Kris

Has anyone on here rebuilt the frame for the convertible top? What did you do for the frond header when it has some wear to the cast aluminum? I’m thinking epoxy unless there’s a better option. Mine has some wear but isn’t beyond repair like most I have seen. It’s mainly at the front edge only in a few spots. Also how did you replace the tack strip that goes on the header. It looks to have been riveted on but was already worn off of my car when I got it. I have the new strip but want to see how others have attached it as it’s not regular rivets holding it on. I know on the rear it’s just staples.

You guys are correct, not sure what I was thinking. The manual steering pitman arm has a stud like a ball joint and the power steering one just has a hole that the stud on the control valve connects to.

Not a problem. I figured the 1”x1” foam would be to thick since the original on my car was only 1/8” thick. Good to know that the hood bumpers are the same as I seem to have misplaced one of mine.

Do any of you have AC and are using a fan shroud? If so what fan are you using? I have a 20” champion aluminum radiator and was going to use a flex fan but it’s to big to use with a shroud. Looking for ideas. My stock steel fan is also to big to use with the shroud to give the optimal 1” clearance all the way around. Looking for ideas before I just ditch the shroud.

The pitman arm will be reused but the idler arm is different if your going with a manual steering center link.

Thanks Midlife. Since I’m not using the voltage regulator as I’m going with a one wire alternator with it built in do I need to attach that to anything?

Ok that’s what I was thinking on the green wire but was thunking I was missing something. I think what you are thinking of on the red and black wire is the terminal that comes off the alternator harness. This is on the main under hood harness. The black wire is original so that is the correct size wire. The red one was originally black/red stripe of the same gauge but was damaged so I repaired it with red I had. The second picture shows the other end of the red wire at the alternator plug on the main harness where the alternator harness plugs in.

I’m trying to weed out the last of my engine bay wiring and I have a few left that I don’t know what they go to. I have the ford wiring diagram but it’s not much help on these. So I have a black/red stripe wire that is going to the alternator plug for the alternator harness. It comes out if that plug and is tied to a black wire that has a round terminal on it. The diagram shows the black/red stripe but not the black that’s tied to it but when I look up a picture of an original harness it’s there with the round terminal. My wire was messed up so I had to replace part of the black/red stripe wire with the red and the round terminal as you can see in the picture. Where does this terminal go? The other weird thing I have is on the voltage regulator plug it has an orange, then 2 green/red stripe and 2 yellows wires. The diagram in my manual doesn’t show two green/red stripes. On my green/red stripe wires, one of them has a female bullet connector on it and I can’t find anywhere that shows it’s even supposed to be there or what plugs into it if anything. I know it’s original to the harness but am lost on it. What is it used for? I’m assuming some option my car doesn’t have or something that was removed before I got the car. It’s the plug that circled in the picture.

Not any up close but I haven’t put the top frame back on yet. If you get me a picture of what your talking about I will look at mine to see where it goes.

That’s what I was thinking was it was just using it for a signal to turn on the MSD. I wasn’t sure if moving that wire off the coil would affect anything on the gauges since it’s in the gauge feed harness.

Here’s a picture I found of the lower foam piece that goes across the bottom. It went all the way across but most of it fell apart when I took the molding off. But you can get an idea from the pictures.

Yes the seals were original to my car. It’s not really a grommet, it’s basically a spacer to keep the stainless trim at the correct height from what I could tell. There’s one that goes on each side. It almost reminds me of the hood to cowl bumper but looked funny because it’s flat on the one side due to age. I know the original owner to my car and I’m the first person to take it completely apart. It has 53k original miles and was last driven in 1974.

Here’s a picture I took when I disassembled my car. There’s also a small piece of foam that goes along the bottom of the windshield that goes under the clips. That part is 1/4” thick by 5/16 wide according to the picture I took for reference.

I have the 6al box. The directions for my box show to hook it up that way but wanted to make sure before I cut the 90* end off my new gauge feed harness.

I have a few wiring questions. I’ve installed a MSD box on my car and have a magnetic pickup distributor. I need an ignition wire to hook it to. I’m think it would be the red/green stripe wire that was originally on the coil +. Is that correct? My second questions is that on the MSD it has a white wire that can be used for a kill switch. Per the directions you run it to a toggle switch or button and then to ground. When you turn on the switch and ground it the car it will crank but won’t start. Do I need to use a specific amperage switch/ button for this? Ok my last question is what is the best wire to use for an electric choke? I’m also using a one wire alternator so Im not using the voltage regulator if any of those wires would do.

Progress was a little slow the last month or so. I injured my right hand and couldn’t really use it. Back to 100% now and making progress. I put the motor and trans back in yesterday. Today I installed the power steering, tri-y long tube headers, and the ac compressor / brackets. Also finished up some wiring, and installed the heater hoses.

First time painting a car. I’ve painted a couple motorcycles when I was younger.

Are you using standard bulbs or LED’s?

Original ones have a tube that is inside the torque box that goes straight up to the hole. Did you replace your torque box too?

This weekend I finished final prep on the fenders before pain. I also installed the fuel lines, drilled the hood for a Mach 1 style scoop, drilled the doors for mirrors, and painted then installed the hood hinges.

There’s a salvage yard in Tulsa called fraileys that has a bunch of 67-70 cougars they are parting out. They may have one. I’ve been meaning to go by there and see what they have but haven’t had the time.

Not sure about a 70, but I’m pretty sure there is no grommet in the floor. The cable goes through the floor into a tube in the torque box and comes out the back of it. My 69 didn’t have a grommet. There is a rubber piece of hose on the cable but that’s it.

The convertible frame for 1969-70 is not reproduced so you will have to track down an original one. They are pretty hard to find and usually sell for 500-2000 from what I’ve seen. The best source I can think of is ebay or a classic mustang salvage yard. There’s a few parts on eBay currently but no full frames. The top off a 1969-70 cougar will also work but is still hard to come by.

The messed up switches are actually fixable. I’ve don’t it a couple of times. Must of the time the only thing that happens is the copper strip gets pushed out of the little channel causing it to stay in contact with the other side. If you just pull the strip out and feed it back through it will typically work as long as the copper isn’t bent.