Jimjific

So as some of you know, I’m not a rear spoiler/wing fan. I took mine off as soon as I got the car home. Someday, I will fill the holes and repaint the lid but until then, I got the idea after putting up some paneling with wall rivets that they were the perfect shape for filling the hole. I didn’t want to use plastic so I decided to go to the lathe and make some. I ended up using the scrap from my original front struts that was left over from the ones I made (see other post for those). They were pretty simple to make and I think that they came out pretty well. Plus I just got a new quick change tool post and wanted to try it out. It made a world of difference. Here is a drawing of the part I plan to make. Facing and cutting through the old crud on the strut piece. Center drilling the faced end to get the center. Drilling out to so I can tap it for a 10-32 screw. Hand turning the headstock to tap the drilled bore. Doing it this way makes taping very easy and straight. Cutting down the shaft to .250â€. Finish cut on the shaft. Cutting off the part. I couldn’t do this with the old tool post holder. Flipping the cut off part around to cut the head diameter and put a taper on. Finished parts. Primed and painted semi-flat. Using the laser cutter to cut out adhesive backed rubber disks so that I won’t have metal to metal and it will seal the hole. Cap with rubber disk installed. Installed. They almost look like they are supposed to be there.

I have a laser cutter/engraver that I can cut very precise objects with. They make a plastic specific for lasers that has a brushed aluminum look. I can look into it if people are interested. Jim

Me and my buddy used to have a saying when we would hit the car swap meets. "Just because it's never been done, doesn't make it cool!" Like others though, I can appreciate there skills. Anyone know what the aluminum foil looking stuff that they put on the body was for? Jim

I assume that, that is the case. I also assume that the "keying" feature will only let the bulb in one way so that the one contact that goes hot in reverse will match the filament. I went to NAPA after work and the only had 1141 bulbs. They only have one contact. So I will have to try somewhere else. I wonder why they design the aftermarket housing to not use a single contact. Jim

Man, as a kid (And a s a big kid now) I thought that was the coolest maneuver. Garner and McQueen were my favorite actors back then. Jim

I just noticed this note on Mustangs Unlimited site for their housing. *The housing is being made with a dual contact bulb socket and includes a bulb. Use #TL1142 as a replacement bulb. Problem solved. Now I will be able to drive in reverse at night. Thanks, Jim

Yes, that is what Mustangs Unlimited shows too. But, the housings that I have and that they show are set up for a 1157 two contact bulb. I checked my housing for 12V and the one contact int the housing had 12V when I put the car in reverse. Jim

So my back up lights have never worked on my 69 since I got it. I finally decided to look at it the other day. I started with checking the bulbs. Hoping that they would be dead since this would be the easiest to debug. Well, the bulbs ring out on my meter, so they are ok. Then I noticed something odd. The bulb I had had one contact (1156) but the housing has two (1157) so when you screw it in it never makes contact. So I look up the housings and the bulbs from Mustangs Unlimited and they show a two contact housing and a one contact bulb for the back up lights. So, I guess I could put an 1157 bulb in but why would you want two filaments? I guess I'm just confused here. What bulbs do you guys use for back up lights? Thanks, Jim

Ooops, my bad, for some reason I thought it was a 390. Bring on the 351 shots! Jim

Very cool. Looking forward to some FE shots. Jim

Cool site. I need to paint a hood scoop and passenger side mirror Winter Blue. Cool to have another Winter Blue car coming. I tell you, I've had over ten Mustangs and I get more comments on this color than I did on any of the others. Jim

Hello all, Does anyone have or know the exact dimensions off the upper "A" arms? I'm specifically looking for: - The distance between the mounting holes - The distance from a mounting hole to the ball joint. I want to model this up in 3-D so I can see what the affects are of shimming the mounting points to correct how the front wheels move forward due to the Shelby drop. Right now my tires hit the front lip and it is annoying. I will share my results when I figure this out. Thanks, Jim

Hello all, Does anyone have a used ruined 69 disc brake spindle laying around? I'm noodling with an idea for modifying one and would like to experiment on a part other than the ones I'm running now. Any condition will work. Thanks, Jim

Yes it pivots, but you will not be able to do it by hand. It uses a rubber bushing and pivots only under suspension load. This is why some guys use a bearing spring perch to remove the binding of the rubber bushing. Jim

Hello Everyone, Does anyone have a good method for repairing the plastic on a console? I have a couple of cracks that go all the way through and need repair before I install it. Thanks, Jim

I got this sent to me from West Coast Classic Cougars. Sure it's a Cougar but most of the info is the same. Very good video with some good tips. Jim

Thanks for the feedback. I will look to make sure that non of the things you mentioned are issues. I'm in SC on business right now for a couple of days so I won't have answers for a bit. I do know that the lower joint sits where it is designed. The clmaping bold goes through the groved part of the shaft. I have the extra rack that I bought so I could swap it out. But the area where the lines hook up is clocked differently. I'm not sure if Randall changes this for pump line clearance or not. Did you make any changes to the rack you put in? Jim

It is pretty solid. I've driven it with the pump lines off and it handles nice. It seems like it is over powered, and bursts the lines. Jim

Hello All, So now that I have brakes, I'm onto the next issue. I have the Randall's Rack installed now. I'm using Randall's power steering pump too. The rack unit is a second hand unit and although the guy said it was never used, I don;t believe it. I had to by a reconditioned rack to get new lines that I modified to fit. They were ugly but they would work to see how well the system works. So I hooked up the power lines and it seemed to work until I went lock to lock and then the lines blew. I figured that they would leak since I worked them. The weird part is that the lines didn't leak where I thought they would. Instead they were bent in the middle. So... I went to my local shop and had them make me some new lines that were straight. I got the rack installed again and started it up and everything was good except the more I used it, the more it seemed to fight me to change direction. Then I went lock to lock and again it instantly bent the lines and pissed out all of the fluid. The pictures are of the new lines after they got bent. Has anyone heard of such a thing? I'm at a loss. The lines from the pump can only go on one way so I think they are right unless the guy I bought it from made them wrong. Can anyone who has a Randall's Rack tell me which port the return and pressure ports that go to the pump are? Any ideas or help is appreciated. Jim These used to be straight

It was the calipers being on the wrong side. I switched them a surprise, surprise, I have brake pressure now. Thanks for all your hep on this one. Jim

Grabber70, I think you got it right. I haven't had a chance to actually work on them, but I looked at them last night and yes, they are put on wrong. I feel like an idiot for two reasons, one, I assumed that the assy's I got were put on right and two I noticed I've been spelling brake, "break". I'm no English scholar but that is inexcusable. I hope to work on it tonight and will post an update. Thanks everyone, Jim

I'm not sure why a proportioning valve would have any influence on the breaks making pressure since it just controls the balance of how the breaks work together. This is something I was going to address later. As for the calipers being on wrong, is that possible? The calipers came mounted on the spindles when I got them. this doesn't mean that they are right though. I don't have a picture, but I will look at others to see if I have them on wrong. I think I might un hook the lines and plug the master cylinder to see if it build pressure then connect one line and check again then switch to the other line and check it again. This would help debug where the problem is. Thanks, Jim

Hello All, Man, this one has me stumped and frustrated. Background: -My car had four wheel manual drum brakes. -I bought a set of used stock front disc brakes. What I've done: -I put the new (to me) brakes and spindles on. -Put new flexible lines on. -Put new hard line in in drivers side and passenger side up to the coupling. -Used the old master cylinder to bleed the brakes and ran it for a little bit and it locked the fronts because it was for a drum brake set-up. -Bought a new master cylinder for manual disc brakes. -Bench bleed it on the car. -Made new hard lines to the junction block. -Vacuum bleed the brakes by myself. With no luck. -Had my friend help me bleed everything again starting with pass. rear. We tried several different methods. We don't seem to see any air. After all this, I still have no pedal. It goes to the floor. You can pump it and start to get some pressure but the as soon as you let off the brake it's back to the floor. I've never had this much trouble trying to bleed brakes. I don't see any leaks anywhere. One weird thing is the new master cylinder doesn't have a catch for the clip that is on the push rod like the manual M.C. did. I do not have a proportioning valve can this be the problem? I'm not sure why that would cause me to have no break though. Any help is appreciated, Jim

That would be great. Thanks, Jim

Yes you can. Most of the FE stuff is interchangeable.