Midlife

Here ya go:

Yeah, us Engineers are also closet secretaries, which the Mustang was originally designed to be attracted to... Now then, if you're on the Concours Mustang site at all, you'd be amazed at the intensity of discussions about very esoteric part finishes. The latest one revolves around the distributor hold-down clamp "rivet" at the bottom of the clamp and what its finish was supposed to be. Now THAT'S geekdom!

I responded to OP's e-mail. If anyone else needs this info, let me know and I can post it here as well.

Once one goes to aftermarket wiring, all my knowledge pretty much goes out the window. I believe you're right, but I wouldn't throw out the starter solenoid until you're got a working system..

The above posts are on track: your gauge and sending unit need to match one another for sensitivity.

Rich: The factory tach is a current-sensing device, and all aftermarket tachs are voltage-sensing devices. The ignition system you're using has multiple sparks per cylinder, and the factory tach is expecting only one spark per cylinder, which is why it is readings are crazy. You need to contact Holly and see if they offer an adapter for the Ford factory tach, or *gasp* change your factory tach to an aftermarket tach.

You still need the battery apron starter solenoid to energize it with the ignition CRANK signal and to feed the coil with full battery voltage while cranking (although that may not be needed if you're running an ignition system that doesn't use the resistor wire).

I sorta agree with Det0326, but for a slightly different reason. The large wire going to the starter is always hot with your diagram, and unless very well protected against chafing and pinching, just adds another line that can short out catastrophically. Your design, of course, will work, and removes the starter solenoid as a potential failure point. I'd rather have a failed starter solenoid than a dead short from battery to chassis somewhere along the way from starter solenoid to starter (think bad motor mounts and rotating engine assembly). Both failures are unlikely and/or rare, but the risk of a short can cause much more damage. I spent my last 12 years doing failure analysis, system safety, and risk assessment for Navy helicopter systems, where reliability and safety are always top priorities.

Fantastic! I have to say that this forum is very lucky to have you around to explain all this cra...I mean stuff...that is incomprehensible to the rest of us. Thank you!

Pin 4 should be red/white

Let me understand the problem: without connecting to the brake lines, the pedal is hard and firm. Once the brake lines are connected and brakes bled, the pedal is soft and goes to the floor, right? I would first suspect a rubber brake line section is expanding under pressure due to it being old and about to fail. Have you replaced every single bit of brake lines? If so, is there any brake fluid leaking from any of the calipers or drum cylinders? No? Are the rear drums adjusted so that there is a very slight drag when the rear is off the ground? All of the above can explain your symptoms (if I understand them right) without resorting to the MC or booster.

Very nicely done. Still awaiting the write-up of how the voltage regulator works. Are you available for hire? I could use someone who isn't afraid of 'lectricity...

Yes, although the 69 does not have the black 158 wire on the turn signal.

It's also a very useful torture tool to extract information.

70 Wire coloring for the turn signal: 70 Ignition wiring (non-tach dash version)

I used used punch cards as book marks until the Amazon Kindle came out... They are also quite useful for ad-hoc length markers: mark any appropriate length you want and use it where metal rulers are either too big or aren't allowed. When going out to sea and measuring printed fathometer outputs, we used a ten-spacer to mark up punch cards that could be put onto the electrostatically burned paper and read depths down to 2 fathoms accuracy.

Actually, I use both! Now where did I put that pocket protector?

I need to raise my slide-rule as well...

That problem is due to a very bad design issue by Ford (which was corrected in following years). There are no true grounds for the side marker lamps, instead the lamps light up when there's a difference in voltage between the turn signal and the running lights. This means that the turn signal lines or the running light lines act as a ground and that there is voltage/current bleed-through from one to the other. This makes trouble-shooting near impossible. Bad Boy, Ford, Bad Boy!

Nah, they'll think it is one of those road runner birds.

Dang Whippersnappers. Wait until you're 69, and then I'll listen to your complaints. OK...who hid my walker? And you kids over there: get off my gravel front yard or I'll throw a cactus at you!

Now where did I put my copy of the "Anarchist's Cookbook"? Life's a bitch when you get old and can't remember stuff...like did I really shut down the 69 forum? Did I remember to put my teeth in so I can hear things? Why in the world am I wearing my pants backwards? *sigh*

I'm not sure that would work. Yes, you can bypass the turn signal switch for brake lights, and convert one bulb to turn signal only and the other to brake lights. The problem lies in the side marker lamps which don't have a true ground, but compare voltage of turn signals to running lights.

Turn signal and stop lamps are combined together in the turn signal switch. There's no easy way to disentangle the two when the two signals share the same filament. The stop lamp signal is a green wire, 2nd from the end on the bottom interior curve. The rear turn signal leads are green/orange (left) and orange/blue (right) at the turn signal switch.

That's it! RidgeRunner: you are hereby sentenced to spending the rest of the summer suffering in the California heat wave. Enjoy the AC while you can...