Mach1 Driver

So..... quite a bit of time has gone by and I've finally put this to bed. As with many of these types of issues there were several factors that ended contributing to the issue. And then there's the "while you're" in there stuff that happen as well as the "this isn't right" stuff that needed to be addressed. Here's some of the stuff that was repaired to get the pedal/clutch working like new again.....
Pedal box - Yep the PITA pedal bushings were toast and took the clutch pedal with them. Ended up doing the Scott Drake bearing kit which made the pedal action light and wonderful. Clutch / Throw out bearing and Flywheel -  I think some of this was because the pedal and other items were bad but the throw out bearing and clutch were toast. Well that doesn't look right stuff Turns out the master cylinder was leaking which was found while the trans was out so that came out and was replaced. When we pulled the pedal box with found someone had pinched the starter switch circuit wires which were nearly shorted. That could have burned the car down so that was fixed. So this was the first go around which work pretty good for nearly a month but slowly the pedal started not returning and the shifter started jamming again. So it was back to the shop. On the second go around we did the following...
The clutch and throw out bearing were fine but the adjustment on the clutch link had changed. We decided to bite the bullet and pull the Z-Bar out of the car. Sure enough the Z-Bar had a crack that had started opening up that we didn't see the first time around. This time we replace all the bushings along with the Z-Bar. The bushings for the Z-Bar looked like they were never greased and could not be adjusted to work smoothly. These were changed as well. So with all this done the  car now shifts very well and the pedal returns with authority. The roller setup on the peddles is the stuff and a worthy upgrade if your ever looking for a PITA job to do or are in there anyway.
So lesions learned.....
Bring it all - For the amount of money I spent and frustration let alone the time I missed driving the car this summer, in hind site I would have replaced everything right off the bat. I think the Z-Bar, bushings and other misc parts were about $100. While I did manage to pick off some other issues along the way replacing everything from the pedal to the linkage would have been the smarter move. For the life of me I can't believe I didn't do it all to start with. Anyway my thanks to everyone that helped with suggestions along this journey. So many times I see these threads that stop without the ending that I decided to go ahead and close this one out properly. Hope some of this can help someone else out along the way.
 

I don't have a lot of metal forming equipment in my small shop, so I rely on basic tools and also basic metal working skills to make stuff.
In this case, the local Ace Hardware had some Aluminum stock that was had for a good price.  
When I want to make a bracket, I use a coat hanger to bend and re-bend until I get the shape I want.  Then I take a new, straight, coat hanger piece and bend it cleanly to match my original prototype.  I put my aluminum stock in my heavy vice.  I have magnetic/rubber vise blocks, but needing a tight fit, I used painters tape to wrap my aluminum stock to keep from marring the surface.
Using an old 8oz Ball Peen hammer (flat end), I carefully work the piece to the angle I want, with the coat hanger mock up next to it.   In this case, it worked quite nicely, as you can see.  
Then, I marked and drilled pilot holes, verified the locations, and drilled my final holes for mounting.   
Inside the base, I will use a 1/4 -20 Tee Bolt and epoxy it in.  
Now to use some self etching primer, and paint my bracket.
More to come
 
 

Well, you've got the right attitude Brian. I just got back from a 4,400 mile road trip in my 69 and met many wonderful people. Unlike what we hear on TV and radio, most people are good to the bone. 

Result is no wires in the engine compartment except for those that run on the engine back to the firewall.
 
 

NOTE / FYI ...
Mach1 original seat covers and earlier reproductions used actual knitted vinyl for the comfortweave centers.   This Knitted Vinyl is no longer available, so all the reproductions use an embossed vinyl instead of the actual knitted stuff.   
I've got early repro seat covers in mine (from mid 80's) that are correct so when I rebuilt my seats a couple of years ago with new foam & spring sets, I re-used my slightly worn but still in great shape upholstery in order to maintain the correct comfortweave material.
So if you still have the correct knitted vinyl in yours and at least the comfortweave is in really good shape you may want to see if an upholstery shop can salvage / re-use your comfortweave to make new seat covers.
Before you commit to TMI or another repro seat cover set, have them send you a sample of the embossed comfortweave material ... especially if you have the real stuff in the car now.
Doug

Yes, but Barbara Feldon was the real star of that show.  All of us teenage boys could not figure out whether to watch Get Smart, I Dream Jeanie, or Gilligan's Island to watch the "hot girls" of the day on TV.   I liked when Barbara held that gun....
Huh... just saying....
 
 

After exchanging some lessons learned with Rich, I modified my shaker to rotate it so that the front indent in the base was correctly oriented to clear my distributor and ignition wires. With my particular base, which is a 351W fiberglass reproduction, I cut the 3 studs off the base, and aligned my shaker top so that it was "straight".   I then drilled new holes in the base to align with the holes in the midplate.   For now , I will use some 1/4-20 bolts and nuts to secure it.  Long term, plan to epoxy some T-Nuts on the base and use 1/4" bolts on top.
More to come..... 
Thanks, Rich....
 

Hi Stan, Welcome to the forum! This may help you with identifying what's on your firewall. It's a picture of my 1970 Mach 1 351C M code with no A/C, no power brakes, no P/S, Manual trans.
m. This might help you

It appears to be surface rust to me, that isn't even as deep as the spotweld marks around it.

You need to find two wire lamp sockets for either 194 or 1895 bulbs.  I use the 194 version, and I get them from http://www.HiPoParts.com
The CVR uses battery snap terminals.  Good luck finding them with crimp connectors.  I found mine from NewarkOne, but they came from Europe.

Finished product, some smoke lens LED motorcycle blinker/parking lights. My front bumper and grill and lower valance are all going to be black, should be pretty cool
 

Sketched out an idea to use some dark tinted motorcycle blinker/parking lights to replace my standard parking light assemblies.  I had an old pair, so took my cutting wheel to them and sliced off the old light housing/lens assembly.   Made some brackets out of aluminum angle, and attached them with 10-32 screws and Riv Nuts.   In the process of coating these, and will use some black coated (not oxide) fasteners.   More pics to come.  Lights are really bright, so should be cool.
 

Thanks for the reply. Yes, Dan is where I got my new one from

I know this is an older thread I just joined so please forgive me but I ended up using the suggestions in Mach1 drivers post but the 3/4” was not a good fit for the large portion I swapped it all out for 1.25”which gave lots better coverage. 

Scotch tape works when I'm doing motors.

I came over from VMF just to read that and it was totally worth it.
 
 

The Stangs have what is known as Non-Integral Power Steering, and for the gear box it refers to the Manual Steering as shown above. It doesn't say a whole lot about the gear box removal, but there is more on disassembly of the box and repair. Actually I would send it to http://www.chockostangclassicmustang.com/ for refurbishment.
This Autorestomod episode is more instructive than the manual and a Fairlane is pretty close to a Stang in this regard:
 
 
 

looks like a home brew version of these:
https://www.npdlink.com/product/reinforcement-plates-shock-tower/199383?backurl=search%2Fproducts%3Fsearch_terms%3Dshock%2Btower%2Breinforcing%2Bplate%26top_parent%3D200001%26year%3D

but think of the fun if you lend her a hand...as it were

Thanks for the introduction RPM. I live in Redding Ca. I have a 1969 mustang coupe, 351w 4v. fmx automatic with factory air, power steering, power brakes. ive had the car for about 15 years (im 30). Im looking into making it into a gt350/traditional front of a 69.

but think of the fun if you lend her a hand...as it were

As I recall, you have to put the transmission shift lever in low- at least on an automatic. Remove the radio knobs (and nuts?). Take the two screws at the top of the wood grained bezel out, center the heater sliders, grab the bottom of the wood grain bezel and pull out. It has some pins or studs that engage with spring clips to hold it in- just yank on the bottom and watch for clearance to the knobs on the sliders.

Hi mate, these are really good articles. Thanks for that.
It appears most people just do thye strait 1" drop. The DazeCars article describes the 'increased Caster' drop as well. Has anyone done this with their 69 and if so, what is the feedback?
With the RRS rack it feels like it does not centre as quickly as it would normally. It still centres but just not great, so thinking of the increased caster with the drop.

Ralt962 happy that helped.   Post some pics of your install, I am sure others have run into the same problem.
 
Rich - Yes, welding required to install the panhard bar mount on the drivers side frame rail.   The instructions show those details.
Yes, there is room to get the exhaust around the panhard bar and rear anti-roll bar, but requires some measure/bend/fit skills that I just don't have.  
I wanted to run 2-1/2 inch exhaust the whole way back.  I also wanted to do something different, so I thought that filling in the reverse light holes in the rear valence, and running the exhaust through the valence similar to a '66 GT would be cool.  Came out great.   I cannot take credit for the exhaust system "artwork" ....that is all done by my friend Mike (latoracing) a long time member of the forum.   
I did all the under the car detailing, but the exhaust is really exceptional.  Based on a 1970 "Pypes" 2-1/2 inch SS exhaust kit.  As I have a convertible, this was a real challenge as the exhaust needed to sneak on top of the center reinforcement plate on either side of the driveshaft.
Pics below