This evening I made the almost two hour trip via public transportation to pick up my car.  Val picked me up at the subway station and drove me to his garage.  There were a couple of last minute items to address before I could test drive the car.  Val had me install the driver’s seat belts and a shifter boot that I brought with me.  He installed the rear end bump stops.  The parts I supplied didn’t fit correctly so he had ordered a new set that fit.  He also did some repair work on one of my rear quarter windows that didn’t roll up and down.  Some bending of the arm and some lubrication fixed it right up.  Val pointed out that the engine oil dip stick was reading over full, so he drained some oil out of the motor.  I’m pretty certain that I didn’t over fill it, but the dip stick reading said otherwise.  I’m going to check again after my next oil change and see if I need to re-mark the dipstick.  We also tried to center the brake pressure differential switch, but it didn’t want to move and we didn’t have a lot of time.  So for now that remains to be fixed.

Val added some gas to the car.  Then we confirmed that the gas gauge was working.  It may have had a bad connection at first, but it started working fine.  I took the car for a test ride around the block and everything seemed to be working fine.  The steering was fairly tight (for an old mustang) and the car tracked straight.  The brakes weren’t as sensitive as before the power booster was replaced.  The new exhaust sounded louder than I would have liked, but I will reserve judgement until after all of the sound deadener and interior have been installed.  And the clutch worked fine although it engaged a lot higher than my other car and took me some time to get used to.  When I finished my test drive I got settled in with my directions and phone charger and headed for home.

For the ride home I selected a route with a mix of city, back road, and a bit of highway driving.  The entire route was close to 70 miles.  I started out pretty slow on the back roads until I gained confidence in the car.  That didn’t take very long as the car was handling and riding better than it ever has.  I stopped and filled the tank.  At the gas station two people came over to admire the car.  During the drive home I got several waves from other muscle car drivers.  I really enjoyed that since the car doesn’t look like much with its’ black accented with multiple types of primer custom paint job.

After a stop to get some quick fuel for the driver I took the car for the 12 mile highway portion of the drive.  It ran pretty smooth on the highway except for the fact that I kept wanting to shift the car into the non-existent fifth gear.  I varied the speed a bit and the car had pretty decent acceleration and braking.  But I still didn’t have the confidence to push the car too hard yet.

The next part of the drive was the around town segment.  This gave me a chance to get used to the clutch.  I started getting the hang of it and my confidence was growing.  I was also driving on roads that I had driven this car on many times, although not for many years.  The engine was idling very rough at this point and the idle speed was a bit too low.  I tried accelerating a little bit harder and after a couple of times it smoothed out.  At idle it settled into a kind of droning noise that although very smooth was actually kind of objectionable due to the droning.  Maybe after I install the interior it won’t be as bad.

The final leg of the drive covered some back roads that I had driven back in the day and that I still drive today in my 1997 Mustang Cobra.  The old car handled surprisingly well.  It was much better than it was back in the day.  I also tried stepping on the gas a bit harder and was pleased with how much power the engine had.  Apparently sitting for 15 years didn’t do it much harm.  This leg also required driving on some highway entrance and exit ramps with some very long sweeping curves.  Again the car surprised me and permitted me to take the curves at greater than the speed limit.  I was also getting braver with the gas pedal and the engine had quite a bit more power than I was expecting.  It isn’t a race car engine by any stretch of the imagination, but it has more than enough power for street cruising.

I finally arrived back home and parked the car in the garage.  I’m going away for a week long vacation starting tomorrow.  When I get back I’ll post some detailed pictures showing some of the work that was done.  I also plan to clean the car up and begin painting the interior.  After I complete that and a few other prep items I can start getting estimates for bodywork and paint.  I have to make sure I keep the project moving so that the car doesn’t wind up sitting for another 15 years.

Today I received a message from Val saying that my car will be ready to be picked up tomorrow evening.  He sad that he still needs to test drive the car to make sure everything is working OK.  He wasn’t able to do that today because he still needs to buy and install the exhaust clamps that hold the exhaust tips on.  He also needs to see why one of the backup lights isn’t working but he doesn’t expect that to be a big issue.

The message also said that he needed to pull the transmission and bell-housing to do some work on the clutch fork and bell-housing that required a bit of welding.  I don’t know the details on what needed to be done.  I’m not all that surprised that there was an additional problem in that area.  I was just unaware of the issue.  With everything in the clutch linkage that was replaced it should work better than it did when I bought the car used in 1974.  It may also explain why I went through so many clutches over the years, although that could also be due to the “loose nut behind the steering wheel”.

I hope that everything on the car works fine on the shake down drive tomorrow.  If all goes well I will be driving the car home tomorrow night.  The pressure is on Val right now to wrap things up because I leave the day after tomorrow for a week long vacation.  And I know he doesn’t want the car to sit in his shop taking up valuable space for another week.  I’m a bit nervous about driving the car home because it is a 1.5 hour long drive on the highway.  And timing is going to place me out on the road at rush hour, which can get ugly with the D.C. traffic.  I may try to plot a non-highway course back home, but that will turn it into a 2 hour drive.  I also need to find out if there is a break-in procedure for the new ring and pinion in the rear end.  I have heard that some have a break-in which includes driving at normal speeds for a short time and then allowing the gears to cool off for 30 minutes.  But those questions will have to wait for tomorrow.  If I do get the car back I won’t have time to post anything until after my week at the beach.  But I will try and take a lot of pictures for that post.  Stay tuned until then.

Yesterday I had an opportunity to make the trip out to the shop to see how my Mustang was doing.  When I arrived Val had just removed the instrument cluster in preparation for repairing the power brake booster and clutch pedal assembly and linkage.  Before I left my house Val had called and asked me to bring my new instrument cluster housing and lenses.  Once he had removed the old instrument cluster from the dash he handed it to me and said I should get busy replacing the housing and lenses.  So I sat down with the cluster and my new parts and began dis-assembly and reassembly.

Everything came apart easily enough and while it was apart I checked all of the light bulbs.  They all worked, but i replaced one as the socket was coming loose from the bulb.  The I removed the old lens retainers from the old housing.  One of them had rusted, so Val glass beaded it and repainted it flat black.  Everything else went back together with no issues except for the speedometer lens.  My instrument cluster had the speedometer with a trip odometer.  However the lens was for a standard speedometer.  Val drilled a hole in the new lens using the old one as a template.The only difference between this modification and the correct lens is that the correct lens has a shoulder for the reset button.  The shoulder isn’t visible unless you dis-assemble the cluster and everything worked OK without the shoulder.

When I arrived Val had already removed the transmission, bell housing, clutch linkage, and old exhaust system.  The rear end and springs had been installed, so I could get a feel for the ride height which is fine for now.  I can revisit the ride height after the car has a full interior and the springs have settled some.  Val said he drove the car around the neighborhood and the ride was very stiff.  So there may be more suspension work ahead of me.

While I worked on the cluster, Val removed the power brake booster and clutch pedal assembly.  He replaced the spring and pedal bushings and then reinstalled the pedal assembly.  He also did some adjustments on the parking brake assembly which was not bolted on tight when he received the car.  He also showed me that the under car clips and hangars for the parking brake had not been installed in their correct locations when the previous shop had replaced the floor boards.  They would need to be re-positioned, which will require cutting and re-welding them in the right place.

At that point Val went to reinstall the rod that goes from the clutch pedal to the clutch z-bar.  One end was so badly worn that the rod was not usable.  It should have had a bushing to prevent that wear, but the bushing was missing.  Also the boot that goes over that rod was torn and needed replacement.  So the day pretty much ended at that point with a few more parts on order.  But Val expects that he should have the car buttoned up and ready to get back to me some time next week.

Clutch Release Rod

Clutch Release Rod Boot

This morning I received an email with some attached pictures showing some additional rust that was discovered on the rear frame rail.  It was covered by undercoating and not visible, but turned up when a clamp was put on the driver’s side rear frame rail.  This obviously meant there was structural damage that had to be corrected.  Apparently the repair wasn’t a big deal as the first I heard about it was after the repair job was finished.  Below are some pictures showing the damage and the completed repair.

The rear differential was dropped off at the driveline shop for a rebuild.  They made quick work of the dis-assembly and inspection process.  Unfortunately they immediately noticed that the housing had a crack.  I later learned that this is not all that uncommon with the standard  versions of the Ford 9″ rear end.  Ford used a housing made of nodular iron on their differentials used behind their higher performance engines such as the 428 Cobra Jet or the Boss 429 to resist this cracking problem.   But mine was cast iron and needed to be replaced.  Val did some quick checking on the Web and found a complete differential, rebuilt and ready to go.  That lead failed to pan out as it was built for 31 spline axles and my car had 28 spline axles.  Next he located a used housing on Craigslist.  There are also several vendors that sell new housings that are much stronger than the stock original.  In the end he found somebody that he knew in the local Mustang club who had one for sale.  He picked it up and dropped it off at the driveline shop so that they could continue with the rebuild.

***Update***

Several weeks later the differential is still in the driveline shop. First Val had to order the clutches and metal washers to repair the traction lock.  Then there was a mix up regarding who is ordering the rebuild kit.  Val ordered that as well and delivered it to the rebuild shop.  The person performing the rebuild was unavailable for a few days due to a family emergency.  When he returned to work he spent some time trying to get a good gear mesh pattern on the ring and pinion, only to discover that the ring and pinion needed to be replaced.  So Val ordered a new ring and pinion.  It’s been almost another week since I last heard the bad news about the ring and pinion.  Hopefully the differential is almost complete.

In the mean time Val has been working on some rust repair as well as cleaning and repainting the rear end housing.  He sent me some pictures which I am posting below.

Cleaned differential housing

Painted housing, axles, brake drums, and backing plates.

Rusted trunk drop off

Repaired trunk drop off

Rusted rear floor cut out

Patched rear floor

***Update 2***
I heard from Val and the differential is back from the driveline shop. That means that next week he will finish up the rear end rebuild and move on to the clutch, subframe connectors, and the brake power booster. If all goes as planned the car should be completed in about one more week. I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed, but I won’t be shocked if if ends up taking two weeks instead of one.

Here are some additional pictures of the rebuilt and painted differential

Rebuilt and installed differential

Cleaned and painted brake backing plate (rear view)

Cleaned and painted brake backing plate (front view)