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indianfiremach

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Posts posted by indianfiremach


  1. The Cougar dash will fit, though I'll stick with the restored original setup I have. My first car was a '69 Cougar XR7 convertible, and we still have two now - a Gulfstream aqua '69 XR7 convertible and a black '69 XR7 hardtop. Over 10 years we owned about as many '69 Cougars, keeping the best parts and cars in the end. There's not much available aftermarket for these, so it often takes a lot of upgrading over the years to make a nice car. Our convertible will be on My Classic Car with Dennis Guage in a few months.


  2. Working on more parts this weekend - the devil is in the details! Redid the carpet on the fold down, re-using the original chrome. I was tempted to go new but the original cleaned up pretty nice. I've been wrapping all the parts in cellophane once I'm done since who knows how long until they'll be put back on.

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    Also had a guy respond to an add I had up looking for '70 Mustang parts. Bought these out of a dilapidated barn, with hay and everything (mostly spiders). That's a 70 Cougar XR7 dash, '70 "COUGAR" AM/FM Radio (anyone know where to get a new radio face?), Mustang AC vent, NOS "Mach 1" stripe kit for the trunk, 9" rear, and even a Motorcraft sign from the dealership he worked in. I felt like I was on American Pickers pulling all these parts out of the barn.

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  3. Thanks all for the comments - I enjoy following yours as well. I'm considering changing the name of this thread to "What I bought on craigslist this week" but I'll keep it as-is for now. That said, a few finds for the car:

     

    3.50 28 Spline Traction lock, rebuilt

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    After all the work to acquire and clean up the '93 Cobra T5, I come across a T5z priced right with the bell and Pro 5.0 shifter. Will likely use this one to take advantage of the 2.95 first gear and deeper overdrive.

     

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    And check out my groovy new door panels! As ugly as the upholstery is, the woodgrain, door lights, pony emblem, and chrome trim are mint w/o any pits. Picked them up for $40 and guy probably thought I was crazy to buy them at all. Been sitting in a garage 20 years. Got a teak set for a '69 from the same guy as well.

     

    photo5_zps67daac2e.jpg


  4. I never have got around to getting a Marti report for my car, guess I should and find out for sure.

     

    Here's a pic of my Mach1 launching hard on drag radials at around 4000rpm, in an attempt to get it into the twelves. This is on a stock T5 out of a 1990 5.0GT, the clutch is a Ford Motorsport King Cobra, the Cleveland was putting out around 380BHP.

    As the car was set up for open track events it had very little weight transfer so couldn't really make use of the drag radials, and would run the same numbers on street tyres, grippy street tyres, I use yokohoma A539's on the street.

    This pass did hurt the clutch a bit, had to slide underneath and adjust it back in the pits, the Cleveland eventually mashed up a bearing and is being rebuilt, the T5 is waiting to be refitted.

     

    strutrodmount001_zpsa138e77f.jpg

     

    Thanks for the info! Can't believe you're running that on a stock '90 T5. Gives me hope...


  5. I kind of thought this kind of money/time/labor would be involved, every time I look at mine I can only imagine. Once you had the to bare I was curious how you got all the different pieces. Thanks for the details.

     

    Seems like everyone on these boards seems to "luck" into t5z without buying one from the name brand sites. I feel as though this will never happen to me in upstate NY but dang it I will hold on hope.

     

    Great build.

     

    Thanks for the interest! It's been fun so far. I'm looking forward to getting it on the road again. Probably won't spend any time on the strip like UK Mach but I can't wait to be driving down the interstate and drop it into 5th and cruise on down the road.

     

    I may have ended up with a cobra t5, but I had to buy three to get me there! All from different sellers. Sold one of the t5's already and now I'll be listing and selling the other one. At the end of the day, I'll have about $300 into the cobra t5 and shifter shown above considering what I get out of the other ones. I've spent some time on Craigslist/eBay and sent a lot of $ out the door, will be good to see some come back in (and into the hands of my bodyman...)


  6. I bought the T5 locally going a guy going to auto in his '93 Cobra. He had hurt his leg and it was hard for him to drive stick shift anymore. I verified the vin # stamped in the case to make sure it was the correct trans for the car. People on Craigslist like to call any T5 they have a "cobra" T5, which more often than not, means a 4 cyl T5. I then cleaned it thoroughly and installed the steel retainer to finish it off. I would have liked to buy a new T5z, but with everything else I'm doing on the car (which is literally everything) I wanted to try this first. If the trans ends up not working out I can rebuild it and sell it and probably still get all my $ back out. From what I've read, if you want to run a Cobra T5/T5z behind something more stout than a 302, the following is important:

     

    Don't race it - check

    Don't use sticky tires - 14" Radial T/A's don't count, right?

    Aftermarket shifter w/stops: as above

    Stock clutch: clutch will slip before the trans can break itself

     

    I'm not sure if those are true or mustang forum "old-wive's-tales." I'm more after the long-distance cruising potential of this car than any kind of racing.

     

    As far as the rocker trim goes, these have been a bear. The set that was on my car was riveted on with 40 or so rivets - total overkill. So I hunted down a core set that was the best out of a friends collection of 50+ pieces. $250 later, I had the set media blasted and primed. They came out nice and I could have spent a little more time with "Ever-coat" glazing or something similar, but decided they were clean enough to sand and paint. I used the paint from NPD, one can did the whole set. Too bad I bought four! I bought new Mach 1 emblems from Scott Drake / CJs Pony Parts, I think they were $120/pair during their "up to 30%" off sale. Next is the chrome trim on top, which MustangDepot has the best price on currently at $205+ship. I'll wait until they have a coupon code to negate the shipping. I have at least two sets worth or straight, restorable trim, but they will oxidize if I polish them myself and sending them out will cost a fortune.

     

    And of course, as soon as I spent all the time/$ restoring the set for the car, I find a guy selling these along with a lot of other parts. D'oh! I bought them anyway, will end up finding a new home for them later but for now they're a good guide for mine. I really like the "brushed" edge to the fins on these. Not sure if they came that way but it's a great look.

    IMG_3363_zpsc780140f.jpg


  7. Looks good. I was thinking about going with a T5z too, but didn't think they would hold up behind a 351C. I'm anxious to see how it works for you, so hurry up and get it on the road. :scooter: LOL!!

     

    Hopefully it will be back together soon - though it doubt it! I probably won't see it from the body shop for another 3-4 months. My hope is to have the mechanical, interior, and trim parts all sorted out buy then.


  8. Spent some time in the shop doing some misc cleanup projects - one of them being the '93 Cobra T5 I picked up. I didn't think the 87 GT T5 I had would be up to the 351c, so I stepped up to this one. Also put in an upgraded steel bearing retainer as used in the T5z. The shifter handle is off my Dad's 73 which had the factory Hurst. Drilled two new holes, and working well. I wish they made the Hurst "T" handle with the 5 speed pattern.

     

    IMG_3343_zps747c2779.jpg

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  9. If you want to see what something sold for "best offer" in eBay, you just search completed auctions and sort by price. You can approximate the sales price by the items above and below it. Based on that, this car sold for a lot closer to $18k than $1. But if the buyer here is happy, that's all that matters.


  10. Looks like a good find - and mostly original. The 4v / 3 speed is an interesting combination, seems to beg for a 5 speed conversion. I like the color combination, would be nice if it had a few more options. These cars are very expensive to restore - I should know as I'm doing one now. I would think you would need at least 12k to do a "nice driver" restore on that car, and more if you wanted add options like power steering, power disc, toploader, etc.


  11. Thanks for the info guys! I ordered the Jacquard kind I linked to above, apparently it bonds to nylon much better than the RIT kind.....so I'm hoping less of it will rub off or fade over time. I've read the RIT also makes the belts pretty stiff, but thats just from my forum/google searches.

     

     

    You can't believe everything you read on web forums - the belts do not come out stiff at all. Though ironically I'm typing this on a web forum, so take that with a grain of salt. But I've used the RIT dye for years and never had any fading, stiffness, or color rub off. You do need to rinse them thoroughly, but you just can't be in a hurry. After all, RIT dye is used for clothes - how would they sell it if it made clothes stiff and the color ran?


  12. Yes, I used Di-Noc. It's a good product, takes time but the finish overall looks very good. I'm going to clear the back and strip where the chrome ring goes. I could do another one it a LOT less time, I definitely learned a lot doing this one. Spending $450 to have the wheel redone was out of budget for now, I'm only $20 into parts (chrome ring and paint / JB weld) as I already had the Di-Noc around. If you want to talk about it further PM me for my number, there's some tricks that make it a lot easier that I only figured out after I got the woodgrain on.


  13. I have a set of deluxe belts that I plan on putting in my car to replace the aftermarket ones the PO put in there. The buckles on the belts look pretty good but the webbing is pretty dirty and faded. Curious if anyone on here has cleaned and dyed their belts before? Any tips? From what I've found acid dyes are typically better and Jacquard is a respected brand. Its pretty cheap on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Jacquard-Products-Acid-Dyes-Oz/dp/B0009IG11A/ref=pd_sim_sbs_ac_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1EXJ3C1P2TK3XHD2FWKM

     

    I was thinking of using that, but was curious what you did to clean the belts good and how you handled the white tags on the belts? Also did you just dip as much of the belt in the dye as possible since they are still attached to the retractor and buckle?

     

    I've been doing this process for years with excellent results:

     

    1. Disassemble buckle and repaint plastic buckle parts

    2. Polish chrome (and try not to get polish on the webbing)

    3. Clean belts thoroughly by letting them soak in a bucket or your sink. Use detergent, dish soap, etc.

    4. Rinse belts thoroughly in a sink

    5. Dye with RIT fabric dye (available at walmart) in a lightly boiling pot for 10-15 mins

    6. Take belts out and rinse them thoroughly. Then do it again. I leave mine to sit submerged for a while and change out the water when it starts to become black.

    7. Hang to dry and re-assemble

     

    The resulting color is deep and the belts are left nice and smooth, fabric is still very strong. You can dye belts that are faded, other colors, etc, but don't waste your time with torn or rusted belts. The RIT dye does not adhere to chrome, metal, or plastic. As far as the tags go, if they are good, remove them with a stitch ripper (also from walmart), place them in a light bleach solution for a short period of time, and remove. You won't lose the black lettering and you'll get out some of the yellowing/dirt. Re-sew them back on when you're done.


  14. Update - took advantage of nice weather (79!) to get some misc parts cleaned up. It's amazing how many parts there are for these cars. I have a guy locally blast and prime most of my parts, which I then sand down, prep, and paint. Lot of detail work but it feels like I'm getting closer. Here's a few of the parts laid out, in addition to some new wheels for my other project, a 1952 John Deere pedal tractor my dad got new when he was 6.

     

    photo32_zps4b56d1b5.jpg

     

    I also tried my hand at restoring my rimblow wheel - very difficult! It had a number of cracks on the back, but was overall decent. Many hours went into this one - I watched a video on youtube about it but their solutions didn't all work for me. The channel where the chrome ring goes was a huge PITA to clean out and didn't leave a smooth, even section to lay the new chrome ring, so it had to be totally rebuilt. I used JB weld for the cracks 3M Di-Noc for the woodgrain, and HVAC tape for the chrome ring. Plus a bunch of misc paint and primers.

     

    photo2_zpsbd389756.jpg

    photo4_zpsd481bbec.jpg


  15. I love your confused shaker set-up. My 70 351 4V Cleveland mach1 has a shaker on it, trouble is the base is off a 428CJ car so I am not so sure its a factory shaker or the bits were taken off a dead 428 car.

    The shaker did not sit central in the hole in the hood so I had to drill new mounting holes slightly further back, it now sits nice and central.

    Can you tell if the car was a factory shaker anywhere?

    I also use a T5 out of a dead 90GT without any problems, only use street tyres and you will be ok. I've done loads of quarter mile passes with no problems, just treat the T5 with respect no power shifting or anything like that.

    Good project, I'm enjoying it.

     

    My car was a factory shaker car per the Marti and Ford Invoice. Did you order either of those for your car?

     

    That's good to know about the T5, people had me so paranoid about getting it all together and then blowing the trans that I bought another one out of a 93 Cobra, similar to the T5z. Will have to eBay the two T5's I already bought, as well as the two extra shaker setups.

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