Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

This is for jranger.

The shaft for the coil spring compressor is too long, so I used my old harmonic balancer and a wheel bearing from a rotor. Worked awesome. See pics. When I do the new ones, I don't want to install them this way, so I'm going to buy some steel pipe that just bigger than the shaft and cut it to length to take up the slack so it will fit within the spring.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

The DS took about 3 hours to remove and break down. The PS only took about 2. I learned some tricks and it's a lot faster to disassemble it as a whole.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

How ridiculously clean this car is... no patches, all Ford metal...

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

wow nice...And thanks for the pics....

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

How bad some of the parts are. The bushing in the spring perches was gone/split. The pin part was riding on the metal tube and all the bushing was broken and shoved to the bottom where it did nothing. Ball joints were toast too.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

wow...i dont even want to look at mine now

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

My LCA's didn't come with zerks, which was stupid, because when I popped the seals off they didn't have near enough grease in them. So I slowly drilled them out and installed the zerks off the old LCA's. I tried to use some brand new zerks I had, but I couldn't get them to start. The old ones screwed right down tight and pumped up with grease easily.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

I haven't fully cleaned the bench, but I got my fake diamond plate background up and my clock/gearwrench (metric and standard)/signs up under the cabinets. I love it.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

No problem. I didn't realize how bad this one was either. It actually had "good" road manners. The lower control arm bushings were decent. I"m somewhat excited to "see" how she drives with all the upgrades. :metal:

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

I was thinking as I was reading this post, a grease gun might be pretty rare in some dealership shops. I suspect there are front line mechanics out there nowadays who have never owned or used a grease gun. Think about it, since the 80s, grease fittings have become more scarce on new vehicles every year. There's guys out there working in shops who were born in the mid 90s.

Crazy thought ain't it ?

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Actually, no, not crazy at all.

My wife's 2011 Mustang has NO grease joints. They're all "sealed units." Ball joints, tie rod ends, everything. The transmission doesn't have a dipstick, as it too, is a "sealed unit."

I was at a car show and a little kid asked his dad why there were two door handles on the door. His dad had to explain that one was a door handle and the other was a window crank. Kid has only been in "modern" cars with power windows and locks.

There are people that don't understand what a 3rd pedal is for...

I can't buy parts for my C10 or mustang anymore over the counter (aside from brake pads/shoes, plugs/wires/cap/rotor) I've had to order just about everything else. Balancer, water pump, rad. hoses, timing set, etc... that was for the 65, the 350's been around A LOT longer, and much more recent than a 289 so it may have more stuff on the shelf. Of course they can all "get it to me the next day" but my point of being able to walk in and get typical wear parts for classics is all but gone :(

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

That fact hit me hard awhile back. I walked into O Reilly and was looking for a 7" round sealed beam headlamp. A normal old headlight that was used for 60 years or whatever. No deal. Had to order. I realized then how time has marched on and I'm a dinosaur.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

A TreX Firefighter?:lol:

My sister car pools kids for school. A 1st grader boy did not know how to open the door to get out. My siter said "Pull that leaver." He pulled and waited. Nothing. My niece had to unbuckel, lean past him and open the door for him. The told my sister his mom's van has power doors. He had NEVER opened a car door!

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Kid's today...

Thanks to Mother Nature I had to retreat to the front porch for painting.

Bare metal pieces got epoxy first. Everything that was already painted was scuffed and reshot. I don't plan on ever rebuilding this one again.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

So, I keep mentioning this "Shelby Drop." Time to actually show what it is. To sum it up:

And if you want to read A LOT more (including a little history) read here:

http://dazecars.com/dazed/drop.html

So this is what the template looks like. If you notice, the holes are not "centered." This is on purpose. The 65/66 cars have the A arms set at an angle, if you make the holes straight down, it will move the mounting point forward or backward. But with the new holes offset (AND ALWAYS TOWARDS THE REAR OF THE CAR) the A arm will be lowered vertically.

You also want to use bolts that are very tight, otherwise you won't get the holes right. I originally tried to reinstall the A arm, but there isn't enough room to drill.

I also had to go buy a new cheap drill. I've needed a 1/2 drive drill about 50 times and never had one, and it sucks trying to find/buy large specialty bits for a 3/8 drill. This job requires a 17/32 drill bit if you want to do it correctly. I ordered my template and drill bit from the link above.

Also don't forget to put something on the backside of the holes so you don't slam into your manifolds with the drill bit.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

1. Bolt it up to the car.

2. I used a 1/8" bit as the directions for this kit stated to use, but I didn't want to waller out the template, so I just got a good start, then removed the template.

3. Holes drilled.

4. The shock towers on these cars are about 1/4" thick (seriously). So you don't want to ruin your new expensive bit by trying to chew through all of that 4 times, so the directions recommend going up in stages. I moved up to a 1/4" bit one this one.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

1. When drilling your holes make sure you're centered! This is stepping up to a 3/8" bit.

2. 3/8" bit through.

3. Final 17/32" bit through.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

1. New control arms come with new zerks... but, you'll never be able to use them by just screwing them in, so I removed the old ones from the old control arms, the ones with the angled head.

2. Shelby drop complete and new zerks are at an angle that can be serviced! This is also an easy way to tell if your 65-68 mustang has had the drop performed... you can see the old holes!

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

So with that project out of the way, I had to address this mess... yay... :rolleyes:

The first thought that popped into my head is... where the hell does the water go (site design/land development civil engineer, I always have to ask myself "where does the water go.")

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Oh, there it is! There's a drain hole that was buried under over 1/2" of gunk and old undercoating.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Cleaned up.

It got a good coat of rust encapsulator last night.

After it dried I put some 3M seam sealer on it. When that dries I'll top coat it wall with some chassis paint.

The drain hole did not get filled in with seam sealer, it's completely open, just looks like it got filled in for some reason in pics.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

looking good...heh ive been working in nasty cold wet weather so nothing crazy on my side..except some fiberglass MUAHAHHAHAHAHA

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Supposed to be beautiful tomorrow, unfortunately, I have some yard work to do, if I don't mow it tomorrow it will be knee high by next week (not literally, but I don't like to rake up grass piles from high grass). Takes me a couple of hours. Have to do a check up on the mower first too. Bought a new Deere 3 years ago, want to make sure it lasts. I killed my last one my FIL gave me, but it was from 1992 and it was already smoking when I got it.

Forgot to mention that I had to break down and buy new rotors yesterday, so the wallet took another hit. I took them in to get turned and they were too far gone. They're 0.810" new, Minimum spec is 0.780" for turning, and mine were 0.755" and 0.756"... poop.

Luckily CJ's had raybestos ones on sale for $50 shipped each. Same ones in most parts stores were $65. Then they jumped in price to like $105-120 each for drilled, slotted, etc.... pass... It's kinda good I'm getting new ones. The races had some marks on them and I COULD NOT get them out! I've never not been able to get old races out before... these things were stuck!

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Nice.....I have soccer tomorrow so blah....I checked my suspension yesterday and it doesnt look too bad. The rubber doesnt seem rotted out, a bit dusty is all but didnt notice cracks etc. All though both my Shock tower bumpers are missing now. One fell off when i put on new shocks now both are gone BLAH i order the 1 the other day....Keep it up

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

It is crazy windy today! Not good for painting.

This is the part where I wish I had a fancy blast cabinet or anything better than a wire wheel on my drill.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

But I did find some cool stuff! Check out the clear "B" on the spindle! Coulda been a family member!

You can kinda make out the Ford Logo and some part numbers on it.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Primed and painted stuff.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Assembly!!!

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

youre moving right along

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

The EXPENSIVE parts... Street or Track adjustable strut rods to eliminate the stock bars with flexible bushings that wear out. With the larger wheels I'm running I need a more predictable front end, and these will provide that. I also purchased their roller bearing spring perches to eliminate the binding with the stock perches with bushings.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

I'm still waiting on my GT springs, 1" sway bar, and new rotors, but I couldn't help but throw the old rotors on and see how the repainted rotors look...

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Finally, a new part I could reuse!!! The drag link was reusable! And it was super clean, it only needed a scuff, primer, and paint.

The tie rod connectors are easier to clean and paint assembled, then I can measure them, take them apart a piece at a time, and add the new parts to the set up is close enough to drive to the alignment shop.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

New Idler Arm installed with cleaned up drag link in place.

I'd like to replace the steering box with a quicker ration one but the $250-350 price tag on rebuilt ones is crazy! It works fine for now.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Last ones for now... parts I didn't want to clean up. I see some more line markings, but I didn't get them cleaned up. I almost did it, but I didn't want to get covered in black crap again.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Thanks! Progress will be coming to a halt soon. Pooped. Out of parts. Losing the entire weekend to a conference in Raleigh this upcoming weekend, for all fri/sat/and back late sun night.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Looks great, Its amazing how some elbow grease and new paint revives these old parts. What rate springs did you go with?

Bill

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Thanks, I wish it was done! I'm pretty sore from crawling all over/around/under this thing for the past few weeks.

I'm using the stock height 65/66 GT springs, which are supposed to be a 480lb rate.
A lot of people said the 620lb springs were way too stiff for the street.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Some more parts showed up today! New rotors!

They got painted, new bearings and races, and new seal.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

I also cut up another piece of trim, got the tape on it, and got it on the car.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

It’s looking great.:metal: I’m jealous.

The tube axle took care of the issues on my ’66 but I’m going nuts trying to decide what to do for front suspension on my fastbacks.