1969_Mach1

I've never worked on an Avenger, but don't forget, is possible the Avenger carb has smaller air bleeds and possibly smaller or fewer emulsion bleeds than the older 4160. Those will cause it to run richer than the older 4160 when using the same main jet size that was in the older 4160.

If it were mine I would perform a cylinder leakage test to verify the ring sealing condition. It sounds like you drive the car fairly hard. I have no personal experience with a 408 or even a 393, but obviously the longer piston travel is going to wear rings faster than shorter stroke motors. If the leakage test is okay, then proceed to solve the high crankcase pressure issue.

I bought these kick panels from NPD. https://www.npdlink.com/store/products/mustang_kick_panel_speaker_set_no_speaker-137971-301.html I like them, but still trying to work through the issues so the speakers fit well. I'm still considering drilling the hole for the magnet to recess into. It will solve all the issues. I saw the thread on installing the speakers in the fresh air vents. Nice clean solution. I'm not ruling it out. I don't know if I want to give up the vents yet.

Yes it is. I remember seeing it on the Tachmans website for advertisement. The 45 year old instrument panel design still look great. Even when compared to todays instrument panels.

69volunteer, I have the kick panels with the smaller more rectangular shaped pods that holds a 4 x 6 speaker. These kick panels are the same outside dimensions as the original kick panels. I originally tried the panels with the larger tear drop shaped pods that hangs down very low and holds two separates or one 5.5 inch round speaker but they looked horrible in the car. But, since the pod on mine is only 1.5 inches deep it appears the only speakers that are shallow enough to fit without modifications to the car body are Retrosound. If I install something else an extender ring is needed which adds to interference issues with the emergency brake pedal. The other thing I noticed between the two kick panels is the panel with the larger tear dropped shaped pod interferes with the emergency brake pedal. Where at least my panel with the smaller pods doesn't. Regardless of kick panel, the last thing I noticed is who ever designed these things absolutely didn't consider the fact the speaker grills are larger than the speakers. Therefore, the grill hangs over the outer edges of the pod. Ideally, if I drill with a hole saw a 3" diameter clearance hole in the car body behind the kick panel for the speaker magnet then most any 4x6 or smaller speakers will fit into my kick panels. Plus then I could possibly use a flat grill of perforated metal and the finish would be cleaner. I not sure if removing metal from that area of the car is a good idea? Since Ford left that area mostly solid I don't know if it provides any structural support for the car? If I could install a 4x6 or smaller speaker in the air vent area and keep the air vents that would be the cleanest installation. That's just a thought, I haven't even looked into that yet.

I have thought about your second suggestion and am I am leaning that direction. I have 4" Blaupunkts that will fit better than a 4X6 simply because I can offset it in the pod moving it a little further from interfering with the E-brake pedal. I'll mount the speakers then work on fitting the grill as flat as possible. I hadn't thought of trimming the plastic perimeter part of the grill.

Industrial supply stores that sell bearings, gears, electric motors, etc. often make hydraulic hoses. Good Luck

If there is already a hose installed that fit correctly and you cannot match it at a parts store, take it to a shop that makes hydraulic hoses and they can probably make a new one by copying it. Sometimes they can reuse the old ends if they have nothing new that matches.

I have the kick panels with the smaller speaker pod that hold a 4x6 speaker. I like the panels, they pod's are small enough to not be obtrusive and look correct in the car. Since they are made for a 4 x 6 speaker, they should also fit a 4" round speaker as well. Questions: What speaker is shallow enough to fit? Retrosound is the shallowest but have poor reviews. Also, what type of speaker grill is flat enough to not interfere with the emergency brake pedal? I guess it's possible there is something subtle wrong with my emergency brake pedal. I have Blaupunkt 6x9 speakers in the back and was hoping for the same brand in the front, but now I don't know if that is attainable. I went this route for the front speakers because my Mach1 did not originally have door speakers, so I prefer to not cut up my doors and new door panels.

From my experience, as great as -An fittings seal, I'd wonder if they seal well enough to contain R134A refrigerant. It is difficult to contain and factory connections in R134A systems typically have two and three o-rings adjacent to each other for this reason. It's been an issue for older R12 systems I've converted with threaded fittings that utilize a single o-ring or no o-ring.

Hard to say if a stock upper control arm in the original location will hit the bump stops with 620 springs trimmed enough to lower the car 2-1/2" to 3". Without seeing it I would lean toward yes. Actually, a 620 cut that much with a stock suspension may not stay in the spring saddle when the suspension is fully extended. I guess a shorter shock could cure that. There is also the possibility of not being able to obtain the correct camber angle.

Thanks, I didn't want to be the one to say anything. I'm pretty sure Perogie's knows of others that they use.

The reverse eye might be too far with the front only lowered 1 inch. I had to exchange my 5 leaf reverse-eye springs for 5 leaf mid-eye springs for that reason. Mustangs Plus was good at exchanging the leaf springs. For reference, in the front I have the old Grab-a-Track 720 1 inch drop coil springs (now discontinued) and lowered the upper control arms 1 inch. I want to add a negative wedge kit, but they are pricey for what you get.

For replating, I would call Perogie Enterprises. They can give you the contact info for the plating company they use. Otherwise, there are now reproduction bezels. But if you're like me, I prefer a fairly good original over a shiny new reproduction part.

ksquared, It's just as barnett468 mentioned and your picture shows, flat silver where it currently is and not chrome. In my opinion most are left chrome (1) because of the masking labor, or (2) they haven't seen a bezel that still has the original flat silver paint in that area. Again, when it is finished only thin chrome edges that are exposed. The clock bezel has the identical paint/chrome scheme.

I thought the motor was on a test stand as well. Now, its unknown.

Max Power, In todays market you are correct. These were done a long time ago, (1) I got a break on the labor rate, (2) an extremely experienced machinist at the mfg company I worked for performed the machine work for screw in studs and guide plates free of charge, (3) it was my free labor to do the port work under the guidance of the engine builder, and (4) at the time the only aftermarket heads available were much more expensive than todays market.

ksquared, You have the paint scheme correct. Get ready for hours of masking. After it is finished there are only thin lines of exposed chrome. Little tip when painting. After hours of masking, before you spray color, spray a coat of clear and let it dry as you normally would. It will l help seal the tape edges and if any bleeds through, it will be clear. SEM has a few different clears for interior plastic trim. In my opinion, the finished product still looks better than an after market bezel and gauge setup. I don't think there is a DIY kit for plating plastic. I think it's some type of Mylar coating.

Well, I've read you installed the 2 inch system. This is merely my opinion. My choice would have been to keep the headers installed and sell the 2 inch system to recover some thing from it. Then replace it with a 2-1/4 inch system and possible X-pipe instead of an H-pipe. Mufflers and sound is your own preference. If low end torque is a concern, when the budget permits, consider looking into a larger cubic inch motor. Maybe a 351W or some stroked derivative of it based on the 351W. There is a large low end torque difference between the 351W and the 302. But then 2-1/4 inch exhaust could be marginal for a larger motor.

That's correct, because of the geometry, the moments do not apply a bending force to the bolts. However, it will add tension to the bolts and a local bending force to the shock tower in that area. Like you mentioned the downward spring force will help to counter act it. But the design has added tensile forces to the bolts and some local bending in the shock tower that previously didn't exist. But, like I mentioned in my previous post, it may be strong enough.

I am a Mechanical Engineer and I agree with RPM. Moving the the mounting holes centerline and shaft centerline to different planes just added Torque (or Moments) on the mounting bolts and the shock tower in the mounting bolt area that didn't exist before. It may be strong enough, but not a good design idea.

Well put RacerX. Too often the size of a carb is solely based on the simple math of calculating cfm at the estimated max RPM without any other considerations. The result is a carb that works but is slightly too small. Finally, somebody also mentioned the benefits of annular boosters as well. Holley use to have an online carb selector that considered a few other factors as well and was a little more thorough.

That's exactly right! I run 1969 C9OE castings because I couldn't afford new aftermarket heads at the time the engine was being built. Under the engine builders supervision I spent a lot of time opening up the exhaust ports and removing the casting bump on the roof that is used for the smog pump on later years. The intakes need very little in comparison. You will still need to have a machine shop install larger valves, hardened exhaust seats, new valve guides or liners, machine for screw in rocker studs and guide plates, plus machine for valve springs if your camshaft requires a double spring (mine didn't). With a 1969 casting, the end result can be pretty good for a stock casting cylinder head. Plus the 1969 castings have the smallest combustion chamber, 60cc, for a 351W and are the most sought after for stock castings. I'm happy with mine.

It's been since high school, 30 yrs. since I messed with points. Is the distributor old? I ask because I remember on a couple of cars having to replace the wire that attaches to the points, passes through the distributor housing, and connects to the negative side of the coil. I think this was referred to as the primary lead wire, its more flexible than standard electrical wire, and used to be available through Napa. The short section inside the distributor will go bad. Also, have you placed a test light, connected to ground and touching the negative side of the coil, while cranking to see if it blinks on and off indicating the points are triggering the coil? Since you already verified 12V on the + side of the coil, a light on all the time indicates an open in the circuit between the negative side of the coil and the points. A light off all the time indicates a short to ground in the circuit between the negative side of the coil and the points, an open in the primary windings in the coil (bad coil), or a shorted (bad) condenser. Both of these conditions can also be caused by the points not opening and closing correctly, extremely out of adjustment. Fairly straight forward, when points are closed current passes through the primary windings in the coil and a magnetic field builds around the windings. When points open, the magnetic field collapses, and through Faraday's law of induction, induces an electrical current in the secondary windings that ultimately connect to the spark plugs through the plug wires, dist rotor and cap.

Thanks for the info. I don't want to hijack this thread so I'll keep this short. When I get a moment I'll try a cooler heat range spark plug. Maybe with that I can also advance the ignition timing more. The cylinders are bored 0.030" over. Both myself and Ross Racing calculated the static compression ratio at 10.7:1 with my combination of parts. Lastly, my headers are JBA and ceramic coated but not wrapped.