Mach1 Driver

huh, interesting: that is similar to the lights in the doors of my 69

I concede your point that batteries are a load, but I think your numbers are high. I get about 3.5A on my old Die Hard at 14v when charged (which typically means its on its way out). My Red Top Optima is less than a year old and drags about 2A at 14v when charged. Lets “assume” the battery is in good shape and the alternator is sized to service all the loads of the car. Perhaps the biggest load is the starter. How long would it take to recharge the battery after starting the car? Lets be conservative and assume it takes 10 seconds to start the car and the starter uses 800 amps. So 10 seconds times 800 amps is 8000 amp-seconds (8000 coulombs for you physicists) or 2.2 amp-hours. If the alternator is sourcing 80 amps, this will be replaced in 99 seconds. As far as the lighting goes, the headlights will be halogen and everything else will be LEDs. The halogens will connect directly to the battery via relays with less than 8 feet of 12 gauge wire. The 21.252A in cell B41 is just the headlights on hi beams at 14v, since the alternator is sure to be charging. I’m old, live in a rural area and love hi beams. The “other” lights noted would pull 15.088A if they were incandescent, but since they are LEDs they only pull a combined 2.18A. Since the LEDs are using circuits designed for incandescents and cumulatively run at only 14.4% of the designed load, I am not concerned about the voltage drop. Yes the front park lights are out, as shown in cell C48. However, the rear park/on circuit (cell B49) is active, not by park but because the light switch is “on”. The spreadsheet loads are from three sources: 1) Everything down to line 60 (except LEDs) are actual measured amps using a digital ammeter in series with the load, with the car charging at 14.46v as indicated in cell C5. I dislike inductive ammeters because their resolution and accuracy is lacking. So what you see is what I get in the circuit with its corresponding voltage drop. 2) LEDs: since I don’t have them yet I used manufacturer’s data. 3) Added Stuff: from line 61 down, I also don’t have this stuff and used 80% of their fuse size as the amp draw. In reality they probably run somewhere between 50-70%.

Also glad to hear you made it through. Rest up for the job ahead.

see attached Excel spreadsheet Mustang amps4.xls

That would work- the hoses should be the same lengths, and the alternator up high isn't a problem either. Is this one or more serpentine belts?

I looked at PA Performance alternators. They caution that you must use a serpentine with their 130A alternator because a single V belt will slip when the alternator is under heavy load.

yes, but I'll have to clean-up the spreadsheet first so it makes sense to someone else. The so called 95A alternator is only 60A at a crank speed of 794 rpm, while the 130A puts out 80A at the same rpm.

Where are the accessories? My A/C is up high on the drivers side, the PS pump in low on the drivers side, and the alternator is low on the passenger side.

Thanks Dave, but I can slip a 95A alternator into the existing brackets with no changes to anything. Since I need to go bigger than 95A ( you can see why above) and the next step is 130A, I will need a serpentine or dual V belt for that. Of course if I never drove at night in traffic, or in the rain I wouldn't need all that power from the alternator.

I've been over the numbers and the facts are inescapable; the electrical load requires a 130A alternator. I'm planning on a Sniper EFI, fuel pump, Dakota Digital dash, a 4R70W transmission control, and halogen headlights. All other lights will be LED, but If you're running at night with the A/C and radio on it breaks down like this (wipers would only make it worse): 1. With a 95A alternator the break even point is 32.6 mph in high gear or 48.9 mph in overdrive. Anything less than that and you're pulling it out of the battery. This alternator uses a V belt. 2. With a 130A alternator, break even is 24.5 mph in high or 36.7 mph in overdrive. This alternator requires a serpentine belt, or two V belts. I'm not sure why they call these 95A or 130A, as it has nothing to do with their actual rating. The calculation involves pulley size, engine RPM, tire diameter, transmission and rear gear size. My problem is I really hate all the billet and bling of a serpentine system. It looks like Charo doing the Cuchi Cuchi with a beer can. My problem is further complicated by all the accessories: alternator, water pump, power steering, and A/C. What serpentine or dual V belt systems have you guys used on a 351W with these accessories?

Yes, good news- houses can be fixed

Is it grounded?

Try West Coast Classic Cougar. They restore at least one column per day, and have several good videos on tilt columns.

Ididit is no help- they don't even know where the spring contact is positioned and won't take the time to measure it. Flaming River has been the most help, but their spring contact does not line-up with either slip ring on the stock Mach1 wheel. They sell a horn kit that repositions the contact for a 65-66 wheel but it doesn't appear to work for a 69 and the dimensions are not provided. I'm falling back to plan C, and getting a refurbished stock tilt column that will bolt in with no modifications. Apparently Lincolns and T-Birds used the same column and pretty much all had tilt columns so they aren't too difficult to find.

The latest: now Ididit says it should work. I sent them a drawing showing the position of the two slip rings on the back of the wheel. Upon further questing, their tech support said they didn't know where their slip ring was positioned but he had never had a Ford wheel that hadn't worked. Gives you a bunch of confidence doesn't it? Only 25% of any profession is competent at what they do. This guy is in the 75% group. Apparently he doesn't know how to pick up a column and measure it. I should be used to it by now- three out of four times people are going to irritate the crap out of you.

This is radar (some say lidar) using an aluminum foil antenna .393" x 39.37" long. It is adhered to the inside of a plastic bumper and radiates EM waves outward. I think it would have to hang below the bumper of a classic Mustang and be visible to work as advertised. Metal would reflect the wave so I'm not sure how close to the bumper it could be.

those are pretty impressive

I would take it to the next level- I plan on a backup camera and mirror from Rearview Safety for my Stang. I've got two cameras on my Vette and its the best thing I ever did to the car. The dang things are much longer in front that you think and so low that parking curbs are a problem without a front camera, and the back camera makes its easy to back into a parking spot. The mirror shows a grid with green yellow and red zones. For some reason everyone in my club feels the need to always back in to a parking stall. Show-offs (or maybe they don't want to show the ugly-ass rear end?). I've got an old C5 and last week on a club cruise down to Florida a fellow C5er buried the butt of his car in a bush when he backed in. Without a camera you just can't see.

I called Ididit and they do not offer a tilt column for a Mach1 rim blow wheel. Flaming River says they do, but the instructions say there may need to be some modifications to the wheel, and the directions are sketchy at best. Has anyone done this? The stock horn has two wires that are +12v going to two slip rings. I can see that it needs to be converted to a one wire negative ground for the horn. Adding a relay is not a big deal, BUT can the new Flaming River slip ring system be made to contact one side of the rim blow switch and can the other side of the switch be connected to ground?

Some people complain that the box makes buzzing noises- has he noticed that?

I like Dakota's backlighting much better than New Vintage's perimeter lighting, so I asked Dakota if they could add spun center caps. Here is the reply: Thank you for the email, unfortunately there isn’t clearance to add that accent to the VHX line. The Retrotech (RTX) series will be available around the beginning of 2019 if that is an option for you. That will mimic the stock look.

For those of you that have installed an MSD ignition, where did you position the box? I would like to keep it as unobtrusive as possible.

there were also some mandated add-on smog control boxes in the 70s (in some states) that had vacuum and ignition wires going to them

you call that a fingernail?

thanks for the reminder