Took some pics, i do really own a mustang...

So today i went to work on the AC, battery was dead.
Why? Because i left the battery switch on and i never disconnected the visor mirrors.
I had the battery on, because i changed the blinker bulbs.
I changed the blinker bulbs because back in the day i ran them as white (clear).
I needed a new reverse bulb so i figured i would install the correct color blinker bulb and move the clear bulb to the reverse lights.
Too bad they are different sockets.
Took the visors down to disconnect them and they are in extremely poor shape, much worse than i remember. My guess is that i haven't pulled down a visor in 20 years.
Whole lot of failure going on here.

TMI visors look like really expensive junk.
I'm going to look to see if i can have these recovered.
I didn't do the AC and i still have a reverse light out...

I'm thinking now i want to install LED lights on the hatch, overhead and glove compartment. Just in case i'm out and one of those stays on and kills the battery.
I see Daniel Carpenter has specialty bulb for the hatch, is the overhead and glove compartment just a standard 12v wedge?
I buy 12v bulbs for arcade and pinball machines all the time (pinball is mostly 5v), i'm trying to figure out if there is a reason why they are all like $10 each when i purchase them for games at $1 each.

So i charged the AC. Ran the vacuum for a bit, let it sit, didn't leak.
Then i did it again for a long time, let it sit, again, no leak.
Then i ran it for quite a while again, charged the AC. I used somewhere around 34oz which is what is called for in a modular. I didn't scale the bottle, just kinda guessed, since each bottle was 12oz.
Was just above 80 degrees out, low side was about 30, high side 190.
Car idled for a least an hour during this process, oddly enough the temp never passed 190 (with the mechanical tstat in the block) and the AC got down to a hair under 50 degrees. Not sure if that is bad or good, but it's just over 30 degrees less than the outside temp.
Keep in mind, my AC system is completely 03 cobra, except the evaporator, i had the original tubes cut and a friend welded the correct ones on.

I had called my friend who now works at ford, he thinks that when all the freon blew out the first time, it was through a pressure relief valve on the compressor.

Drove around quite a bit yesterday, I was notably harder on the car than i have been.
AC seemed to work good, though i didn't use it too much, for the most part i think muscle cars should be driven with the windows down. I also realized that with the windows up the car seems to be much louder. Obviously it's not, but sure as hell seemed that way. Might have to really consider going to the super turbo mufflers.

During the trip i had no rubbing or scraping of any part. That even meant my parents driveway where i grew up and scraped for basically the entire time i owned the car.
Loving the 3 link. The car really just wants to go straight and deep dips (the kind where the rear drops equally on both sides) did not cause any type of rubbing, sounds or feeling like the rear was coming through the floor. Shall i assume it's the removal of the bumpstop?
I just don't think this car has ridden this well since the first time i lowered it.
Bumpsteer isn't too bad, so i don't think i'll need to mess with that again, the alignment i did is actually pretty good, other than the steering wheel being a little off center. I'm about ready to get it professionally alignment, the suspension is surely settled at this point.

I programmed the retro stereo and streamed a little music. Odd thing, i think it's the first time in this car i've ever heard stereo surround sound. Too bad even with good stock location speakers the lack of bass really hurts the experience. I'll work on that in the winter. Still want one of those spare tire well subwoofers, just not sure where to hide the jack, since i'm guessing they don't fit with the jack in the tire.
I have the wire coiled up for the microphone, i have to get to that, hopefully i can hide it in the pillar and stick it to the top corner of the windshield. I've always said kid's first cars should be manuals, it's really just a pain to mess with a phone while driving and in many cases, it's impossible.

Some interaction with the kids.
My little guy thinks the supercharger whine (which is very loud at full throttle) is super turbo rocket boosters.
One child thinks it's in the back, the other in the front.
It's also unanimous the map light is the best feature. It does work, just have to flick the little button like i've been doing for 30 years.
They even went as far as suggesting i get some maps so i can use the map light. Sounds counterproductive since i don't go anywhere in the dark or use maps, but we'll see.
Wonder what they will think when i install the map pockets for the doors that i've had for years (i cut the old ones off years ago)?
Now to the negative, one child attempted to unbuckle the other's seatbelt, i never took into consideration that since i only have two children, they have never sat this close to each other in a car. My f150 has them sit a good 20+ inches apart. Now they are like 5in from each other.
I also took the top off my 8 years child seat because honestly in my f150 it's fine, but in this car she's like a giant in the seat. Didn't love how the shoulder belt sat or stayed in place. Oddly enough that strap with the red hook i've been throwing out for years (i do still have a few) from the last ten child seats we purchased has a use, it's for using with the base only, to keep the shoulder strap in place. I'll give it a try, if not the top half is going back in.
I don't believe in moving child seats around, so we have had a really lot of seats, i'm picky about how they sit and stay in place, so moving them car to car is a job.

Honestly mike, when it's that hot, i probably just won't drive it.
So why did i fix the AC? Sometimes i'm not totally sure, i just like things to work just in case i need them or so i can just sleep better at night.

I was kinda knocking around on the passenger side door that i'm going to work on and it occurred to me that the lock button (on top of the door) makes a racket. My guess is that there is nothing to fix and it is what it is, but i bet some kind of insert would make most of it go away.
I also put some pressure on the glass while down and most of the noise associated with the glass goes away, my guess is that they bushings i bought are going to fix that issue.

Cheapskate207 said:

I really enjoyed reading this. I’m a huge proponent of driving (toy) vehicles and drive mine often. Driving them is/was part of the draw to them and sometimes it’s easy to forget that when projects stack up. Anyway, I’m glad to hear you’re driving it and having fun with your family.

I would love to see some pics of it. I’ve often wondered how it was after reading your sig.

Click to expand...

I'll take some pics next time it's out. I still have been driving it, but the alignment is really getting on my nerves.
I better get it done soon because my guy will do it at night at the shop he runs. Honestly i'm a little concerned to drive it at night, this car hasn't seen the dark since maybe 2001-2002.

Here's the video from when it was built at my buddy's shop. A bunch has changed since then, but almost nothing cosmetically.
Before he sold that shop (it was formerly Outrageous mustangs which was also his shop) he used to do videos for youtube. I had nothing to do with the video, other than i was there. Not me in the car either.

Things that are different is I have a JLT intake with a cover that i slightly modified to fit a foxbody.
Obviously the recaros for seats.
Wheel center caps say speedline.
And my favorite, i ditched the clear corners and parking lights. I'm pretty glad that fad is over and am sorry i was ever part of it.
Car sounds different too with an ultraflo catback.