New Rear Leaf Springs

In February of 2015, I installed a set of Grab-A-Trak leaf springs on the Mustang.  They are 4.5 leaf springs with a mid-eye which are advertised by Grab-A-Trak to be between 1 and 1.25".  I neglected to measure before installing the springs originally but the installed ride height was 25" afterwards.

My guess at the time was that the rear of the car dropped between .75" and 1" from installing the springs.  I expected less as I thought the stock rear springs were already sagging considerably.  It was only after installing the springs that I began to experience problems with the tires rubbing the quarter panel.

In March of 2015, I installed a set of Scott Drake extended shackles.  My understanding was they would increase the height some and I thought it could stop the rubbing.  These raised the height of the rear about 3/4" which settled out to a final ride height after driving around a while to 25 5/8".  However, it did not stop the rubbing on the tires on the quarter panel. 

I just ordered a set of 4.5 leaf, standard eye Grab-A-Track leaf springs in January.  They have been on back order so I called to find they did not expect to get any in for a few months!  They offered me the 5 leaf, standard eye spring as they had them in stock so I had them sent out.  I'm a little worried about the 5 leaf being too stiff (195 lbs vs 175 lbs) but I'll give them a try.  

If I installed the new standard height springs with the extended shackle, I imagine it would raise everything about 1" or so to 26 5/8".  However, I plan to go back to the standard height shackle which should drop the rear 5.8" and put me at 26".  This is essentially a 1/2" increase in rear ride height.  If this works, I think it would be about perfect.

The plan afterwards is to buy new springs for the front to match the ride height of the rear.  I'll buy another set of 428 lb coil springs and but a little off to perfect the height.  I just want to get the rear height right first and then I will work on the front. 

Driver Door Data Plate Removal

I suspect the driver door on my Mustang was replaced at some point.  The driver side fender and quarter panel were hit at some point and have a fair amount of bondo.  The door, however, appears to have no damage.  Additionally, the door was originally white behind the door panel when the vehicle was never actually white.  That being said, it has a date stamp inside of 3 67 which matches about the time the rest of the panels on the car were produced. 

The Data Plate is held to the door with some rather stange looking rivets.  I'd like to take it off so that the car can be painted with it off.  I'll then install a reproduction made by Marti Auto Works which does not have all the damage and paint overspray on it. 

In December, I had Marti Auto Works make me a reproduction of my Data Plate.  As you can see in the picture below, the original one from the car has a bit of damage to it.  Additionally, when I wiped it off after removing it with a towel and a little cleaner it took off a large part of the original paint. 

Once the Data Plate was removed, it was obvious the holes are a little pushed in by the rivets used.  This makes the holes such that I can't really install the replacement one with the correct style rivets.  I'll need to get a different style dolly to get this smoothed out as the ones I have can't get back to these small corner areas of the door very well.

While I'm at it, I'm working on this bolt which broke off early in the restoration.  I drilled it out with progressively larger bits until I was close to the threads.  I've tried the easy out tools I have but they are not working.  I'll need to come up with something a little better to finish this job up too.

New Exterior Door Handles

I begin this project on January 21st as part of an effort to make the passenger door a little easier to open.  My daughter has a really hard time pushing the button on the existing exterior handle to he the door to open.  I don't want anything to negatively impact my kids riding in the car so I decided to buy a new handle set.  

The door handle set (C7ZZ-6522404-5P) is made by Scott Drake which makes excellent reproduction parts for the Mustang.  They are a nice shiny chrome with all the hardware needed to perform the installation.

Installing the door handles is relatively easy.  They are held on with a screw which is accessible from the door latch area, a 3/8" nut inside the door (holding the narrow part of the handle to the door), and then a clip which retains the door release rod inside the car.  The job to install the passenger side took only about 20 minutes and it made a decent improvement in functionality and a large improvement in appearance.  However, my daughter was still not able to open the door without considerable effort.

I really need to adjust the hinge alignment a little to get the door setup perfect.  That would be easiest done with the fender off but I'm not ready to take this project that far yet.  The striker in the door jamb is not aligned perfectly but I've not been able to adjust it as the screws will not come out.  

I learned of a tool made by Craftsman called the hand impact driver (#CMMT14104).  You place a bit in it to match the screw which will not come loose, set it to turn in the needed direction, and then hit the back with a hammer.  The impact rotates the bit with considerable force and will break lose stuck screws.  I used it on both the passenger and driver sides.  Adjusting the striker then made it such that my daughter could open the door with no trouble.

Today, I finished up this project by installing the new door handle on the driver side of the vehicle.  This side was just as quick and easy with no trouble.  The only thing I have noticed is that the plastic pieces with the reproduction handle are just the slightest bit smaller.  This is a little evident as the previous paint job was done by just taping around these plastic bits.

I think when it comes time to paint the Mustang, I will reinstall the old door handles without the plastic pieces.  If the shop can take them off entirely that would be best.  However, if they end up needing to tape around the handles, I can then put on the plastic pieces for a much more finished appearance.  

Upcoming Projects

There are a few projects I'd like to tackle in the coming months.  They include:

Front Suspension 
There are a few things I'd like to do to refine the front suspension of the Mustang.  I have one inch of travel at the end of the upper control arm before it hits the bump stop.  I want to replace the coil spring and raise the car slightly.  

While the driver side coil spring is out, I need to replace the ball joint in the upper control arm as it has a tear in the boot.  Also, I need to replaced a tack weld on one of the hood support nuts as it spins freely when I try to tighten the bolt from the engine compartment.

While it probably sounds crazy, I'd like to replace my perfectly good front tires with a new set.  These seem just a little too narrow (225) and I'd like a bit more sidewall height (45 vs 40) as any little additional height will keep the tires from following grooves in the road as much.

Once this work is done, I'll probably just spray down the front suspension with some cleaner and a hose.  It has been many years now since the work was done to it all and it is looking rather dirty.

Windshield Leaks
I need to remove the existing windshield, clean all the old sealant out, check the condition of the metal, and then put the windshield back in with a new gasket.  Before doing this work, it would be smart to check the cowl to see if it leaks or if it is just the windshield.  If the cowl leaks, this project will grow in size exponentially.  

While I'm doing this work, I need to make sure that I have gaskets between the windshield arms and the firewall.  I want to make sure some of the leak was not coming from that area.  

This would be a good time to replace the wipers and potentially find a way to get the front windshield sprayers to work.


Master Cylinder & Steering Column
The master cylinder on the Mustang just continues to leak onto the steering column.  The master cylinder is all rusty and the steering column has all the paint stripped off from the brake fluid.

I want to replace the master cylinder with a Willwood model that seals. While I'm doing it, I want to pull the steering column and touch up the paint.  With the steering column out, I should replace the turn signal and horn switch.  

When this work is all done, I'd like to replace the turn signal harness in the steering column.  When I inspected the vehicle this last weekend, I learned the horn would honk when I turned the column hard to one side.  The turn signals also don't cancel as they should so a new turn signal switch would fix both problems.


Rear Suspension & Underbody Work
I've ordered a set of 4.5 standard height leaf springs from Grab-A-Track.  My hope was to install them to raise the back of the Mustang.  Along the way, I installed some Scott Drake extended shackles which raised the rear of the car 5.8".  The plan is to install the standard height springs with the original length shackle to see if it will raise the car about half an inch.

While the back of the Mustang is raised off the ground, I need to make a little clearance on the H-pipe for the new larger, aluminum driveshaft.  Additionally, I would like to mark the orientation of the mufflers and go ahead and weld them to the H-pipe section.  Additionally, I'd like to add flanges to the back of the mufflers and tail pipe sections so they are actually bolted together.  This will keep everything sealed and make it a little easier to remove when needed.  

Finally, while the driveshaft is out, I need to replace the seal on the back of the tail housing as it continues to leak.


Tail Lights
I still need to replace the tail light housings as I replaced everything but those.  I noticed that Scott Drake makes a new three bulb bracket that fits inside the stock housing (C7ZZ-STL-13400).  I'd like to install a set of these but with LED lights.