Bishop1911

Once removed the belt. Noise is gone. It is definitely AC compressor. So thats good, one less thing.

So here is results from test. I turned on headlights, and they didnt come on, but tail lights did. However we moved snd jiggles stuff and nothing. After a min or so i tried again and it worked. This seems to be the case. That always after waiting a min they seem to come on. Whether i try and flip them on once, or 20 times in first 10 seconds, it doesn't matter.. But after a min or so, they come on when tried again I will keep poking around to see what is going on.

We are checking out the 69 mach 1 today, and there has been a noise which seems like bearings going in the AC compressor. My buddy and i want to pull that belt off snd just have it not run. If we did that, would this cause an issue for anything else? Does anything else need that belt? It doesn't appear so to me. Thanks for the help

We will be working on the car a bit today tuning it up a little. We will test this out and see what it does. I dont have the answers to the questions asked about what lights work when they dont turn on because i am inside and never really paid attention. I can say the shifter console light i dont think has ever worked. There are a bunch of things this car needs, and one thing is for me to strip down the car and redo interior. Will report back on this. Thanks

So tightening up the mach 1 for the wife to drive, snd i noticed for first time other day that i went to turn headlights on, snd i pulled knob, snd nothing. Several.more tries and nothing. After 30 to 60 more seconds they came on thanks god then were fine. Then it happened again. I am going to get in there today and tomorrow and check it out. Local oreileys has replacement switches so that's good. Just not sure if it is switch or not. Anyone else have experience with this? First place to check headlamp switch correct? Thanks

Ok, so putting the smaller tire on the front, doesnt look bad at all and we got ourselves into alignment spec. I will get receipt and post specs later, but it now has 4.2 snd 4.4 degrees of caster. It now pulls back to center better bit still nothing quite like a new car. The guys in the shop said maybe to check out the ram because that is what helps it assist back. Or that maybe this is the best it is. It holds a straight lone down road, no prob. Still can be slightly touchy but may be normal for these years. I had someone tell me that that is just what this year car will drive like without a major steering component upgrade. Is that the case? Do others have theirs return to center like a new vehicle with the older steering stuff? At least it is drivable and we can get thru.

Ok, all everything is all set. Alignment on wed morn, see if it is good to go for a year. Be back to update....

Ok, got the wheels today. I am going to take a day or two anf clean them up snd make them look as good as possible. Going to repaint black section. Couple questions. I am going to have to order the tire i want to be sent and then installed. Just getting an inexpensive one to get us thru the next year or so. The old mach 1 wheels had 195/70r14, and it was in alignment of sorts. It recentered altho the steering was touchy. So when ordering these, and these are foe a 14x7 magnum wheel, should I go with the 195/70r14 and hope again that that works, or take the extra .4 inches and get 195/65r14s? In this case gaining almost half an inch in the end could be huge, but will this look ridiculous? Has anyone put that on their fronts? Any thoughts and if someone has, pics would be great. The good news is i can feel the band aid is being applied. We are almost there and then i can deal with this in a year or so...really get in there. I want the wife to just be able to enjoy it for the year versus it sits for a year... Thanks all. What a journey...

Well I am basing this info off of the fact that the old ones fit ans were aligned, albeit more forward in the wheel well on driver side. But it was in alignement, recentered, and didnt hit fender. The old wheels I am almost sure are 14x7, but can I double check that measurement with a tire on it currently? The tire that was on the front wheel is a 195/70/r14. And that wheel cleared before. Below is a picture of it. Also if i found just a set of 14x7 magnums, that was just 2, and I only put them on front, that would work as well correct? No issues running 14s in front and 15s in back?

Thsnks for the info. However a new plan has possibly come to light. I understand this isnt the "proper" way to fix, but it is a temporary fix to make it driveable for just this year. I may have A lead on an inexpensive set of 14x7 magnums. And i have located inexpensive tires. 50 or less each. If i can get those snd throw tires on them, it can be aligned with how it is now. The tire will buy us about an inch and then it will recenter snd align properly. It wss like that before when we had the 14 inch wheels on it. Then next year when we disassemble, we can have the welding done and put the stuff back on again with 15 inch wheels and do it right. Then i can sell the 14 inches ones and move on. The reason i want to go this direction is to make it immediately drivable for her, and also remove this from my plate for a year because i have other stuff stacking up like crazy. This way, i can just bring it to local shop and they wont have to remove control arms, or anything, just throw tires on rims, and do alignment. And its over. By my estimate, this would actually be a most cost effective way to go, because it would save the shop from charging me hourly to adjust control arms snd parts, and then I am not shimming the upper arm out too far. Less stress on parts and car, and driveable. When the car get the welding done and tower fixed. It will be much easier to get in alignment. Pursuing this for a moment.

Sorry, I did mean fmx. Thank you for the input. So if just cruising the fmx may be the better option for now.

So one of the things going forward that I hope to do in the future would be upgrade my wifes mach 1 to a better transmission from the amx that is currently in there. It is likely a ways away, but as things are coming up for sale, i want to start to watch for a deal and if something good comes up grab it. This is going to be my wifes cruiser car. This will not be raced, or driver really hard. Maybe some spirited driving occasioanlly, but nothing pushing the cars limits. The current amx trans shifts hard, goes into gear hard and my understanding is that they are extremely heavy. What would be a good option to mate up with her 351 windsor? Also I would prefer to not have to change a lot of things out so the less to change the better. I am guessing there isnt likely a straight bolt in replacement, but I am not sure. Also what should this said transmission cost as a good deal? Thank you for the input guys.

I am in my last week or work before time off. I will then get going on this.

Sorry, i didnt forget or abandon. My life has been so hectic the last couple weeks. I still have the car and am going to be shimming anf moving control atm with my buddy. He is gonna work with me and we are considering doing the alignment ourselves. I am now looking at the tools and gauges for alignment. There are a lot of different ones. Does amyone have a recommendation for these? I would ptefer digital if accurate and affordable. I am thinking getting the tools and learning to do this will be good as i will have to have it done again at least one more time after all welding and body work is done. So if i learn to do it i will prob be better off. Snd i can take the time and take as long as i need. I figure the other shop wants to charge 150 for alignment if straight forward, but if they have to start adjustiing, they are going hourly.... I could also go and pay the 30 bucks for them to put on rack and size up snd tell me but I know the arm needs shims and or adjusted out. And every time you adjust it is another hour min. And it will get to 300 to 500 fast...all for an alignment that is one time and just to get us driving it for a year til i dismantle So trying to make best call. Learning this may be a good thing too. Altho time consuming. I will have time coming up soon. Some time off work. Thanks for advice and suggestions on camber/caster gauge.

Ok, so went back to the shop.today. a different guy was there. When i first pulled in and he came out, and he started talking to me, i told him who I was looking for, and he said he was in that guys place, i mentioned i talked to the other guy about classics, and before I could say another word, he jumped in with a loud and defensive "i have been here 30 years. I have done a lot of older cars. I know what i am doing...." Mind you he said this 2 or 3 more times throughout the conversation we had. Clearly someone felt defensiv3 and insecure, but soon you will see why. We went over everything, snd i mean everything from the start of this mess til today. He proceeds to connect up his fancy laser machine to the wheels, and measures. The first thing he then says is, well, this is aligned properly. All the numbers are within the range. He shows me the computer. My caster is still .3. I said no, this isnt right. Here are the specs for that. He starts telling me that that is way too much caster. I told him that the car doesn't return to center, and that you have to steer it out of corners. His next response floored me. He said, well some of these older cars didnt do that. This car just may never do that. Needless to say after that convo our business was finished. But even tho I was already mentally checked out, I said what about the shims, trying the shims to see if we can get close to these numbers. He said he wasnt comfortable putting in 3/8" of shins, which shaun at street or track said i could do, but that was his safe max. He said he didnt feel comfortable doing it, and he didnt have a spring compressor to get control arm off for adjustjng anyway. This is like a pizza shop not having anything to cut the pizza with when they are done. How are you missing such a basic tool? I explained that i had paid for an alignment that was never done properly. They offered money back, which i took and ran. Fast. While i was getting my money back, he came back in and said, your toe is in the negative, it isnt right, do you want me to adjust that for you... I instantly said "no! Leave it right where it is. Dont touch it.". Incredible. I have now found another shop that is comfy with shims and classics. I hope. A resto shop or at least shop that does work on some classics said they only go there, so that is next try. They charge more for the alignment, 150, but at this point it is all or nothing on this last try. They said if they have to get into removing control arm, then it will go to hourly. My fear is getting another 300 to 500 into this and still not having it right. At that point i would rather spend money on parts and start to dismantle, but that isnt optimal right now. So this comin Friday we hopefully see this end. Is 3/8" safe to shim out?

I am somewhat inclined, but as mentioned I did not install all of the suspension. A friend did. But I can do the best I can. As far as retaking pictures of me taking the measurements, that is really challenging because I dont have easily accessible help and only 2 hands. And it is a pain to go remove everything again. Next time I have wheels off I will see what I can do. But the measurements I am talking are all just my own made up measurements trying to figure out what is goi g on. So taking pics of me making those measurements may be a waste of time. Not sure what they will show you. But I like your idea of using a shim to gain the 1/2" Even that amount may bring it just inside the range of spec. Which would make it drive normally. I also had the idea of extending the arms out a bit, but I was told very clearly from shaun at street or track that the control arms must be the same length. So I guess that would mean adjusting both, but what would that do to the passenger side and fixing that?

Passenger side.

Took both tires off, tried to take some measurements, did best i could, but I was more trying to figure out if the angle of the shock tower mounting plate was off, and if the holes are in the same place on each side. The results are that the plate on the drivers side seems to be angled inward, and that appears to not be correct. I will try to explain how i measured. When looking at the plate where the upper control on mounts, it is flat, and has a flat surface to almost the frame rail. I put a tape measure against the very bottom flat part that was the same plane as the bolts, and measured out to the edge of the frame rail. I did this for the very front and back on each side. It was a bit crude using tape measure and jamming my head in the wheel well close enough to see, but i got a good enough reading. Driver side tower mounting plate Back edge to frame rail - 2 1/4" Front edge to frame rail - 2 3/4" Passenger side tower mounting plate Back edge to frame rail - 2 1/2" Front edge to frame rail - 2 1/2" You can start to see where the prob may be. Also i took pics measuring the UCA bolts from the flat part of the firewall across, assuming that part of the body would be same on both side. There is a 1/2" difference in there too. Altho that one was a bit harder to get really accurate. On the drivers side, it measured to 16" front flat part of firewall to read UCA bolt. On passenger side it was 15 1/2". Again i may be slightly off and not sure if that part is exact on each side. Will post some pics so everyone can see. I am wondering if we can shim this out and get it to align at least for 1 years use then tackle this next winter? Also i took some pics as requested of the strut rods. Got both, did best i could with showing ends. These are the street or track adjustable rods. It may take a post or two to get all pics up. The pics actually make it look better than it is. It looks more jacked in person. I will do all driver side on this post, and passenger next. Driver side.

Can do this afternoon after work.

I agree with that. To this point there isnt anything i have spent that I wouldnt have at some point anyway because i wanted to upgrade suspension and all that at some point, just wasnt hoping now. Either way, we are at the point that if I cant get this figured out without it being a major thing from here, we may just start the disassemble this winter and start taking her apart and dealing with any metal issues we have to. Remove the engine and trans, maybe do a cleanup and refresh on those, not a whole rebuild tho, considering swapping the old amx trans for something lighter and better, and remove all the interior and send it to the shop to have the metal work done. Part of the issue I will have I believe is finding a good place to do it that will still be somewhat reasonable. We live in a remote southern coastal section of oregon, so there isnt much close for at least a few hours. Makes it challenging for sure. I hope to try to do as much myself as I can, including some body work, body fitting, all the interior. Do the engine and trans refresh, etc. I cant weld and dont want to start so I need a place to repair it properly. Then eventually a place to do a decent paint job. If anyone knows anyone in the area please let me know. Anyway, just got home from work and it is dark and lighting out there is not good. Have a shorter day tomorrow so will reread all these and then try to get some pics and measurements done. Thanks all.

Tomorrow I have an earlier day. I will be able to put up on jack stands and take wheels off and take pics and measurements if needed.

I will reply more later after work But the upper control arms have been replaced with street or track adjustables.

And another question is since we know that shock tower had work done to it and not correct work, is it possible the holes foe the upper control arms were put in wrong position? Is there a way to verify that? Guessing i can match up to other side measurements but who knows if that side is right.

I will try to get a good pic and double check the mounting points on upper control arms. I actually did check that yesterday and it honestly didnt seem very far off if at all. This is all very confusing. Here is my thoughts. If i keep chasing this problem and cant get it aligned for my wife to use for the next year before I start to tackle other things, I can start to dismantle and strip down to prep for metal work and send to a shop sooner. Start working on it over winter. I just wanted her to be able to drive and enjoy it a little as a driver before we did some major repair and work on it. She has put maybe 30 miles on it.

I will have to check tomorrow and post as it is too dark and not enough good lighting in garage.