Rich Ackermann

For health reasons, I avoid using any type of Exploding driveshafts. :-)

You both referring to this one picture below, the second non-adjustable idler pulley,...correct? Did it flop around with the York Clutch engaged, or disengaged, or both? Just curious as I have a factory setup on my 73 Vert with a 351C and a York Compressor, but I never reinstalled this second pulley. I have never charged the AC system, so the clutch wire is disconnected. With the York style clutch (permanently) disengaged I don't see a flopping issue without the second pulley, so I now wondering if the flopping happens primarily when the clutch is engaged and under load? What do you think...?

Thanks Bob!

I would go with a 3.5" Dia for sure.

I have US Mags Bandit 17 x 8 rims in back with a set of Nitto 275 x50 ZR NT555 G2s. I have new Eaton Stock ride height leaf springs. They fit well, but I did have to roll the rear fender wheel lip in across the top from about 10 to 2 o'clock to eliminate any contact with the tire side wall. I also as a precaution trimmed the outer lip on the rubber axle stop mounting bracket to eliminate any sharp edges from contact the inner side wall of the tire.. I watched over time as the car's ride height and fender clearance settle down from a light weight rolling chassis to a fully load car ready for the road.

I have a 408 Cleveland with a Tremec TKO 500 5 spd that I bought from MDL. I have an Eaton True Track anti-slip with 3.70 gears and Yukon (N case like) casing. The Tremec and the Yukon have 1350s. When pushing 500+- HP, MDL recommended the following (custom built) driveshaft... It was not cheap, but then again neither is the cost of repair should one blow up as a result of under sizing it. Aluminum Driveshaft 3.5" tube, 31 spline forged yoke, 1350 U-joints (under 700hp up to 58") High speed balanced * Drive shaft is measured and built once the transmission has been installed.

At this time every year Facebook sends me a reminder of a post I sent to all a few years ago to start the New Year. So every year since I repost it to help remind me to count my blessings. So I thought I'd share with you these words of wisdom from the one and only C. B. ....Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year!

Vic, Thanks. I'll contact Mustang Project. I have been using Red LED rear taillight bulbs, I have been considering going to a sequential setup to match my three sequential LED Arrows I have installed in my side view mirrors. Hopefully I can make them flash together synchronously. What I did was as follows... Have your taillights, trunk lock, and Gas tank filler tube installed before you try aligning the trim and honey comb panel. First line up the panel around the gas tube flange and lock while centering it vertically between the taillights and attach it there with tape. Then with the attachment hardware (i call them butterfly studs) removed), line up the top and bottom trim pieces with the top and bottom edges of the taillights and confirm they are in contact with the top and bottom edges of the panel and can hold it in place. Now with a marker or tape mark the top edge of the top trim and the bottom edge of the bottom trim. This is also a good time on brightly painted cars to mark off the area between the taillights and the panel, and around the gas filler tube flange and the lock, where the body color show thru between them. For you Vic this is very important step to do with your blacked out taillight bezels. Now remove all, including the taillights, but leave the honey comb panel in place. With the horizontal outer trim marks with marker or tape you made before and the partial screw hole notches on the honey comb panel to position your drill bit, you made you can now drill the top and bottom trim mounting holes. Finally, tape off and paint with a flat or matte black paint those areas you identified where the body color shows up between the panel and the taillight bezels and around the the lock and gas tube flange. Remove the tape when dry and reinstall all of it. You can see the difference it makes with those area blacked out, as Ford did this in the factory as well.

I have been driving the car on the road since October 1st and its been running fine for most part. After a month I experienced some slippage (squealing) on the alternator belt when I would rev the engine quickly, so I tightened the belt a bit more an she has been quiet since. Hopefully it will stay that way. The P/S pump belt width and V angle fit the Saginaw pulley perfectly, but sit a bit deeper than stock in the grooves on the crank and water pump pulleys, but so far no issues. I do feel the hydraulics straining a bit when turning the wheels from stop to stop at a stand still, but that is partly due to the wide front Nitto tires putting more resistance than stock tires. I should mention, That the P/S pressure hoses do not mind bending, but they do not like and flat out refuse to be twisted. To my surprise, I had quite a bit of difficulty finding the right high pressure fittings needed to clock the P/S hoses so I could connect them to the back of the Saginaw pump. I think adding the 71-73 over the A/C compressor P/S fluid cooler will help keep the system cooler when driven hard on those hot summer days. Overall, I am pleased with the results so far. With the two adjustable Saginaw pump brackets on the front and back and the long 7/8" dia bolt running thru the three brackets and in to the stock accessory hole in the head, they setup is solid and does not flex when tightening up on the v-belt. Very important to square off your pulleys and get them on the same plain as the crank and water pump grooves to minimize resistance and prevent fraying the belt edges. What I have not hooked up and tested yet is the A/C belt, but I don't anticipate any issue there. The belt grooves on the Sanden and the crank pulleys match, and the crank pulley is designed to drive the old York Compressor, but that test will not happen until sometime in the spring. Here are a few more pictures... days.

Many (but not all) of the accessories and brackets are the same on the Windsor and Cleveland small blocks. I have a 351C with a Tuff Stuff 140 amp Alternator, A CPP (Borgeson like) Saginaw Powersteering pump and Vintage air Sanderson A/C compressor. There are no v-belt accessory brackets on earth that support this combination. I used a stock 351C three groove crank pulley, and stock single groove Water Pump and Alternator pulleys. The passenger side alternator, brackets, and v-belt are a slam-dunk stock setup. On the drivers side I had to make the P/S and A/C brackets by combing a few stock brackets, a couple of brackets available from the aftermarket, and then I had to make a bracket, modify a couple, and make all the spacers. Finally fine the right side v-belts. PS. I only used high quality toothed Belts. I have read that these belts grip better. In my humble opinion, to avoid belt slippage/squealing/wear, it is important to have the alternator belt on its own and on the middle groove on the crank pulley and the A/C compressor dedicated on the large outer groove. The Water Pump and P/S pump share the inner most groove. It took me a lot of time and trial and error to make certain all the accessory pulleys were on the same plain with their counterpart groove on crank pulley and also that the accessory pulley was square with the belt and then make the right length spacers. Leaving any angle in the belt forward/back or tilt left/right in the pulley will cause the belt edge to fray in a hurry.

Hi Vic, Happy New Year! Where did you get you sequence conversion kit from ? Second question... Do you like the fiberglass Ram Air Base you have? Is made well enough to hold up under the stress from heat and the weight of the ram air stack? I did not go that route, thinking that the fiberglass version may not be strong enough to support the full stack and it could warp with the heat of the engine over time. Regards, Rich

Hi Vic, I believe your base is fiberglass. You may want to consider using the same stud I used on my base. They have a large thin flat head so they will cover a large surface for the glue to adhere to and thin enough that they don't cause any interference inside the base. Also I used a press on retainer clip on the outside. Although I used the rect angular press on clip as you can see in the picture, I prefer the round one below as the don't scratch the paint like the rectangular ones do. I used two brackets from my manifold to the base... one straight back at the rear of the base and one about 90 degrees on the drivers side. It maybe over kill, but I was worried about the weight of the shaker stack with all the shaking it does resting just on the Sniper and held down by just the center stud through the lid. The brackets will provide more stability and take the stress off the sniper. The bolt and retainers are from Hillman and I bought them from Amazon or Lowes. Question: Where did you buy your fiberglass base from? I like to contact them to see if I can buy just the metal offset ring. Thanks

Nice Vic! Aluminum stock is easy to work with. Building a template is important, because you can't bend and re-bend it too many times or aluminum begins to crack at the bends. I use very thin Sheetmetal for flat templates or wire or even pvc pipe for round ones.

Hi Vic, Always happy to share ideas. Helping each other with our builds is what makes this forum so valuable. It's what we do.

Thanks.

They look great. Can't wait to see them installed and working.

Well, The car is essentially done. Although we all know that our cars are never ever really done! I do have a list of things I need to or want to change/fix or tweak. I belong to the local Mustang & Fords club here in Delaware and we had our fall show sponsored by a Ford dealership in Newark Delaware, Porter Ford. It was a nice day and we had a great turnout. I took the car to the show where it made it's debut. The car got a lot of attention and took home it's first trophy. The awards were based on spectator popular vote and a Dealers Choice award.

Thanks. I am very close to having it pass inspection road worthy. In DE cars newer than 1968 still need to pass emissions. Unbelievable!

You are welcome. Happy to help.

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

If you are mounting your relays somewhere in the engine compartment, I would suggest using a relay box with fuse slots, or use weather proof relays. Here is what I did....

For what it is worth, here is the 1" drop template I received from Global West. I wrote the measurements all over it, if you want to make your own. The instruction are simple... Bolt it thru you existing upper control arm shack tower holes and drill two 1/4" holes thru the 1/4" holes in the template below the factory holes.. Also attached below are the alignment instructions, if you are using Global West's upper and lower control arms, Strut rods and Eccentric lock-outs... 1967-1973 Mustang Plus 3 Upper Control Arms # MNR-733 (Sold as a Pair)Global West has engineered an upgraded upper control arm for 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, and 1973 Mustangs; the arm provides additional positive caster by moving the upper ball joint back towards the rear of the car. This particular kit is used for street and handling applications. (Global West also manufactures a control arm for drag racing / street.) The new Plus 3 Mustang arms are shipped assembled with billet cross shafts, Del-a-lum bushings and ball joints. The a-arms are black powder coated and the cross shafts are blue zinc (silver). Global West manufactures this product in its own facility here in San Bernardino CA. Tech Information: Caster With upgraded suspension and present tire technology, caster plays an important part for proper handling of the car. Caster does the following: provides straight line stability, has a self centering action on the front suspension, improves initial turn in during cornering and also resists pulling (right hand drift) caused by road crown. The Alignment Adjustment and Limitation: Caster on 1967-73 Mustangs is adjusted by moving the lower control arm forward via the strut rod. The strut rod is threaded at one end where the rubber bushings reside. By loosening and tightening the jam nuts you can pull the lower arm forward gaining more caster. This was not an option on 1967-1973 Mustangs. The real limitation on how much caster you can get is mainly based on the rim and tire combination you are planning on running. The larger sizes limit how far you can move the lower arm forward because the tire runs into the lower portion of the front fender when the wheel is turned. If this occurs, you will have to reduce caster, which is not the best answer. Now with Global West Plus 3 upper arms you will be able to get the caster you need! Global West Plus 3 upper arms have 3 degrees of positive caster built into them. This will eliminate the need to pull the lower arm so far forward in order to get the desired alignment. Coil Springs are stock height #: s-27 performance street with 640 pounds per inch. Global West has engineered an upgraded upper control arm for 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, and 1973 Mustangs; the arm provides additional positive caster by moving the upper ball joint back towards the rear of the car. This particular kit is used for street and handling applications. (Global West also manufactures a control arm for drag racing / street.) The new Plus 3 Mustang arms are shipped assembled with billet cross shafts, Del-a-lum bushings and ball joints. The a-arms are black powder coated and the cross shafts are blue zinc (silver). Global West manufactures this product in its own facility here in San Bernardino CA. Tech Information: Caster With upgraded suspension and present tire technology, caster plays an important part for proper handling of the car. Caster does the following: provides straight line stability, has a self centering action on the front suspension, improves initial turn in during cornering and also resists pulling (right hand drift) caused by road crown. The Alignment Adjustment and Limitation: Caster on 1967-73 Mustangs is adjusted by moving the lower control arm forward via the strut rod. The strut rod is threaded at one end where the rubber bushings reside. By loosening and tightening the jam nuts you can pull the lower arm forward gaining more caster. This was not an option on 1967-1973 Mustangs. The real limitation on how much caster you can get is mainly based on the rim and tire combination you are planning on running. The larger sizes limit how far you can move the lower arm forward because the tire runs into the lower portion of the front fender when the wheel is turned. If this occurs, you will have to reduce caster, which is not the best answer. Now with Global West Plus 3 upper arms you will be able to get the caster you need! Global West Plus 3 upper arms have 3 degrees of positive caster built into them. This will eliminate the need to pull the lower arm so far forward in order to get the desired alignment. Note: When using Plus 3 arms, there is now a right and left upper control arm. The original control arms (factory or first generation Global West Negative Roll control arms) are universal. 1966-1967-1968-1969-1970-1971-1972-1973-mustang-cougar-fairlane-falcon-ranchero-mustang-eccentric-loc-out-kit-instructions-loc-2.pdf

I remember looking at that on the Global West website. The upper control arm are has no spring perch, so the strut can just pass thru it. Nice setup.

Vicfreg, Does or will your TCP panhard bar clear stock 2 1/2" dual exhaust? Any welding needed? Thanks, Rich