I graduated last Sunday, May 20th. Got home a couple of days after that, and I’ve been working on the Mustang since then. I’ll be home until I’m able to find a job. I’ve made some progress, but nothing too obvious I guess. It still isn’t inspected again and so I still haven’t gotten my new tags. Since most of the stuff I’ve been doing is smaller things, I’ll just outline it here (in no order):
- Got it running again the first day I got back with no problems<
- Washed it, clay barred it, and waxed it. It turned out rather nice.
- Installed new plugs, rotor, distributor cap, and points
- Retimed it, and discovered that I think my balancer did indeed slip
- Replaced exhaust manifold studs
- Replaced exhaust manifold gasket
- Did a better wiring job on my tachometer so the wires aren’t in the way
- Wired up the light on my oil pressure gauge
- Replaced the oil pressure gauge line (it was leaking a little bit)
- Installed a couple of the screw in floor pan drains
- Pulled the heater box, adjusted the fan on the motor as it was vibrating a lot and sounded really bad
- Replaced one of the heater hoses to the heater core that I had cut just a little too short
- Reinstalled the heater box
- Replaced the parking brake handle
- Installed a throttle return spring
- Replaced the starter solenoid because it shorted out and the engine wouldn’t shut off
I think that’s most of the stuff. I also did a compression test at one point as it still runs rough and I can’t figure out why. The first time I did the test, I got some worrying numbers: 140 psi, 140, 180, 170, 160, 150.
Then I retorqued the head bolts (and of course the rocker arm assembly ones in the process) and redid it. That time I ended up with 155, 160, 160, 160, 155, 155. The engine wasn’t quite as warm that time, so those may not be all that accurate.
I also just finished up some cooling system stuff. I started to install the thermostat yesterday, but I broke the water outlet housing. The thermostat slipped down a little when I put it on and I didn’t realize it. It leaked after filling it back up, so I tried to torque it down just a bit more and it snapped. I got a new one this morning, so I got that replaced and the coolant refilled just a bit ago. I haven’t driven it yet, but it seems good from running it while checking for leaks.
Since my last compression test wasn’t done with it at operating temperature, I decided to do it one more time now that I have a thermostat. I got 162 psi, 165, 170, 162, 165, 160. All are within 10psi, so it doesn’t look like I have any compression issues anymore.
I also ordered some little parts from NPD, along with a Pertronix Flame-Thrower coil. Those will be here around Monday.
