Exorcising a '78

[IICrew]

Man. This is important stuff. How else am I supposed to get parts? Well, I mean how else am I to get the handful of parts I didn't order online.......

Fine. I can read a room. Back on track.

Here we see a herd of II's. By their stance we can see most are resting after a long day. Seeing them outside the hospital like this indicates they may be awaiting news on another successful surgery of one of their own. While some are obviously resting in the backgound. The others appear to be taking an aggressive posture. Could they fear the photographer may intrude upon the privacy of their recovering friend. Could they be happily greeting said photographer. In the dark like this they could be seeking parts of their own to resurrect an unseen pack member. The possibility exists we may never know their true intentions. Just remember to turn on the lights before going out into the night. They are always watching and we just do not know when and where they may strike next.

 

[IICrew]

Here we find a couple of II's from the red tribe. It appears they are up early to prowel the streets where they are most at home. We can see battle scars along with dents that show experience in fighting off those pesky camaroes and challengers. Being on the smaller side they are always underestimated but under their battle scared exteriors they have hearts much larger then expected. With their uncanny ability to sprint away and slide through corners. They should always be feared when in your mirror and admired as their tail lights shrink in the distance.

 

[2Blue2]

Here we see the herd of trucks waiting in the audience back ground while Miss lovely Mach 1 and her T Top friend strut the cat walk.
Notice the beautiful red hues and stunning black accents on both. These stunning jewels glow and please the eye. They will be signing autographs after breakfast.


Really like the fog in the pic

 

[extra_stout]

I'm confused... is this a truck, a poetry or a mustang forum?!?

 

[IICrew]

Is it not a poetry forum where we talk about trucks that pickup Mustangs? Yeah. That's it. You see II's are poetry in motion and the trucks are needed to get unfinished poems so we can finish them!

Here we have a II snuggling down for her winter nap. Lounging on her new bed as the snow flies outdoors.

 

[extra_stout]

That is my favorite car of your collection beside it is a t-top...

 

[LILCBRA]

If you could see the look of jealousy that my herd would give if I showed them that photo.....

 

[IICrew]

I am rather fond of that one II.

Thank you guys for the compliments and the motivation. Without this website and you guys paving the way this would probably still be sitting. Striped down without an engine or even glass. Waiting for that mythical day where I have everything needed to get started.

Moral is get them running. Does not matter what shape or condition. Get them running, then drivable, then worry about the less important things. Like brakes. or stereos or steering or... Maybe not in that exact order but you get point!

 

[Enzio]

The Barn and the floor look great!

 

[IICrew]

Floor is awesome. This spring we will remove half the loft and gain another 10' of shop floor. Currently the loft has 2 posts which are in the way of a lift. Once they are gone I will have room for it.

Worked on a D**** J****** today on the floor. Was so nice having plenty of room. Could open the doors in the bay without squeezing around the car. The D***** will be replacing my wifes M**** as it decided to try and move a telephone pole at 35 mph. Sadly the pole did not in fact move and the M***** can no longer move under it's own power. This incident also postpones my getting a lift in the near future.

I need someone to buy my old C******** trucks so I can get funds built back up for said lift. And car parts of course but don't let the wife know. Her garden is in need of fertilizer and I do not want to become that fertilizer.

Redacted to remove references to other vehicles then Mustang II's. I would post a pic but it would have to be redacted as well so no point.

 

[LILCBRA]

Redacted to remove references to other vehicles then Mustang II's. I would post a pic but it would have to be redacted as well so no point.

On the other hand, it IS your thread....

 

[IICrew]

No real mustang news lately. When they did my concrete they destroyed my gravel driveway. The concrete truck and bobcat made it a muddy mess. It was frozen solid last week so I took her out to pound out some aggression. It was below 30 but sunny and a beautiful day to cruise. I really need a choke. Used some starting fluid to get her to fire.

Made it about 2 miles and hit the brakes. They made a loud pop and went to the floor. Uggg. made it back home and put her back to bed. I didn't see fluid on the ground so I am guessing the master cylinder failed. When I tackle the coil overs in the next week or so I will find out what went wrong.

I am almost finished with my wifes Journey. I added heated leather seats, backup camera, bluetooth and 8.4 uconnect setup. All factory taken from a wrecked Journey that was loaded. I have some more wiring to wrap up the automatic temp controls but then it's back to the II. Well then it's get the mowers and tractor ready for spring then back to the II's.

Be leary of car washes. I hand wash my stuff except for winter time. I always get the bottom sprayed this time of year to get the salt off. I took my ram through Mikes car wash which is a chain here in Cincy. They scratched the hell out of the side of my truck and refused the claim without even looking at the truck. You can see something about 3 feet in diameter made circular scratches from hood to tail light. All chest height. I have had it since december and filled it up when I bought it and then once more. It is not driven much. It sits 200 feet from the road or in my barn. It is a long bed crew cab so I park it away from other vehicles when out and about. It was clearly made by their brushes but they claimed the scratches were not consistent thus could not be from them. They somehow know this even though their customer service never even looked at it. I have tried to reach out to them but they refuse to even engage except for the form letter they sent denying the claim. I can probably buff them out but it's the point. I would avoid them if you have one around. They flat out refuse to even look into the matter and just deny it. I am guessing I have to go to small claims court to get them to even engage.

It floors me. I will cost them way more in lost revenue then the 150 bucks it would take to buff them out. I have told my friends and family. At 28 bucks a wash I only have to lose them 6 washes for this to be a loosing venture for them. Just dumbfounded the way this is being handled by them. Wont even look at the damage their machines made.

 

[LILCBRA]

There's all sorts of different car washes popping up around these parts, so there's no shortage of competition to shop around. I have a "membership" to the one closest to my house with multiple locations, many of them near most everywhere I drive to. The only issue I've had while taking the Ram through one is that one of the brushes somehow got behind the passenger side convex mirror, pulled it out and lost it somewhere in the "tunnel." I didn't notice until I got home and I didn't even bother to contact them about it - it costs all of $16 to replace and I had it removed before then, so it very well could've been my mistake - but now I'm always watching the mirrors as I take the truck through.

I suppose it's worth mentioning; it does me no good to fold the mirrors in, the brushes always pull them back out anyway.

I guess the question for you would be if it's even worth pursuing a case in small claims court for it if it'll buff out easily? Might be more effort than it's worth....

 

[IICrew]

I will push as hard as I can. But in the end I will fix it myself if they do not step up. I haven't driven the truck since coming home from the car wash. It's the principle to me at this point though. I am retired so time is one thing I do have.

I just talked to their Indiana office. They have a pic the guy at the car wash took on his cell phone apparently. If so he took it from 15 to 20 feet away. They insist the hood scratch is an x pattern. There is overlap of two half moons. I guess he zoomed in on the x they make and called it a day. They said non are their fault since one is lower. I told him that day that one was already there. I have several pics and you cannot see the overall pattern from any one pic in direct sunlight. She then stated their equipment does not move in a circular pattern. I am just floored. I asked if she had ever been their car wash.

Supposedly they will now have a district manager get in touch with me. I spent most of my career in public facing positions. I never fought customers when looking into something we messed up. Even if I knew we did nothing wrong you give the customer the benefit of the doubt while looking into it. I have never made ridiculous claims that are easily disproven. Sucks I have to be this pushy.

 

[IICrew]

Fixed enough of the driveway I can move the car back and forth between bays without getting too muddy. Gave her a bath to get the dust and footprints off. She gets very dusty in the barn then I have a groundhog who lives in there during the colder months. He can climb ladders to get into the loft. So keeping him off the car is impossible. Last spring I left the window down a couple days and found muddy paw prints on the headrest. I grew up a city kid but love the peace and quiet out here. I usually don't mind the animals but stay off my car. Damnit!

Checked the brake fluid. The rear axle reservoir is bone dry. I will get it in the air when I finish working on the mower to see what broke. Everything there was new when I redid the chassis a couple years ago. Wow... It's been that long. Going on 3 years now. I don't see fluid from peeking underneath so I assume one of the wheel cylinders decided it was too cold that day and went on vacation.

 

[IICrew]

I talked bad about them so I will follow up with their response. Finally talked with a district manager. He was adamant their car wash equipment cannot scratch paint. It is frustrating dealing with some people. They are manipulating language to try and weasel out of this. I know their equipment itself didn't cause it. The equipment picked up something from another vehicle and that is what scratched it.

I started walking away from him and he said he isn't painting my truck. I snapped back " No . It just needs a couple scratches buffed out. I don't want some yahoo slapping paint on it. Not to worry I will take care of it." But I will ensure they loose more then it costs me to fix it. That made him relax. He then offered me $100 to buff out the paint. He said a lot of people come in with scratches and expect a new paint job. Once he knew I just wanted the scratches fixed he relented. Refused to acknowledge the scratches were theirs but offered the $100. So kinda happy ending but the process was frustrating.

Christine is back in the operating room! Front coils are off. Lower control arms are drying. They are the Heidts tubular arms setup for stock springs. That's why I needed the 7/16 lower bolt on the shock. I cut the spring perch off. Cleaned them up and painted them. I had to grind some of the inner bungs to get the coils shock to fit. Maybe they collapsed a little being tightened to the old shocks but I took a good 1/8 inch off of each arm.

I used an inner coil spring compressor for the 1st time. It was safer then the outer ones but a lot harder to use. The bolt is 1" and the arms press against the bolt and force the socket off the nut. Had to pry with one hand to get socket started back on then hammered it all the way on. Wish they had an allen or hex in the bolt head or a smaller bolt. Maybe a collar to stop the arms pressing against the nut. Anyway. Once in place it didn't move and spring came out easy enough.

Last night I picked up some brake fluid and antiseeze. The bearing for the coil overs and the nut for adjusting the coil overs need it. I may have the front end back together this afternoon. Still unsure of what caused the loss of brake fluid. I cannot see where the fluid went just yet. Wheel cylinders are dry. Lines are dry. Back of master cylinder is dry. It's the front reservoir so I don't think it's in the booster but once I get fluid in and pumped up I should be able to find it.

 

[IICrew]

Question. What should I do about the rough paint lower down? I can either find a red close enough or paint it black. It's not a Mach I. I already have a red Mach I. I am not trying to copy it but.... I cannot leave the black and grey primer as is. I am fine with the rough paint but I want it to look.... more consistent from 30 feet away. I have the chrome trim but the insert is faded red on them. I don't think this car should have the chrome but looking for opinions.

What Say Ye All

1) Leave it alone
2) Paint it red
3) Paint it black without trim
4) Paint it black and reinstall the trim.

 

[LILCBRA]

I think it would stick out like a sore thumb even if you could find a red that's close enough. I'd vote black, but I understand the desire to keep it different from something you basically already have.... how about a grey? Seems that there would be plenty of different shades to choose from....

 

[extra_stout]

3) Paint it black without trim

that would be my choice...

 

[2Blue2]

paint body parts red and reinstall trim

Wait was that even a choice offered?
Of courseI I want the hood red too ( or II)