1969_Mach1

The carb pad height might be close to original. But, the Performer intake moves the carb forward quite a bit. That might cause interference with the distributor.

How did the CPP steering box fit? I looked at those and when I contacted CPP they told me the shock tower in the steering box area often has to be clearanced with a hammer for the steering box to fit. They didn't know why it fit on some cars but not all. That was the only reason I went with Borgeson which then caused it's own set of issues.

I wish I knew about the roller idler arm before I did the conversion. I would have definitely tried that first. Before the conversion I had changed from factory power steering to factory manual steering. I'm thinking eventually I'll remove the Borgeson power steering and go back to the manual steering setup. When I do, I'll definitely install a roller idler arm. When I did the conversion and came across the steering column shaft issue after collapsing it, I called Borgeson. Their response was they never installed the kit on a 1969 Mustang and have never heard of that issue occurring. I sent them pictures of the column shafts showing the plastic rings with a description of the issue and they acted like they could not understand what was occurring after the column was collapsed. In hindsight, I should have stopped there, returned everything and used the money elsewhere.

I installed a Borgeson kit on my 196 Mach 1, 351W and 4sp car. The car also has JBA short headers. I installed the Borgeson kit before Open Track Racing offered a modified Z-bar so I had to modify my own. It works just fine. My concerns with the Borgeson power steering: 1. When collapsing the column to fit the Borgeson steering box the inner and outer column shafts fit loosely and rattle. This is because the plastic rings Ford installs to lock the inner and outer column shafts together end up in a new position where they no longer serve part of their purpose. This thread by another member shows the plastic rings for the inner column shaft. Collapsible Steering shaft bushings - 1969-70 Technical Forum - 69stang.com and 1969stang.com The 1969 and 1970 Mustang Supersite 2. The steering for the most part does not return to center. This bothers some, but I'm okay with it. 3. If you want one finger Cadillac style power steering, then this will be fine. There is absolutely no road feel in the steering wheel. I tried reducing the pump pressure, but it's either Cadillac style power steering or no assist at idle. I likely would never do the conversion again. And if this ever has any issues I'll go back to the stock steering box.

It was originally thought the X-pipe would produce more hp. Some testing shows that the difference is small. I run an X-pipe and I will say the exhaust note is much different. Especially at idle the exhaust note is more mellow. If you have some type of performance cam it will sound more mild at idle with an X-pipe as opposed to an H-pipe. When X-pipes were first introduced the theory was the tubing for the X section should be the next size larger than the rest of the exhaust. I.E. 2-1/2" diameter exhaust would have a 3" diameter X. That's how mine is set up but I don't that that theory holds true today. Straight Exhaust vs. H Pipe vs. X Pipe! Engine Masters Ep. 22 - Bing video

If you can easily get the car to a muffler shop, then have them connect your existing exhaust to the new headers. Also, consider installed an X-pipe in stead of the H-pipe. I wouldn't think the JBA H-pipe will bolt to your Hedman headers.

On the front of the shaft for the countershaft cluster I applied a good amount of Ultra Grey silicone. It gets pushed against the bell housing anyway. But for that shaft, I didn't see anything to stop leaks. I guess Ford was relying on the fitment to the case to prevent leaks. Are you certain your trans is vented okay?

gcc6: Your Mach 1 is painted almost identical to one my older brother had back in 1979. One tip with after rebuilding the toploader trans, change the oil shortly after driving it. I wasn't aware that it's normal to get some metal shavings after a rebuild and didn't change the oil soon enough in mine. Metal shavings then destroyed the rear bearing and I had to do a second rebuild.

Don't know where to het those. I saw them when I had my column apart for the Borgeson steering box conversion. There are corresponding holes in the outer shaft at those groove locations. My thought is Ford would assemble the shafts and inject Nylon or Teflon, etc. through the holes in the outer shaft to lock the two shaft pieces together at the correct length. In an accident the plastic would shear so the column could collapse. After discovering that I will never use a Borgeson steering box conversion again as part of the process is collapsing the shaft which breaks those plastic pieces. If you leave those plastic pieces out, there will be play in the steering and a faint metal to metal clank will be heard as you jiggle the steering wheel. Short of getting another shaft that has not been collapsed yet, I don't know how to resolve the issue.

With those, even the close ratio versions have a fairly low first gear ratio. My thoughts with using a close ratio top loader 4sp in my Mach 1, I'd select one of the middle two close ratio versions and use something like a 3.50 or 3.70 rear axle ratio. The overdrive ratio will depend on how you want to drive on the freeway.

JBA short headers for a 351W and on a 351W fit just fine with a Borgeson power steering box and stock motor mounts. They also offer long tube headers for the 351W in a 1969 Mustang.

Is the fan a reproduction 5 blade fan? I originally had that type on my 1969 Mach 1 with a 351W and it didn't move much air, especially at idle. I found a stock 6 blade clutch fan from a 1969 Cougar with a 351W and installed it with a new Hayden clutch. It works much better.

Engine temps rising at idle is usually a symptom of insufficient air flow through the radiator. What type of mechanical fan setup does it have?

These cars will not drive and feel like a new car. It takes some effort on your part to drive an older car or truck. They are not as refined as todays cars and trucks. Using a new car as for comparison is not a good idea. In my opinion, aftermarket steering upgrades will not come with other issues.

Looks nice. What are you going to do for the fuel and temp gauges? Fuel gauge should be where the oil psi gauge is currently located, temp gauge should be where the ammeter currently is located.

My 2 cents. The price of these Tach instrument panels is going down as the demand for them goes down. The demand for these kind of dropped when the original optional hood mounted tachs started being reproduced. Fifteen years or so ago they were commonly $1500 for an original assembly that still worked. Then for one that was not working and needed rebuilding . . . still $1500. And nobody would part out unique gauges on these. So if there were one gauge or the speedo that needed replacing, it was tough to find it.

If your car has factory power steering long tube headers are a challenge to fit. A drop bracket is needed for the power steering hydraulic cylinder. The low cost drop brackets add significant leverage on the frame rail and over time pulls out or strips the nut inserts in the frame. There is an expensive drop bracket sold by West Coast Classic Cougars that helps prevent that from happening. The JBA short headers fit without any issues. The FPA long tube headers are very nice, but also very expensive. Many use Hedman Elite series headers. I couldn't tell you how well they fit. One drawback with headers is they add significant heat to the engine compartment. They also increase the interior noise from exhaust, but, most of us don't care about that. If your motor is stock and you plan to keep it that way I think I would consider stock exhaust manifolds and a good dual exhaust with an X or H pipe.

The MSD Pro Billet 8578 is 11/16" shorter than the MSD Billet 8584 distributor. But the 8578 has a cast iron gear so a gear swap would be needed. The Pro Billet 85786 comes with a steel gear. The height should be the same as the 8578, but, MSD doesn't specify it.

Those are good transmissions. Fairly tough in stock form and can take quite a bit of abuse. I'm sure there is a market for them, but I wouldn't expect to get what you have invested in it. Not because it's an FMX, but because that's the nature of this hobby. You'll have to wait for somebody that prefers more stock and a direct replacement parts and doesn't want all the issues and basically "side effects" that come with altered or modified stuff. What gear ratio do you have in the rear axle?

The correct manifold shouldn't be difficult to find. I've seen them on EBay. There's also Perogie Enterprises.

I see all the benefits of the copper nickel tubing. For this time, I think I'll go with the steel again. Like I mentioned, It still looks good since being installed in 1978, a coupe of them could be a little longer for better routing which is why I am replacing them. My only concern with the copper nickel is this, I finished the restoration of my 1969 Mach 1 back in about 2000. Since then as part of preventative maintenance I replace wheel cylinders, master cylinder, and calipers on occasion. and also flush the brake fluid. I don't want to wait for something to leak and dump brake fluid all over. I expect to also do this on this 1956 F100. I don't know how many times a soft copper tube end will survive installation and removal.

This one looks simple, that is the wrong exhaust manifold. Here's an image I found. The bottom manifold is the left (drivers) side and the top manifold is the right (passenger) side. I wonder if somebody installed 289 or 302 manifolds on a 351W. If so, both are wrong as the 351W manifolds have a larger flange for a larger exhaust pipe.

That changes things a little. Doing a little more research it seems there are different grades of the copper-nickel tubing which I wasn't unaware of.

You can get another Duraspark distributor then change the gear to steel. However, changing the gear is a little more involved than pressing a new gear on, align the roll pin holes and install the roll pin. The roll pin holes are randomly drilled. There are specific dimensions that need to be adhered to from the bottom face of the gear to where the distributor seats in the block. If those are off, the gear can either grind into the block or ruin the distributor. I use an MSD Pro Billet distributor in my 351W. I did have to change the gear to steel. But it has a smaller diameter and lower profile than the MSD Billet distributor. The taller height of the MSD Billet distributors will sometimes interfere with air cleaners on 351W motors. The MSD Billet distributors are taller than stock distributors. I think (not certain) the MSD Pro Billet distributor is about the same height as a stock distributor. MSD also offers a Cap-A-Dapt for the Pro Billet distributor so you can install a large style cap and rotor on it. One good feature about the MSD distributors over an original style distributor is the ease of adjusting the advance curves. If I had to purchase another distributor again, to save money I might go the Duraspark distributor route and change the gear to steel. Crane offers vacuum advance spring kits for Duraspark distributors that will give you some advance curve adjustments, but, not nearly as much as with an MSD distributor. On my other project with a 390 that is what I did, Duraspark distributor and an advance kit to recurve it a little.

Thanks for the input. I'd use stainless steel but I don't have a hydraulic or a Turret style flaring tool. I have a decent flaring too I purchased a long time ago from Snap-on but it's not capable of flaring stainless steel. I've read some small issues with the copper-nickel because it's so soft, like it will easily dent or bend. The current steel lines were installed in 1978 and look good. I'm changing them merely because the end of one has been bent several times to align it at the master cylinder and two others could be a little longer for better fitment. I think I'll go with steel lines again. They should last another 30 years plus I have the tools to work with it.