Got A 2nd Job...

Several things bummed me out today :(
One of the original FoMoCo headlights had a blown low beam. The bulbs need to be replaced by the pair because they won't match the newer, non-halogen bulbs. Halogen bulbs draw more current and the existing wiring isn't compatible to running better quality bulbs that draw more amps. Existing wiring runs the headlamps through the turn signal switch; newer lamps draw more current and would cause the headlight switch circuit breaker to cycle, turning the headlamps on and off. An aftermarket plug-n-play wire loom is available that reroutes the headlamp circuit away from the turn signal switch, has it's own relays and allows the usage of higher-draw, brighter headlamps, but nobody will let me do it :mad:

We're not doing the entire Jag. We (Paul) only getta do the paint and none of the mechanical rebuild and none of the final assembly. I've known the guy that's doing the mechanical for prolly 30 years and I laugh because he is in it for the money and not for how well it's done. And...he couldn't match my ability and OCD if I died today and he lived another 100 years. :mad:

There are a few items that the Mustang owner already bought and expects to be included in the build that I would never have ordered. Corners have been cut and we are limited on the quality of the final product.
So today, I finished the interior electrical and the dash assembly. The owner ordered the wrong wiring and switch assembly for the hazard flashers. He wanted his loom and switch installed even though the loom he ordered was for a factory loom without the hazard lamp factory option (which his existing loom already had) so I installed a complete, redundant, unnecessary hazard light loom assembly because they don't want to waste money o_O




We installed his factory-like insulation, instead of a more modern, superior product.




We'll get the carpet installed probably next week, after the rain. This is not the best carpet available but it is what the owner ordered.
 
And, it's an awesome feeling to be working on other people's cars again, even if I'm not getting paid.
I'd really damn near do this for free.
I don't even think Paul would charge me for body-working my truck, but I couldn't let him do it for nothing.
I work; he gets paid and my truck gets painted. Win/win situation.
 
Paul buffed out the hood today and the little pig is closer to gone.

I really wouldn't mind owning this car. Tomorrow we will get the carpet glued in and possibly install the seats. There's no latch on the hood in the below pic, which is why the hood lines are not true.


 
The carpet thing stinks after all the money the guy has put into the restoration. Right up there with the red plug wires. :D In the final stretch it looks real good. Keep us posted on your other projects.
 
Got a little more done on the interior today. Carpet installed, rear seat, rear panels, shifter bezel, scuff plates, front kick panels. Front seats are just set in and not bolted down. The car should go to the alignment shop next week.








 
Ya're doin' one heckuva job Bobby. The finished product is looking' good.

Kudo's to Paul for his talents, too!
 
BobbyFord said:
Got a little more done on the interior today. Carpet installed, rear seat, rear panels, shifter bezel, scuff plates, front kick panels. Front seats are just set in and not bolted down. The car should go to the alignment shop next week.








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Do the carpets actually overlap as shown?
 
Got the hood lip molding and letters on.

Alignment is done. Interior is finished. Just waiting on the hubcaps. Then it will get detailed and the owner can come and get it.

I'll get onto the '69 Mustang convertible next. It belongs to Paul. It's an almost done, complete resto. Everything is new but the mechanical hasn't been finalized. The engine has never been fired.
 
The little Mustang kicked my ass today. We drove it for the first time Saturday. Unbelievably, tight and rattle-free. Trans shifted well, plenty of power. With all of the updated technology in replacement parts, I'm sure it drives better now than when it was brand new. When we got back from the first test drive, it wouldn't re-fire. Dead battery. These cars had an ammeter, instead of a volt meter. The ammeters last about a year or two and then burn out. You can install a volt meter but the dash loom has to be altered. So today I went over to see why the charging system wasn't working. The alternator is new and the voltage regulator was replaced with the newer electronic type. Paul took the alternator to get tested, it was good. I snatched a new regulator out of the other Mustang, still no charge. I checked voltage off of the back of the alternator and had 22 volts. I had a wiring diagram and traced all of the wires to their correct location, except I had a black/white wire on the regulator plug that wasn't listed in the wiring diagram. Ford was notorious for using up inventory. It wasn't uncommon for same year cars to have different components depending if it was an early or late year build. Still couldn't figure out why I had a four wire regulator plug going into a three wire alt. loom. I even traced wires through factory splices, back to the ignition switch (the same wire changes color after the splice but the color change is reflected in the wiring diagram.) I was stumped. Alt was good regulator was good but I had no charge. I even jumped the regulator plug with a jumper wire between the first and third terminals (this usually gives you unregulated alternator output, 20-ish volts) nothing happened. I was stumped. Called my bro in Vegas (also ex-Ford tech), he asked me if I jumped the regulator plug :D.
Did some research on the internet for other wiring diagrams. Paul pulled out a box of wire looms that the owner brought with the already disassembled car. There were three different headlamp/charging system looms. We just chose the wrong one. We had no idea. The headlamp/charging loom in the car turned out to be a '67 loom. The car is a '66. '67 has a four wire regulator, '66 uses a three wire regulator plug even though both cars use the same 4-prong regulator. I unplugged half of the loom and siamesed the charging section to see if my theory was correct. 13+ volts :)
Tomorrow I have to pull out the radiator, battery box and headlamps and replace the headlamp/charging loom back to the firewall. The old loom will have to be re-taped just like I did to the wrong loom. The owner will pay another two days labor. This is what happens when people that don't know what they're doing disassemble a car and then 20 years later, bring you the car with boxes of unmarked parts and ask you to reassemble their car.
 
Man that sounds like a royal pain.

Granted, anybody doing a build like this nowadays would be using a 302 crate motor with a 1 wire alternator and a painless wiring harness system.
 
Magnethead said:
Man that sounds like a royal pain.

Granted, anybody doing a build like this nowadays would be using a 302 crate motor with a 1 wire alternator and a painless wiring harness system.
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No doubt. There are so many things I'd have done differently. The owner is about 75 years old. He knows nothing of crate motors and aftermarket harnesses. From what I hear it was difficult enough to get him to agree to rebuild the 49 year old mill.
It really drives like new, though.
 
DanicaFreak said:
we need an update @BobbyFord
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I had family last weekend and didn't get over to Paul's. He delivered the car last Sunday. He said the 70+ year old owner actually had tears in his eyes and gave him a hug when he left.
I'm going to get on to Paul's 69 Mustang convertible tomorrow. The car is painted and almost finished, just hasn't had the mechanical finalized. Paul did a complete resto on a car he has never driven. I hope to get it ready for the road real soon. I'll post pics.
 
BobbyFord said:
I had family last weekend and didn't get over to Paul's. He delivered the car last Sunday. He said the 70+ year old owner actually had tears in his eyes and gave him a hug when he left.
I'm going to get on to Paul's 69 Mustang convertible tomorrow. The car is painted and almost finished, just hasn't had the mechanical finalized. Paul did a complete resto on a car he has never driven. I hope to get it ready for the road real soon. I'll post pics.
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aww Bobby! Id like this post 100X if I could. way to go. Thanks for giving the board a glimpse of what you do
 
Getting ready to get Paul's car on the road. Not a ton of stuff to do on this car, just a bunch of small stuff. The engine has been started but Paul has never driven this car. He bought this car for $1500 in the 90s.
The car has new leather interior and a canvas convertible top.

Fresh Ferrari red paint. Dual exhaust, out the back. Everything under this car is new. It was painted at least seven years ago and has sat, covered up, in the back of the shop. It will need to be buffed out again.

Paul does not belong under the hood of a car :D (all of those ugly wire looms will be wrapped and hidden, when I get done with it.)
 
Nice work Bobby. I love checking in on this thread.
 
Here's the underneath of Paul's 69 Mustang. Whomever installed the rear yoke on the carrier did not seal the splines and there was a drip. All better. We'll clean all of the bondo dust off of the underside before we get it on the road.



I'm also changing the intake manifold (which will have to be port matched to the EFI heads) and probably the carburetor.
 
BobbyFord said:
Here's the underneath of Paul's 69 Mustang. Whomever installed the rear yoke on the carrier did not seal the splines and there was a drip. All better. We'll clean all of the bondo dust off of the underside before we get it on the road.



I'm also changing the intake manifold (which will have to be port matched to the EFI heads) and probably the carburetor.
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I wish I had a car that I wanted rags on my jack stands :D
 
Paul has no idea the specifics on these engine parts. The intake is the wrong manifold for these fuelie heads. I pulled the valve cover off to get a casting number off of these heads so that I can get the correct carb intake manifold. I knew the heads were either X or Y heads, X being the better head. They are known as GT40 X heads with "Turbo swirl" combustion chambers. It was nice to see Ford Racing roller rockers when I pulled the valve cover off.

I can't wait to spend his money on whichever intake I like the best. No matter which carb intake I choose, I will have to do a little porting because there isn't a 302 carb intake made that matches the taller intake ports of the GT40-X EFI heads. There are three intakes I like: Weiand Stealth, Performer RPM and Performer RPM Air Gap.
The Air Gap has the Bitchin factor with the air gap feature, but it's more expensive. But.....................it isn't MY money :)
Performer RPM Air Gap has an open space under the intake runners (designed to keep the runners cooler.)

The motor is an early 90's 302 roller motor, little bit of a cam, headers and dual exhaust. He had a stock 289/302 Edelbrock on it that is basically just a copy of a stock iron intake. We need an intake that breathes a little better.
 
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We got this little POS, too. For some reason the owner is in love with this car. It's a 64-1/2 "D"-code 4bbl 289 w/AC. The owner bought it from a girl that hit everything but the brakes. It has had both rear 1/4 panels replaced and a TON of dings and dents taken out. Driver's door was skinned. It will get a color change and new interior. Ice blue paint with white matte color on roof, Blue and white Pony interior. The only thing I'll help with on this car is the interior. I'll probably do the disassembly/assembly and the seat upholstery and carpet.


Current dash and interior color is terrible...
 
Clutch said:
hit everything but the brakes...wonder who put the discs on it
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Yeah that brake kit came after the current owner bought it. I was looking at the rotors yesterday and noticed that only half of the outer pad is making a pattern on the rotor. Weird kit, too because the calipers say "Ford" on them.
I also found it strange that the owner doesn't want any mechanical work done. Usually, you put this much work into a car, you make sure it's mechanically fresh, too.
 
BobbyFord said:
Yeah that brake kit came after the current owner bought it. I was looking at the rotors yesterday and noticed that only half of the outer pad is making a pattern on the rotor. Weird kit, too because the calipers say "Ford" on them.
I also found it strange that the owner doesn't want any mechanical work done. Usually, you put this much work into a car, you make sure it's mechanically fresh, too.
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Yeah you'd think you'd want it mechanically fresh. Small looking rotor
 
Clutch said:
Can't be any worse than the stock drums except you said it was only wearing from half the pad.
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Yeah, the caliper bolts are long and the majority of the bolt is a slide pin for the piston half. Someone probably didn't use the special synthetic grease on the bolts and the piston half of the caliper is hung up in the bracket.
 
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