Winter makeover

[69gmachine 15]

The weather has been spectacular here, so I took it out for one last drive of the season yesterday. Today I started tearing the interior out. There was a short somewhere in the main underdash harness that was draining the battery, so I plan to replace it with one from a Cougar that had a tach. I'll have to re-pin it at the gauge panel but I wanted the extra wires that are built in like the door open warning lights. While I have everything apart, I'm also planning to have Tin Man subframe connectors welded in. The ones I have now are crazy heavy and hang lower than I'd like. I also think the Tin Man connectors will make it stiffer than what I have now. I'm going to send the gauges to The Tach Man to have the tach and temp gauge calibrated, and the speedo converted to 140 mph. I'll also have to replace the radio since it went tits up this past summer. The hard part is always not getting carried away. It's probably already too late though!

[bnickel 10,004]

hey Gmachine, how's your front suspension project coming? any plans for production yet?

[69gmachine 15]

Hey bnickel, I'm very close! As of now I have a production run of about 80% of the pieces and pre-production runs of the rest. I test them not only for fit and functionality, but also for ease of maintenance and cost to produce. I eventually came up with a brake package that will fit even 14" rims, although I can't imagine why anyone would spend that much on a top of the line suspension only to use old tech 14" rims, but to each their own lol. I hope to have complete suspension kits less the brakes ready to ship by mid January. There are just too many brake options to try to stock all of them, so they will be a custom order as they come. I need to work on my website, but I just haven't had the time. Eventually I'll have a web store at raeracing.net.

 

I believe I may have the only bolt on kit that can use a 17x9" wheel up front. I've been driving around on P275s at all four corners for the last month, and it loooks as good as it drives.

 

Thanks for asking!!

Edited November 28, 2011 by 69gmachine
spelling

[bnickel 10,004]

sweet!!! sounds awesome can't wait to see the full fledged production setup ready to go! I can't honestly imagine using a 14" wheel either but I am pretty much old school when it comes ro wheels and tires and I prefer the good old 15" wheel, it just looks better to me, I only wish that there were more 15" tire options these days, like back in the 80's when it seems that all of the tire manufacturers had a line of Hi-Po 15" tires. Today about all there is Mickey Thompson and a few BFG's unless you want to run a 225/50 or smaller.....it's even getting hard to find a good 16" tire too.

 

That said I think 15" wheels are starting to make something of a comeback in classic cars lately so maybe the tire makers will take note and give us some more options.

[stangme428 33]

wow.... 17x9 with 275's... that mean trans am stance!!! awesome!!

[Jayru 17]

Look forward to seeing it in the spring since our fall cruise never happened! Lol

[69gmachine 15]

Look forward to seeing it in the spring since our fall cruise never happened! Lol

 

Yep, me too! When I get it out for the spring the radio will be working again. I'm going to mount a USB port in the cig lighter so I can plug in my IPOD and/or cell phone. Very important for long cruises!

[69gmachine 15]

One of the primary areas that I will focus on this mod period is wiring. To that end, I plan to fix a problem that I have when transitioning between my modern truck and the vintage Mustang. I frequently forget to turn the headlights off when I get to work, only to return to a dead battery at the end of the day. To remedy this, I'm going to add a relay in series that will kill the headlights when the key is off. I already have a relay for the halogen headlights. The new relay will source the signal from wire 48, the blind circuit that uses ACC power. That way I will have headlights if the key is in either the ON or ACC positions.

 

I have already tied the Parking brake warning circuit into the regular Brake warning circuit, so that the dash light will illuminate for either condition. I don't know about you, but my shuttle has never moved, and that light was just going to waste. I also didn't want to add that goofy little PARK jewel onthe lower dash, as I think it looked very tacky tacked on like that.

 

I ran the door ajar circuit to the OIL idiot light in the dash. I will have to get some letter transfers from Office Depot to re-label it "DOOR". Since I have an oil pressure gauge in the console, this light was disabled anyway. In order to add the Door ajar circuit, I had to use the correct door latches with switches, the door harness from a Cougar as well as the underdash harness from a Cougar.

 

Most of the signals at the gauge feed were already in the correct location. I had to de-pin some and add others.

 

I put 5 volts across the Temp gauge and verified I had a good reading all the way to HOT. After ringing the wire out to the temp sensor, I determined that the open was the result of poor/no contact at the gauge feed to gauge panel interface. I plan to add some double face tape under the contacts in the connector to ensure they have adequate pressure against the printed circuit.

 

I wish I had the ability to draw all this and post it, but hopefully you can pull out your wiring diagram and follow along if you're interested.

Edited December 8, 2011 by 69gmachine
grammar, spelling

[69gmachine 15]

I know how much everyone like pictures, so I finally got around to editing and posting them.

I drilled the hole as close as I could to line up below the one above as that's where the Shelby's had them. It's not perfect, but certainly good enough for me.

The under hood harness has two large (8 gauge) wires for the ammeter. The one with the yellow stripe will be power while the solid black will be ground as I'm using a voltmeter.

 

The grey wire will go to a relay in series with the relay powering the headlights. It gets it's power from the blind circuit which in turn is connected to the accessory post on the ignition switch.

The engine gauge feed jumper takes the oil pressure sender down to the console while allowing the temp and ignition wires to pass through.

On the inside the under hood harness mates to an intermediate harness. This harness allows the Cougar tail light harness to mate to the Mustang under dash harness. It also connects to the Shelby console harness.

Edited April 21, 2012 by 69gmachine
grammar

[69gmachine 15]

This down period took waaay longer than expected, but I finally got it running last night and all the interior back in.

 

Things accomplished during the 2011/2012 mod period:

1) replaced main underdash harness due to a short. Task was complicated by using a Cougar harness but it added functionality, and I had it on hand so it was the best option under the circumstances.

2) added the Shelby unique harnesses (3 total) that bring the oil pressure into the cockpit and provide a factory appearance for wiring to the light relay, the starter solenoid and junction block for the voltmeter.

3) added a relay to kill the headlights when the key is off.

4) added a relay to make the horns louder.

5) added a door ajar circuit (not availbale as a Mustang option in '69) using the defunct OIL idiot light which has been replaced by a gauge.

6) added a hidden radio with an RF remote and USB port for my Ipod and cell phone. I put an original AM radio in the dash which is functional but primarily just for looks. The new radio can charge a cell phone while in use, so the aLapRecorder app on my cell phone can track my speed and calculate my Gs as I drive on a track or autocross course.

7) replcaed the driver's side door glass with a tinted window to match all the other glass. Also adjusted both sides to seal nicely and eliminate a huge source of road noise.

8) added some sound insulation so I can actually hear the radio instead of road noise.

9) replaced dash lights with blue LEDs. Huge improvement for night driving.

10) added an intermittent w/s wiper switch from a mid 80s truck.

11) rebuilt and recurved a new distributor. Initially I sent my Autozone cheap rebuild out just for re-curving. They botched it and the only thing I could use was the refurbished housing which had an extra bushing installed at the bottom. I made a custom 12L reluctor arm but ended up finding a factory 10L arm in a core I bought at Carlisle for $2.00, so I swapped that in. I set the initial at 15 degrees and with the Duraspark retard on start circuit hooked up to the starter solenoid, that drops to 12 degrees while starting. It fires right up faster than my 2006 Toyota now. Idle is 900 rpm @ 15 degrees. I could drop that down to 800 if I backed the timing down to 12, but that would cost power.

 

Things that don't work:

1) I should have checked all the lights before I put the dash back together, but the driver side rear opera light and the passenger side under dash light are not working. Both bulbs checked good. I suspect I just failed to conncet the harness properly.

2) Water temp gauge still doesn't budge. If I ground the lead the gauge will go full scale, so the gauge and wiring seem to be OK, but I 've replaced the sending unit and no change. Not sure what's going on here, but it's not overheating so I'll live with it for now.

 

The weather here has been spectacular, but that's about to end. I worked like crazy the past 3 days to get it wrapped up before the sweltering heat prevented any further progress. I'll start daily driving again SOON!

Edited June 19, 2012 by 69gmachine
spelling

[Grabber70Mach 107]

Congratulations Larry on getting it done, now get out there and enjoy it.

[69gmachine 15]

Thanks Ted, but after I took it out for a test drive I found a few more issues:

 

1) speedo doesn't work! drats drats and double drats! The dash will have to come back out. The only positive about that is that it will give me a chance to fix the lighting problems.

2) The console sits too far aft as a result of the hidden radio and all the Shelby console wiring. The shifter doesn't want to stay in any of the forward gears, so the console will have to come back out too. I may try to cut out the bottom of the shifter insert to give it room to work. Long term solution is the Shelby console insert. It has a larger opening for the shifter and is removable from the top without having to remove the console base. That will also allow me to move some of the Shelby wiring out of the way with the base in place.

3) Turn signals stopped working! I checked them after I put the LED dash lights in and they were working fine. Not sure what happened here.

4) the RF remote doesn't work. I'm picking up a Country/Western station on the eastern shore. Can't change the volume or the station. I'll investigate when I pull the console back out.

 

On the bright side, after it warmed up the idle speed dropped to 750 rpm. It has NEVER idled that low before. The only possible change I made that could affect idle speed was the ignition system. I rebuilt the dizzy myself, set the plug gap at .043 and hooked up the retard on start circuit to the starter solenoid. Previously I had it tied to a 12v ignition source, so it was always on, defeating the purpose as I would compensate when I set the initial timing. Other than that I didn't touch the engine.

 

So, I have no idea when it will be road worthy. This year is flying by.

[69gmachine 15]

Well the courtesy lights were easily fixed. On the driver side where I built a jumper from the Cougar under dash harness to the Mustang tail light harness I picked up the wrong lead. Once I tied it to the correct wire, the light came on. On the passenger side under dash light, it was simply not connected.

 

The turn signals are a bit more troublesome. Initially I swapped the flashers and the problem followed the flasher. I had an original Autolite red 429 flasher for the sequential tail lights and it worked when I put it on the turn signal side. So I went and bought 2 new flashers; one heavy duty 522 and one electronic 3 prong. First I installed the heavy duty flasher. It must have failed instantly as it did the exact same thing the original one did, failed closed, lights solid on.

 

So I made a jumper to ground for the electronic flasher and tried that. Voila... for a little while. After a few flashes it started flashing slower and slower until it stopped, also failing closed. Then I moved the red Autolite 429 flasher back to the turn signal side. Again it worked for a while, then failed open... no lights at all. Now I have killed 4 flashers total.

 

Somewhere in my conversion I have something shorted, and it looks like the main under dash harness will have to come back out. I'm really not looking forward to that.

[69gmachine 15]

Made a little more progress. I welded an extension on the front of the shifter to move it back 7/8". That will give me plenty of room to shift into the forward gears without hitting the console insert.

[bnickel 10,004]

Hey Larry, out of curiosity, which Duraspark box are you running? is it a blue grommet box or something else. I only ask because I read somewhere that only the Duraspark I (NOT the DS II) boxes with the red or white grommet (can't remember which at the moment) are capable of the start retard feature. That didn't sound right to me but I couldn't find anything to dispute it anywhere. Inquiring minds want to know.....

 

I seem to remember you saying once that you had the blue grommet box, but I am unsure and would like to double check.

 

As an aside to this conversation I just scored one olf the old MSD/Blue Ribbon "Ping Control" cockpit adjustable Duraspark boxes, although without the adjuster knob and even though it says it's a direct replacement for the Ford box it has GM style weatherpack connectors, so I'll haveto change those out.

 

Somehing else I found interesting is that Pertronix Second Strike CD box is capable of running in conjunction with the stock Drasapark ignition, as it only provides a second capacitive discharge spark AFTER the stock ignition fires, apparently it can also be used with other aftermarket systems as well, provided they are an inductive type system instead of another CD type system, so I could possibly use one with my old NOS in the box Stinger system from the 80's.....:devil2:

[69gmachine 15]

Yes, it's the blue grommet. Everything I've read indicates that it's the only one to use for a performance conversion. The white wire with blue hashes on the two wire connector needs to go to a hot at start source. The red wire goes to 12V ignition. Since I'm running 12 volts (or as close as I can get) to the coil already, I used the brown 262 wire from the starter solenoid to provide power to this circuit.

 

That's interesting that the Pertronix 2nd strike can piggyback on the Duraspark ignition, I'll have to check into it, maybe find someone who's added one to see what the results were.

 

I saw an MSD "blue" grommet box on ebay not too long ago and thought about buying it, but I don't know what advantage it would be. The one I saw had the regular Ford style connectors. Let us know how well it works, and any downside you run into if any.

 

I've never had a Duraspark box fail, and the plugs don't foul, and now that it's idling well, I just don't see what improvement I would get. I'm convinced that my idling problem was entirely due to the aftermarket pickup in the dizzy. Once I installed a used original Ford pickup, it was an instant improvement in idle quality. Before the tach gave up it was showing 750, and from the sound of the motor, I think that was just about spot on.

[bnickel 10,004]

I'm not entirely sure i'm going to use the MSD box as I've also got an NOS, in the box, Stinger ignition system with dizzy and coil plus several different Stinger boxes as well. All tolled I've got 2 Magna-Pulse boxes (the NOS system is one the MagnaPulse units), 2 regular Stinger boxes, 1 Stinger I box and 1 Stinger S-4 box plus two extra dizzy conversions, one complete and one missing the correct reluctor and some spare pick-ups and stuff.

 

I also have a Mallory Unilite conversion, an Accel points eliminator (same as a Unilite conversion) and a Mallory Super Spark CD box with the correct wiring harness for the Unilite that has a built in resistor or something, they won't work together without the harness.

 

I have an old Borg-Warner electronic conversion that basically uses a Unilite type LED sensor and a Chrysler electronic module. I have an old Accel electronic conversion that uses the points as a trigger, a Mr Gasket Gold Spark box uses the points as a trigger, and an old Motorcraft conversion that is basically the same Motorola system that AMC, Jeep and IHC used until they switched to the Duraspark style system plus a couple other old outdated systems and some various Duraspark replacement stuff, and even some points related stuff including an NOS in the box Accel Blueprint series points dizzy and an old NOS in the box Accel Super Stock coil that looks almost identical to the stock yellow top Autolite coil but with a tan top, however it has the offset coil wire terminal and the side by side primary terminals just like a yellow top Autolite.

 

I recently sold all of my Autolite transistor ignition stuff, including 2 NOS coils and 4 NOS transistor modules and some NOS and used wiring harnesses and other pieces and parts for the system. Also sold an old Allison electronic conversion unit which is the same system as the current Crane XR-700 system and also an old Mallory optical trigger system that used the Chrysler box and was basically the forerunner of the Unilite system.

 

For some reason strange reason I have and odd affinity for old electronic ignition conversion systems and for the life of me I can not figure out why.....

 

I have the same weird jones for carburetors too, I've got a 59 Autolite 4100 1.19 venturi size, the big '58/'59 only job, a couple of 1.12 4100's one 64 model and one 65 model, a D0PF-9510-U 450 Holley and a C9OF-9510-R 600 Holley which was the Ford Muscle Parts carb for the 351 that goes with my Muscle parts intake. I've also got the 625 Road Demon that's on the stang, a 600 carter that had one of the old foam air cleaners melt all over it, and a bunch of 2 barrel Autolites and a junk Holley 4010 for parts.

 

I'm currently on the lookout for one of the old Holley Mile Dial systems (thats' the electronic Holley kit) and a Holley mileage computer as well, if anyone knows of one or the other for cheap..hint...hint.:smile:

[69gmachine 15]

Sounds like you need to start an ignition museum:clown:

Is the Accel Super Stock coil made for points? I wonder if it could handle a little more voltage? Would you consider selling it?

[bnickel 10,004]

actually that's the one I plan on using.....sorry