The Tragic Tale of ElSuperPinto

LILCBRA · Jun 11, 2018

Fingers crossed!

Adieu · Jun 22, 2018

So... Suburban drives fine so far, but hell, it did that with the first transmission from Monster for about 100 miles and we're not there yet. I think the old man is too scared to trust it and too in love with the 4Runner (which he's been borrowing from me), but whatever.

In SuperPinto news... even though I've been on vacation this whole week, I've spent 90% of it or so asleep. Battery in the II is charged though, I've kept it on the charger this whole time, and today I went down to the tax office and renewed it's antique plates (which expired back in March) until 2023. I've got an errand to run tomorrow, and some maintenance that needs done on the 4Runner (oil change, spark plugs, and the gear oil in both diffs and the transfer case changed), but Sunday... Sunday something might happen, I've been playing with the idea of doing the rack and pinion.

Adieu · Jul 22, 2018

Gonna take a nap until about 6am and then get started on something with the II. I figure I'll be back in the house, where the AC has run non-stop for two straight days with the thermostat set at 80, before noon.

Why?

It also hit 105+ the previous two days. I spent until about 1pm Friday running errands, and out at the junkyard getting a replacement door handle part for the Accent (damndest thing, handle came off in my hand when I opened the door at Firestone where I'd dropped it off for a rotate/balance) and a few odds and ends for the 4Runner (two little trim pieces). By 1pm it was so unbearably hot that I retreated to the living room (coolest room in the house) and skipped sleep altogether (too damned hot in my bedroom) until the sun began to go down.

Saturday I got up super early and fixed the Accent's door, put the new antique plate and Scott Drake frame on the II (YAY! SOMETHING GOT DONE ON THE II!!! WHOOOOO!!!!), installed the cruise control switch I'd grabbed at the junkyard in the Accent (dad spilled something into the old one... somehow... and it didn't always work right anymore) and the seat belt trim and cargo hook I'd picked up for the 4Runner, and was back in the AC by 11am because it was hot, damned hot. It was so damned hot that I swear I saw Anakin Skywalker give Obi-Wan Kenobi the high ground in the backyard.

View: https://youtu.be/DpktBGInl60

Adieu · Jul 22, 2018

Today's chosen project? The steering.

About 10 years ago, when I had my gold '76 Mustang II, it was going to strictly be a drag car, and I ordered a manual rack-and-pinion from Jeg's and gave the power steering pump from it to a friend for his '65 Galaxie. Then I bought this car, sold the '76, and the power steering pump on this one promptly took a . I'd never actually gotten around to installing that manual rack in the '76, so it's been waiting around for me to do something with it. At the time, I thought I was going to make this car more of a "Pro-Touring" type car than a race car, so I actually put a reman pump on it, while also switching it over to using two serpentine belts instead of V-belts to solve some other problems I inherited when I bought the car (mainly, it throwing belts when shifted at the "sweet spot" between 5800 and 6000rpm). I should've bought a lottery ticket instead, because on the first try, I got a Cardone reman pump for a Ford that didn't whine, squawk, or warble. That just doesn't happen. About six months after that, the rack-and-pinion blew a seal, and I took the belt off, resolving to figure out what I'd do about it later... later, as fate would have it, is today.

Earlier in the thread, I'd linked this little guy, a flex-joint that adapts from a Mustang II steering shaft for a power steering car to a manual rack. This is pretty much the last we'll see of this little guy today.

One of the things that bugs me the most about working on stuff at the house is, I frequently miss my "good" tools from work. Well, SnapOn had this Bluepoint General Service set in a BOGO about six months back, and while I had everything in this set for work in as good or better quality, I wanted the other part of the BOGO and thought this would be glorious overkill for the house. I was right. This set is spectacular and has made a big difference over the leftover Chinese crap i usually use at the house. That ratchet is so good that it's twin has been in my work toolbox since 2008.

The power steering removal has started.The ignition coil had to get out of the way for the moment. That big cast iron A/C and power steering bracket isn't going back, so I'll be fabricating a bracket like Hadley installed on his Cobra (God I miss being able to reference his thread on MustangII.net, he even had the dimensions for the bracket there!) Even that will be temporary, as I've recently decided to go a different direction with the car overall, and this engine will have a new home in the next year or two.

I managed to snag a set of Energy Suspension offset rack bushings in a bundle from a fellow II guy on Ebay. At the time this picture was taken, I didn't know if I'd need them, (didn't when I bought them either, but I needed ALL of the other parts he was selling!), they turned out to not be necessary, so you'll see these on Ebay soon.

Adieu · Jul 22, 2018

The Jeg's rack, with standard Moog bushings installed.

The 4.6 Lincoln Town Car power steering pulley is no longer part of ElSuperPinto.

I was trying to illustrate something here... I think how tight and nasty the confines my big hands would be working in, that rack dumped a LOT of fluid, as had the bad pump in the past.

Here, you see the bane of my existence... or at least my ownership of this car. That passenger side header will have to be unbolted from the head to lift the engine enough for the rack to clear the big Milodon pan.

In the "Essential Mustang II Tech" thread about the Summit Racing radiator install, i promised some shots of the lower mounts I'd fabricated. Here's the custom bracket for the stacked-plate trans cooler that I made when I installed the radiator, with one of the two brackets visible.

Adieu · Jul 22, 2018

Here's a better view of the other bracket. They're both made from C-Channel that's had a hole drilled into it so I could bolt them to an existing hole in the II's front core support. I placed thick foam-rubber weatherstripping within to cushion and hold the radiator.
Another pic of that setup... for some reason.

A closeup of that damned header, show how little room there really is. There was once a II owner on a forum that had a signature that said something to the effect that if you've never wanted to hunt down the previous owner of your car and kill them, it wasn't a Mustang II. I don't want to do that to the previous owner of my car, he's a damned good friend of mine, but stuff like this makes me understand the sentiment in that guy's signature.

On the driver's side, there's virtually no room to get down to the steering shaft. Luckily I have a 2-foot long extension. The bolt, oddly enough, has a 7/16" 12-point head.

Showing why the header has to come loose again, as well as part of why the engine needs to be lifted. There are three bolts that hold the rack, and the rack isn't going anywhere from just loosening them, the stock oil pan is problematic, this big Milodon is a pain in the ass.

Adieu · Jul 22, 2018

The other end of the steering shaft is up under the vacuum booster. It was at this point that I knew the project wasn't being completed today (the shaft needs to be removed, then modified).

All of the crap in the way of that header... let's dig in!

Yup, spark plugs are gonna have to come out too.

Header is loose, plugs are out, 20 year old fiberglass wrap is shredded... mission accomplished?

MSD Atomic EFI, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways... or just show the world that my spark plugs look like they came from a carbureted engine tuned by a cousin-banging hillbilly instead of an EFI engine. Yeah, it runs that rich off-idle. Runs clean at idle, runs clean once you're turning some revs, but just off idle? Dual clouds of black smoke out the tailpipes and so much soot that oilfield trash in a Powerjoke would be envious.

Adieu · Jul 22, 2018

Tie rod ends, surprisingly enough, came out easy.

Got the engine lifted and started fighting with removing the rack. Took the two b-to-mount bolts out of the passenger side, and the mount-to-frame bolt out of the driver side.

Old junk soon to find it's way onto Ebay.

More old junk soon to be Ebay bound.

Adieu · Jul 22, 2018

More old junk.
An attempted close-up to show the bolt that will wait until another day.

New rack next to old. I won't be using the chrome weld-on adapter that's on the shaft now, as the flex joint will bolt to the steering shaft and give more flexibility for the future powertrain plans which are currently top-secret.

At this point I decided that the sun had won. It was 95 degrees out already, with a heat index of 103 and I was working mostly in direct sunlight. This was at 11:30AM. Damn near made it to noon, and got a lot more done in five hours today than I have in the last seven months.

Adieu · Jul 22, 2018

Oh, and just for @RaggedGT , because I KNOW he'd be disappointed if I didn't put a meme in here somewhere today:

LILCBRA · Jul 23, 2018

RaggedGT · Jul 23, 2018

74stang2togo said:
Oh, and just for @RaggedGT , because I KNOW he'd be disappointed if I didn't put a meme in here somewhere today:

Adieu · Jul 23, 2018

In Suburban news, the Monster trans survived I35 and the toll road in yesterday's heat, so apparently Monster didn't up twice.

I may hang on to the brackets and pump from ElSuperPinto, they may find a home in the Capri or the un-purchased future home for ElSuperPinto's current power plant at a later date.

Adieu · Jul 24, 2018

Damn, 112 degrees here yesterday, and 114 out in @LaserSVT 's neck of the woods. Good thing I slept through it and work at nigh

Just got home from work, good night, made good hours, and now I'm every bit as wound up as I am tired.

The manual rack will go into the II this weekend, and then the new fuel tank will go in, and that'll be it for I'm ElSuperPinto for awhile.

Why?

Because that'll have the thing in a semi-permanent drivable state for awhile while I do something about The Bastard Child.

Like I mentioned, my dad apparently has decided to bestow the Capri I drove up to Wisconsin to get for him many years ago to me. It's a work in progress compounded by the fact he never finishes one thing before he years another apart, and keeps it buried under a mountain of junk.

It has a radiator for a '68 Mustang, the engine from my '76 Mustang, the flywheel for a '79 Mustang, the transmission from a '95 Mustang, and the shift knob from my old 2009 GT/CS. Something from an S550 Will make it's way to the car (probably 5.0 emblems) to keep things going. I haven't decided yet whether that old Krautwagon will get it's own thread or not.

Adieu · Jul 28, 2018

So... Time to get to work installing that manual rack... After flagging 50+ hours in four nights at the dealership this past week, the last thing I want to do is work on another car, but someone's gotta do it.

The goal is to get ready to go on the trailer for a ride to the alignment shop.

Adieu · Jul 28, 2018

@LILCBRA When you did the manual rack conversion, did you pull the whole column before welding your borgeson joint onto the old shaft, or did you pull just the shaft? (Also, if it was just the shaft, how the hell did you get it off of there? I fought with it for a few hours and gave up.)

LILCBRA · Jul 31, 2018

Sorry it's taken this long! Honestly I don't remember exactly what I did, but I know I left the column in place and just had the shaft. If memory serves, it's just a sort of clamp setup. You loosen the clamp and kinda fight it off of there. If I had access to my car I'd go sneak a peek to see if it would refresh my memory, but it's been over 15 years at this point.... lol

I do remember having the shaft chucked up in a lathe and turning the one end down to slip into the Borgeson joint. I then welded it together. And it went together easily, it wasn't a fight to put it together compared to taking it out. Probably not a lot of help at this point , huh?

LILCBRA · Jul 31, 2018

Here's the only pic I have of the shaft. I know it doesn't help with what you were asking, but at least you can see what kind of clearance you'll have.....

LILCBRA · Jul 31, 2018

@74stang2togo Did you remove the bolt? I've been sitting here thinking about it for a minute.... I think the bolt for the clamp mechanism actually locks onto the main steering shaft through a half-moon notch in said shaft. Seems like I struggled with that for a little while thinking all I had to do was loosen the bolt, but it come apart pretty easily once the bolt was removed - you know since it wasn't physically stopping the removal of the intermediate shaft....

I could be wrong and/or you could be done already! Better late than never - unless of course it's in this case!!

I dunno what vehicle this is from (looks like a Fox?), but this is what I'm talking about-

Adieu · Aug 8, 2018

LILCBRA said:
@74stang2togo Did you remove the bolt? I've been sitting here thinking about it for a minute.... I think the bolt for the clamp mechanism actually locks onto the main steering shaft through a half-moon notch in said shaft. Seems like I struggled with that for a little while thinking all I had to do was loosen the bolt, but it come apart pretty easily once the bolt was removed - you know since it wasn't physically stopping the removal of the intermediate shaft....

I could be wrong and/or you could be done already! Better late than never - unless of course it's in this case!!

I dunno what vehicle this is from (looks like a Fox?), but this is what I'm talking about-

I got the nut off the bolt, but the bolt won't budge. Dug out my Ford service manuals and they say to take the whole column out... screw that.

I'll be bringing some "persuasion" home from work for it.

The Tragic Tale of ElSuperPinto

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

Easy there, this ain't a dating site.

Easy there, this ain't a dating site.

Easy there, this ain't a dating site.

Easy there, this ain't a dating site.

Easy there, this ain't a dating site.

Easy there, this ain't a dating site.

Easy there, this ain't a dating site.

Easy there, this ain't a dating site.

Easy there, this ain't a dating site.

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

Been here over a DECADE and still no CT

Easy there, this ain't a dating site.

Easy there, this ain't a dating site.

Easy there, this ain't a dating site.

Easy there, this ain't a dating site.

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air

Easy there, this ain't a dating site.

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