1969 Mustang Coupe

[Nabster]

Originally Posted by airmenair

Did you mean you it wouldn't be transformed into a big chrome jewelry box?

Are you going for a stock restoration with manufacturer parts? If not, I'd say scrap the old a/c you can use much more modern, lighter, more efficient systems that are available in a bunch of cars and it will be much much cheaper. But that all depends on what you want to do with the car.

Yeah, meant wouldn't. I seem to do that alot, forgetting the suffix at times it's necessary The engine is still good and will be for a while, it's got 52500 original miles on it.

Anyway, yeah, we're going a stock resto, if something needs replaced, it gets replaced with a NOS, repo, or repro part. There are a few minor things that aren't stock in there (most of them due to the fact that getting the correct part is nearly impossible), but the main thing is the radio and speakers on the package tray since my mom had those replaced/installed while she had the car back in the 70's. We do have every part we've taken off of it in the garage, and even some spare parts from other years.

The problem with those modern units is they don't install using the same controls and vents of the factory setup, that won't work for us. All the factory style components of the system can be had though, so it's not so much a matter of difficulty getting them, as figuring out which ones need replaced since the a/c hasn't worked in 30 years.

[airmenair]

Originally Posted by Nabster

Yeah, meant wouldn't. I seem to do that alot, forgetting the suffix at times it's necessary The engine is still good and will be for a while, it's got 52500 original miles on it.

Anyway, yeah, we're going a stock resto, if something needs replaced, it gets replaced with a NOS, repo, or repro part. There are a few minor things that aren't stock in there (most of them due to the fact that getting the correct part is nearly impossible), but the main thing is the radio and speakers on the package tray since my mom had those replaced/installed while she had the car back in the 70's. We do have every part we've taken off of it in the garage, and even some spare parts from other years.

The problem with those modern units is they don't install using the same controls and vents of the factory setup, that won't work for us. All the factory style components of the system can be had though, so it's not so much a matter of difficulty getting them, as figuring out which ones need replaced since the a/c hasn't worked in 30 years.

52,500? Wow that is really low, congrats! In that case just a little refreshing and cleaning and that thing will look/run really nice! When I got my 67 it came with an engine out of a truck, not clue what happened to the original.

Does the a/c come on at all? There are probably many problems with it and I'm pretty sure that the compressor is probably shot and may need a rebuild/replace. You might have problems like you mentioned with the refrigerant since they stopped selling what was probably originally used. Not too keen on the a/c systems and how well/if you can use a different refrigerant but I have an 1989 Merkur and replacing its refrigerant is no longer applicable since what it did use is now gone.

[SoxXpupPeT]

Originally Posted by Nabster

No, the 1408 was discontinued about 15 years ago. It was designed for EGR purposes (exhaust gas recirculation- turbos anyone?) So like I said, I need to change them out since they really aren't serving their purposes with me.

The 1406 or 1405 are what I'm leaning toward for a replacement.

i like my 1406. it does its job well on my wimpy 267. i only use the primary barrels tho because my engine certainly doesnt need the secondaries. if your engines pretty much stock or not to big i think itll be a good choice. easy to tune aswell. you can get to the rods and step up springs right from ontop. and to change out the jets takes about 10 minutes from undoing 8 bolts from ontop and some pins

[Nabster]

Well, the compressor is disconnected if you look in the engine picture, so even if I switch to a/c on the controls all I get is panel air. We don't know what parts aren't working, which is where it gets sticky. If it's the compressor, that's a $400 thing to replace, the condenser is $200, the filter/drier is $60 and the hoses aren't bad. It could be any combination of those. If the compressor is the problem, they make an R-134 conversion kits with the proper compressor and that would be the route I go. Sometime this summer I'll work on figuring out what the deal is.

As far as the carb goes, that won't be a problem. I'll decide on which I want and get that, it's an easy swap.

[SoxXpupPeT]

yeah carbs arent hard. especially on an old school engine like that. pretty much plug and play.. and then play with it lol

[Nabster]

Ok, since it stopped raining last night and was dry for a change today, I got a chance to detail the engine a bit in preparation for the RMMR in Steamboat next weekend.

It's not perfect, but it's certainly alot better than it was. The strange sunlight was also playing tricks on the camera, so the after shots are a bit strangely colored in parts.

[CraigB]

I love the '69 model front end, too bad that they have been priced out of this world. Is yours a 302 or 351w?

[Nabster]

302. The 69 coupes are actually pretty affordable, the fastbacks though as as desirable as ever so those are expensive. The drawback to a 69 though is parts availability, they don't make some of the stranger parts on these cars anymore, so you have to find them in junkyards, and they aren't cheap.

[CraigB]

I know all about odd parts, my '84 SVO has it's fair share. I'll find a fastback someday. I know where one is, it's 10 miles away, but they have written on the windshield "Not For Sale". Which is a shame, it has sat in the same spot for 10 years with the windows half down, maybe it's not worth saving at this point.

[Hannah Gregory]

I love old Mustangs, every inch is art.

[SoxXpupPeT]

its a purday engine. no headers tho ? definitely gotta love V8's every inch of them is beauty

[Nabster]

Alrighty, here's some updates for those interested. Nothing too major (well one major thing).

New stuff:

» Dual Exhaust: full custom bent 2 1/2" pipes with an H crossover, cheapo Super V mufflers they had in the shop at the time, I'll upgrade to magnaflows for better sound eventually. The tips looks uneven here, it's just the slanted driveway we have causing it.




» Front Chin Spoiler: Figured since I already had a hood scoop which doesn't normally appear on coupes I'd finish out the sporty appearance.






Also, gussied up a couple things in the engine bay and interior, though all the interior stuff has just been trim so it looks exactly the same as before, just without so much fading and age. Arm rests, door panels, radio trim, etc.

» Valve Covers: Don't recall if I posted here about these or not. Anyway, went to the Rocky Mountain Mustang Roundup earlier this year along, at the awards breakfast they did some raffles, one of the guys from the club I was there with won these valve covers, since he drives an '05 he couldn't use them and gave them to me. I repainted the red letters to the same Legend Lime color as the car for a bit of a custom look.










» Optima Battery: Old voltage regulator bit it and took my old battery and alternator with it, so along with replacing that and the alt, I upgraded to a better battery.
» Air Cleaner: Repainted the air cleaner. If you look back at the old pictures you can see it was missing paint in spots and just didn't look pretty, so I repainted it with the proper blue color and replaced the old missing decals.





» Trunk Liner: What's there to say? Before it was just the old asphalt deadener with a couple old floormats on top, now it's got the correct liner, looks a lot nicer and will keep any water dripping down around the lid and doing any more damage. You can also see the original paint on the wheel wells and deck lid hinges.



So, next year, I'm getting a new carb and intake since the current ones are massive overkill. Along with those will come tuning for solid performance. Also, the air conditioning system. They make an "upgrade" that uses a modern compressor and refrigerant for better efficiency (though the old R12 cools better than the R134 stuff the kit uses, but its expensive and hard to deal with here). I'll probably do that, depending on how much the intake and carb +tuning ends up costing, otherwise it will be pushed back another year. Also may need to get new tires for next year, bad alignment on the passenger front has worn off most of the tread on the outer edge. Alignment and cooling system flush will be done before winter hits, so sometime this month.

[NotLaw]

so, yea... that, with a set of Mag 500 rims, is pretty much exactly what my dream "Ford" is...

love the chin spoiler

[Nabster]

Originally Posted by NotLaw

so, yea... that, with a set of Mag 500 rims, is pretty much exactly what my dream "Ford" is...

love the chin spoiler

Yeah, it's tempting, the 500's would look good on it and I can get a set with lugs and center caps for ~$780, but then I'd have an extra set of wheels just laying around. I already have the original steelies stacked somewhere

[Bishamon]

Simply awesome!!

[MrBooby]

I love that color, you've got yourself one special beast. It will only appreciate from now on, just make sure you restore it properly.

[katwalk]

Originally Posted by Nabster

Car is pleased by your gifts. Look at happy car smile.

[frankiess]

This project is the epitome of cool.

[SirEdward]

Great great car.

Frankiess is right, it couldn't be any cooler.

[Nabster]

Alright, more things have changed since the last update.

First is the carb. Swapped out the old Edelbrock for a new one. Not only did it fix the problems it had with bogging down on heavy throttle unless nice and hot and stalling under hard braking/turning, it also more or less eliminated hard starting. I haven't quite got the idle adjusted exactly right yet, but I'm close. Yeah, it's an Edelbrock and not a Holley, I like the fact I can pop the air cleaner off and adjust it as needed. Plus I got it during Edel's anniversary promotion and got a free chrome air cleaner for buying it.




It started to rain halfway through the carb swap and I didn't feel like waiting, so up went a canopy.



Here's the old carb gasket, notice anything missing?









Something not new but reinstalled was the cigarette lighter and ash tray. My mother took them out when she was in College and had a 7-channel equalizer installed in the space. When I upgraded the stereo a few years ago that equalizer wouldn't work properly with the new unit so the space was open again. I was also tired of not having somewhere to plug something in if needed, so I was glad to get it reinstalled. Had a heck of a time gutting a new lighter unit to replace the old corroded solid one though, but I eventually got it and now it works as it should, with the original lighter knob. I'm now glad I can plug in my GPS for highway use since my speedo is off between 3-7 mph.






I also got new tires because the old ones were wearing funny on the front due to the old suspension not holding an alignment. They stopped making the tires I had on there before and I'm stubborn and won't have 4 non-matching tires on it so I got 4 all new ones.





Before I could get the alignment problem fixed we had to replace nearly all the bushings in the front, and I figured while it's all apart I may as well get new control arms and ball joints and shocks as well. So now it's essentially got brand new suspension in the front. After an alignment it's like driving a whole new car, the steering is still somewhat vague (from the old original steering box), but it's a lot more firm and doesn't pull to either side now, so I'm happy.






My dwindling list of stuff left to now sits at air conditioning, replacing the gas tank, some more mild engine work, and a few interior bits and pieces. The end of the restoration process is only a couple thousand $$$$ away