Been a little busy getting married :) But I did it. We drove away in the Mustang. My dream for the last year come true.

Got a new rear end, and the front disks are about to go in. I just need to get a spring compressor, and some ball joints. In the mean time, watch these hilarious videos:

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1800511
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1766965
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1714321

Driving on the weekend

Well, I did it. I drove the Mustang to and from school, and didn't have to call anyone to help me! It drove...sluggish. I forgot to hook up the speedometer, so I have no idea how fast I was going. probably around 35-40 mph.

the kickdown wasn't installed either, which was a pain, but it'll work for now. I'll hook that up later.

The fuel leak is still there, but I got a new fitting which should help. We'll see if it works tonight.

It's getting close!

Hopefully tonight it will be drivable. Right now, it will drive up and down the road, but it's kinda sluggish, the timing is off, and it just needs a good tuning.

I put new hoses on the transmission hard line, the fuel line, and made a new heater hose outlet for the block. No one nearby makes a 3/8 NPT x 5/8" barb connector...

I remade my headlight relay, and I must say, it looks freaking awesome. I'll put up a picture in a little while. I made a bracket and bolted it to an existing hole in the firewall, so I didn't have to cut any holes in the metal. I cut a 2" x 3" x 1/8" piece of sheet metal, drilled 3 holes in it (sort of a triangle shape). I used the top to bolt to the fender. It actually is: screw > bracket > spacer > fender > washer > nut. The other two holes are where the relay bolts into.

Victory!

January 11, 2007

The mustang made it's first drive yesterday! It had a few problems: timing & idle speeds & mixtures were off, I had a small fuel leak, and I had a transmission leak. I only had to go about 1 mile, so I went for it, and made it, with a lot of prayer.

I noticed I never put it up, so here's the link to my pictures website.

Engine Swap
and
Mustang Pictures

Gas and fire, gas and fire, gas and fire...

What are the two things needed for combustion? Gas and fire. You must have these two things for the engine to run.

But, it isn't that simple. I had gas, and I had a spark, but I wasn't getting anywhere. Well, there's a little more to that phrase. Your spark has to come at the right time. Took me forever to figure out that the distributor, when put in, was 180* (thanks to the builder...geez).

And it started. It was wonderful. Ran like a champ. Went home after a victory, and came back the next day to drive it home. No start.

I spent several more days trying to mess with timing, vacuum, etc. because we had not touched a single thing. It ran before, why would it change? Well, it all boils back to the basics. Gas and fire. Turns out, I was not getting any type of spark. Tested each wire, and no spark. Tested the coil wire, and no spark. I then knew it had to be the coil, the electronic ignition module (EIM), or the coil wire. Tested a new coil wire (easiest test) and got the same results. I just so happened to have a spare EIM laying around, so I stuck it in there, and after a couple minutes of rewiring, BAM! it started right up. Unbelievable. Thank you Pertronix for your $100 EIM which lasted me around 4 months.

Now, we've caught up to current time. The car should be driven home today, after 46 days of being apart. The timing and speeds will need to be messed with a little, and she'll be ready.

The Engine Swap

Thanksgiving, 2007 - January 15, 2008

I found an longblock on www.craigslist.org, and I jumped at the chance to get it. Here are the specs:
200 ci inline 6 (1966 block)
.010" overbore
Stock cam
Stock pistons
1970 head (1.75" carb hole)

Then I added:
Holley/Weber 5200 (2bbl progressive carburetor, with K&N filter)
Stock fuel pump
Fuel pressure regulator
Custom carburetor linkage
Stock alternator
Stock exhaust manifold

The engine cost me $500, and the carburetor setup cost me ~$100. Then count the countless tiny things like fittings and bolts and stuff, and it just got riduculous.

I wouldn't feel right knowing there was a brand new engine with an old transmission, so I had it rebuilt. It cost me ~$400 and they did an excellent job. That was including a new torque converter as well (very hard to find).

Overall, this project of swapping cost me close to $1500.

The swap was not too bad, looking back. But the problem was I had never attempted anything so daring (and stupid), so it was definitely a new experience.

Daily Driver!

Summer 2007

Yes, believe it or not, I drove the car almost every day for several months, will little to no problems during that time. I thought I was awesome. The car ran pretty dang good, and it was time to start focusing on the unimportant stuff, like the looks :)

Stupid move.

I was driving my car home from work, when I stopped at a mustang shop to pick up a headlight switch. I pulled in, they didn't have it, and I left pretty angry. I had waited forever for that thing. I started the drive home, about 2 miles. Pulled up to a busy intersection, and the car died. No big deal I thought, because it had done that couple times before. I restarted it and KABOOM! Restarted again (why?) and KABOOM again. Finally after freakin out, got it restarted, just enough for it to roll into a parking lot across the street. I opened the hood. Didn't see any smoke, leaks, or anything. Checked the oil and transmission fluid and both appeared fine. I think though, that they were empty, and a slight film of oil had appeared (for some crazy reason).

I limped the car home, somehow, the rest of the way. Killed it, and that was the last breath it took.

Pre-blog

I'll start out by posting what has happened before this blog was created. This blog will show the building and life of my 66 Mustang. Please bookmark the site and feel free to comment. I hope to put up a lot of useful information. Thanks!

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February, 2007

I dated a girl back in high school by the name of Lisa. Although the dating thing only lasted a little while, we're still friends to this day. I went to her house one time, and while over there, she mentioned something about a mustang. I went outside in the garage and stared in amazement. Rusty as she was, she was beautiful. Lisa told me she hated the car because it smelled musty and was ugly. I disagreed wholeheartedly.

I said "so does your mom drive it?"

"No, it just sits here and she starts it sometimes"

"Well would she sell it?"

"Nope, no way, I've tried many times"

"Well promise me this; if she ever does sell it, let me know!"

And we went on about our business. Well, 4 years later, I receive a call. Lisa says that her mom is moving to Houston, and she's selling it. I call her mom up, we agreed to $4000 (steep, I know, but I knew it meant a lot to her), and I came over the next day.

March 12-16, 2007

WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO!???

Yes, the car was nothing like what I thought it was. The carburetor (original Autolite 1100) was screwed, the engine ran average, and it needed a whole new fuel system, not to mention leaks everywhere. I did a full tune up, replaced the gas tank, fixed the parking brake, replaced the shifter bushings, washed it many times, ran it into my parents garage door :), and replaced the transmission (C4) pan & filter. That stopped about 2 leaks :)