Progress Thread The Northwoods Notch

[Cheapskate207]

Got the left door panel painted and both completely fastened. Both panels were missing various screws. I only used about a half can of the paint and have an entire other one so I should have enough to freshen up the entire interior. The door locks work AWESOME. And the f-ing gas gauge appears to not work. I’m at a loss. Now it’s pegged full. I’ll need to dig back into it when I get the motivation to look at it for the 3rd time. Oh well, my speedo/odo is working now so it’s not a big deal. Did about 30 miles today and the car ran great.

 

[Habu135]

Got the left door panel painted and both completely fastened. Both panels were missing various screws. I only used about a half can of the paint and have an entire other one so I should have enough to freshen up the entire interior. The door locks work AWESOME. And the f-ing gas gauge appears to not work. I’m at a loss. Now it’s pegged full. I’ll need to dig back into it when I get the motivation to look at it for the 3rd time. Oh well, my speedo/odo is working now so it’s not a big deal. Did about 30 miles today and the car ran great.

Ya, these cars don't like sitting around for long. Once modded they need to be driven. Lookin' good.

 

[Cheapskate207]

I haven't been on here for a while so I figured I would check in. Car has been running fantastic all summer. We've had great weather up here in the north east so I've driven it almost daily. As the season winds down I am already planning my mods for the winter. I plan to be more active on here in the coming "mod season". Here's a couple pic from a car show a few weeks ago.

 

[Rdub6]

Lookin good!!
you running deep dish torque thrusts?
I had my mind made up on FR500 wheels, but lately I’ve been liking those torque thrusts! Decisions decisions!
what size on the rear wheel and tire?

 

[Cheapskate207]

@Rdub6 Thanks! They're Bullitt replicas. 17x10.5 wheels and 315/35r17 tires.

 

[Rdub6]

@Rdub6 Thanks! They're Bullitt replicas. 17x10.5 wheels and 315/35r17 tires.

Look real nice! I was set on the 275’s on 9”....... but Damn! Those look good!

 

[Maddene]

Been following your build, looking awesome! my gas gauge isn’t working either , what did you do the first couple times you worked on it. Did you get it to work at all?

 

[Potomus Pete]

Me too, always like the Northwoods Notch

 

[Cheapskate207]

@Maddene I guess I forgot to update the thread. Ugh that stupid gas gauge was a pain in my ass. I got it to kinda work.. It only works from full tank to half tank, running out at empty. After dropping the tank 3 times I decided to live with it. .. Atleast for the time being. jrichker has a good write up for troubleshooting that I followed.

 

[Potomus Pete]

My gas gauge does not work either....Drives me crazy. Did you get a new meter

 

[Cheapskate207]

What do you mean Pete? Sending unit?

 

[Potomus Pete]

Yes the sending unit I didnt see it in your posts. I want to buy one , but most of the time its the slosh thing behind the speedometer and I cant diagnose it the way jrichker suggests.

 

[Maddene]

My gas gauge does not work either....Drives me crazy. Did you get a new meter

Have you seen the slosh module offered by LMR?

Mustang Slosh Module (90-93) SZ 10E849A - LMR.com

Ensure your Mustang fuel level gauge is reading accurately with this Ford original 1990-1993 Mustang slosh module!

lmr.com

 

[Potomus Pete]

$184 bucks I will keep it filled......You never know whats next with a fox. There is a fix with solder according to a write up on here

 

[Cheapskate207]

Yea, I did buy a new sensing unit. Is also tried to bypass the sending unit per instructions on YouTube, but it didn’t work. And now that I’m thinking about it, I replaced the capacitor on the module as well. I just use the trip odometer as my fuel gauge now lol. I have seen that anti-slosh module lmr.. I’ve kept it in mind.

 

[Cheapskate207]

Not really a huge update.. but I had my battery die about two weeks ago. I thought maybe I left something on so I threw it on the charger. A couple days ago I was going to go for a drive. Took the charger off and went to start it.. nothing at all. Completely dead. I then jumped it with my truck. It started right up so I went for my 20 mile drive. When I got home I immediately shut it down and it didn't have enough juice to start again. Battery had 10v. So I jumped it again to get it into the garage and measured the voltage when it was running. 14.2v. I got it back into the garage and through it back on the charger. At that point I didn't really trust the battery.. it was 2.5 years old anyway, so I began looking into other batteries. I found a group 24 would work well for me and settled on either a Die Hard or optima. I wanted a AGM if i was going to upgrade. I decided to bring the battery to NAPA to get it tested, I've made friends with the counter guy there and I explained to him what happened. He tested the battery to be good, but decided to warranty it anyway. I upgraded to NAPA's Legend AGM for an additional 28$!! SCORE. While I was at it I installed a new battery cable end on the positive side and a battery tender. I figure I probably reduced the life of the old battery by not keeping it charged over winter, even though it stays in my heated garage.

 

[Cheapskate207]

I've been getting the modification bug and planning winter mods. I'm at kinda a cross roads though and could use some opinions. I've always had the goal of putting a vortech on my car and have been slowly working towards that by doing the necessary supporting mods. At this point, I could slap a charger on there, get a tune and be good. The cost of that would be atleast $4,000, which is a lot to swallow. The problem is my friend just picked up a vortech blown 2014 GT. It made 585hp and is on street tires (which are clearly the wrong choice). BUT. Driving his car made me realize maybe I don't want that. When the boost kicks in it's downright scary. My car is at a power level where its undeniably fast but very controllable, And seemingly reliable. So here's where I need the opinions. Is 400-500hp really necessary for a STREET ONLY car. How much more fun is it than my current 315whp/350wtq car. When does one "draw the line" and stop wanting bigger and faster?

 

[General karthief]

Wow, good question, factor in the eventual lifted head, blown gasket or other breakage, the question of reliability rears it head, I know you have 'supporting mods' but?
I say if it's fun to drive and is reliable stick with it, it is a 'old car' afterall.
But there is that 'tire blazing' ability that drives the want.
What to do?????

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Wow, good question, factor in the eventual lifted head, blown gasket or other breakage, the question of reliability rears it head, I know you have 'supporting mods' but?
I say if it's fun to drive and is reliable stick with it, it is a 'old car' afterall.
But there is that 'tire blazing' ability that drives the want.
What to do?????

And after all that,...your advice was to do what?

How many, or what percentage of hotrodders are rocking 450-600 whp ya spose? Considering that you can BUY a car from the factory the makes anywhere from 600-900 hp...450 seems.......tame.

Factor in the fact that this isn’t ANYTHING new... 1971 SS 454 chevelle’s were the power king of that era...making something like 430 hp/ 400 ft lb tq. Naturally aspirated..1970 Buick GS...390 HP/ 510 ft kb tq. 1971 Dodge 426 hemi Challenger 425 HP/490 ft lbs tq.

Your Daddies we’re driving theses cars...Nobody was scared back then...its time to carry the torch.

 

[General karthief]

And after all that,...your advice was to do what?

How many, or what percentage of hotrodders are rocking 450-600 whp ya spose? Considering that you can BUY a car from the factory the makes anywhere from 600-900 hp...450 seems.......tame.

Factor in the fact that this isn’t ANYTHING new... 1971 SS 454 chevelle’s were the power king of that era...making something like 430 hp/ 400 ft lb tq. Naturally aspirated..1970 Buick GS...390 HP/ 510 ft kb tq. 1971 Dodge 426 hemi Challenger 425 HP/490 ft lbs tq.

Your Daddies we’re driving theses cars...Nobody was scared back then...its time to carry the torch.

I say if it's fun to drive and is reliable stick with it, it is a 'old car' afterall.
That's what I said, that's my opinion.
I don't compare 60s-70s factory hot rods to today's factory hot rods.