Patch Panels & Bolt Refinishing

I stayed home with the kids today since school is out. I managed to take care of a few random tasks.


I started by painting a few small parts I blasted this past week. The main thing I painted was the bolts for the export brace. These are the original bolts and nuts. They are originally gold diacrhomate coated. I can purchase a set with the correct finish for $12.00. I can always replace these later with the correct ones but at the moment, I don't want to spend the money for these.



I also painted the an alternator mounting bolt and spacer. I stopped by a new Ace hardware near my home and purchased the other two mounting bolts. The ones I replaced with those purchased at Ace were pitted and not original. I considered buying the correct bolts to mount the alternator from NPD but they cost $7.00. Again, I can replace these later if I they are too noticiable.


The last thing I did was create two patch panels. I made one for the area underneath the battery. I also made a patch panel for a hole made in the radiator support for the A/C system. This reason behind the second patch panel is a little detailed, so I'll create another post on it later.

Firewall A/C Panel Restoration

I visited my parents for the holiday this past weekend. I spent a little time using the media blasting cabinet to clean up the A/C cover for the firewall. The A/C cover is not original to my Mustang as mine did not come with A/C. However, the piece along with many other A/C parts on my car are all original parts.

The part cleaned up rather well. The years of exposure to moisture resulted in a little pitting. The more rounded of the two pieces is in the best condition. There are not a large number of this part available due to the limited number of Mustangs with A/C. Considering the location of this piece, I don't believe the light pitting will be noticable.

The part is originally dipped in black paint and allowed to hang dry. However, the part is painted with the same paint as the rest of the engine bay. I used the standard Krylon spray paint for this piece.

The screws which hold the piece to the firewall have no real identifing marks. They are normally zinc or phosphate covered. I'm not aware of a way to dupicate this finish for a reasonable price. I'll continue to look into it but may resort to painting the screws black. They are small and would likely not be very noticable.

Once the piece and heater hoses were installed, the firewall sealant was put on the part to avoid leaks.

Underhood Welding (Part 2)

I spent today cleaning up the welds in the engine compartment. I sanded them down with a 50 grit sanding disc on a right angle grinder. I then used USC All Metal filler to finish the welded areas so they are not visible at all. I then top coated them with Eastwoods Rust Encapsulator.

I was able to complete both of the shock towers, the firewall, and the radiator support. The area which still needs attention is the fender apron were the windshield washer reservior is mounted. I've grinded all the welds down and put on the USC All Metal. I'll come back in a couple of days, sand them down, and then top coat with Rust Encapsulator.

The area under the battery still needs a patch panel created. Once I have one created, I'll call Danny for some help with the welding.

Gauge Feed Harness

My original underhood wiring harness for the Mustang is in bad shape. Two of the three original connectors have broken off and the wiring is brittle. For Christmas, I received a new underhood wiring harness.

The piece is nicely constructed but the reproduction does not look identical to the original. The wiring colors are the same with the exception of the wire for the oil pressure sender. The oil pressure connector is also a different style.

I've posted a question about the original harness on a website visited by MCA judges. Hopefully I can get a few answers to post about why this one is different than the original.

Air Cleaner Stickers

The original air cleaner box for my Mustang is in the garage but is missing the snorkle. The piece is a sealed circular box with a single openning for air. It keeps the engine a little quieter but limits air flow. Since it is not complete and is somewhat limiting, I decided to go non-stock on its replacement.

I purchased a concours style air cleaner and filter for the car several months ago. In previous pictures, the air cleaner is visible with the standard 289 High Performance sticker. This is how the air cleaner appeared on 289 HiPo Mustangs.

The new stickers I'm using were selected as they identical to those on a '67 Shelby GT350. I like them as I remember these from the Shelby owned by my friends father. Additionally, they are not commonly used unlike the previous sytle which is used by everyone. These cost just a few dollars and make the engine a little different than the rest.

Shock Tower Brace

Little progress has been made on the Mustang in the past week. I've been preparing for the holidays and enjoying the warmth of the house after a recent cold front.

I received a Drake Scott export brace for the Mustang from my in-laws for Christmas. My Mustang originally came with a straight brace connecting each shock tower to the firewall. The export brace is a single piece attaching in the same manner. The use of a single piece makes the chassis of the vehicle a little stiffer.

The piece is called an export brace because it was originally installed on vehicles exported out of the US. I'm told the brace was used as road conditions in other countries required a stiffer suspension. The piece was then added to the GT350 and GT500 by Shelby.

I'm very impressed with the quality of this export brace. The piece is easily two or three times as thick as the metal used on the original braces. There are also deeper concours to the brace which should reduce any twisting.

In my opinion this piece is integral to the chassis strength. The upper control arm mounts about one foot up the shock tower. The support for the shock tower is basically the structure provided by the square created by the radiator support, firewall, and inner fenderwells. This metal is not very thick and no doubt flexes under load. This new brace will provide the missing support at the top of the shock towers.

Original Braces:


New Export Brace:


Thickness Comparison:

Radio Suppressor Restoration

If you recall, I media blasted the radio suppressor a little over a week ago. I primered the piece a few days after returning from visiting my parents. I then painted the piece with the same Duplicolor Slate Gray (T154) which I used on the washer nozzles.

The piece is original to the vehicle and contains the following on the end opposite the wire:
C6OA-18832-A Autolite 848

I'm told the suppressor was used to stop the spark plugs from interfering with the radio. New spark plugs have the suppressor built in so the piece is actually no longer needed. However, since it was original to the car and I figured I would reinstall the piece. It is mounted above the voltage regulator on the inner drivers side of the radiator support.

Underhood Welding (Part 1)

A family friend named Danny agreed to come by today and helpme weld some holes in the engine compartment. The holes were made by the previous owner. They were made to mount a radiator overflow tank, vacuum canister, car alarm siren, and other items long since removed. There were a total of 16 holes which I had cleaned and preped for his arrival.

I'm new to welding and have never actually been around anyone welding before. I've seen it done on TV but we all know how much they omit. The welding went very quickly. The more time consuming part was sanding down the welds with a grinder loaded with 24-36 grit paper.

I'll need to clean up the welds a little further before primer. I also need to create a patch panel for under the battery. Once this piece is ready, Danny said he would come by and help me weld it in.

Fan Spacer Restoration

The fan spacer for the Mustang is very scratched up and dirty. I looked through a few parts catalogs to price a replacement but found original style fan spacers are not sold. There are aftermarket pieces which look nice but cost $16-$20. To find an original, I'd need to shop on eBay.

While looking over mine last night, I noticed it was solid aluminum. The piece almost has a brushed look to the metal. I cleaned the piece with Fantastic cleaner and then used very fine steel wool to clean up the deeper scratches and marks. Since I scrubed in the direction of the original brushed marks, it did not change the appearance of the piece.

I would have liked to polish the piece off with some aluminum wheel cleaner but I do not have any. Instead, I put a polishing wheel on my Dremel and sprayed W-40 on it. This worked very well to clean the last bits of dirt off and polished the piece up well. While it is not perfect, I think it will work out fine.

The original style is the same from '65-'67. They do not have complete part numbers but normally have a abbreviated engineering number on the part which protrudes through the fan. The actual part numbers of the pieces used in '67 are:
67 w/o AC - 3.15" C5OZ-8546-A (normally marked with C5OE-A)
67 w/AC - 2.18" C6OZ-8546-B (normally no marking)
67 with/without thermactor C4AZ-8546-B (normally no marking)


Before:

After:

Cleaning Small Windshield Washer Parts

I media blasted the parts of the windshield washer system yesterday. I took the parts off shortly after buying the car because the windshield washer system did not work. I packed them up but with all the parts I've taken off don't want them to get lost. Since I'll be installing a new windshield washer system when the engine bay is finished and want them ready for installation.

The pieces were covered with black, red, and blue paint from the various times the part/car have been repainted. These parts were originally zinc plated. I primered them and painted them with a Duplicolor Slate Gray (T154). The color was nice with a little metallic flake in it. While not perfect it will work really well.

The 'T' for the washer lines is not original. Originally, a plastic splitter was used. It was mounted to the cowl on the drivers side with a small screw. The lines then ran along the cowl outside of the engine bay weather stripping. I already have the replacement lines and the correct 'T' so I will use them when the time to reinstall arrives.

Blasted installed parts:

Freshly Painted:

Fan, Coil Bracket, and Pulley Restoration

This weekend I visited family and took advantage of the opportunity to use my Dad's media blasting cabinet. I media blasted the fan, coil bracket, water pump pulley, crank pulley, radio suppressor, and the windshield washer sprayers. It was a very productive day.

The water pump has the number C5AE-8509-B on the side of the pulley. The crank pulley has the number C5AE-E very lightly stamped on the inside of the pulley. I confirmed through a few concours judges that these are the original pulleys for my Mustang. These were originally painted semi-flat black (duplicated by Kryon 1613) and mounted with zinc coated bolts.

The coil bracket is the original and was also painted semi-flat black. The bolt used to mount the coil bracket was normally finished in phosphate and oil. I've not seen the design on the head of the coil bolt before. I would buy a new one but everytime I buy one which is marked as the original style, I receive a bolt with SEMS marking on the head.

The fan on the Mustang is not original but I cleaned it up and will use it again anyway. Many complain of problems with classic Mustangs is overheating. My Mustang would have originally come with a 4 blade fan and this is a 6 blade fan. I would hate to swap it out for an original only to find the engine then overheats. The fan looks very similar to the factory fan because of the design and use of rivets to hold on the blades.

Rust Under the Battery Tray

While removing the front sheet metal from the front of the Mustang, I found 16 small holes which needed to be filled and two small areas of rust.

One of those areas is under the battery tray. I've already purchased a replacement panel which I plan to cut a small section out of to just replace the rusted area. I do not want to replace the entire panel as it is more work and there is a VIN stamping at the top of the original panel I would like to keep.

Tonight, I cut out the old rusted section of the battery apron. It was my first attempt at this type metal work. The difficult part is cuting a replacement section from the new piece of metal without destroying the piece!

Instrument Cluster Repair

After the marathon day yesterday, I decided to take it easy today.

While watching car shows on TV, I took apart the instrument cluster. The main goal was to remove a non-functional, aftermarket oil pressure gauge mounted in the instrument bezel. The gauge is a mechanical gauge which was working but the connection at the motor was bad and leaked oil all over the engine compartment. Once I took it apart, removing the aftermarket oil gauge took no time.

I do not know the number of original miles on the Mustang. When A/C was added to the vehicle, all of the dash bezels including the instrument cluster were replaced with those from a '68 Mustang. The title history I obtained is of no assistance as they do not track miles on vehicles this old. So I set the miles to 515.8 which is the number of miles I put on the Mustang since purchase (67,519.6 current miles - 67,003.8 miles at purchase).

Since I took everything apart to remove these items, I decided to do a little extra work on the piece. I painted the back plate for the instrument cluster. The inside was painted a high gloss white (like original) to make the lights for effective. I also replaced light bulbs which had burnt out. Finally, I fixed up the wiring on the back as the previous owner modified some of the wiring.

Finally, I cleaned all the gauges and repainted the needles with some gloss red model paint. The finished product was great but I put it back behind the original, old bezel. It does not look like much work has been put into the piece but it should work very well now and the white face oil pressure gauge is gone.

Engine Prep & Paint

I'm very pleased with the progress I made today on the Mustang.

I started small by stripping the back portion of the passenger frame rail. I then cleaned the engine block in preparation for paint. I moved next to cleaning the engine block expecting to paint it tomorrow or during this coming week. However, I was making such progress I did not want to stop. I taped off the engine, primered the engine (2 coats), and then painted the engine with at least 3 entire coats (2 cans). Once the engine was done, I moved on to the valve covers and painted them.

The paint I used for the engine is Krylon Engine Paint (Ford Dark Blue - 1923). I really like the appearance of this paint but must order it from National Parts Depot (NPD). I used it previously on the oil pan and the valve covers when I replaced those gaskets earlier in the project.

After rebuilding the carb, I wanted to paint the intake manifold but was out of the Kyrlon paint. I purchased some Dupli-Color Engine Enamel (Ford Dark Blue - DE1606) instead at O'Reillys. While the color was close it had too much gloss. I prefer the Kyrlon as it is a low gloss paint.

A picture of the painted engine is included below. Ignore the condition of the cardboard below the engine as I was too tired to clean up.

Edit (11/30/08): After looking at the painted engine, I checked some of the pictures I took the night I purchased the Mustang. Here is just one which captures the condition of the engine bay.

Stripping of Lower Shock Tower

My one recent deviation from my plan was to strip the lower shock towers. I originally planned to leave these alone and then clean then up in the future when the motor is out. The reason for this is the motor mount connects to this section and the exhaust runs very close here so it is a tight area to work in. I changed my mind because this area became an eyesore after I cleaned the rest of the engine bay.

I've taken a picture of each side. The rear portion of the shock tower is the hardest to clean. I was not able to reach all the way to the bottom but it is not very visible. I'll be able to clean this area further in the future when the motor is out of the car.

You will notice at least one spot where I sanded off the primer at the top of the shock tower. I did this in preparation for welding as there are a few holes in the engine compartment which need to be repaired. Additionally, the areas I primed previously have collected a little dirt which I will need to clean off before painting but that is a few weeks off.

Project Timeline Revisited

It is very obvious at this point that I will not be able to meet my deadline of having the vehicle reassembled by January 8th. The project has not expanded since I created the deadline but each phase is taking longer than I expected. Part of the reason it due my attempts to perfect project.

I've found taking a small piece (like the alternator brackets) and restoring them to new in a day the most gratifying. Those type projects are small and there is an immediate reward for the work involved. The removal of the front sheetmetal and stripping of the paint seems a never ending project. As a result, stripping a particular part is not very rewarding as the remainder of the engine bay is waiting before the project is actually done.

I'm ready to have the engine and engine bay painted. My larger concern at this point is it will become to cold to paint either of these items. Once painted, I believe the rest will be more enjoyable as it involves installing the individual parts I've worked to restore over the past few months.

Alternator Bracket Restoration

I spent the day with family today for Thanksgiving.

While at my parents house, I took advantage of my Dad's sand blasting cabinet and cleaned up my alternator brackets. These are the original brackets with part numbers clearly stamped into each piece. They look very good for being 41 years old.

The triangle shaped piece has the part number C6OE-10156-A lightly stamped along the lower side. The thin bracket has the Lee in a small triangle and the part number C5AE-10145-A stamped along its side.

Both were primered and painted with Krylon 1613 semi-flat black paint.

My Restoration - A View From the Outside

Once I finish the front suspension, brakes, and steering, the car will no doubt be better. It will handle better and be much more road worthy. However, once the sheet metal is back on, no one will understand why this project took so long or they will not even be able to identify the work done.

The first several projects for my Mustang involve areas not really visible to the masses. After this project, the next will be floorpan replacement followed by the rear suspension/undercarriage. This approach is best as I would rather have a car which is reliable with a well prepared foundation than a piece of junk painted to look nice. Besides, if I started with the paint, I would likely damage it while completing one of the other projects.

Never-the-less, when I am done, I would like someone to see my work and say "Wow, that looks great'. Unfortunately, I'll more than likely hear "What did you just finish doing to it again?".

Master Cylinder Purchase

I used my winnings from yesterday's eBay auction to purchase a master cylinder. The master cylinder is a Raybestos Professional Grade Plus piece (MC36440). This a master cylinder from a 1974 Maverick with a manual disc/drum setup. The use of a Maverick master cylinder is very popular among those with manual disc/drum systems.

The reason I selected this master cylinder is the bore diameter is 15/16" bore versus the stock 1" bore. When you decrease bore size, you increase pedal movement and decrease required foot pressure. The increased use of leverage generates greater brake pressure at the pad given the same amount of pressure at the brake pedal. Since Ford used the same mounting configuration, the master cylinder will mount into the original location with no modifications.

The following website posting has additional detail on bore sizes:
http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/showtopic.php?tid/1464796/


Edit 11/28/08: The master cylinder arrived today. I've included a picture of it below.

Selling Old Parts on eBay

I've saved many of the suspension parts I've taken off the Mustang and they are cluttering my garage. I had always planned to take them to a scrap metal recycler. However, I called the local scrap yard and found they pay $1.50 per 100 lbs of steel. After learning this news, I decided to seel the parts on eBay.

I listed my old hub caps, strut rods, coil springs, idler arm, master cylinder, and a few unneeded brake parts. The auctions completed tonight and all of the items sold except the hubcaps for a total of $61.43. Although it is not a large amount of money it is better than nothing and will offset the final few purchases I need to get the car back on the road.

Purchase of Rims & Tires

I won the eBay auction fot the set of 1969 Style Steel rim and tire set. The final price was $500 which is not too bad considering the tires are new and cost $300.

I drove to Magnolia this morning to pick up the tires. It was a nice drive as it is getting cold and not too many people were on the road. I made it to Magnolia in about an hour. The sellers name was Jarrod Griffin who is an Aggie (Class of 1995).

The seller was really nice and we spoke for a while after I loaded up the wheels. He has a 1969 Mustang couple which he is restoring. His is considerably farther along than mine but his attention to detail is not as great. He has a great paint job and nice new rims (Magnum 500) but the engine compartment and interior lack detailing. Overall it is a good car and not everyone is as OCD as me).

The tires are Road Hugger 225-70R14's which are better than the RoadMaster 215-70R14 tires I currently have. Despite how close their specifications are, the new tires are about 3/4" to 1" taller and 1/2" wider. The new ones also have raised white letters on the sidewall which makes the larger sidewalls not seem out of place.

The first picture below was the rim/tire I was using followed by the new rim/tire.

Rims & Tire Package Options

I've known from the beginning the upgrade to disc brakes would require I use a different rim and tire combination. The stock steel wheel used on '67 Mustangs with drum brakes just does not have any room for a disc and caliper of any reasonable size. I've just hesistated on buying any as I don't want to spend a large amount of money on rims at this point in the project.

I've been looking at the items available on eBay for a few months now. The options are basically include aftermarket rims, original sytle rims, and take-offs from a new Mustang.

Many are buying the rims and tires taken off of new Mustangs for classic Mustangs. These are 16" or 17" rims with new tires. The packages sell for between $550 and $650. These are not ultimately what I would like but they would allow me to drive the Mustang. Selecting one of these would mean the following:
- New tires and rims in a popular size for a good price
- The offset is wrong requiring the use of spacers up to 1.5" wide
- Low resale value when I decide to sell the rims
- The tires are larger in circumference than stock which impacts speedometer function and appearance.

I've looked for aftermarket rims of the correct offset but they cost around $150 - $175 each. After purchasing tires, this would put me way out of my price range. I've not seen any used packages of these tires on eBay or CraigsList.com in my area.

I've also looked at the original style rims on eBay and decided to bid on a set of these this week. They are original GT Styled Steel rims from a 1969 Mustang. These were original used along with the disc brake system I purchased. They are popular so they would have resale value if I later change my mind. They come with new tires and trim rings. Finally, these rims bolt on perfectly without the use of spacers and keep the classic appearance.

Engine Block Prep Work

This weekend I worked on cleaning the engine block a little further. I've used a wire wheel on the exposed areas of the block. This has worked very well and those areas are now primed.

I'm not able to removed the headers to clean the lower sides of the block. The headers are actually welded directly to the exhaust. I would no doubt have a difficult time removing the bolts but even if I did I don't think I could get them out of the way much due to them being welded to the exhaust pipes.

To clean the lower sides of the block, I've sprayed the block with brake cleaner and used a solvent proof brush. This has worked pretty well but it is difficult to get the block really clean. I don't have a picture to post but will post a picture when the block is entirely in primer.

Firewall Sanding & Rust Encapsulation

I spent a large amount of time working on the firewall again today. The area around the master cylinder was pitted with rust. A little over a week ago I treated this area with rust converter and then put on a coat of All-Metal filler. Since then, I have worked to sand down the area. I did not put on a very thick coat but the filler is very difficult to sand down as it is almost as hard as metal.

I worked on the area for much of the afternoon and have most of it smooth. There are four screws which protude from the passenger area into the engine bay. These sections were difficult as there was pitting and it was difficult to use an filler and still be able to sand it smooth. While this area may not be perfect it is less visible and much better than it was previously.

I just finished putting a coat of Rust Encapsulator on the shock towers and firewall. This completes my task of Rust Encapsulating all the areas I've stripped and plan to repaint. I've posted a picture of the engine bay. There is dust and dirt on some of the previously painted areas. Once I have the welding done to fill in the small holes around the engine bay, I've sand everything put another coat of Rust Encapsulator and then paint everything black. Unfortunatley, there is still a long road ahead.

Engine Paint Preparation 1

I spent a little time this weekend cleaning up the engine. There are a couple of coats of black and light blue paint on the motor plus a layer of grime. I'm working to strip off most of this just for a quick coat of paint. This will be redone in the next few years when the time comes to pull the motor. However, since everything is out it does not take much time to paint it a little so it looks better until then.

I used a wire wheel to clean up the ends of the heads, the thermostat housing, the water pump, and timing cover (the red in the picture is the last of some primer I had on hand). I then removed the valve covers and cleaned them up a little. The spark plug wires were really dirty (from all the metal stripping) so I took them off and cleaned them. The final job was repainting the ignition coil as it looked bad but worked fine. All these parts found their way into my part warehouse (formerly known as our walk-in closet).

Stripping the Frame Rails

This weekend, I stripped the frame rails of the Mustang. The job was very dirty and unrewarding as the work is not noticed unless you are under the vehicle. However, if you are going to do a job you should do the whole thing and do it right.

There were two parts which made the job really difficult. Stripping the mounting points for the lower control arms was not easy as they are very oddly shaped. The front strut bar mounting point was also difficult to strip because of the shape and because these are only primered from the factory so there is more rust.

I'll wait on posting pictures until I'm able to rust encapsulate the frame. It is currently stripped, cleaned, etched, and has rust encapsulator on it. The rust encapsulator needs to dry overnight to completely seal.

The Restoration Plan (Part 3)

My wife and I recently found she will need surgery in mid-November. The surgery will leave her immobile until the end of the year. Since we have two young children, much of my time through the end of the year will be spent just managing our daily life. As a result, I'm not sure I can keep my goal of completing this project by January. I don't really mind as I don't believe the weather will permit much driving in January but I'm ready to be done with this phase of the restoration.

I hope to dedicate some time to the project over the next couple of weeks to get past a few parts of the project which require large amounts of dedicated time. After the surgery, I will be limited to projects which I can stop working on at a moments notice. This obviously would not include stripping the subframe or painting the engine compartment. I hope to take care of a few of these projects before the surgery.

Spindle & Caliper Bracket Restoration

Over the past week, I've cleaned and stripped the surface rust from my spindles and caliper brackets. These are part of the suspension and brake purchase I made earlier this summer. The parts are from a '70 Mustang. The spindles are a desired part for road racers as they are thicker spindles than those used on the '64-'69 Mustangs.

After stripping each, I painted them Chassis Black. Eastwood's Chassis Black is resistant to chips and brake fluid which makes it a good paint for these parts. I'll leave the caliper's unfinished as I do not want to add any paint which would cause them to retain heat. Additionally, I can always do that quickly in the future if I purchase rims which make the calipers visable.

Over the past few weeks, I purchased some parts of the brake system which were missing from the original purchase. This includes pad retaining clips, a caliper alignment bracket, and I purchased new grade 8 bolts and lock washers to secure the caliper bracket to the spindles. Once the paint dries (takes a couple days for Chassis Black), I will assembly the brakes so the entire spindle assembly can just be bolted on when the suspension is installed.

Steering Center Link

This weekend I stripped some of the front suspension subframe. I don't enjoy stripping the paint from all these parts of the Mustang. It is long tedious work and you end up very dirty. I wear a mask and eye protection but still end up inhaling some paint particles. I've stripped all the engine bay parts so the subframe is all that is left. It is the least rewarding as no one will see this area.

After working on the subframe for a while, I stopped and worked on the steering center link. The center link is the only steering component after the steering box I will use after the restoration. While normally a dark unfinished metal color, I chose to paint it chassis black. It took a large amount of work with a wire wheel to clean all the surface rust, grease, and road grime off. The end product was worth the work.

I've included a picture of the finished center link bar. I keep posting pictures of these parts I've painted but since they are black, little detail can be seen. This piece has a textured surface which really looks nice with the satin black. Too bad it is going under the car were no one will see it.

The second item in the picture is a roller idler arm which I purchased. It is a Moog part upgraded to include a roller bearing joint. Since my Mustang has manual steering, this will greatly reduce steering effort. It is also fitted with two grease fittings for easy maintenance and years of life.

Stripping Firewall Paint

I spent a some time this weekend stripping the paint from the firewall and back fender aprons. The work is slow and difficult but the end result is going to be nice.

The variation in metal color in the pictures below is due to an etching solution on the metal. I treated it with etching solution after stripping the paint with a chemical stripper to avoid flash rust. I then used a wire wheel to spot clean areas and used the etching solution again. The newly sanded areas look a bright white compared to the rest of the firewall.

There is a considerable amount of surface rust around the master cylinder (visable below). The wire wheel takes the rust off but the metal beneath is pitted. I'm thinking of getting some metal filler to smooth this area before painting.

There are also four small screw holes in the firewall which I need to have repaired.

More Suspension Component Painting

Early this week I worked on stripping and repainting the lower control arms and adjustable strut bars. These are more of the components from my bulk part purchase. They are new just like the other parts but were just tossed around a little and scratched up. I painted them with Eastwood Chassis Black to match all the other components.

If you are not familiar, the stock strut bars on a '67 Mustang are straight bars with threads on one end. One side connects to the two bolt holes in the lower control arm. The threaded end is mounted to the front frame of the vehicle using a bushing between two washers and nuts. The strut bar is suppose to locate the lower control arm but still allow up and down movement. The adjustable strut bars better locate the lower control arm as there is no bushing to flex. Additionally, the heim joint allows for much lower resistance in allowing upward travel.

I've included a few pictures of the parts below.

The A/C Mystery

The air conditioning installed in my Mustang is a bit of a mystery. The car was not originally equipped with an A/C. At some point, someone installed an A/C system but I'm not sure where all of it was sourced.

The person who installed the A/C, took the dash pieces from a 1968 Mustang to get all the dash vents. The A/C box appears to be original to a Mustang along with the blower assembly. The fan is a 6 blade fan but I'm not sure it is a Ford piece. The condensor installed is definately not a Ford piece but there are no identifying marks. The crank pulley for the A/C belt has AMCE on it so it is no doubt an aftermarket piece.

I've not decided what to do with these pieces. Once I decide to install A/C, I don't plan to make it look original as it did not original come on my vehicle. Additionally, original components are expensive and do not perform like the complete kits currently available. I might choose to sell some of these items on eBay to help offset the cost of an A/C system in the future.

Here are a few pictures of the A/C items I've taken off the car:

Removal of A/C Box

The heater and A/C do not work in the Mustang. As you can tell by the following picture, the unused tubing is a bit of an eyesore in the engine bay. To clean up the area and give me more room to strip the firewall, I removed these A/C box this morning.

In the first picture, you will notice there is a panel which attaches around the hoses and tubing. I plan to restore this piece and replace the rubber gasket behind it with one which covers the holes. I will then leave the A/C box out until I am in a position to rebuild and buy the needed parts to put it back into operation.

Suspension Component Painting

I'm attempting to perform a little work on the Mustang each night. This week, I was able to accomplish the following:

Monday - Sanded & Painted Shock Tower Caps
Tuesday - Painted Upper Control Arms & Roller Spring Perches
Wednesday - Sanded & Painted Engine Crossmember
Thursday - Second Coat on Engine Crossmember
Friday - Sanded and Painted Lower Control Arms

Some of the items painted are the suspension items I recently purchased. While it is clear they were never used, the previous owner seemed to just have them laying around his shop for a while. They were a little scratched and some had a light dusting of yellow overspray. I figured I would paint them because the details count and I'm a little OCD.

The engine compartment is being painted with Krylon 1613 Semi-Flat Black as it is known as the closest match to the factory finish. I used this paint on the shock tower caps.

The suspension components are all being painted with Eastwoods Extreme Chassis Black. I chose to use this paint on the suspension as is more resistant to chips. The only difficult part about the paint is it takes 72 hours to completely harden and requires 24 hours before recoating.

Refinishing Gas Pedal Assembly

I removed the master cylinder and brake lines for the front brake system today. The fittings were tight from 40 years of grim and surface rust. I was able to remove all but one line without damaging the fittings.

I also removed the clutch pedal rod and discovered the bushings were bad and the equalizer bar had begun to wear away at the bar. I'll likely purchase a new one but I could put another bushing on it and run in for a while as a new one is $20 at NPD.

I removed the gas pedal assembly and throttle bar from the firewall also. This cleaned up much of the first wall so I decided to refinish the gas pedal assembly. I stripped it down and painted it the semi-flat black as original. I'll put it away for installation in a few months.

Removal of Engine Compartment Components

In the past week, I've been removing some of the engine compartment components in preparation for stripping the firewall. The items removed include the following:
- Carburetor
- Strut Support Bars
- Heater Hoses
- Fan & Pullies
- Fuel Pump
- Coil & Wiring
- Alternator & Brackets
- Steering Parts (Except Steering Box)

I've included a picture of the current condition of the engine compartment.