Mach1 Driver
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Posts posted by Mach1 Driver
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That's a pretty coupe! BTW, power seats and windows weren't available on the old Mustangs.
You will find a complete wire diagram for 69s in the "How Tos" section, its titled 1969 Mustang Wire Diagram... I wasn't very imaginative with the title.
I used this diagram to backward engineer and make the only schematic for a classic Mustang. Schematics are intended to show "how it works" and is much simplified from a wire diagram. A diagram has all the wire routing, colors, splices, and plugs, etc. They both have their uses, but as an electrical engineer I would be lost without a schematic.
The schematic is up at the top of the same "How Tos" section and is titled "A Real Schematic".
Fire away with any questions. Another important resource we have here is a member who owns a harness restoration business. He goes by "Midlife", and without a doubt he knows more about the harnesses in our classics than anyone else on the planet.
Personally I wouldn't use one of those wire kits with the new types of fuses and relays. You can get most of your harnesses restored if you like, or buy all new OEM equivalents. That way when you have problems (as most people do), we can reference a Ford diagram. If you use the kit, then neither Midlife or I can help you, since we have no details about how the kits are wired.
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You call your car Christine? Wasn't that a 58 Fury in the movie?
Any drama getting the engine in? It doesn't look like you raised the rear end like some do. The engine leveler looks like it could lift a tank! I see some nice AFR heads on there ;)
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I believe only 410 stainless can be hardened, so most alloys aren't good for locations where bolts get higher torque specs.
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Kill Switches and Protecting your Car
It seems that everyone has their own opinion or philosophy about protecting their car…and you know what they say about opinions, but here is mine. Some people only insure their car and don’t even lock it, insisting that an accomplished thief will steal it if they want it. To me, that says they have no personal investment in the car- no blood, sweat, or pride of ownership. Mine is part of the family, a very old friend, and it’s MY CAR, not theirs for the taking. So here are the steps I have taken.
I believe you must have a layered approach, with as many layers as you can apply. Slow the thieves down and make it as difficult as possible. In this case, I believe that paranoia can be your friend.
1. Insurance: today's thieves could roll up with a car hauler and a GPS jammer. Unless you have your Mark 1000 Visual Acuity Devices trained on it (your eyeballs), your car will be gone. But most thieves aren’t that accomplished or prepared, and don’t need to be- it’s just too easy to steal a classic Mustang. So insure it and keep it in sight as much as possible when it is out of your garage.
2. Where you take it: don’t take it to the mall, theatre, supermarket, or other long term parking place. They only need seconds. When on a road trip, one of our members will take his car to the local police department and ask them to lock it in their secured parking overnight. He claims he has never been turned away as long as he offered them a ride.
3. Lock the hood: everything they need to steal the car is under the hood, so protect it. There is way too much mischief they can get into under there. I use a 76 Ford F350 truck hood latch. It has a cable going inside to a handle with a keyed lock. You also need a “helper spring” mounted to the hood. This pushes the hood up and away from the latch so the latch doesn’t re-engage as soon as you release the pull handle. Mid 70s Ford truck latches will bolt right into a 69-70 Mustang and the same vehicle also has the helper spring. All I had to modify was the secondary safety release arm so it was easier to access.
4. Lock the doors: this is so obvious that I almost didn’t mention it. If you don’t give them an open invitation, they may move on. It’s just basic common sense.
5. Alarm: a noise maker is good- I like them. Even if other people don’t pay attention, you will. They can have vibration, and glass sensors, door, hood and trunk switches (remember to lock the hood anyway), and they can even call you if they sense an alarm or set off a GPS tracker. It’s all good stuff and part of the layering process. Where they fall short is how they attempt to actually prevent the car from running, and that will require a technical discussion on KILL SWITCHES. On the other hand, a system like LoJack is good (and expensive), but it doesn’t try to stop the theft, it just shows the cops where it is once you notify them it has been taken.
6. How cars are stolen: the method most often used is a jumper wire and a screwdriver. This is so ridiculously easy that you won’t believe it, and it literally only requires seconds. Here’s what they do:
(1) Lift the hood (that’s why you have to lock it).
(2) Put a jumper wire from the battery positive to the coil positive. This supplies power directly to your ignition system, and bypasses everything, including aftermarket alarms.
(3) Use a screwdriver to short from the front solenoid terminal to the “S” terminal. This cranks the engine to start it, and they are gone.
Seeing is believing, so here is a link to an 8-1/2 minute video, where he shows how to jack a 60s era car. It’s not a Mustang, but it has the SAME features. If anything, a Mustang is easier to steal because the coil and solenoid are up front. If you pay attention around 4:15, he talks about Fords. He’s a little long winded, but I find him entertaining, and everything he says is unfortunately accurate. As you’ll see, it takes him about 58 seconds to open the locked door, then the hood, start the engine and close the hood- all while explaining it and not rushing the process. PLEASE WATCH THIS
Below is a schematic (not a wire diagram) that shows why this is so simple and how it works. This is the ignition system for a classic Mustang:
The jumper wire is #2, which connects the battery directly to the coil and bypasses everything else (ignition switch, alarm, whatever). The screwdriver is #3, which connects the battery to the solenoid “S” or coil terminal. This turns the solenoid on and the engine cranks for as long as the screwdriver is there. And away they go.
7. KILL SWITCHES: this is a kill switch used on a car with points. It is just a simple on-off toggle switch with one side connected to the chassis and the other side connected to the wire going between the coil and the points.
Don’t let this description throw you – this is just how the physical laws in our little corner of the universe work: The points have to open and close to make the magnetic field of the coil build and collapse to make a high voltage spark. With the kill switch closed the coil will stay on, but the field can’t collapse, so there is no transformer action in this DC circuit, so there is NO spark.
8. Kill Switches for other ignition systems: here are a few other popular ignition systems and how to disable them.
This would work for a Pertronix 1 as well. When I showed the example in #6 above to Pertronix, they were sure it would disable the car, but thought it may also damage the Pertronix module. They offered this solution instead:
ANOTHER...
9. Fuel kill switches: there’s no magic here, just a switch to open the circuit to a pump or fuel solenoid.
10. The Problem with Kill Switches is simple- where to hide the switch? If it could be hidden in a place where it’s not seen or found, but can still be activated, then that would make it very difficult to defeat. That can be done using a magnetic reed switch. The reed can be hidden behind the plastic of the dash or console, or “A” pillar trims, or behind any plastic. Then when you pass a magnet over it (within about an inch) it will allow the car to start. In this simple circuit, the kill switch is turned on as soon as the ignition key is turned off. So you can’t forget to set the kill switch (its automatic), you just have to use the magnet to turn the kill switch off, so you can start the car. So, turn the key to ON, pass the magnet near the reed switch and the LED will turn ON, announcing the kill switch is OFF, then turn the key to start. Easy peasy. For maintenance by some shop, insert a fuse (safer than using a switch) and the kill switch is bypassed.
Side note...you may think this is a bit too complicated and unnecessary, but after reading all of the above, one guy told me that he uses RFID (radio frequency identification) to "unlock" his limit switch. I think that's really cool, but WOW! That's a whole lot more complicated than a reed switch, a magnet and a relay.
11. Transmission lock: If you have a 70, I understand this was done from the factory. If the back wheels can’t roll, it makes the process of towing more difficult. I have a 69 with an automatic and of course it has a floor shifter (since that’s all they ever came with). Back in the day, and long before digital pictures, I came up with a method to lock the shift linkage with a spring loaded pin. The pin is removed from the linkage by a solenoid, and it is operated by a switch that is controlled by the shift button on the T-handle. If the kill switch is on, the power to the solenoid is cut and you can’t take it out of park. I would love to show it to you, but I still don’t have any pictures. I came up with this using the simple home tools I had at the time, so think about it and surprise us with your version. You may be able to provide pictures before I tear mine apart ;)
12. Electronic handbrakes: sometimes called electronic parking brakes – work on the same basis but use electric motors to achieve the locking effect. Press or pull the button and motors on the rear brakes press the pads onto the discs. You can often hear a reassuring whirring noise as the motors do their work.
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The amp meter (which is actually a galvanometer- because it registers + and -) works by shunting a small amount of current around a section of the main harness, wire 38A which is 22" long. A little bit or resistance and the ammeter doesn't work. That can happen at the firewall plug, at the connector to the flex circuit, at the meter, or all of the above. Mine hasn't worked in so long I can't remember if it ever worked. Below is a schematic for a 69 (not a wire diagram):
You could try cleaning up the connections with Brasso. As long as the ammeter is still good, that should get it back to normal. Personally I think the alternator warning light that's on the tach cars is a better indicator that the alternator is working.
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Is Vette acceptable?
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11 hours ago, RPM said:Be careful what you wish for. I made the mistake of lowering the 351W to fit my 428 shaker air cleaner. The motor drop was only the first mod I had to make.
• The stock engine crossmember doesn't allow much of an engine drop, so I had to make a different engine crossmember.
• I modified the tranny crossmember to match the engine drop, to avoid vibrations.
• I had to use an electrical fan as the stock fan interfered with the radiator hose.
• A bigger alternator was needed to handle the electrical fan.
• Fan belt slippage from the bigger alternator had me switch to a serpentine belt.
That's just of the top of my head, there could be more mods I had to do.
...and the beat goes on....
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Is that turned on by a mercury switch someplace in the harness? It doesn't appear to be in the bulb socket.
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15 hours ago, TexasEd said:Does it matter? At least in my case the front fenders and hood will be painted off the car so doing the engine bay first would not matter.
It may matter. I have heard on at least one car show that it is best to paint the fenders/hood on the car if using metallic paints, because there can be an odd miss-match in the appearance of the paint from panel to panel. Apparently the flake doesn't have the same general angle to the light and it flops differently. If its just a base coat with clear coat over it doesn't matter. I think I heard that from Shorty on Iron Resurrection. And another show said when painting fenders separately to hang them on the stands as they are on the car with the top of the fender up, and the side vertical. I have no practical experience with this ..yet.
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I believe they are usually painted with everything removed. So in your case, before the engine. Others will chime in here, but I'd be interested to know if anyone prefers to have the doors, fenders, hood and trunk lid on the car for painting? I understand that for metallics they need to be positioned (vertically/horizontally) to match the body, and perhaps on the car?
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Good, glad to hear it, and to have you on the cool kids site ;)
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The Quick 6 is a good controller for a 4R70W, but I understand that Holley has transmission control on some of there EFIs now.
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Thats purdy Ridge!
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Unplug and with a voltmeter or test light check for voltage. 32A comes from the ignition switch, so with the ignition on it will be hot. 32B goes to starter solenoid "S", and you could check that with an ohmmeter.
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Do yo guys mean 3/8" cord/rope like shown in the video below, or this ribbon from NPD:
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53 minutes ago, Brian Conway said:I think pointing out the single speed nut at the center of the engine side firewall probably will save some grief. Brian
There is a speed nut at 9:28 in the WCCC video. I don't remember anything in the middle, but its been a while.
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If that's a model it's very realistic looking... I hate to ask, but what is it?
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1 hour ago, JayEstes said:I can't see any of my work from it based on the license, but I don't need to really.
Jay, what do you mean that you can't "see any of my work"? So, it's free for the hobbyist or $500/yr full boat, and probably only a subscription- after a year it goes bye, bye.
Solidworks appears to be $99/yr for the hobbyist. Their standard (low end) license is now about 4k and 1.4k/yr for maintenance (updates). I didn't check to see if that is an actual copy you can use forever, or if its really a subscription. I sure don't use it enough to pay that much.
Fun stuff!
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We had a printer at work about 20 years ago. I don't recall the printer brand. Our Cad program was Solidworks. Many of the programs are subscription only now and crazy expensive. What do you have?
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Need torque specs on suspension and steering
in 1969-70 Technical Forum
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Its not much, but from the Ford Shop Manual;