SA69mach

Good question, and I should have covered it. My experience was with the 429 BB spring (not 428) available through Oreillys, believe it or not. My suspension guy uses them on his mustang builds, so that's what I got. On a 70 coupe with stock engine, no AC, No PS. The installed height was 1.5" inches high for my liking. I cut exactly one coil and this dropped the car 1 inch. I did not cut more, as I wanted the stock look for this car. There may be a science to this, but as you have found, even the so called experts with their years of spring making , and thousands of example cars to reference, they still often make horrible choices for springs for customers. It is almost unbelievable how bad they are. Take Eaton - they have a great rep, and they make lots of springs, but they sent you two completely unsuitable sets. Even after getting all that information from you for the second set. My advice, is select a spring rate that suits your engine (and car) and stick with it for your height selection. Every time a retailer or springmaker starts meddling with different coil numbers, wire thickness and height, it gets messier and more unlikely that you will get a fix. As you have found.... It does help to have a baseline spring to work from, rather than a custom spring from one maker. For example, I know I need a BB429 stock spring with 1 coil cut off. I can get one of those springs anywhere. if I want a lower front, I will cut 1.5 coils off. The spring rate does not get noticeably stiffer until 2 or more coils are cut, in most cases. A 420 lb spring is mid-range with plenty of scope for higher rate by cutting a coil, without becoming stupidly stiff. I would try your "old" BB spring as it is and check height, then go ahead and cut as required. Half a coil at a time if you like, until it is perfect. Measure and record every time you cut. You can transfer that final height to your "new" Easton spring and you should be right on. And you will have a spare set of front coil springs too.

Thanks Doug, and 1969_Mach1. Good info. I like the leather wrap. So, both of you have manual steering but with the 16:1 box. That would make a 15" wheel a help. I did some mock ups and some stripping of the old rim today. I will be modifying the center pad and trim as required. But not tiil I have the grip bar welded in place and the grips scales ready to fit. So, heres a few pics. The rim blow switch was fused at the center connections (both of them) and came out of its groove easily. Hard and useless I cut out a mockup grip, 14 inches outside diameter, and 7/8th inch wide (1/4 inch wider than stock) I cut away the plastic cover from the three spokes and tried it in the position, as if I were to weld it to the inside of the grip. Note how high it sits, which reduces the 'depth' or 'dish' considerably After removing the entire plastic grip scales, you can see the grip framework is a metal bar, on edge. This provides good strength for low weight The spoke arms are welded to the very outside edge of the 'ring'. Sorry , no good pic of that. Now, placing the mock up 14 inch grip on the INSIDE of the wheel shows very little loss of "depth, or dish" on the wheel. I think this will be the best position to fit the new grip, so it is very close to the same reach for the driver. bad pic, sorry So that's all for today. I don't think this will be a suitable wheel for a 16:1 manual box. Been there. done that. With anything bigger than 205 tires it will be brutal. This is for Mach 1's with 16:1 power steering. It will help with leg room, for sure.

Check out the front springs on my 70 coupe when I got it. I was told it was a Mexican suspension job, whatever that means... Cutting a coil looks kinds tame professional and scientific to that mess, now, doesn't it?

You have 300 lb springs, which are mid range for spring rates, and should prove effective with a Cleveland. I would not hesitate to cut a coil off either the old BB spring, or the newest spring from Eaton. Cutting one coil will not increase the spring rate more than about 10 lbs. (Done it, measured the change - 6 lbs increase for me with one coil off a 420lb spring) The spring rate is fine, so just cut the coil to size. You simply will not find an exact spring to suit you exact height for your exact car. Don't sweat the issue of cutting it, Cut until it is about 1/2 inch taller than your desired end-point, and give it a few weeks and 100 miles to let the settling process occur. You are almost there. Stick with it. And you have two sets of suitable springs to work with. Send the shorties back to Eaton if you can. I just do not understand the agonizing folks have over cutting small amounts off springs. Millions of successful operations every year, so why worry. You realize the common method for setting height was (and remains for some folks I guess) heating springs with a torch and bouncing the car down until it was "right" Now that will affect the temper and spring rate. Cutting is not a big deal. One coil is negligible for rate change. Especially if you are not on a spring which is at the very top of useful rates, such as a 600 lb spring.

Your currently installed springs are 300 lb linear rate springs, right? (From your post last year) What size spacer? With that spring and spacer, you have 23 inches fender height, right? If your new springs are 300lb linear rate then it is a matter of mathematics to get your height with the new springs and no spacer - If they are the same spring rate, then remove a spring from your car and lay it alongside the new one for measuring and trimming. Take overall height of old spring, plus the spacer, and mark it. Add two inches and again mark the new spring. Add 1/2 inch for the settling of your old spring. Mark that height on your spring. Then double check the measurements and markings. It may add up to 27 1/2 inches. Don't worry until you have done the measurements of the uncompressed springs, side by side. Remember your old springs have already settled. The new springs may be right on the mark. I hope this makes sense..

I think you are on the right track What year Mustang?

you can make a test tool easily. link here - 10 dollar , 2 hour investment. http://1969stang.com/forum/index.php?/topic/52736-make-a-tool-to-test-your-gauges-easy/?hl=%2Bmake+%2Bgauge+%2Btest

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking 14 inch , but 13.5 is just as easy. Timber scales for the grip would seem to be the best option. Laminated scales are stable and look good when properly stained and polished. The first wheel arrived this afternoon, and the rim is in poor shape, delaminated in many places, about 40% of the perimeter is split and warped. Rough measurements of the plastic rim I make at 5/8" wide, and 15/16" at deepest (highest) point of the finger grooves. I took the measurement of the overall diameter and was surprised to see it was 15 7/16". Slightly bigger than I understood it to be (I always thought 15") Height from the large plastic mounting ring to top of grip scales is 5 13/16". I have to keep that dimension close to stock, to maintain a similar reach of the oem wheel. No more than 1 inch variation. I took a measurement of a 93 Z28 wheel at 14 1/2". Also slightly larger than I expected. I will post some pics tomorrow, but at this point it is just a worn out Mach I bare wheel. I intend to remove the plastic scales and metal ring tomorrow and mock up a couple of grip sizes for testing.

I have bought a couple of 69/70 Mustang/Cougar steering wheels on eBay, in pretty poor condition, for the sole purpose of manufacturing some 14 inch wheels, but still dressed as our beloved Mach1 rim blow wheels. It is a pity they pull so much money, since even the scrubby examples I managed to get are expensive. Crazy when they will be test-bed items for fitting and finish choices. On that point - let me know if you have old wheels you no longer have a use for. At this point I will focus on 3-spoke wheels, but eventually I believe it wil be possible for me to create a 14 inch Mustang rim blow from a decent 2-spoke center hub. (By replacing the two spokes with the three spoke arrangement)/ Opinions needed for rim thickness, and material, and finish The wheels are a steel framework with a phenolic/plastic type resin molding applied over the framework. The rear hoop of the rim is the same color to match the interior trim (Black, Red, Blue, Green Ginger....etc) The front hoop is artificially grained and painted to resemble wood grain. The rim is almost universally regarded as too thin. The wheel diameter is 15 inches, and many feel it is clumsy and too large for modern driving styles. No 14 inch wheels are available commercially to mimic the rim blow style and trim levels. The available options for the rim material are timber, or "resin" with many versions and options for that process. At this early stage I would like opinions on desired sizes for the rim thickness and material finishes. Rivets or no rivets? I intend for the rim blow switch to be incorporated, of course

My 69 Mach1 has no particular problems in the front end, but it is just a little vague and soft, compared to my 70 coupe. So, like all Mustang owners who cant leave things alone, I have pulled the trigger on some upgrade parts. I am hoping to make it a substantial improvement over the 70. The 70 is a good example of how a stock car, with stock suspension parts, can be set up as a very solid and reliable performer. For the 69 - from Opentracker.... Roller LCA Blueprinted UCA's with the 'cheater' improvements (secret stuff) Roller spring perches - agonized over these for quite a while, so I hope they are worth the money. Shelby drop coming up, of course. Thanks again to ChelbyAnn for the free template ! In an effort to improve the driving enjoyment, and to increase steering ratio speed, I have also bought this 'bump steer kit' from Pro-Motorsports/Dr. Gas. Not so much for the bump steer, but for the shortening of the tie rod pivot point on the steering arm. This is another variation on the Shelby Quick Steer effect. But instead of lengthening the pitman arm/idler arm, it is 'shortening' the steering arm. It will be interesting to see how much effect it has on a car with 16:1 box and Power steering. http://www.drgas.com/Ford-Bump-Steer-Corrector-Kit_p_19.html

Sounds like your sending wire is grounding somewhere along its path from gauge to sending unit. A gauge that pegs immediately to HOT is sure sign it is grounded. Check the entire length of the wire in the engine bay and through the firewall for rub-thoughs, burns or breaks. Next, you need to test the resistance value of the sender unit in the manifold. As depicted above, take a resistance reading from sender tip - ground with the engine cold. In ohms, you are looking for around 78 ohms. Warm up the engine and monitor the resistance values with the ohm-meter. If your temp sender is a 'gauge' type (and not an "on-off" switch style) you should see a linear change in resistance values as the temperature of the engine rises - the ohms will get lower, and hold steady at something like 33-45 ohms. That is a test worth doing and reporting. We can go from there... One thing to note is you ought not run your gauge on "pegged hot" for any extended period. It can damage the gauge internals.

Nice description. Not just the repair, which was very interesting, but how the rim blow is designed and operates. Thank you.

The hood tachos are available on eBay, and they look great. I have read that some owners have had some condensation issues with the eBay items, so you might want to try some careful waterproofing/sealing of the unit, before installation.

"OH No, Meester Ridge. You have beeten us. Ay Ay Ay. No beuno"

Thing is with a tale like this one, I cant tell anyone because they would call me a liar. "Feller is making a copy of a Shelby hood to fit a conventional fender line, nearly finished and then a swarm of bees invades. Neighbor wont move them and this feller cant get to his shop because of the bees......" See what I mean.? I wonder if NPD has issues like this. Ridge, are you sure you just didn't take a week off to go to Vegas, and had us all on the hook waiting for the hoods?

Hmmm, Pretty sure my paint code is correct Black Jade. Marti report: But my stripes are black. Perhaps should be Gold? I always thought black stripes on a Black Jade car is just way too subdued. You cant hardly see the stripes, except at night when they shine. It would be nice to know if they were black stripes from factory, but I am not losing sleep over it. I will be going gold stripes.

Umm, that CJPP kit is for Manual brakes, and clutch. He has power booster brakes. The kit is a shaft for both clutch and brake pedal. A suitable solution is a roller bearing clutch kit from Mustang Steve, or similar vendors.

I have an identical set in my 68 Camaro SS in a 6 hole dash insert, and they are really great. Highly visible, accurate, easy to calibrate the speedo, and yes, they do look great.

Perhaps not to everyones liking, however, I use the Sun tach 'copies' on my Mustangs. they are pretty close to the cheesy period look, and they work just fine. I have a couple cars with top shelf Autometer tachos, plus full gauges, and unless you are racing, and have a manual transmission, they can end up being more of an accessory than a vital gauge. Don't get me wrong, I love gauges in my car. I find the cheesy tacho suits me just fine in the Mustangs. before; after 40 bucks everywhere. throwback, homage, copy....it is made for the old muscle car look, and works for me.

Not a bad idea as long as you are cautious. First thing is to identify the MC and the bore size. You may have to take the MC off the car and dismantle if you cannot identify it by casting number or some discussions with SoT. It is likely a 1 inch, which is a safe bet for either manual. or boosted brakes. 1 inch is a bit hard to push in a manual brake system. Once you know, you can downsize. There are a few factors involved, so you wont know until you have the new Mc plumbed in. I firmly think 7/8th inch bore is too small for 4 wheel discs. 15/16ths will probably work, but you just cant be sure. Not much difference in those two sizes, but you are looking for the smallest bore that will provide the fluid volume to work your brakes. Other alternative is to put on a booster with your current MC, also a good idea, and you will have no doubts about the functionality of your brake system.

Is the error in the hole position in the door skin, or incorrect alignment the inner structure? I would be interested to know how the rods line up and reach the door handle position. Also, if you reverse the payment via credit card, will you be returning the item to laurel mountain? What are the obligations? I know you are not happy, just wondering what is supposed to happen after a credit card reversal.

http://mustangattitude.com/cgi-bin/picsearch.cgi?modl=Mustang&year=1969&cond=normal&excl=pastel+gray&incl=All&rfcl=All&roof=All&ownr=All&emai=All&loca=All&vinn=All&post=All&sett=All&show=All&view=exterior&optn=&comm=&page=1 Sorry I thought I posted this last night , must have hit the back button by mistake. I like the color, it is different. Might be hard to sell quickly, you would need to find the right buyer, and to be honest, most folks are not actively looking for Pastel Gray. So it better look good in the flesh.......right? Maybe ask a paint shop to do a small mix and spray a couple of panels or those rounded forms they have, and take it from there. NOT MY THUMBNAIL PIC.

That is designed to work with the stock Mustang brakes, as they have low requirements for fluid volume. Easy to push in a manual system, being such a small bore size. Beware using a 7/8 bore with wilwood, or any 4 or 6 piston calipers with high volume requirements. I learned the hard expensive way chasing this issue. Power or manual, makes no difference with volumes. What brakes do you have for this MC to work with? Any designs for bigger/better calipers in future? Honestly, they don't work any better, they are just lighter and look cool. The 4 bolt top plate, with the little allen bolts are finicky too. If you are not racing, maybe not much gain there.....

Yep, looks like I had it mixed up with the glove box light from the 67/68. Looks a bit the same here is a link to a pic. http://www.lamustang.com/ShowItem/102022%201964%20-%201968%20Mustang%20Glove%20Box%20Lamp.aspx

I bet you will have plenty of tips and info to help others. I have installed a few of the map lights and repaired the harnesses for my clocks, that's the only reason I know a little about that set up. I also looked into the standard glove-box light, like you. It will work, but it is not correct, or as 'cool' as the proper light. Do you have the clock harness? The map light has direct plug-in connection to that harness. I have seen pictures of both those harnesses in other posts. You will need that plunger switch, regardless of which light you install. Here is a pic and link to a re-seller of the repop map light. Note it does not come with the plunger, but you can see the large-bullet female plug that goes together with that plunger switch.. http://www.cjponyparts.com/deluxe-interior-map-light-assembly-with-switch-1969-1970/p/DLL10/ The switch allows you to turn on the map light whenever you want, without opening the glove-box. (Big technology in the 60's, I'm sure.......)