Handegard 10 Report post Posted December 7, 2009 This car belonged to Joe, my boss's father in law, the second owner. Joe has owned the car since the early eighties IIRC. I have the paperwork for the orignal purchase, includeing the window sticker and warranty, etc. as well as the paper work for the 2nd purchase. Joe love's '70 Mustangs. He had a Convertible that I believe he said had a Clevland in it, and a Mach 1. This coupe just rounded out his collection. Well, he sold the Mach (he regrets it) and practically gave me this car ($1800) and is just going to keep the convertible. The car has all the original stuff so far as I can see. It's a 302 with the factory 2bbl (just rebuilt) and a C4, with a 8" rear. It's got power steering and brakes, tinted windows, a deluxe interior, and a vinyl top. So far, I've Rebuilt the carb New tires Replaced swaybar enlinks Front floor pans (half assed, for now) And cleaned it. Car runs great, it's my girlfriends daily driver. Has a little rust in a few spots. Leaks in the cowl, needs window seals, the usual stuff ;) I just wanted to start a thread, so I can document the work I'll be doing. Unlike my '69, this car will stay as close to original as possible. We'll be doing everything we can to bring it back to "like new" as far as functionality, but not even attempting concours. I just want to fix everything. The contrast between "Restoring" and "Resto-modding" is kind of fun, but it also kind of hurts me sometimes. For instance, the '70 will be getting new exhaust soon (it has a leak) and I immediatley though "hey, this is a good chance for some long tube headers!" before going "oh yea, originality for this car, long tubes for the '69" It's just hard having this pile of go-fast parts made for this specific car, and not being able to bolt them on ;) But her car is certainly appealing in it's own way. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handegard 10 Report post Posted December 9, 2009 So far this week I've made more progress on the '70 than '69... I replaced what looked to be a factory thermostat... Gee, they don't make'm like they used to! Replaced upper, lower, and bypass hoses, flushed the coolant. This evening, I'm going to go use silicon to seal the temporary floor pan job we did untill I weld it when I get bigger pans... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handegard 10 Report post Posted December 27, 2009 Car is sitting, awaiting a new lower control arm and ball joint anxiously! Once the holidays are over, I plan to drop the transmission, replace either the front pump seal or the rear main (somethings leaking) and re-seal the oil pan. While I do that, I'll do the transmission filter and re-seal the pan, then flush it with fresh fluid (not a power flush, nor with any additives, just a 100% fluid change) Tonight I'm going to head to the shop and do a transmission filter/pan gasket on my F250.... Well, it's 3:45am, so "tonight" isn't the correct phrase... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handegard 10 Report post Posted January 17, 2010 Poor car is stuck in the shop! I replaced the replacement lower control arm today, and snapped my swaybar endlink... Oops... I thought nothing of this, having had driven vehicles without one or both of them in the past. I figured I'd just drive it home, then come back and replace it today... but noo... I made it 30 feet or so, and when I tapped my first little pothole, something seemed wrong... so I got out and looked, and my tire is riding super close to to my fender... I guess those end-links help a heck of a lot keeping the tire from rebounding up into the fender! So I'll buy a pair of Moog's tomorrow. I'll only install one. Once I get the replacement lower control arm from CJ Pony Parts, I'm going to do the other side... and align it again... I also flushed the brake fluid from the system, it was some of the nastiest stuff I'd ever seen. Must have been damn near factory fill ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moteaux 10 Report post Posted January 19, 2010 Sounds like you have 2 good projects and a great pastime keeping you busy. Keep us posted! I am sure they will be great when they are finished. Or if they are finished. I cant quit finding things to do with mine.:tongue: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handegard 10 Report post Posted March 8, 2010 Not alot has happened. Cleaned the engine real good to see what was leaking, good thing about cork gaskets is you can just snug the valve covers and oil pan up to stop leaks ;) Hopefully this summer, the 302 is coming out, getting thoroughly cleaned, painted, and going back in with some new gaskets. Nothing to wild, upgrades are still forbidden by my better half, but a new paint job will do wonders for the engine bay. Plus, I'm allowed to put some nice valve covers I have on it (I haven't decided between the chrome/black Edelbrocks, or the ancient aluminum M/Ts... I made a magnetic cover for the cowl vent, it helped with water alot. I also spent a bunch of time cleaning pine needles out of the cowl, and re-sealed some of it with silicon. Oh, and I now have new LCA on both sides, and new Moog endlinks. Next, I want some UCAs and roller perchs. Overall, I'm pretty much done "fixing" the car from a mechanical standpoint. Now I just need to get the body back to perfect. I need floor panels, fix the cowl leak, and door skins wouldn't hurt. Oh, number one! I want a fan shroud! And number two is a rubber kit for the windows. I want to stop water from getting in the doors ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handegard 10 Report post Posted March 8, 2010 Not alot has happened. Cleaned the engine real good to see what was leaking, good thing about cork gaskets is you can just snug the valve covers and oil pan up to stop leaks ;) Hopefully this summer, the 302 is coming out, getting thoroughly cleaned, painted, and going back in with some new gaskets. Nothing to wild, upgrades are still forbidden by my better half, but a new paint job will do wonders for the engine bay. Plus, I'm allowed to put some nice valve covers I have on it (I haven't decided between the chrome/black Edelbrocks, or the ancient aluminum M/Ts... I made a magnetic cover for the cowl vent, it helped with water alot. I also spent a bunch of time cleaning pine needles out of the cowl, and re-sealed some of it with silicon. Oh, and I now have new LCA on both sides, and new Moog endlinks. Next, I want some UCAs and roller perchs. Overall, I'm pretty much done "fixing" the car from a mechanical standpoint. Now I just need to get the body back to perfect. I need floor panels, fix the cowl leak, and door skins wouldn't hurt. Oh, number one! I want a fan shroud! And number two is a rubber kit for the windows. I want to stop water from getting in the doors ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handegard 10 Report post Posted March 8, 2010 Not alot has happened. Cleaned the engine real good to see what was leaking, good thing about cork gaskets is you can just snug the valve covers and oil pan up to stop leaks ;) Hopefully this summer, the 302 is coming out, getting thoroughly cleaned, painted, and going back in with some new gaskets. Nothing to wild, upgrades are still forbidden by my better half, but a new paint job will do wonders for the engine bay. Plus, I'm allowed to put some nice valve covers I have on it (I haven't decided between the chrome/black Edelbrocks, or the ancient aluminum M/Ts... I made a magnetic cover for the cowl vent, it helped with water alot. I also spent a bunch of time cleaning pine needles out of the cowl, and re-sealed some of it with silicon. Oh, and I now have new LCA on both sides, and new Moog endlinks. Next, I want some UCAs and roller perchs. Overall, I'm pretty much done "fixing" the car from a mechanical standpoint. Now I just need to get the body back to perfect. I need floor panels, fix the cowl leak, and door skins wouldn't hurt. Oh, number one! I want a fan shroud! And number two is a rubber kit for the windows. I want to stop water from getting in the doors ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Green69 10 Report post Posted March 11, 2010 I don't think the cowl cover will do much good because water still runs down the windshield and behind the cowl panel. I guess you can seal the base of the windshield where the glass meets the chrome. The nice thing about '69s, however, is that the cowl panel comes off, so I glued some black window screen behind the slots. This has kept leaves and pine needles out, if not the water. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Green69 10 Report post Posted March 11, 2010 I don't think the cowl cover will do much good because water still runs down the windshield and behind the cowl panel. I guess you can seal the base of the windshield where the glass meets the chrome. The nice thing about '69s, however, is that the cowl panel comes off, so I glued some black window screen behind the slots. This has kept leaves and pine needles out, if not the water. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Green69 10 Report post Posted March 11, 2010 I don't think the cowl cover will do much good because water still runs down the windshield and behind the cowl panel. I guess you can seal the base of the windshield where the glass meets the chrome. The nice thing about '69s, however, is that the cowl panel comes off, so I glued some black window screen behind the slots. This has kept leaves and pine needles out, if not the water. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handegard 10 Report post Posted March 12, 2010 I don't think the cowl cover will do much good because water still runs down the windshield and behind the cowl panel. I guess you can seal the base of the windshield where the glass meets the chrome. Yeah, I didn't expect it to stop water entirely, but it did cut down on "wet floor syndrome" signifigantly... I hadn't thought about sealing the window. I may look at that. I mostly want to just fix the leak ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handegard 10 Report post Posted March 12, 2010 I don't think the cowl cover will do much good because water still runs down the windshield and behind the cowl panel. I guess you can seal the base of the windshield where the glass meets the chrome. Yeah, I didn't expect it to stop water entirely, but it did cut down on "wet floor syndrome" signifigantly... I hadn't thought about sealing the window. I may look at that. I mostly want to just fix the leak ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handegard 10 Report post Posted March 12, 2010 I don't think the cowl cover will do much good because water still runs down the windshield and behind the cowl panel. I guess you can seal the base of the windshield where the glass meets the chrome. Yeah, I didn't expect it to stop water entirely, but it did cut down on "wet floor syndrome" signifigantly... I hadn't thought about sealing the window. I may look at that. I mostly want to just fix the leak ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Green69 10 Report post Posted March 13, 2010 The worst leak is the little one that you don't notice until your floors rot. My inner rockers were killed by cowl leak. When I pulled my cowl cover, I saw some pinholes at the base of the windshield where water might come in. Now, I sponge bathe my car around the windshield. Rather sad affair... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Green69 10 Report post Posted March 13, 2010 The worst leak is the little one that you don't notice until your floors rot. My inner rockers were killed by cowl leak. When I pulled my cowl cover, I saw some pinholes at the base of the windshield where water might come in. Now, I sponge bathe my car around the windshield. Rather sad affair... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Green69 10 Report post Posted March 13, 2010 The worst leak is the little one that you don't notice until your floors rot. My inner rockers were killed by cowl leak. When I pulled my cowl cover, I saw some pinholes at the base of the windshield where water might come in. Now, I sponge bathe my car around the windshield. Rather sad affair... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handegard 10 Report post Posted April 8, 2010 I have begun narrowing my leak down. Looks like it's behind the speedometer (not sure if it's higher or lower) I've stopped virtually all leaking on the passenger side. Hopefully, I'll get the fenders off this weekend, and see whats underneath... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fordrevhead 29 Report post Posted April 8, 2010 look down in through the cowel, just to the drivers side of center the lower panel swoops downward and levels off..a lot of crap and water sits in this spot. I bet you'll find some pin hole leaks here.... just ahead of the speedometer. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handegard 10 Report post Posted March 4, 2012 Since I posted last, I've moved from auto-tech to auto-shop owner.... So I have some space to work on the Mustang again ;) I removed these today- Not as big of a difference as I'd hoped for, but I'm sure it's a improvement. A new workspace shot: Someone did this in my parking lot- I have cameras though, so I'll check the footage out tomorrow. Still pissed me off. My choices are claim on my car insurance.... or claim on my shop insurance.... Or live with it.... Sucks. I'm going to start driving it to work as often as possible, and every day I'll devote a little time to it. I've got a body/restoration guy who wants to do some labor trading, so I'm going to get him to do the cowl, floor, and fix the rust on the doors this spring hopefully. He moves south for the winter... He's did my '68 F350 cab and it turned out great... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TexasEd 188 Report post Posted March 5, 2012 What bad luck on the damage. I've got to do my suspension and steering too. I have to save up the money and hope to get to it in the next 6-12 months. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handegard 10 Report post Posted April 26, 2013 I just drove the car home for the first time in ~6 months today, yesterday I finished installed the C4 I just rebuilt (it lost reverse to a broken anchor, and just went through the whole thing while I had it apart) I've made a deal with the body guy who did my '68 F350 body/paint and I'll be repowering a '52 Ford Panel truck with a 460/C6/9" for him and in exchange, he'll spruce up the '70. I've also decided I'm going to freshen up the 302, just new rings, bearings, gaskets, and most of all paint. I'm going to clean and repaint the engine bay, while it's our, and have a pretty new engine to match my pretty new C4 in my freshly painted engine bay... Wonderful ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
