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66 Mustang coupe


Low Horatio gearbox

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1 hour ago, Nyphur said:

That's a fine looking car, you must be itching to get out on the open road.

Did you manage to mountain rescue the wheel trim?

That is an understatment , I've all appendages crossed to have the welding done by the time the tyres arrive. And to remove temptation- jsut for a little spin -  I did a thing..  

@Zelandeth  most likely. It's the wrong carb (Grommet) and was set part stripped for a new correct  one when it turned up sans manifold and my friends life went sideways but it  could be better. I'm whinging at him to sort it.

 

Seat out(wow more shells), kickplate unscrewed, carpet pulled back and  away...  the sound deadenening pad had held moisture/water  and was the only thing holding it together.  As bad as it it I'm pleased as the damage is in the middle of the panels and the seams/edges to weld back to are solid or the panel becomes solid at an easy ish repairable place.  Not easy but I (we!)do have the floorpan panel to trim to fit and drop in .

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And more progress.

TL/DR: more rust removal and prep, some horrors exposed but nothing life changing.

 I'm steadily picking away at this -  sitting in it (when it had seats)  going  brumble-brumble burble toot-toot isn't  cutting it! The rear carpets have been lifted out and the drivers seat too, giving much  more space for working and less stuff to catch fire.  The carpet is, OK but pretty fragile - I need to clean it  somehow without it  falling apart. There was some squeaky bum moments when I lifted the carpet on the drives side and the sound  dedening pad was pretty sodden and I could see  rust.  It is thankfully surface rust. Pad removed and  the remains cleared  it was time to get the rear panel trim and bits out of the way.

 

The rear floor extension as it's called  was rotten but more so than I knew for sure, it looks horrible but as it rusted from the inside I guess its just the paneling not the structure to repair and it is localised at least.   The late hole were me probing with a spanner and seeing how strong it was or wasnt - Ive left it now so I've have at least some reference points for contours and shape.    The panels for here are available but not in the UK, shipping from the US is  nearly three times  the cost of a the panel. Ther is a European supplier but they have a minimum order and I'd need to spend another £140 to meet it.  One UK supper does do the panel.. but as part  of a complete welded floorpan. I'm going to call them tommorrow and see if they can do something and see if I can wangle the bit I need. If not it's just going to be fabricating what was there out of sheet - not hugely  complicated shape, I'm in no way amling for an invisible repair, tidy and strong is fine as you will never see it. Tho it's more enough work to fine tune my welding.   Despite being told not to cut metal I did, mainly as  I kept going trying to put a foot on what was left of the floor and consciously avoiding  it required contortions I'm too lazy to perform.

The jogglers should arrive today and several square feet of 1mm sheet steel tommorrow so I can at the least practice  welding and get the floor panel I have ready to fit once I tidy the hole it needs to go in -i want to remove a bit more metal to be sure I'm on solid steel and tidy the edges up.  The larger are of rust is a bit of a pisser and the hole in the wheel tub too, but the metal  surrounding is sound at worst I will jsut make small repair sections up and peice it together-  panel contours and pressings are for a later date.

 

@Nyphur  sorry  forgot to say.. yes, yes I want back to look for the trim. It could have gone anywhere and the drop off it steep with 4-5 foot high ferns .  

 

 

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Today I have been mostly welding.. and also cutting my legs on sharp(clean!) Metal.  Tho really it's been mostly prep, cutting, fitting, fettling, fitting, cutting etc.   Zinc primer down and holes drilled to plug weld than seam welded a bit at a time. A few tacks popped so I slowed down.

Welding varies from ..its a weld  to alright , but it'll al be ground down and hidden by carpets anyway and really I need to get under it and tidy it up from below too but that's enough for one day.

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1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

Fantastic work!

You sure did pick your time to be welding. On the hottest few days of the year (so far!).

 Too kind. It's reasonable and I'm ok with it. I could do better but it's not going to be a showcase or  have a restoration on my watch.  Yeah hottest day but I've waited far too long now to have this usable and I do want to drive it in the sunshine -this year!

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Not as much progress as I'd have liked a half day today as I wore myself out yesterday.  Pretty happy with the large  section I made up  --  I'm aiming to  make the underseat floorpan in 4  sections.  It should be ish straightforward  as they are mostly flat bar 2 pressed ribs next to the transmission tunnel. I also tacked on 2 small sections on the inner wheel  too , I'll clean up  the welds tommorrow.  

 

 

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And no updates because... I iz bin wekin onit!

TL/DR: welding done, lessons learned & car now on road.

 

Wednesday's investigations revealed that I needed to remove more rust  in the boot seat/belt anchor area. It was there but thin.  As ever the rust had crept up via capillary action in the seat padding and luckily the metal to be put back in was almost all plain flat sheet with just one profile I could replicate with a vice - how I loved before a real bench mounted vice I do not know.   (1st pic)

Thursday I continued to pick away. My grand idea of using 2 more arge sections was over ambitious, to get the shape and contours right and get a decent  fit to be able to clamp and weld.  Less pictures here as I was less interested in documenting it and actually getting it done!  I had issues getting acceptable penetrations  to welds on the chassis rails  when trying to plug weld new sheet to them. I decided to fully drill then weld the holes fully thru and had much stronger tho ugly looking welds - its not a visible area and I'll accept the kiss than stellar finish for strength. 

 

The rest of the floor went in in 5 smaller pieces which I joggled the front edge and transmission tunnel edge to get a reasonable fit and add some more strength. Matching the pressing ribs is beyond me currently but the floor is sturdy and doesnt flex - pushing on it just moves the car suspension.  Then it was a few small fillets to fill in the wheel side concave shape I had wilfully been ignoring since creating it Tuesday  and lo by 1.30 Friday afternoon  I'd done the welding and sweated off about 10lbs. 

 The new tyres arrived Thursday so I cleared up the mess, kept clearing it up some more, put the interior back in and took it for some new non decrepit  rubber.  While I'm not going to wax lyrical about how it's a night and day difference it's far less scary now driving it on fresh rubber that grips. Ride comfort and noise have improved considerably as well and I'd be chuffed to bits if the OSF one had been half flat after I ran an errand to feed the GF's cats this morning.    The tyre was half flat and I could hear a faint hiss. Jacking it up showed a bulge on the inside tyre wall  and when I took the wheel off it looked like the bead had slipped.  After a quick cry and some lunch  I took it to quick fit - because Sunday and the sticks. The guy there said I looked like a defect as the rubber around the steel bead seemed to come away easily  - tho he said it could possibly  have been fitment as the rim hadn't been cleaned very well if at all - removal had totally trashed both beads. I had a cheap modern out on as I will still be using the car  (jesus duh) and give the tyre supplier a call in the morning.

 

Things to do

Replace font brake flex hoses as the are looking pretty past it.

Investigate now non functional temp gauge  - I suspect maybe sender or merely the really shagged out wiring that leads to it

Investigate speedo.  It works most if the time  sometimes its steady tho under reads and sometimes makes a clicking noisy and flutters. Some lube and external optimism might work here.

Re install cigarette lighter..  I mean 12v technology/stereo charging port. This was going to be "investigate noisy clonking in dashboard" but that was was the lighter unit in the ashtray rolling about so... 🤷‍♂️

 

 

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2 hours ago, Rocket88 said:

Grand job…. Mustangs of that era were really thrown together…..

Comparing it to  my similar vintage Rover  is a world apart. Ford - need  to run a handbrake cable along g here. well just put self tapping screws for brackets straight thru the floor here here, here and here..  whereas Rover have planned it a but more and there is a total lack of self tapers.

 

I attempted to have the fracking done but ome adjuster on the driver side is sized, tho its pretty  much all in the ballpark so.. 🤷‍♂️  gave it a wash so the scratches and  micro blistering really shine and given it a bit of a clean inside. 

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 A parcel of parts arrived today, tho as a plank I only ordered one brake flex hose..🤦🏻‍♂️

 

But... I how have a functional temperature guage and all is well, the needle sits at about at the halfway point.  Some bonnet slam/shut rubbers fitted and  a fluid change for the diff done. I took out about a litre and  quarter -  It should take about 2.5 -2,7 litres and given  the state and smell of it.. it's likely had been in there a long time possibly all of its 47k miles.

 

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I thought jd have a fiddle and swap out the fron brake flex lines and the oassengerside was looking pretty grim. Naturally as the Jack was on the drivers side that's where I started.

 

 I should have left it when I saw the twisted kink in the rubber line - the reason for that is the hard lines union was sezed onto the hard line. Previously whoever replaced the one hose,  instead of fixing it some judicious use of twisting the flexywas involved - an alarming amount tbh far more effort than just doing the job properly.   I tried to free it off but nope, it was rusted on there  utterly solid to the point of it snapping and needing to be drilled and filed out.  Will complete this side and the passenger in the morning! (cos I've no brake line to hand)

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So this morning to Tool station to get the correct 45 degree double flare tool and away.  The drivers side is only about 12 inches long with 2 90 degree bends and a slight kink so simple to form and despite my misgivings the Sliverline flaring tool did a tidy job and I even remembered to put the unions on before I flared the ends.

The passengers side was a bit more of a faff. The flexy hose indeed gave up easily where it was fraying  and the unions were seized onto the pipe again. No problem at the wheel end as I jsut snipped the old line  and could remove  it easily.  The  master cylinder end tho was   stuck fast in the distribution block.  I tried swearing and force, penetrating fluid and then penetrating fluid and  force and swearing. It wouldnt budge, so I left it be and  chipped off all the loose underseal and crap in the front wheel wells and put on some Vactan  (and a spritz of black paint when it had dried) I'd been wanting to make a start on the underside rust prevention.     

 

After an hour of that I went back to the distribution block with a big pair of vise grips and  the passenger side union  finally broke free and I was able to extract the hard brake line  with no damage. Offering  it up agains the nephew lone I manipulated it into a close ish copy and  wangled and cajoled it back behind the engine and bolted to the firewall and connected to the  distribution block and could  get it into some sort of shape and attached to the flexy.  Finally the 30 minute job started last night was complete after a mere 6 or so hours and I could bleed  it.. and my it was tacky. Fortunately I ran  out if brake fluid and  mojo so have left the bleeding the rear till tommorrow.  While I was faffing with the front jacked up and on stands I tried to lube up the speedo cable - one bolt to extract it but  but it's pretty well sealed, so will have to see if I can get some penetrating oil in the cable from the dash end instead. Interesting to note Ford  had really dialed in the cost savings-  no drain plug on the diff or gearbox to save a few cents.

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My continued posting means the brake lines are good - I'm still checking  but no leaks or lack of braking etc.

 I had a go at loosening off the "stuck" tie rod adjusters and I'm glad I did as the tyre shop failed to do one of the nuts up -tho the wonderfully weird design means it's very hard for the adjusters to unwind, still not ace so wont be going back again witht he and the gyre fitting/damage issue.   More dousing in penetrating fluid and soaking all the nuts off and attacking  them with a hammer, mole grips and  swear words eventually freed them off.   Both inner edges had feathers in the 300 miles I'd been driving it so I eyeballed it  to get some  toe in and keep the sterring wheel straight  and it seems reasonably near certainly the tyres are not wearing unevenly  now  (tho its only be 25 miles since) and it will suffice till I can  find a tyre place that will check the tracking.

I did tho have a weird and disconcerting clunk from the nearside front afterwards. It felt like something loose in the steering  tho I'd not actually touched anything else.  Of course the simplest answer is user error - I'd adjusted the err adjusters with jo refused to their proximity for the power steering  ram and the amount of  fore- aft movement of the links generated when steering 🤦🏻‍♂️.    Solved by slacking it off an rotating 90 degrees up so the lock nuts dont foul.

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Almost a FTP today.

 

It wasnt overly happy starting this morning  and ran a little rough but seemed to smooth out when warmed up so I wilfully ignored it. Coming back I'd was getting on  the dual carriageway  when it started misfiring and the rough running came back. Luckily it was only a short stretch of DC before I got off but the rough running became utter shit and it I struggled to coax it along up hill - luckily or unluckily there were roadworks so it was a 40 mph limit  so my 30-35 was just scary instead of dangerous.  Tho this wasnt helped by an artic ridingabout 10 foot off my bumper the last 500 yards in my own unwanted recreation of the last scene in Duel. (But with a boring ultra modern cabover instead of a dirty old Peterbuilt)

I limped it back luckily 95% downhill and 20-30 mph limits, where it was ish behaved , anymore tha a quarter throttle was pointless.  Tho getting it back in the garage was a pain as the Turing circle on it is woefully and it kept stalling out after 12 inches of progress.

The only dash instrument  giving any indication was the temperature  gauge reading  slightly  cooler than normal. 🤷‍♂️  I checked  the hoses and there were no leaks  and no sign of OMGHGF.    I suspected maybe  a vaccum leak or the carb had decided to give up given the misfires and incredibly rough running.  I took the air cleaner off and had a look and a poke but noting seemed amiss - well more amiss than the ish-working cludge together than the current  carb set up is. This mystified me as I'd not touched the engine or carb a good few weeks, so I did the sensible thing and had some lunch instead if burning myself on a hot engine trying to find the issue right now.

 

Post lunch and  driving chores finished -Rover saves the day again, I came back and prodded some more convinced it was a duff carb or air leak. Leaning in and   noticing some fuel wetness in the top of the carb from soem forward  firing when had me convinced... till I realised I was leaning on the distributor cap and HT leads and something felt spongy..... one HT lead had not been totally  snug and worked loose it would seem and had been just sitting ish in place.  To the casual glance it did not look to be loose/off.   

Surely the bag of spanner crap running couldn't be that simple.   Naturally it was,  firmly seated in place and air filter back on and a slight adjustment to the idle screws and throttle linkage (idles high but weak ish still, wrong carb excuse yadda) and it fired up and ran smooth - for a straight pipped , mildly hot cammed lump with the wrong carb - I.e.  really loud.  A test drive confirmed it within a few feet that  normal* running had been restored, tho I took it for a bit of a spin just to be sure!  😁

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 After yesterdays excitment*  I did a cursory  fluid and engine check-up know the one you should do every few weeks anyway 🤔  plus the mustang is slated for driving duties  to a posh hotel and winery for the GFs birthday treat/present  this weekend.

Tl/DR: did an oil change.

Everything seemed in order bar the oil being apparently overful and seeming a bit thin, which prompted me to suspect the Autolite carb of  flooding and  filling the sump wich they are prone to doing apparently. Tho the oil didnt smell overly petrol-ly, it would also give me an excuse to stop the drip from the sump plug.

 

I took it for a spin - any excuse to drive it really, warmed the oil  up and shoved an oversized cat litter tray- approx 2 ft by a foot and 4-5 inches deep- makes an excellent catch pan.   Despite it's ish low slung stance there is  no jacking needed as access is easy to the sump plug and filter.  2 observations while under there the sump as a few dings in it, and the PS leak looks to be from the pump itself not the hoses - probbaly.

 

I let it drain and had lunch - Tescos Sushi box.  Oil fully drained and no nasty surprises or shiny lumps., just dirty oil.   Close examination of the plug revealed its leaky properties -it being a nylon washer, a new copper one fitted and no leak now. I dumped the oil out of the filter and   re-used it as it looked recent and I'm happy to do another oil change and filter ina few more hundred miles. Normally I'd do the filter, but I didnt have one to fit and I was more worried about petrol thinned oil potentially.    Filter back on and  just under 5 litres of valvoline 20w50VR-1 in -the correct amount and.. yes it was massively high on the dipstick so the dented sump is likely to be an explanation.  I checked it twice and made a small mark on the dipstick to indicate the correct amount .     Then.. yet another test drive and all seemed fine, oil pressure still excellent just a smidge lower reading on the gauge than previously but barely.  The engine is now idling a bit slower and lower RPM wise  than previously so I do suspect like the VX a modern thinner oil had been used because.... 🤷‍♂️  oil is oil ..innit.

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It's made the arduous journey  some 30 miles to an very posh hotel and vinyard with no issue.   (The GFs birthday present)  Currently its leaking oil and PAS fluid in their nice car park while I neck complementary  wine and pet the owners lovely doggo.

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20 hours ago, Low Horatio gearbox said:

 After yesterdays excitment*  I did a cursory  fluid and engine check-up know the one you should do every few weeks anyway 🤔  plus the mustang is slated for driving duties  to a posh hotel and winery for the GFs birthday treat/present  this weekend.

Tl/DR: did an oil change.

Everything seemed in order bar the oil being apparently overful and seeming a bit thin, which prompted me to suspect the Autolite carb of  flooding and  filling the sump wich they are prone to doing apparently. Tho the oil didnt smell overly petrol-ly, it would also give me an excuse to stop the drip from the sump plug.

 

I took it for a spin - any excuse to drive it really, warmed the oil  up and shoved an oversized cat litter tray- approx 2 ft by a foot and 4-5 inches deep- makes an excellent catch pan.   Despite it's ish low slung stance there is  no jacking needed as access is easy to the sump plug and filter.  2 observations while under there the sump as a few dings in it, and the PS leak looks to be from the pump itself not the hoses - probbaly.

 

I let it drain and had lunch - Tescos Sushi box.  Oil fully drained and no nasty surprises or shiny lumps., just dirty oil.   Close examination of the plug revealed its leaky properties -it being a nylon washer, a new copper one fitted and no leak now. I dumped the oil out of the filter and   re-used it as it looked recent and I'm happy to do another oil change and filter ina few more hundred miles. Normally I'd do the filter, but I didnt have one to fit and I was more worried about petrol thinned oil potentially.    Filter back on and  just under 5 litres of valvoline 20w50VR-1 in -the correct amount and.. yes it was massively high on the dipstick so the dented sump is likely to be an explanation.  I checked it twice and made a small mark on the dipstick to indicate the correct amount .     Then.. yet another test drive and all seemed fine, oil pressure still excellent just a smidge lower reading on the gauge than previously but barely.  The engine is now idling a bit slower and lower RPM wise  than previously so I do suspect like the VX a modern thinner oil had been used because.... 🤷‍♂️  oil is oil ..innit.

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The number of ill advised

“professionals “ who put 10/40 oil in old cars is staggering….

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So the  steering clunk/thud came back last week slowly and in presumed it was the PS ram, probbaly.  

TL/DR: continuing to sort sloppy front steering/suspension. Partial success.

 Though now there with the thud was a noticeable  jerk/tuck of the wheels that felt like something loose. I jacked it up and gave it all a wiggle and while the steering  joints had some play the culprit to me was the PS ram - the mounting point on the frame had 2 rubber donuts one of wich had given up when I tightened it up 2 weeks ago. To me it would seem like the PS  ram/piston  had enough slop to explain the knock and lurch.  Pic1 for new vs old .The inner one was pretty much pristine so being lazy I just replaced that one, huzzah  easy fix*.    Alas a test drive and the thunk is now gone but ther  tuck/lurch was still there, albeit  reduced.   Joy . 🤔😭

Previously tho  I had spied the control arm bushings  were shall we say a bit past it.  Pics 2 and 3 .  The frame mounts nuts were tight but the bushings had a cm/ half an inch of slop/space so I'd  ordered new bushes as well as a PS ram bushings  (a service kit in fact but I'm not feeling up to cureing  the PS leak just yet!)   Removal was pretty easy tbh, not having to fight acres of rusty thread for a change is nice, just the big bushing nut and 2 nuts & bolts on the lower arm.  Utterly borked bushings out and new ones in .  Fitting is the reverse of removal.. obvs, unless you realise the lower suspension arm  bushes appear to be on the shagged side too and allowed the  suspension to sag and twist back. Joy.    Jacking the front up and pulling forward on the control arm revealed some slop and wiggle, but let me pull the suspension into line and fit and tighten the control arm bushing nut. Control arm all located and tightened down and some but not zero play on both sides.   

Driving it was miles improved again, almost no vagueness and slop but still the random tuck as the suspension load up one or the other side and the inner lower bushings give abit  The upper control arm is fine and the outer connections top and bottom are ball joints which dont appear to have much if any play.  I've a pair of replacement lower inner arm bushes  on their way for a not unreasonable   £16.80 each.  It should cure the issue and tbh as I am doing the front shocks it can tie in with that job - hopefully  this week.  I did have some new front anti roll bar drop link and bushings to fit... but didn't  just yet as I figure I'll  only have to  take them  off and put them back on again shortly.  

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So today's adventure was the oil presser sender. It had always read steady but high and after last weeks oil change had fluctuated up from just above 2/3rds of the way up the gauge almost to the top briefly.

 

TL/DR: attempted to replace oil sender and failed.

 

For once access is not easy, you can see it and lay hands on it just about but access with tools is problematic. Really the oil filter had to come off or the PAS pump. The latter promised more  access  - the oil filter is below and behind the  sender,  the manifold above, PAS pump above and infront and  fuel pump below and in front. However it was only four bolts and the pump was off  tho as I had it off and on three times today it should be.

Pump off, old probbaly original sender off -even then it was a faff to loosen off and  knackered up the fragile wire to the dash gauge as well so when I plughed the new one in I wasn't too surprised it failed to work. Some new connectors and a suitable length of new wire and yes,,success! Reading just on the "i" in oil as opposed to past the L with the old one.   Flushed with success I slammed dry bonnet and headed out to get a bag of chips as a late lunch to celebrate.  I managed about 95 feet and the gauge just died.

 

Wonderfull.. is the gauge working but my oilmoump died, are the pre teflon taped threads (confidence inspiring) causing poor connection.  Joy, I rolled it back down to the garage and had a poke, marveling at how hot a cast iron engine and manifolds can get after 2 minutes of running.  I had the pump off again removed the new one and took off the tap and took the PAS belt off the engine and pushed the PAS pump out of the way - thinking better if it I put it back on with 2 bolts  rather than risk avoidable carnage.  Nope nothing .

So new sender off and a healthy amount of oil from the oil gallery, and the original sender back on and  gubbins reinstalled, presto steady pressure  - just on the "L" in oil, maybe a hare lower than previously. Obviously  chips to celebrate being exactly where I'd started 3 hours before! 

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Today courtesy of mustang maniac the inner lower bushes arrived

TL/DR:  bushes in, wobble out.

Parcel force said 1.30 to 2.30 delivery so I jumped into it, err at 10 and put the front on Jack stands and started pulling it all apart -tentatively in the hope of having it all stripped ready to "just pop in the new bushes" and it nearly happened! 

Bar the passenger side ARB link snapping its head disassembly went smoothly to a point. ARB links off and control bars removed (again)  the lower arm locating pivot bolts undid easily. Alas there is a removable  cross brace just behind them that prevents the bolts from being withdrawn so that had to come off.  Tho like most bits and bolts it all came off pretty easily.

 I did the passenger side first  and with the lower arm free I furtively tried to  get the worn bush out with the arm on the car but that was a pipe dream.  So i undid the lower ball joint and gave it a whack with a hammer, nothing  happened so I repeated it and discovered the nut and threads were  ovely and soft so resorted to  ponying up for a ball joint splitter, which did the job in about 3 minutes a side.

The passenger side bush  was there but so-so with  some flaking and slop. Going over to the drivers side and repeating.. and yeah the rubber was mostly fine dust and the play was pretty much total, with just the sleeves left.   A suitably larged sized socket to brace the arm and one to push the old bush sleeve using the bench vice and had it all apart by 1.30 when the parts arrived. So I stopped for a break and a drink as it was way too hot for food, and while I had a resI put the new bushes in the freezer to chill and shrink.  

 Back in the oven  of a garage and a splash of oil on the bushes i used the vice and some finagaling/sockets again had them in the arms and solid ready to go back on the car.    Reassembly was  smooth bar the castle nuts on the lower ball joints which dispite my care on the drivers side still managed to damage the nut and threads so it took about half hour  to tidy the nut and threads up  on both sides so they went on smoothly .   Once the lower arms were back on along with the  chassis cross brace I put the  new drop links on loosely put the wheels bqck on and dropped back kn its wheels  so I could tighten  drop linksand control bars with the suspension loaded and the car on the ground. With non fucked bushes in and everything  pretty much where it should be there was nowhere near enough play to get the drop links and control bars lined up and tightedned without forcing and pushing  and preloading it all.

I did give the suspension a good shove, push and wiggle  and while there is  some play -the steering  linkages have 8 ball joints! But there wasn't  much and  it seems the outer suspension ball joints both sides are still tight.

Down in the ground, suspension parts checked tightedened up correctly and split pins in the castle nuts, wheels on and double checked  nowt for it but a test drive. The result - yep the lurch and flop has gone and it feels tight and  predictable  - for a mustang!  There is a little scuttle shake and a bit of general  shimmy but the shocks will help with that and tbh I'm unfairly comparing it to the Rover.

 

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Car has been driven.  The steering is now as  good as it can be without dropping a serious amount of wedge for miniscule improvement  - no slop, wobble, play or whatnot, just positive  but "eh" vauge steering box /far to many ball joints, err steering . Or a  spending a scandalous amount money for steering rack conversions.

Shocks are being collected Sunday which will finish up the ride and handling.

 

So I took some  moody shots to celebrate.

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Shocks  duly collected.

 

I didnt plan on fitting them but some free time popped up and I was left o my own devices!

I had to get the  wheels off the front again for access to the 2 lower bolts half an hour and the old one were off with only one snapped stud and the new ones dropped in all pretty easily.  The rears were abit of an arse -the lower nuts were rusted in place and rather than trying this and that just buzzed a side of the the nut with the angle grinder.  The top nuts were just tight enough to turn with the shock but a pair of mole grips on the upper body of the shock  - which only took mild contortions to do and they came undone easily. Like the front a dab of grease on the threads and  they went on easily.

 

The old ones..  yeah, shot. Some damping but thoroughly shahgged and no gas charge (if it had any in the first place?) The rear springs are a bit tired tbh but the only ones available  in stock in the UK I can find currently are uprated HiPo ones which give a 1"  lift compared to stock  and I don't fancy that so I'll search for stock or possibly see about gettinghem refurbished and re tempered. 

 

 

Anyway the ride is now as sorted as the solid  axle and leaf springs at the back will allow. Less crashing  thru to the bump stops and it feels firmer and more composed  and generally a quieter  smoother ride. Unsurprising given all the rubber mounts were beyond fucked and  the state of the shocks.

 

 

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