[kblagron]

The transmission install was done wit minimal issues. I was actually surprised at how easily it went, but Modern Driveline's instructions/videos and Andy Kruse's videos helped a lot.

The flywheel and clutch went on without any issues. I did have a question about the bellhousing cracks, which were answered here Bell Housing Cracks. Modern Driveline also got back and said not to worry about them.

Probably the only issue I had was installing the bracket for the hydraulic slave cylinder, and I did the same thing Andy Kruse did and installed it a bit too far into the bellhousing, but I was able to work one of the drilled holes just a little with a bit, and the bolts went in fine.

Stabbing the transmission took a bit of work, and the clutch fork came loose initially, but was easily reinstalled. Once I got the clutch fork centered and the transmission centered, it slid in without any problems..

This more or less concludes my engine / transmission work until I get it in the car. I am going to have to find a good location to store it in my garage because I am probably 6 mos. to a year out before I will get to put it in.

Next on the list is to look at the wiring. I will probably look at @Midlife and his refurbishment of the harness. I did receive the disc brake conversion from @CHOCK, but until I get the car back, there is not a lot I can do there. I am going to swing by the body shop tomorrow to check out their progress.

 

[kblagron]

After getting the engine and transmission together, I went and gathered all of the bins that I had left at the body shop to begin the process of organizing, figuring out what I had, and what I wouldn't need. about 90% of the parts were easily identifiable, but there were a good number of braces, brackets, parts, etc. that I don't have a clue. Eventually I will probably be asking here for help identifying. I ended up with quite a few extra parts (two wiring harnesses) a 1973 power steering pump that I think will work, but it came with a 428CJ bracket on it, etc. Once I laid everything out, I realized I needed a bigger garage, or a place to store it.

I decided that I needed to get better organized, and purchased the plastic bins, sorting the parts based on their location. I also put in overhead storage in my 2 car garage (which is separate from this) to store everything. I got two of the overhead storage racks from Home Depot, and put them together to give me a 5' x 8' storage location and allow me to keep all of our cars inside. Long term, when I get the car from the body shop, I plan on keeping the hood and fenders there until I finish the steering, brakes, wiring, and engine installation.

On the wiring, I talked with @Midlife about the restoration of the wiring harness. At the time I was thinking I had a Tach setup, but actually I only had a Tach wiring harness, and the non-Tach gauge cluster. I should of checked this closer during the purchase. After a lot of deliberation, thought, and reading, I decided to go with the Dakota Digital gauges (RTX), as they have a somewhat stock look. With that decision, along with the Pertronix 3 distributor, the possibility of power windows/locks, and EFI, I decided to go with an American Autowire wiring harness as it has much more flexibility for those additions. One note on the Dakota gauges - right now they have a 20 week lead time. Summit says 10 weeks, but I figure the guy from Dakota knows better.

 

[kblagron]

It's been a month since I posted anything here. Work is progressing at the body shop, and I went to look at the first set of spray outs for the colors I chose (which were a selection of blue colors from mustangs in the past). He did 3 of the 6, and is going to do the rest next - I am keen on the Deep Impact Blue and Lightning Blue which he didn't do on this spray. As far as the body, everything is ready except for one spot - one corner of the hood. As you can see, it doesn't line up well, and I got new moldings to help with their decision on whether to bend the hood a little or build up the fender extension a little. Since only the hood is a new repro, it figures it is not bent as far as the original. The other side is very close.

The other parts of the car are ready to go, so once we get the color nailed down and this uneven edge, it will be ready for paint. I am still debating on the metallic .vs. non-metallic paint. The body shop can go either way, but of course they would prefer to paint the hood , fenders, etc. separately and they don't want to do thatt if metallic is used. I am going to get them to spray out the other two colors I want in both metallic and non-metallic equivalent and then decide.

On the home front, I have been buying lots of things - carpet, the AAW wiring harness, the paints and supplies needed to paint the interior parts, and numerous small items to get started on updating the fold down seat, the console, and the lower dash.

 

[unitedwestand212]

Medium Gold Metallic

 

[kblagron]

While I have been waiting on the car to get back from the body shop, I started working on the items that need to be repaired. My first item to tackle was the console. For the most part, the console was in decent shape, I did have to fix some minor cracks in it, which was easy enough with epoxy and then paint those areas, The one thing I knew I would want was drink holders. I came up with an idea that I think is going to work. I had a couple of drink holders I purchased on Amazon that I was using in my 66 before I moved to a TMI console, and I was able to come up with a way to magnetize them, which holds them firmly in place, but easy to remove if you want the stock look.

Shown below are photos with them installed, removed, and a photo of how I attached the magnets. I guess the real test is when I get it on the road, but for now I am pretty happy with it.

 

[kblagron]

I finished up the console and dash pad paint. I used the SEM paint system, and was very happy with the results. I ended up using both the Sand Free and the XXX Adhesion promoter on the various plastics, followed by 5 thin coats of the dark charcoal metallic Paint (All Rattle Can), and all of them turned out great.

I also received the Mustangs To Fear Headliner with the A Pillar and Sail Panels, and it is a bit darker, barely. I guess I will debate myself on whether I should paint it to match it up exactly with the rest, but figure I will be the only one that knows, and I have no plans to ever put this car in a show.

I am definitely running out of room to store everything right now and also keep all 3 cars in the garage. I guess that is a first world problem .

Next project is to take a look at the steering column. It seems to be in good shape, but needs to be painted.

 

[kblagron]

I finally picked out a color for my car after having them paint 10. I went in thinking it was definitely grabber blue only, but after 3/4 of a year in the body shop and seeing so many cars on the road in that color (or very similar) - multiple Toyotas, late model Mustangs, etc. - it just didn't seem that special. My car was originally Medium Gold Metallic, and although I don't hate the color, it just wasn't the color I wanted. Then I went down a rabbit hole with the blue colors - stock colors, stock colors from different eras, etc. I finally settled on Bright Atlantic Blue Metallic This color was available on the mustangs from 1998-2000. Thanks to Keith Deavers who posted a photo of his car on a facebook group shown below, and kindly sent me the color when I asked. I had the paint shop spray it, and definitely thought it was the best of the bunch. Never thought it would be this tough, and very thankful that my paint guy hung with me on this.

These are the colors they painted.

This was the Bright Atlantic Blue Metallic Photo that Keith Provided

Here is the color in the shade, which looks totally different.

 

[kblagron]

Now that the color is picked, the body shop can finish up their work. They did some great work on the corner issue I had with the hood and fender extension. It lined up on one side, but was about 3/8" off on the other (and from other posts here in the forum, seems common). They ended up cutting the fender extenson and raising it to make it even, because they said bending the hood could cause issues in other areas. It ended up all working out good - first one before, last two afterward.

 

[kblagron]

After reviewing everything on the car prior to paint they asked me about the fender/apron. When I purchased this car, it had a ton of metal rework - cowl, firewall, shock tower, quarter panel, etc. So even though I have original OEM fenders, no surprise it doesn't fit with an aftermarket hood. Shown below is how it fit - Good on top, but spacer required to get it to line up (red arrows)

They pointed out at the shop that it will look fine until you open the hood, and the spacers will show. I had to make the call to fix or not, and I chose to fix. What is required is to cut the areas where the spacers are and add metal to the fender so that the spacers aren't required. I would love to hear a better way, but decided to go forward with the fix.

 

[Boss5Oh]

Shaping the fender to fit the fender apron would be the easiest way to fill the gap. Not too difficult just tedious as a lot of tack welding and cleanup to do. They just need to be careful as the metal is thin and too much heat could create warpage problems.
Cutting and reshaping the top of the fender apron would be an alternative, but much more work.

 

[kblagron]

The body shop finished up all the remaining issues - they ended up reshaping the top of the fender apron, and was able to avoid cutting into the fender. They are now prepping the car to paint the engine bay and I am also having them put Lizard Skin in the interior. Once that is finished, it should be headed to paint.

I just got a notice from TMI that my seat covers are being shipped (3 month backorder) and the Dakota Digital gauges are being shipped (4 month backorder). That will give me something to work on prior to the car getting back in my garage.

I did make an inexpensive wireless phone charger that fits on the console ashtray. I tend to use my phone a good bit in the car with google maps (and possibly with a bluetooth backup camera down the road), and thought this would be a good place to try to make this area useful. It involved the following:

• Purchase a Wireless Charging Transmitter Module
• Purchase a plastic project box
• Configure the module into the project box
• Configure a bracket that will allow the box to sit snugly in the ashtray receptacle.

Wireless Charging Module inside of project box

Front and back of the finished unit that plugs into a USB port that I installed in the ash tray.

Here is the USB port installed

This photo is just to show where the unit installs. It plugs into the hole in front of the ashtray, and then the bracket slides along the back of the ashtray lid. It makes for a very secure fit.

Here is a photo of the phone charging.

With this setup, you can pull the ashtray out and replace it with one that doesn't have a USB port, and the car is back to a stock look. The ashtray is connected with a USB "A" connector below the console.

 

[kblagron]

I noticed that I forgot to put a photo of what it looks like installed without a phone installed (along with the magnetic cup holders. I will be interested to see how this works once I get the car out on the road.

 

[mustang#1]

Great idea

 

[kblagron]

I started working on the tilt steering column. Since I haven't done this before, I read as much as I could find here and on other sites. I debated about sending it off for repair, but finally decided to go all in - if I couldn't get it done, I could send it in then.

The Grant GT steering wheel removal took most of the time on getting the column apart (the steering wheel is being retired ). Once that was off, I followed the service manual until I was able to get to where I could see everything. This column was operational in the car, and both the tilt and steering seems to work fine without any play. I now have it so that the parts that are the "usual" problems are visible - the tilt gear and the upper steering bearing - and both look great. So that I don't regret going further down the rabbit hole, I am going to clean this up and put it back together. I may change my mind on the bearing, but the tilt gear looks great. At least I know now what it will take to get it back apart.

Locating replacement parts with the supply chain issue ongoing is frustrating (turn signal switch, lock cylinders, sleeves, etc). I ended up going to NPD, CJ Pony, and West Coast Classic Cougar for the replacement parts I needed. Hopefully this improves down the road.

I am still looking for a spring clip for the lock column. It had one it it, but the manual said it should have two. I figure if I can't find one I can make one based on the one I have now - looks like a big paper clip.

The one area that is broken within the tilt colum is shown below, it is the flange casting right behind the spring. Everything seems to work fine, so I am going to attempt to fix this with some epoxy and a thin sheet of metal. We will see how it goes.

 

[kblagron]

I went by the body shop today, they had just done the final epoxy spray, painted the engine bay, along with the Lizard Skin sprayed in the interior. From my perspective, it looks great. They are going to let it sit for a couple of weeks to let the epoxy fully dry, and then it will be ready for paint.

After a dozen different spray-outs, decided to go with Bright Atlantic Blue.

 

[kblagron]

While I am waiting on the last few parts needed for the steering column rebuild, I decided to tackle the seats. Even though the seats looked okay from a distance, once I started tearing them apart, I realized there was a good bit of rust. I haven't decided how I am going to tackle getting these cleaned up and repainted. I may do it myself, or see if my body/paint shop can do it for me.

I purchased the TMI Sport II Mach 1 style seat covers and foam. I was originally going to tackle installing the seat covers myself, but I am now thinking I may farm this one out as well after seeing a few videos on the process.

 

[kblagron]

I finally got the seat covers/foam stripped and ready to be blasted and painted. This ended up being a lot more work than I thought it would be. Still on the fence on whether I want to tackle the upholstery job myself. On my '66 mustang, I was able to to get front and back recovered for $600 back in 2019 (I supplied the seat covers and foam). I guess I will see what the price is, and make a call then.

As you can see, I have an extra rear seat back frame - figure I will get this cleaned up and painted and get a few bucks back on it.

 

[Fastfordnut]

What did you do with the old covers?
I'd be interested in the gray inserts

 

[Boss5Oh]

Good to see your progress. I hope to have the body of my car in full primer this summer.
I noticed that you have removed the side window molding. I need to do this on my car but have not figured out how to remove the trim without damage. How did you remove yours? There was a guy here who made a tool, but he is no longer making any more.

 

[kblagron]

What did you do with the old covers?
I'd be interested in the gray inserts

I wished I would of known earlier, ripped off everything and threw them away.