Mustang5l5's Progress Thread - Archived Progress thread '08-'20.

[Mustang5L5]

Oh I'd believe it. I got these 15 years ago for $15 at a junkyard. Not dried up or cracking. Ran them on my fox seats, been meaning to out them on the SN95 seats.

Was actually looking to leather wrap them, but the quotes I got seemed high

 

[Mustang5L5]

Ok. Did some measuring. I think a 6.25-6.5" bolt with 7/16" thread will replace the stud. Looks about 5.5" from bolt head to the face of the cylinder head. Add a 1/4" for the front stamped bracket, and 1/2" into the head

Pretty sure I can reuse the bottom bolt, but since I want to eBay the delete kit, I'll pick another bolt up.

Looks like top of pS bracket is 4" and bottom 3.5".

So 5" bolt prob ok here since I can thread through the inner ac bracket. I can prob pick these up, in grade 8, at local hardware store.

However, just realized I replaced one WP bolt with a normal bolt. The compressor bracket does bolt to this bolt. Should I let this go? Or find the correct bolt?

This is how it will bolt up with ac

 

[Mustang5L5]

Ok. Couple trips to hardware store later...lets give this a shot

 

[Mustang5L5]

Got the rest of my caliper parts.

20 min later

Terrible pic, but you get the idea

One more corner to do... but I think I'm gonna try to get the ac compressor back on first.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Took advantage of nice Dec day to back car out and clean it up a tad. First thing I notice is I have no brake pedal. Looks like trapped air. Oh well, got a few months to address that.

Daily driver needs a bath. But no point roads are salty

 

[Mustang5L5]

taking the week after Xmas off. Installing these is on the agenda. Just finished dying them

 

[Mustang5L5]

Let's see if this video works

 

[Mustang5L5]

After a crazy holiday I got some time to head to the garage. Bolts I got weren't exactly right, but a few washers later it all went together. Need to test the wiring later to make sure compressor still goes on, but ac compressor is mounted. I'll use it as a core when the times comes because from this point it will take only a few mins to swap.

Wife's out of town next few days. Need to get an 85" belt, and then reposition car to get at that last brake I need to freshen up.

Then I need to do full rebleed to see where that air is trapped

 

[Mustang5L5]

Ok. 3 trips to Autozone and got the correct 86" belt. Little tip: don't use a string that has some elastic qualities when measuring belt lenght.

Anyway, fired it up and found smog pump to be a bit noisy. Noisy enough I don't trust driving on it. So got a new (used) one on the way.

Jumped out the AC low pressure switch and turned on the AC. Compressor clicked on. It also sounded like hell, but I figured it would considering it's been sitting, open, for more than 10 years. But like I said, I'll use it as a core when the time comes.. for now it's fine as an idle pulley

Also, since I had a working smog pump again, decided to run codes. Got two code 11s and a code 44. Will troubleshoot that code 44 later.

Ok, quick ride to return the 2 extra belts I have, and then it's time to tackle the last brake corner and then bleed them all over again. Hopefully I didn't accidentally run the MC dry and need to bench bleed it

Kinda fun watching all these little things come together. I do want to build a good engine combo soon, but I really want to address the steering and suspension first. Fox rack is a 2.3l rack (don't ask) and I really hate the feel. 03-04 cobra rack is on the list, as well as lowering springs. I like the Mach 1 springs, but they sit high.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Before

After

No idea why these sideways. You get the point

 

[Mustang5L5]

If anyone, this is what I used on the headrests. Matched the dark charcoal leather seats perfectly.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Last brake done. Now to bleed the hell out of all 4 and get a firm pedal

Before

And after

 

[Mustang5L5]

No dice on the rebleed. Could have sworn I heard a big "slurp" from the MC while bleeding. Looks like I need to do a bench bleed in the AM.

Car on ground. Other head rest installed.

Wife not home. Off to booze and watch movies with volume on full blast and order Chinese take out

 

[Mustang5L5]

Headrests look darker in pic, but in normal light they look pretty darn close

 

[Mustang5L5]

Ok. Total PITA. Have a big glob of air I can't get out, even after bench bleed. With engine off there's about 1" of travel before the pressure builds, and with car in I can sink pedal to floor. Ran out of brake fluid, and just gonna invest in a mityvac as it just seems like an easier process. I suspect the vette PBRs are trapping air at top because it seems the bleeders might be a tad low to empty the top portion. Means I'll need to pivot them up, -!: use a block of wood to compress down on.


Changing gears. Working on pass door panel

 

[Mustang5L5]

Pretty easy to fix these. Bought some 1" elastic off Amazon. In hindsight, 3/4" would be better. Take the pockets off and feed it through

 

[Mustang5L5]

Then just pull tight and clip over two of the pins that secure to the panel

No more sag

 

[Mustang5L5]

And done. Even did a new speaker grill. (Reproduction) Now to change out the door weather stripping. I will needvto go back into this door at some point. The pins that hold the panel on were all busted. Need to get enough for both doors and make it tight

 

[Mustang5L5]

And door weatherstrip done. These strips have come a long way and fit great and cheap. My pass door wasn't too bad, but nice to have all new seals at all three doors now.

That's it for today. Lunch, go get more brake fluid and door clips, then get ready for snow.

New smog pump should be here Sat, then I can tackle fixing that code 44.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Picked up some brake fluid, and ordered a pressure bleeder (motive). I need to bleed the brakes on my Taurus and I do brake bleeds often enough I should invest in proper tools. So waiting for that.

I suspect this is my issue with front calipers. Need to machine up a block of wood to fit inside them before I can pivot them up and bleed.

Other update. Tried to paint my belt molding on drivers side, but I rushed it. Looks like crap and needs to be sanded down. I just ordered repros from American muscle.

Also, 03-04 cobra rack is on its way to me. Next project!