1969_Mach1

According to Fel Pro tech support, I was told the 1011-1 head gaskets require retorquing after the first heat cycle. They had a specific procedure and I don't know if I recall it exactly because I didn't want to do it. I would definitely check with Fel Pro but I think it was something like this, doing one bolt bolt at a time in the torque pattern break the bolt loose then retorque to the full amount. Sounds easy until you realize you have to drain the coolant and remove both the rocker arms and exhaust manifolds. As far as the torque on the rocker arm studs, I don't know if this matters but my studs are ARP and 60 ft. lbs. sounded high to me for that size of thread but it worked for me. **** I just checked ARP's web site, for their rocker arm studs for the 351w with cast iron cylinder heads they specify a torque of 55 ft. lbs. with a thread sealant on the threads, 45 ft. lbs. on aluminum heads and still using thread sealant. Good Luck

Well I decided to try the kick panels I have with the 4x6 speaker pods. I was surprised the 4" Blaupunkt speakers I have fit the shallow pod without any modifications to the car. They are not the most shallow speaker available in that size at 1.75" top mount depth. The grills are a bit bulky so I am going to order a piece of wire mesh of similar open area from McMaster Car and try to fabricate smaller grills to replace these bulky grills Blaupunkt provided with the speakers. Since the E-brake pedal slightly interferes with the bulky provided grills, if making new grills works, I won't need to tweak the E-brake for clearance.

Well I decided to try the kick panels I have with the 4x6 speaker pods. I was surprised the 4" Blaupunkt speakers I have fit the shallow pod without any modifications to the car. They are not the most shallow speaker available in that size at 1.75" top mount depth. The grills are a bit bulky so I am going to order a piece of wire mesh of similar open area from McMaster Car and try to fabricate smaller grills to replace these bulky grills Blaupunkt provided with the speakers. Since the E-brake pedal slightly interferes with the bulky provided grills, if making new grills works, I won't need to tweak the E-brake for clearance.

You can maybe check with ARP. I followed what the machine shop told me. 60 ft. lbs. with the Form A Gasket Aviation sealant you show in the photo. FYI, In my 351W I also used the 1011-1 head gaskets you show in the picture and a Fel Pro performance intake gasket. They work good but according to Fel Pro support those head gaskets need to be retorqued after the first heat cycle. Also, Fel Pro told me both those head gaskets and intake gaskets are not intended for long term use. I eventually replaced my 1011-1 head gaskets with Fel Pro 9333-PT1 head gaskets. Fel Pro told me the 9333-PT1 is a heavy duty perma torque gasket. A lot of people use the 9333-PT1 and I have had good luck with them on a 10.7:1 CR 351W. My Fel Pro performance intake gaskets would eventually wick coolant and deteriorate around the coolant passages after about a year. I eventually swapped out the intake gaskets with an Edelbrock version that is designed for long term use. They look identical to the Fel Pro performance intake gaskets but the material feels different.

You can maybe check with ARP. I followed what the machine shop told me. 60 ft. lbs. with the Form A Gasket Aviation sealant you show in the photo. FYI, In my 351W I also used the 1011-1 head gaskets you show in the picture and a Fel Pro performance intake gasket. They work good but according to Fel Pro support those head gaskets need to be retorqued after the first heat cycle. Also, Fel Pro told me both those head gaskets and intake gaskets are not intended for long term use. I eventually replaced my 1011-1 head gaskets with Fel Pro 9333-PT1 head gaskets. Fel Pro told me the 9333-PT1 is a heavy duty perma torque gasket. A lot of people use the 9333-PT1 and I have had good luck with them on a 10.7:1 CR 351W. My Fel Pro performance intake gaskets would eventually wick coolant and deteriorate around the coolant passages after about a year. I eventually swapped out the intake gaskets with an Edelbrock version that is designed for long term use. They look identical to the Fel Pro performance intake gaskets but the material feels different.

My ammeter seems to operate as yours does. I don't know how accurate it is. Plus I have a 3G alternator on the car which is much quicker at responding to electrical load changes than the original with a mechanical regulator. That will further reduce ammeter gauge movement. Check Rocketman's Classic Cougar Innovations, http://rccinnovations.com/ . He does gauge work on Mustangs as well including the ammeter to voltmeter conversion. There is a description of how the it functions as a volt meter. I've seen him also post some answers to gauge questions in this forum.

My ammeter seems to operate as yours does. I don't know how accurate it is. Plus I have a 3G alternator on the car which is much quicker at responding to electrical load changes than the original with a mechanical regulator. That will further reduce ammeter gauge movement. Check Rocketman's Classic Cougar Innovations, http://rccinnovations.com/ . He does gauge work on Mustangs as well including the ammeter to voltmeter conversion. There is a description of how the it functions as a volt meter. I've seen him also post some answers to gauge questions in this forum.

I've never noticed a metallic in the black paint on the lower dash. Maybe it's so subtle I missed it. I only have two 1969 Mach 1's that I am familiar with that have black interior. The one I currently own which, although not running and driving when I bought it, was in original condition, and another a long time ago owned by my older brother. The later Mach 1 was only 10 years old when he bought it and other than a repaint on the exterior and after market wheels, it was most certainly still original. On both of these the lower dash looked like a semi gloss or satin black without metallic.

I've never noticed a metallic in the black paint on the lower dash. Maybe it's so subtle I missed it. I only have two 1969 Mach 1's that I am familiar with that have black interior. The one I currently own which, although not running and driving when I bought it, was in original condition, and another a long time ago owned by my older brother. The later Mach 1 was only 10 years old when he bought it and other than a repaint on the exterior and after market wheels, it was most certainly still original. On both of these the lower dash looked like a semi gloss or satin black without metallic.

Sorry Pakrat, my list is small. Well, I guess I will include GT's. I just forgot about them. I mean no offense to anybody, but I've never been a fan of convertibles of any type. Unfortunately, I have a narrow list of Mustangs I really like. Basically, the list consists of 1969 and 1970 Mach 1's and Boss Mustangs.

Well, do what is best for you, but here is my opinion. I'm more of a purist. On a Mach 1 or a Boss Mustang I would go back to the original color regardless of what it was. If it was a base model coupe or fastback a color change would not bother me. Mine is Meadowlark Yellow, it's nice but not my favorite. The painter was also a purist and I am glad he talked me into using the original color. I also used an Acrylic Enamel paint instead a two stage urethane paint for more authenticity which I am happy about. I'm not a big fan of urethane clear coat finishes on older cars that were originally painted with enamels.

I know the pad is different.

My interior was original untouched black. I don't know exactly what black but it definitely had no metallic in it. The only area I know of a blue metallic in the interior are the gauge and clock faces of the deluxe interior.

I like SEM products for interior paint. I used a paint gun to spray all the large pieces including the lower dash all at one time. Then spray cans later for smaller pieces as I came across them. The results are the same. The color I used was Landau Black. I don't know if it's correct but it matches the black vinyl on the seats better than the Satin Black. I have also used Satin Black a couple of times when I ran out of the Landau Black. It's hard to distinguish the difference in color. SEM also has a Satin Clear that produces a nice finish. I recently used it on a couple of small parts. If I was to repaint everything again I would definitely use the Satin Clear over the color coats on everything. FYI, buy more than you think you need. It gets applied in very light coats so it takes two or three more coats than you expect for good coverage and not affect the grain texture of the interior parts.

Those are my thoughts as well Dave R. I have no personal experience with motors making 550 hp so I cannot gauge if what he is experiencing is normal. I would guess eventually the filters on the breathers will become oil saturated then the oil mist will occur on the valve covers around the breather area's. Even with two breathers I would look into adding a PCV. Maybe somebody else here knows more, but I thought kind of a side effect benefit of the PCV system was reduced oil varnish and sludge build up inside the motor.

Exactly what Cruzzar said. Make sure the car is on the ground as it normally sits when you tighten that bolt. Hard to do on the ground but it must be that way because the rubber bushing is designed to twist and return as the control arm moves and not designed to slip inside the sleeves. If the rubber breaks loose from the sleeves it is pressed into you can have a horrible squeak.

These washers are needed to attach a sway bar to the control arm. I think they are technically called anti-sway bars. The two large cup shaped washers go in that large diameter hole. One on the top and one on the bottom side of the control arm. You will notice the shoulder at the small diameter side of the washers fit into the hole on the control arm. The sway bar end link bushings fit into the cup shape of these washers. If you have no sway bar save the washers for possible future use. But, a sway bar is a big help to reduce body lean when cornering.

Thanks miketyler. Based on what you installed, a 4X6 or smaller speaker with a top mount depth of 1.75" or less should clear the window mechanism and fit.

Glad to hear it was a simple solution! One thing for certain, it's more motor than I can afford, or would consider building for that matter.

That is interesting. Usually see that on race motors. Will a PCV not flow enough air in some cases? I wonder what would happen with two breathers and a PCV?

I agree, have a spring checked. I'd always use a single spring with a damper over a single spring without a damper if the spring rate, seat load and open load is correct for the application. Believe or not, in a pinch I've checked spring loads with a bathroom scale on a drill press and using a steel ruler for measuring lengths. I've been within a few pounds of what the machine shop measured.

I have a manual transmission. So leg room is less. I currently have the kick panels with the smaller pod that fit a 4x6 speaker. They fit the car better and look better than the kick panels with the larger pods for 5.5 inch round speakers. I've tried both. Here are the issues even with the smaller speaker pod kick panels. First, the pod is very shallow, so the only speaker I have found shallow enough to fit without cutting sheet metal on the car body is by Retrosound. If you look closely there are structural steel members in the kick panel area. So selecting where to cut in that area might be critical. Second, even if I install Retrosound speakers, they have to be top mounted and the grill will interfere with emergency brake pedal. I can possibly heat and bend the emergency brake pedal to clear the speaker grill. So, before cutting and bending I wanted to explore door speakers in close to, or in the original location and was hoping others may have had success fitting speakers in that area. These kick panels with speaker pods are almost another case of an aftermarket part that simply doesn't work.

I wonder what brand those are? The reviews I read for Retrosound range from sounds terribly, crackles all the time, to magnet fell off immediately after installed. The only thing I have read positive about Retrosound is they fit in small spaces. I want to use something else if I can.

I hate to say, but people that work with Holley carbs and from what I've read state if you need to rejet by more than a three sizes it's probably the wrong carb for the application. I wonder if somebody else already rejetted this Avenger leaner than from Holley to try to tune it for another motor? Juit may want to check the stock jetting in the back of his Holley book.

I am installing front speakers in my 1969 Mach 1. I am considering either in the kick panels, or doors panels in close to the factory location. I want to install with the least amount of modifications to the car, meaning cutting of existing sheet metal. I don't want to give up the fresh air vents so that option is out. So far either the kick panels or doors will require sheet metal cutting. And the kick panels may also require tweaking of the E-brake so it is still usable so I don't want to rule out installing in the doors yet. My question is: if I go with door panel speakers, it looks like I need 4x6 speakers because the original flat grills are needed to clear the window cranks, but what depth will fit? If in the doors am I stuck with Retrosound speakers because they are shallow or has anybody been successful fitting other brands?