in an extra switch. I just ended up using the alarm remote, no switch. But I looked into the Volvo setup and it was fairly straightforward. They just used a pair of microswitches trigged by the rod/latch motion of working the lock knob. Wired into relays and such I gave the setup a pass. I have too many relays and such going on already. Example, I wanted a semi-custom overhead console with stuff in it. (The '67, not my '69) A place to put extra switches among other things. I started with one wire going up to the old dome light. Last I counted there were 26 wires going up to my console.

I know this is an older thread but I got sick of craptastic aftermarket addons years ago. Seemed like they always failed later. For door lock motors in my '67, I got some junkyard one from the rear doors of 1991-94 Explorer. Not least because no one had ever heard of one failing. Also because they are fairly slim. Tough part is if you use such you have to fabricate just everything other darn thing to install them.

Aftermarket "high stall" torque converters are most often repurposed stock torque converters originally used behind a small and weakish engine. Back in the day "Chevy Monza" torque converters were the go-to's. So much so that none exist anymore in stock forum. Small cars and engines use small diameter converters, so the builders weld "ears" on them to match up to big engine flexplates. Then they drill an tap them according to what flexplate the intended use it. They or you could bother to put studs in but nobody does. Some such converters aren't even threaded, you have to use nuts and bolts. Whatever, it all seems to work OK. I do like to use blue Loctite on choices other than the stock Ford studs and nuts which don't need it.

My favorite thread here. I bought my car gutted. The interior was literally the steering column, pedals, and firewall. I've accumulated most of the dash but saw a kit of used dash extra bits on eBay and couldn't figure out what a couple of the parts were exactly for. The assembly manuals were of very limited help. I even got a neighbor to let me stick my head under his dash. (Couldn't see squat.) The pictures in this thread pretty well nailed the last things I needed to figure out. I think. Hope...

I also like to see one inch of "play" as a rule of thumb. Measured when the vehicle is resting normally on the ground. Or better, on a four post lift.

When you have an engine dynamically balanced they need the crank, rods with the bolts, pistons, rings, wrist pins, balancer, and the flywheel/flexplate you are going to use. When balancing they don't actually spin balance all your parts, they just want them so they can weigh them. So the pistons, rings, and wrist pins don't need to be assembled. Some builders will only dynamically balance the crankshaft with the flywheel/flexplate and the harmonic balancer and just weight match the other parts. Apparently you can get good results with either method.

On it. If it were me and I didn't want to try a 3.8 flexplate I'd knock a weight off. Then I'd find a ball bearing that fit in the middle of the flexplate (maybe with some temporary glue) and set it up like I was hand balancing a motorcycle or bicycle wheel. That way I could grind off a tad bit more steel if I weren't happy with how neutral it turned out to be. Kind of curious how you ended up with a custom balance engine but it wasn't dynamically balanced before you got your hands on it. My local guy won't balance a crank unless you have all the involved rotating parts there for him.

The PAX looks to be your best choice. At least they SAY it fits. All I know is the 3.8 flexplate I mentioned is zero balance from the factory, is the right diameter with the correct number of teeth, and I think has the correct offset. But the only one I actually have on hand is a flywheel for a 3.8, not a flexplate. Though I do have a 157 tooth 5.0 flywheel handy I'm not at all sure the comparison between those two would translate usually into pertinent info for what you need. I've personally compared the offsets between an AOD/e/4R70W flexplate and one for a C6/E4OD and found the difference surprising small. You about have to use a micrometer to tell them apart. But that tiny difference very much matters. Trying to say though I can do my best to compare two apples I can't say that what I find will the same for two oranges. In fact I doubt it would. By the way, I had to go to Summit and search up what you bought. When I look it says it would be backordered until mid-October. Link: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/pma-pax30210

Sounds like you want to look at a 1998 or so Mustang 3.8 164 tooth flexplate if you want a stocker but it seems to me with what you have going on you might be better off with an aftermarket and custom SFI approved flexplate.

This is the working bay. Pictured in house remodel mode. All the crap on the floor to the right is that stuff (and my chili pot). Router on the left, table saw out, and I forgot why the welder was involved. As much as I hate to say it, the is situation normal. Too much stuff and too little room. As for tools there's an Atlas lathe and Clausing mill lurking back there I guess.

I like cobalt whatevers. Lately I've been using a set from Harbor Freight. I have Drill Doctor I resharpen bits with. I keep a "to do" list on my phone which includes whatever bits I may have broken lately. I tend to pick up single replacements at Northern Tool mostly. I think those are Dewalt. Elsewhere I find Vermont American. I've seen some "cobalt" bits which are sort of rainbow colored. They aren't true cobalts and are instead just coated. I would buy plain black HSS black oxide ones over those. At least they aren't trying to fool me. Actual cobalt bits are a darkish gold color. Brighter gold ones are the titanium coated ones. They're OK until the that microscopic coating wears off (about 2 seconds into a piece of steel) but I wouldn't pay extra for them. Harbor Freight puts a set of their titaniums on sale sometimes as low as $12. They're not great but not bad either. A decent starter set. Just replace the ones you actually use, dull, or break with individual cobalts. If you're like me you'll use the heck out of just a few sizes and the rest will stay like new.

I don't this guy tossing out any actual qualifications other than he authored a book and stood in front of a camera. Plus I might be inclined to give him a tad bit of credit if his personal cars weren't a generation one Prius and a Honda Insight. Jeremy Clarkson once spoke of the Insight as wanting to crash it into a tree just so he wouldn't have to drive it anymore. That and in the one video he claims he wasn't aware of how the curve at the front of "undertrays" had and aero effect. Reading between the lines this tells me this boob has absolutely no qualifications in the field of aerodynamics. Just no way. But as the saying goes "Just because the biggest fool in the world says the sun id shining doesn't make it dark outside." I long since have been quite distracted but about 15 years ago I stocked up on some PVC sheet to do essentially the same sort of things. It and the car are still out there but I'm still quite distracted. Though it may not be clear on every video, allowances are to be made to vent air from underhood. A side effect he mentions of all this that the air directed under the car this way has a bit of venturi effect and will draw that warm out through smaller openings than one might expect. If you do things right. Do a big lower like he shows on his Prius on a Fox Mustang and you will have an overheated engine PDQ. Because those cars draw the air for the radiator from up under the front bumper. I bet he has no clue about that. Aero stuff isn't a one size fits all science. For what little I know about it anyway. Far from an expert me, but I've tried to listen while smart people talked.