copb8

Ridge Runner, do you have a facebook page or website you sell your pieces on? Do your rear side panels work on a 70 Mach 1? Have you determined pricing?

Add me to the list of those who are interested

Can you guys post the specific Bilstein shocks you went with please?

My 70 came with vinyl stripes on the hood in a shiny black finish. There were also some imperfections from the installation. I want to strip it off and paint on proper matt black stripes. Is there any good online videos to watch of the process using the stencils? Also, can a rattle can provide a high enough quality of paint to do this job, or would I need to take it to a professional shop to have it sprayed?

Agree. I've had mine 3 years and they have been flawless.

Wheels are a huge improvement. Congrats on the new ride. It's been too long since I've had that new (to me) car feeling.

fit like a Lexus.

I would love to walk around your place and take in everything you have. I have no idea how you tell the tiny difference of parts from piles of what looks like the exact same thing.

Thanks for the insight. Where would you take the temperature reading from?

I want to set the temperatures at which point my 2 Spal fans come on. First question. What would you folks think is the ideal temperatures to set for the 1st and then 2nd fan to come on? Second question. I bought an infrared thermometer to read the engine temps as the dash temp gauge doesn't have any markings for actual temps. Where should I aim this device on the motor to get the most accurate reading? Thanks

When I bought my car it had stock exhaust manifolds and magnaflow mufflers. The whole system was in poor repair. The drone around 2000 rpms was horrible. I took it to a muffler shop and they cleaned everything up and added resonators after the mufflers. The drone is better now for sure, but not gone. My real issue is the sound out the back is so benign now that I feel the car has lost a lot of character. The setup you described sounds great. Do you have any drone? Are you using headers or stock manifolds? Is your car a Windsor or a Cleveland?

Thanks. So pricing is somewhat inline with Monster.

It seems Lentech is a much smaller company out of Canada. What is it about them that you prefer? They don't show pricing so I don't know whether they're cheaper, similar or more expensive that Monster.

Thanks guys. I followed the 4R70W thread. I'd worry buying a used transmission off of ebay that I'd get all the work done and then find the transmission had issues. I found this company selling rebuilt with warranty 4R70W transmissions: Monster Transmission 4R70W (don't worry, you don't have to get green) The price seems very reasonable and seems to include much of the big ticket items needed. I see an optional transmission controller is available but it's $1700!! Is that necessary for a transmission that won't be custom tuned for performance?

My car currently has an FMX 3-speed transmission with a 3.50 rear-end. It's 'snappy' off the line but not a great highway cruiser. I'm wanting to make the car better at traveling some distances without beating it to death and I don't want it to be a dog off the line or have to drive 60-65 mph when traveling. There seems to be 3 options. 1) change my rear gearset and lose off the line punch, 2) replace the FMX with an AOD which seem to always take more work and tuning than everyone thinks, or 3) add a Gear Vendor overdrive unit to my existing setup. The gear vendor unit is expensive at $3K plus the labor to install it, although I'd probably do that myself. I also think it's a little kludgy with it's overdrive button, although there is an automatic mode. The AOD sounds awesome but I'd want a qualified shop to just do it and make it work, but the $$$ may be getting pretty high. Changing the rear-set is the cheapest but also has the biggest compromise on performance. So let me hear your opinions. And I'd especially like to hear from anyone who's gone the Gear Vendor route. Are there alternatives to GVs that are more reasonable?

FINALLY! After jack with it for just over 2 YEARS I have a smooth running transmission. And like I had been saying over and over again, it was the torque converter. They finally pulled the trans again and rebuilt the converter. Now it runs as smoothly as it did when I first brought it in to fix it shifting and leaking. It'll be nice to go down the road and not be pissed off every time I get above 2150 RPMs.

Congrats on the new shop. I wish I had that kind of space to expand into. Right now my oversized 3 car garage is a Tetris model, or more like a Rubix cube when moving things around. Your ceiling height is perfect. Being able to stand upright under the car is a real luxury.

I converted my factory power steering car to the Borgeson unit and now can drive my car down a every-change camber country road without a death grip on the wheel. Installing it was a bit of a bear from a clearance perspective. Every mm mattered. I had to install new motor mounts as the originals were old and compressed and I had to lightly grind the corner of the stock exhaust manifold. I had custom hydraulic lines made to make it clear and and be a clean looking install. And getting them on and tight was a PAIN. I bought a remanufactured power steering pump and painted it to match. The old one was too weak to push the pressure needed for smooth operation of the new steering unit. I cussed the project many times and had lots of do-overs because of leaks, clearances, etc. but now that everything is squared away I love the results. Only nit to pick is the return-to-center feel is weak on it.

Thanks

I installed these same belts almost immediately after buying the car. I believe I may have even used stangs-r-me's post for some guidance (thanks). I'm very happy with the belts overall but have 2 small complaints. The retractor for the shoulder belt isn't very strong so you have to slightly coax it to rewind sometimes. The adjustment clasp of the buckle strap needs to have more aggressive knurling as it slowly (over many uses) allows the buckle to slide out along the strap. Easy enough to occasionally readjust it so not a big deal. I do feel it'll hold strong in an accident at the position it's set so not a safety issue.

Moutaineerfan can you post a link to the tool you purchased? I sometimes get like you where I hate to buy a tool for a one-time use. Almost inevitably I end up getting it and find out I can use it to do a better job on many other projects going forward. Thanks for the post.

I would like that contact please.

The JW unit looks good but when I went to put it in the cart it asked whether it was for a C4 or C6 transmission. No option for FMX. I'll give them a call

Thank you very much for this!

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. Flexplate is the same one I've had on the car since purchased and prior to the transmission work there was no vibration at all. Issues were leaking and poor shifting. I'm confident in the motor still being smooth. It was less than a year ago that they did the test with just the bellhousing and there's been less than 800 miles added to the car since then, none of them abusive. It starts easily and idles smoothly. What is the stall speed for a stock torque converter? Everything I find online seems to be higher stall speeds for racing or performance applications.