SA69mach

Might be the output shaft has got a bend or a twist. Depends on what sort of action and work it has been put through, since it takes a lot of tq and hp to twist a shaft. What is the history on the transmission? Seems the engine is smooth, which is a relief for you I am sure. As mentioned, hard urethane mounts can induce a harmonic (which can in turn become a felt vibration) Your pinion angles seem good. I hope you don't get a trans puke or out of control shaft..... Good luck. Probably worth the effort to isolate the problem. Maybe smarter to try a new yoke first, but it is your call. It is not fun tracking down a vibration.

Remove the driveshaft and yoke from the transmission and run it again. see if the vibration is in the flywheel/flexplate area, or the transmission. If you still have the vibration with just the engine and transmission connected, then you can eliminate the driveshaft and all the drive line behind it. If you have it with trans and engine connected, then keep looking and dismantling until you have the problem isolated as much as possible. I guess you have taken off the belts and fan in the engine bay and checked all that end?

The 16:1 ratio box on the PS Mustang works better with the 14 inch wheel, in my opinion. I will not be going back to my original 15 inch wheel. The 14 inch gives better control, feels "right"

I would suspect the coil. New or not, it is the common item, for both spark and tachometer signal. I have had a pertronix ignition module 'fail' due to incorrect gap setting, and it will not 'repair itself ' after cooling off. A bad coil will usually go bad after heating up, and often work again after cooling off.

The 'Ford licensed' just refers to royalty payments to reproduce the part, or in this case, the font and the term 'mach1', which belong to Ford. For the stripes, I prefer to get USA made, and 3M quality vinyl. I bought these off ebay and they were fine. http://www.ebay.com/itm/69-1969-Mach-1-Stripes-Kit-COMPLETE-FORD-LICENSED-/331347409395?var=&hash=item4d25d839f3:m:mNMm_Rfe509H56tb4vrgKOA&vxp=mtr

To add a simple explanation for this question you have asked a few times - ie- will adding vacuum advance cause too great a total advance at high reve? - No, it will not add vacuum advance to the mechanical advance in a simple sum total At idle, the engine is producing the highest vacuum. Low revs = high vacuum. The vacuum advance takes advantage of that situation when moving from stopped or low speed/low revs. It is where you most need your engine's torque. Advancing the timing at that exact moment helps power up the vehicle. That is the sole task of your vacuum advance can. Now, as the engine revs climb, the vacuum in the engine dies off, quickly. The vacuum advance dies off So that is the point where the spinning distributor applies the mechanical advance. If you like, think of it as a two stage process. First stage, the engine utilizes the vacuum and there is very little or zero mechanical advance because the distributor is spinning so slowly. Second stage is at higher (2000) revs the engine runs out of vacuum, but the distributor is spinning faster. There is obviously an ideal transition from vacuum to mechanical, but that is what tuning is about. Getting it set to the limits and transition points. That is in simple terms 'curving the distributor' The term refers strictly to setting the mechanical portion of the advance, but you can see the vacuum is an important part too. Having an adjustable vacuum can is a big help for tuning the transition, but not essential with stock Ford parts. They are built to specs that work with each other and the engine. The vacuum advance is not simply added to the mechanical advance. The total advance you see at 3000-3500 revs is ALL mechanical, and the TOTAL. Vacuum advance is completely null by 2000 revs, so don't sweat it. Hope that answers your question and puts you at ease with concerns about excessive advance numbers.

I have used the Meguires plastic polish, and it worked fine. I know there is now a lot of these polishes being sold. I assume they all use similar constituents and particles to polish the modern headlight plastics, but it works on all the plastics I have tried. Jeep turn signals, Subaru headlights, old Mustang tail lights annd side markers. Meguires Plast-X. About 7 dollars at Walmart and I think you can find it at any Auto parts store too.

Very nice. Well done and thank you !

Mine are currently flat white, but I found some nice chrome effect paint that I will be using when I get a chance. The stock tail lights lack brightness, so anything reflective is a bonus. I tried a few different paints and one was easy to apply and really shiny compared to the others. Pays to test and see what works best for you.

The 69 and 70 cars will benefit greatly from a stock rebuild of the UCA's and LCA's. Keep in mind the UCA's on offer from many suppliers can be improved with some careful alignment in the bushings. If you already have yours, then so be it. I would recommend the 'cheater' UCA's from Opentracker if you want accurate bolt-in items. The Arning drop is a free upgrade for these cars, and will give immediate improvement in performance. If you have your arms out, then why not do it? A 1" sway bar will also give much improved handling. This will give best results when combined with mildly heavier spring rate and lowered if you wish. 600 lbs is high end for street car. 500lb is sporting. 320 would be a minimum rate IMO. I do not prefer lowering cars beyond 1 inch, plus the 3/8" to 5/8" the Arning drop provides. Good shocks make a massive difference, and improvement in my own cars. Cant praise the Bilstein shocks enough, as they are just great. As stated, the LCA alignment shim kit is good insurance for your money. Also the heavy duty Export Brace. Monte Carlo bar too, if you wish. Alignment specs are key for these cars. Using the BOSS 302 as a guide, most folks find great STREET results from: -1 Camber (1 degree negative camber) 2.5 - 3.5 Castor. 1/32 - 1/16 toe in. (drivers side/pass side) There are many other things you can do, especially when you find worn parts, like strut rod bushings, steering linkage bushings, rear spring bushings, etc. But for front end work, this will be inexpensive and guaranteed to work nicely, and eliminate that 'horror drive' situation. You will need to have some rust loosener, some standard tools, spring compressors, some 'never seize' paste for assembly. Grease gun. torque wrench. Probably other things. You might consider welding in some gussets from the frame to the shock tower too. That gives great strength to the shock tower and very little cost and work.

Thanks for posting. Some nice items, well made with modern material. Nice to have the option for a go-to shop I like the BOSS 302 throttle bracket. And the 69 FMX kickdown.

Although I am not in the mix of this group purchase, the FiTech unit is creating a lot of talk and similar group purchase ideas on other forums, Corvettes, Camaros, etc, In fact most muscle car groups are wanting them too. At present, there is a tight supply, and a small back-order developing from FiTech. Some vendors like JEGS and Summit have stock. The cost can be set off in two ways. Summit offers a 10% rebate on some items and some circumstances, so those with a 10% voucher will benefit. I also see that Fitech are now offering a rebate separately. That could total a 20% discount after both rebates. here is the rebate (from JEGS website) March 1 to May 31. http://www.jegs.com/rebates/fitech/rebate.pdf Might be worth going it alone and get a 20%. I think the original idea of dealer status and group purchase has become too complex now. There are difficulties for the "dealer" that are an unfair burden for a single purchase.

I already did that with my first small wheel, and it was less of a nightmare than what I anticipated. The switch is a rubber tube with two copper strips inside, one above the other. They are kept separated by a half rib . One copper strip has little ridges. When you squeeze the rubber the two strips touch, and makes contact, When you release the pressure, the internal rubber ribs push the strips apart. To shorten it you measure carefully the required length (during a test fit in the groove) and then slice off the rubber from ONE END, leaving the copper exposed. Don't cut any copper yet. Then carefully pull the strip into place, along the length of the switch, so that each end of the rubber has one terminal end, flush. You will now have a shorter rubber tube, two terminal ends flush, and two long strips of copper sticking out EACH END. Trim off the excess plain copper strips, and bend a small piece of copper strip over then rubber end to finish, just like the factory. I doubt you could do it with an old switch - the rubber is brittle and stiff, and the lubrication inside the switch is long gone. You would be likely to snap the copper strip somewhere inside the rubber.

Good choice in my opinion. I really like the look of the original rim blow wheel. I just don't like the large size, the spindly rim, the stink from the plastic, and the feeble and finicky horn switch. You are right about the cars wearing out when you use them. They go bad if you don't use them, though! How do you like it to drive with? The wheel size, and grip etc. Do you have power or manual steering?

Looks great Ray. Did you fit a horn button of any kind?

You have to assess the amount of slack after fitting. If your engine has a rough idle or moves around a lot when running you need more slack so it does not affect throttle during cornering, acceleration etc. Pretty sensible stuff. Cable is more forgiving than the rod assemblies, of course. Likely you will be ok. Depends on your current set-up.

stock scott drake stainless pins. The 70 already had some skanky pins installed with R-pins. I replaced them in the same holes, since a new hood was not in the budget. So it is a 70 with 69 pins. this CJPP video shows it better than anything I could produce. However, I already had the pins located on the radiator support, so I did not use the hood bumper bracket, as shown in this video. Exact same pins. I think I will be getting another set for my Mach1.

West Coast Cougar has one for the 351W and FMX. I am sure other places will too. The link shows a photo for reference link:http://www2.cougarpartscatalog.com/69fmxplate.html cheap one on ebay too http://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-1973-Ford-Engine-Block-Spacer-Plate-289-302-351W-351C-Bellhousing-Plate-/322016307371?hash=item4af9aae8ab:g:blkAAOSwLnlWmXOi&vxp=mtr

sure. Of what ?

too bad. Hope your weather improves soon.

The Scott Drake stainless set. Nice enough, and they are copies of the oem Ford pins. here is a pic from the web.http://images.cjponyparts.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/h/d/hdpk22.jpg

Installed new stainless steel hood pin set on the 70 coupe. Now they make the originals on my 69 look like dirt. Another job on the list..... Changed out a blown brake light on the 69 Mach 1. Big day :) But I had to remove a busted throttle cable from my GSXR1000. Then drive across town to get a new one, then reinstall it and adjust it. That killed my day. I had come from a 120 mile ride, and the throttle cable broke 200 yards from my house. Lucky...in one way.

Pure issue of personal taste. I would not. I like the original design and colors. You have the real wood grain of the timber grip dominating the overall look. Nice job Ray. Are you going with a center horn button? Or rim blow switch?

There is a pic near the bottom of page 1 of this thread. Installed. Pine in unsuitable for this work, It is high in resin, which makes steaming and water content difficult to deal with, and the timber structure makes it prone to splintering and snapping. Lots of knots and imperfections, which add to the problem. You can use what you like, but I would not recommend any pine, fir cedar etc. Hardwood is fine grained, straight grained heavy and hard. Ideal for steaming, and forming. Finishing work on hardwood is slower, but you rarely get splits and splinters, even after tight curves. Plus making thin laths of timber strips is near impossible with any pines, and they just wont bend without snapping.

Looking good Ray.