The week of Mustang Work

Noting that I wouldn’t have enough time to get my mustang ready for this summer, I took a week off from work to get a head start.

So to start off my Mustang week, I made the rounds gathering new bolts (from Tacoma Screw) and a new oil pan gasket, MSD Tachometer Trigger and some various other parts. I spent the evening sanding and painting the alternator brackets and pulleys. I had shopped around the idea of getting them blasted and, perhaps powder coated. When I was dropping off a few dining chairs at the furniture repair shop, they recommended that I stick with just painting since my car isn’t a $200k street machine (they also do media blasting and powder coating). I also removed the grille assembly and noted that I need another trip to Tacoma screw to replace the missing mounting fasteners.

Tuesday was Holley Carburetor rebuild day. I cannot believe the amount of time it takes to rebuild one of these things. My 4160 (aka 1850) needed hours of gasket scraping to get to clean surfaces. I finished the day reassembling and installing a new electric choke kit only to find that I am missing (from my carb) the necessary parts to integrate the kit. A simple phone call to Holley tech support netted me the missing choke control lever and assorted parts. In between carb rebuild steps, I tossed more coats of paint onto the pulleys and brackets.

Wednesday is engine bay paint day. I hit the bay with the DA sander and my hand to remove the loose debris and surface rust. I also spent time straightening the radiator support top rail (the previous owner made it resemble a roller coaster). I also ground smooth the hole my battery corroded into the radiator support. Now the hole looks as though the folks in Metuchen, NJ placed that hole there for some unknown reason. I also ground down the weld where the third rate body shop rejoined the two halves of the radiator support…and left rather ugly mess. As of lunchtime, the radiator support, the battery apron, and the left apron are all primed.

This afternoon is the MSD Distributor curve setting another coat of primer…and perhaps dropping the oil pan.