1969_Mach1

What happened on this site?  For the last coupe of weeks this site moves extremely slow and frquently hangs up when entering a post.  I can type two complete sentences before anything shows up on the screen.  Then sit back and watch each character slowly show up on the screen. I thought it was high internet activities due to the holidays.  But it is only this site. The only thing I have noticed is when the slow down occurs, there is some automotive ad scrolling on the bottom of the screen.
 
Anybody else notice this issue? 

What happened on this site?  For the last coupe of weeks this site moves extremely slow and frquently hangs up when entering a post.  I can type two complete sentences before anything shows up on the screen.  Then sit back and watch each character slowly show up on the screen. I thought it was high internet activities due to the holidays.  But it is only this site. The only thing I have noticed is when the slow down occurs, there is some automotive ad scrolling on the bottom of the screen.
 
Anybody else notice this issue? 

What happened on this site?  For the last coupe of weeks this site moves extremely slow and frquently hangs up when entering a post.  I can type two complete sentences before anything shows up on the screen.  Then sit back and watch each character slowly show up on the screen. I thought it was high internet activities due to the holidays.  But it is only this site. The only thing I have noticed is when the slow down occurs, there is some automotive ad scrolling on the bottom of the screen.
 
Anybody else notice this issue? 

For any press in type oil galley plugs, don't forget to stake the block in four places with a chisel after the pug is installed.  Otherwise, pretty good chance of the oil pressure pushing out the plug.
 
Priming hydraulic lifters before installing them can sometimes cause them to hold valves open. The motor then runs terrible and maybe pops through the carb until the lifters bleed down. 

Anybody use the Scott Drake brand labeled shocks?  Are they simply KYB Gas-A-Justs that are relabeled for Scott Drake?  They look a little different than the KYB shocks.  Are they a high pressure gas shock like the KYB Gas-A-Justs?  There is very little info out there for these shocks.  Thanks in advance for any info.
 
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sdk-c5zz18124hp/overview/year/1969/make/ford/model/mustang

Anybody use the 3/8" thick Scott Drake Polyurethane upper coil spring insulators.  They look nicer than other Polyurethane coil spring insulators.  But, I cannot get them to fit over the flange on the bottom side of the shock tower.  It seems the ID of the insulator is too small.  With brute force and no coil spring I can get them to expand a little and go over the flange on the shock tower.  But with the coil spring, they cannot expand any and will not fit.  One of them tore forcing it into place with the coil spring.
 
Questions:  Will these work with any coil spring?  Or will these only work with a Scott Drake coil spring?  Do all coil springs have the same inside diameter so they fit properly regardless of spring rate?  I am trying to install them on Grab-A-Track coil springs that Mustangs Plus sell rated at 560 lb./inch.  These have a wire diameter of 0.720".  The ID or OD is hard to accurately measure.  Has anybody else tried these insulators?  If so, with what coil springs?
 
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sdk-c4dz-5415-ur

Anybody use the 3/8" thick Scott Drake Polyurethane upper coil spring insulators.  They look nicer than other Polyurethane coil spring insulators.  But, I cannot get them to fit over the flange on the bottom side of the shock tower.  It seems the ID of the insulator is too small.  With brute force and no coil spring I can get them to expand a little and go over the flange on the shock tower.  But with the coil spring, they cannot expand any and will not fit.  One of them tore forcing it into place with the coil spring.
 
Questions:  Will these work with any coil spring?  Or will these only work with a Scott Drake coil spring?  Do all coil springs have the same inside diameter so they fit properly regardless of spring rate?  I am trying to install them on Grab-A-Track coil springs that Mustangs Plus sell rated at 560 lb./inch.  These have a wire diameter of 0.720".  The ID or OD is hard to accurately measure.  Has anybody else tried these insulators?  If so, with what coil springs?
 
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sdk-c4dz-5415-ur

I've installed both a new OEM switch and an aftermarket Carpenter brand switch sold through Scott Drake.  The aftermarket switch is much more sensative to damage during the installation.  Definitely follow the instructions on how to press the switch into the groove and use a lot of soapy solution.  Make absolutely certain the groove is clean clean clean.
 
One difficulty arises because apparently the groove on these plastic steering wheels gets slightly smaller with age.  Then excessive force is needed to install the switch and usually damages the switch.  I ruined one Carpenter switch before I found out about that.  Before installing the second switch I carefully shaved off a little material to make the groove a little wider. I used an Exacto-Knife and then wet sanded with some 400 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of a paint stir stick to remove any sharp edges or burrs left from the Exacto-Knife.
 
I checked both switches before installing them and out-of-the-box both were okay.  Installing the first switch that I ruined before opening up the groove a little required a lot of force and that popsicle stick they give you with the switch.  The second switch only required pushing with my thumb and finger nails along the edge.  So far, the second switch works okay.  That popsicle stick they provide with the switch is to push in the edges.  From my experience, I suspect, if you need more than your finger nails to push the edges in the switch will probably get damaged.
 
One last thing.  When you take the switch out of the box, the contacts are often not fully inserted into the rubber strip.  You can carefully slide the contacts to get them fully inserted.

Hey, that's usually my complaint!  I simply don't understand the reproduction market.  All the effort they go thorough to reproduce a part that doesn't quite fit or work and often simply will not fit or work.  I'd say patents will not permit identical copies.  But these parts are so old you'd think the patents have expired.  This is one reason why I settle for used parts if they still fit and function correctly even if they show some age.

Anybody use the Scott Drake brand labeled shocks?  Are they simply KYB Gas-A-Justs that are relabeled for Scott Drake?  They look a little different than the KYB shocks.  Are they a high pressure gas shock like the KYB Gas-A-Justs?  There is very little info out there for these shocks.  Thanks in advance for any info.
 
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sdk-c5zz18124hp/overview/year/1969/make/ford/model/mustang

They both seem to have the same style of mounting hardware.  The only difference I can see is the shape of the bar.  Summit has simple easy return policies and no restocking fees if you are not happy with it.  If Summit has what I am looking for I tend to buy from them for that reason and in my area their lowest cost ground shipping is most always next day.
 
6-in-1, half-a-dozen-in-the-other decisions are always more difficult for me.

The spring from the upper lever on the Z-bar to the firewall is the only spring that is intended to be the "clutch return spring".  The small eyelet it attaches to on the firewwall is on the reinforcement ring that strengthens the opening where the steering column passes through the firewall.  It seems lower than you would expect, but that's where it is.  It's actually easier to attach to the firewall eyelet from underneath the car.  The compression spring under the dash is an assist spring to help push the pedal down when applying the clutch.  It also helps a little to hold the pedal up but it's not intended to be a return spring.  Then, as you already noticed, the lower spring is to prevent the clutch rod from falling off of the clutch fork.  I think your free play adjustment is about right.  From my manuals, there should be about an inch of free play at the pedal.

I don't know what height people these cars were designed to fit.  It seems if you are 5'-10" or more there is not enough leg room.  There are these seat track extenders.  They will also raise the seat the thickness of the material they are made from.
 
https://www.npdlink.com/store/products/mustang_extenders_seat_track_custom_made_to-202272-276.html

The LeCarra and the Corso look good.  But, it's always tough to select a steering wheel that also fits into the interior.  You don't want to look at the end results and think, nice steering wheel, but . . . it kind of seems out of sort with the rest of the interior.  There are repro's of the original steering wheels.  An original fits with the interior.  But, by itself, the base model original steering wheel doesn't look as nice as these others.  Good luck.

Are you installing the correct seal?  Originally, 31 spline axles used a seal with a larger I.D. than 28 spline axles.  And the original 31 spline axle has a sleeve over axle that rode on the I.D. of the seal.  If you don't have that sleeve you might need 28 spline axle seals.  My 31 spline Moser Engineering axles do not have that original style sleeve on them so I use seals for 28 spline axles.  Back in the early 1980's my lder brother was purchased new Ford 31 spline axles (back then they were still available from Ford) and didn't get the sleeves for them.  He also used seals for 28 spline axles.  I would get axle seals for both 28 spline and 31 spline axles.  When you pull the axle next time measure the O.D. at the seal surface and also check the fitment of each seal on the axle before installing any one of them.  Return what you don't use.
 
I guess if everything I mentioned doesn't help.  I would measure the O.D. on both axles at the seal surface.  You might have a bad axle.  Lastly, the wheel rotates nice and straight without any wobble that would indicate a slightly bent axle?
 
Did the axle bearings on both sides go bad in less than a year or just the drivers side?  That's a bit concerning.
 
Does the drivers side axle bearing fit into the housing correctly?

First off, I don't have a shaker hood on my Mach 1.  I am thinking of using this repro shaker air cleaner lid for an 14"x3" open element air cleaner assembly.  I cannot find anywhere if it will fit a 14" air filter.  In pictures it looks larger than the stock 13-1/4" diameter filter, but I cannot determine if it will fit a 14" diameter filter from those pictures.  I called CJ Pony parts and they didn't know either.  Does anybody here with a shaker hood know the outside diameter of a shaker air cleaner lid?
 
http://www.cjponyparts.com/scott-drake-shaker-air-cleaner-lid-concours-1969-1970/p/ACL2/
 
Thanks in advance.

It will probably work, but I think those pictures are fairly correct in what they depict.  Looking at the unequal runner lengths on the stock intake is another indicator.
 
The for and aft carb pad position on the Weiand Stealth is very close to, if not the same as stock.  The Edelbrock Performer RPM is moved a little forward from stock.  The Edelbrock Performer, Torker II, Victor Jr., the Offenhouser intakes, and the Holley Street Dominator have the carb pad moved significantly forward.  Yes, I have tried many intakes on my 351W and fought air cleaner fitment with either the distributor or the hood.
 
Way back in the early 1980's when there were few air cleaner options, my older brother had a Holley Street Dominator on a 351W in his 1969 Mach 1.  He gave up trying to fit an air cleaner and drove it for about 5 years without an air cleaner.  Then sold it that way.

A couple of things thing to keep in mind is (1) lower cost pistons are heavier than higher cost pistons and (2) forged pistons will tolerate more detonation (pinging) than hypereutectic alloy pistons.  Heavier pistons, thus heavier rotating assembly, slows down the acceleration rate of the crankshaft.  However, many forged pistons use the narrower of the two ring widths.  I think the thought is the narrower ring width reduces friction between the rings and cylinder walls.  But it increases the potential for oil consumption.  I think I would look for something mid range like a Sealed Power forged piston.  They are better than a stock cast piston or a hypereutectic alloy (also cast) piston and still use the wider rings.

Oh.  I've always been curious about that.  You definitely don't want to kink a 2.5" tube down to 2".  But keep in mind one factor that provides resistance to exhaust flow through the tube is friction at the tube wall to fluid interface (exhaust gas in this case).  I haven't done the math, and compressible flows are very complex, but total friction loss is directly proportional to the length of the tube, so I don't know if the non-mandrel bends are equivalent to an entire exhaust system of the smaller size.
 
I'm not trying to start a debate.  Just thinking here . . . , is it possible the 2.5" was marginal and the non-mandrel bends further added to it?  I don't know, it picked up so much, would it have picked up even more with 3"?  Would a non-mandrel bent 3" system have worked better than the mandrel bent 2.5"?  Just things that popped into my mind I thought were interesting.

Oh.  I've always been curious about that.  You definitely don't want to kink a 2.5" tube down to 2".  But keep in mind one factor that provides resistance to exhaust flow through the tube is friction at the tube wall to fluid interface (exhaust gas in this case).  I haven't done the math, and compressible flows are very complex, but total friction loss is directly proportional to the length of the tube, so I don't know if the non-mandrel bends are equivalent to an entire exhaust system of the smaller size.
 
I'm not trying to start a debate.  Just thinking here . . . , is it possible the 2.5" was marginal and the non-mandrel bends further added to it?  I don't know, it picked up so much, would it have picked up even more with 3"?  Would a non-mandrel bent 3" system have worked better than the mandrel bent 2.5"?  Just things that popped into my mind I thought were interesting.

8k is brutal.  I hope its far off.  But it definitely takes more than 15K to get these cars back to a restored reliable condition.  Body and paint alone will consume 10K if no body panels need replacing.  I don't like, but believe and accept most cars, including Mach 1's, have a lower value than the cost to buy and restore one.  Trying to buy one at low cost up front so the finished car is valued at more than the total investment just doesn't work these days.

That's not too bad of a combination for a daily street driver.  Since it will see a lot of highway miles, if it has a high stall speed torque converter, make certain the cruise RPM is greater than the stall speed of the torque converter.  Otherwise, it's possible for the trans fluid temps to get too high.

That's what I thought.  I think it will be lazy with a 3.00 rear axle gear.

I like the original chrome Styled Steel wheels on the 69 Mach 1's.  Still have the original's on my Mach 1.  If they were to ever be replaced I'd probably go with the 15x7 repro versions of them.  Magnum 500's are nice.  But they are like the Chevrolet Camaro.  Millions of them out there.  If you look closely at the Magnum 500's, you'll notice they were not specific to Ford and other car mfg's also used them, but with different center caps.  If you want a Magnum 500, there are some billet aluminum versions that look close to the steel wheel.

What do you mean by fail? On other motors I have seen the Fel Pro Performance intake gaskets break down around the water passages after a few years.  Also, the end seals should not be installed and a bead of silicone used instead.  This is most important with aftermarket aluminum intake manifolds.  The end seals can prevent the intake from sitting down correctly on the cylinder heads then gaskets will leak.  Lastly, steel core Fel Pro Performance intake gaskets are also available which might work better.
 
Edit.  I wanted to add, instructions that come with aftermarket intakes say to glue the intake gaskets to the cylinder heads so they don't move.  I use to think that was ridiculous.  But now I glue them to the cylinder heads around each intake port and use a thin film of silicone sealer around each water passage.
 
I don't know if this is needed or not.  But, after I install the intake I only torque the bolts to about 1/2 of the final value to seat everything together, let it sit for a couple hours so the silicone end seals will firm up a little.  Then do a final torque.  So far it seems to work.  But, like I mentioned, I don't know if it is necessary.