Category: Blog

Mostly about the blog!

Happy Birthday To One Man…

One man and his Mustang: One year on…

I would like to say a massive THANK YOU to every single one of you who have looked at my pictures, read an article or just laughed at some of the daft situations I have found myself in. Those of you who have “liked”, followed, subscribed, tweeted, contacted me or left a comment I would like to say an extra special: Thank You so much for your time. I appreciate every single one of you.

It was a year ago today that I sat in front of this PC with a fledgling idea in mind that I wasn’t sure how it was going to go. That idea is what you are now reading, my blog. The initial point was for me to store all the work I was doing on the car for my own little online diary if you like, the pictures and words of what I had done on the car, these would allow me to look back on it all one day, or show somebody, anybody who was remotely interested in my car and what had been done. If somebody else wanted to read the blog brilliant, if not I wasn’t going to be upset about it as I had nothing to lose, who wants to read about my ‘ol Mustang? But all that has changed, I started to get emails about similar things I had done, a few questions and few ideas off people to go forward with my car project. I even got a few messages for things they would like to see on the blog. As a result my blog has evolved into a project almost as big as my car restoration so it would seem, and I am very pleased and proud to be able to say that. Now I see my blog more of as a personal “blogumentary” to get this car on the road and maybe help others while I am at it. I have reviews from my own honest point of view, articles and links that interest me and hopefully others too. I now receive “hits” each day looking at all sorts of different things, like photos, reviews, tools, diagrams or an old advert. Those views have come from all over the world; USA, Canada, Australia, Russia, UK, Aruba, Monaco, Iceland, Hong Kong, Kenya, Saudi Arabia to name but just a few, along with some countries I have never heard of before or even imagined would be interested. If I have helped a single person or given somebody an idea, or the confidence to have a go, then I have achieved my own secret little goal, not so secret now though!

Everyday I look at my stats, comments or emails I have been sent, it’s still a buzz to know that somebody has had a look at my blog for what ever reason. This little blog has now become part of my life and I hope to continue and grow that relationship with my fellow bloggers and peers online. I now follow lots of other blogs too and no, not just the petrol head blogs either, lots of photographic blogs, and some funny blogs that I have been introduced to which have broadened my outlook on life because of this site.

One day, I will post a video of the car on the road and me at the wheel with a silly grin the size of the hood !!

thank you

And I hope this little pic I found on the net says it all to the rest of the world.

thank you2

A special personal thanks goes out to:

Adam at Mustang Maniac and his guys for their generous knowledge and help.

Will from Park Garage who was there at the first turn of the key.

My work colleagues who put with me regarding what I have done on my car every week!

Share my Content

WordPress Family Award

Again I have been caught slightly off guard with a new award which has just started making the rounds. I am always left a little speechless that: A) I am nominated in the first place. B) I have regular visitors to my little ‘ol blog that to be fair has a rather limited market of appeal.

With pleasure I can say a big thank you to Dana from http://atlastracer.wordpress.com who kindly nominated me for the award.

wordpressfam1

As with all these awards the rules are quite simple:

1. Display the award logo on your blog.

2. Link back to the person who nominated you.

3. Nominate 10 others you see as having an impact on your WordPress experience and family

4. Let your 10 Family members know you have awarded them

5. That is it. Just please pick 10 people who have taken you as a friend, and spread the love

It’s hard to single out just 10 that I wish to award, I know that at least one of my nominations already has this award. So if you’re not chosen it’s nothing personal and the others I would like to nominate don’t accept awards. If I have nominated you and you do not wish to continue with the award, or don’t have the time to do this award thing then I take no offence at all. I just wanted to show 10 blogs that I appreciate them, it’s a shame I can’t award all of the blogs I follow. I really don’t like doing this list thing as I follow all my blogs and read them for a reason, so I have chosen the list below on the basis of interaction and the general feel-good factor of the blogs in no particular order. Yes there is the petrol infused car stuff as you would expect but a few surprises too.

1) Dana from http://atlastracer.wordpress.com/ – I know you nominated me, but if I had this from somebody else I would have nominated you.

2) Debbie from http://hoodscoop03.com/ – my blog buddy from across the pond who shares the Mustang love.

3) Ron from http://ronscubadiver.wordpress.com/ who takes some superb photos and shows me places I wanted to go from all angles.

4) http://stagownersclub.wordpress.com/ – I always wanted a Mustang, but I said if I couldn’t have a Mustang I would have a Triumph stag, I can feel the passion from these guys and their cars too.

5) http://www.rodalena.com/ – just an enjoyable varied read who has followed me for a long time now.

6) Alicia from http://aliciabenton.wordpress.com/ – I just reading this blog.

7) Karen from http://karengadient.com/ – some wonderful things with Photoshop.

8) http://f1superswede.wordpress.com/ – If I ever need info on the F1 scene here it is.

9) Jim from http://harbin77.wordpress.com/ – A genuine nice guy who owned a Mustang!

10) http://storysmitten.wordpress.com/ – A great set of snippets from stories here.

A special mention to all the photo blogs I follow too, the world becomes a much smaller place when I see your pictures.

Share my Content

Shocked & A Little Hacked off

The weekend has been busy for me again. The wife is so busy I can hardly get on my PC, so I have resulted in using my Galaxy Note 10.1 tab, bluetooth keyboard and a shared internet connection. Everything takes that bit longer unfortunately, but at least I can still work on my blog only at a lower pace. Anyway, as I hadn’t seen Adam for a few weeks I made my monthly pilgrimage to Mustang Maniac, the excuse I made was, “at least I will be out of your way!” With that the “Day Pass” was issued, gratefully accepted by yours truly and I was off. Once I arrived I was speaking to the guys who were showing me the new improvements that were going on to cope with the demands for their work. I believe a blog will be coming out about it soon. After a good few hours of chatting, meeting people coming into the office and watching a few last-minute repairs on a customers car by fitting of some nice LED bulbs to the side lights on a ’66 coupe. I had a wander round the stock rooms. I spotted some rear shocks that had just arrived so nabbed a pair of them pretty sharpish and immediately decided what was going to be my new project for Sunday.

My current shocks were a gas adjustable pair, the only problem is, there is no plumbing for the right hand side and the left hand side is seized solid. I knew these had to be changed regardless, and as the wife was still working, I took tools along with my new shock absorbers out the garage to get some work done. I have written a full process for changing the shocks under Photos Menu – Rear Shock Replacement or click here for the quick link. To cut a long story short, if you pardon the pun, I ended up having to cut one side of the old shock stem off with a hacksaw, in order for me to get it out of the bracket. Not exactly proper mechanics, but as I wasn’t going to keep the old shocks it didn’t really matter. The trouble is it just doesn’t look good with a pair of legs hanging out the front of a garage with that distinctive sound of a hacksaw on metal. The new shocks were a performance rated pair, and according to Adam they are a lot of shock for not a lot of money. On top of that they looked quite good too being all in white. The only thing I could say was that I was worried yet again by the fact that the previous efforts of the “Herbert” to restore this car were a bit of bodge job to say the least. Spanner points rounded off, nuts loose on top of the shocks and at the bottom, old parts just left in the recesses etc. What else am I going to find? Plenty I expect, but don’t worry, I will let you know when I do find something else!

shock41

old shock not even tightened up
old shock right side
right
label
left side
hacked off
incorrect washer plate going on

After all the work was done there is nothing quite like replacing parts that look good and can be seen by somebody else for a change, and above all, these parts will do the job properly. I was well pleased with the weekends work in all. The car no longer bounces like a baby cradle one side and up on stilts the other side. In fact I far from hacked off, even though I had to do some to get the job done. 🙂

Quick Link:

Photo Menu – Rear Shock Replacement click here.

Share my Content

Royalty – Your Choice….

Two lots of royal horse power to choose from

The weekend was very busy, and as a treat the wife we went to Harrods in London for a meal. After parking the car we walked towards the store and group of people were looking in the window as they normally do. this was little different as it was men looking, I of course need to see what the fuss was all about. This could be a pretty woman in various states of attire, latest gadgets or cars. The fuss was justified because they had James Hunt’s McLaren F1 1976 World Championship car on display. The main reason for the commotion was down to the fact that the women trying to pry the men’s faces of the window while looking at this glorious car. In fact I did see one poor bloke being pulled by the sleeve away from the window, just like you would pull a dog away from your favourite plant when it’s about to cock its leg all over it! This was the original Championship winning car that has been left pretty much untouched since that wonderful era. Some of the photos were taken through the window, sorry for any reflection, and then a few more taken inside. I did have to lay it on a bit thick to the security guard who was keeping an eye on things as I wanted to get closer. To be fair he did let me get onto the stand as I said I was going to put this on my blog. This is a rare chance to see the car up close and in its full glory. The car is still a classic by todays standards with the very distinctive Marlboro livery in place before the advertising route for tobacco all got banned. What I am particularly pleased about is the stone chips on it – the side pods show that this car was indeed the real deal and not a mock up.

Why was the car here? It was a promotion for the new movie about to be released in September call “Rush” by Ron Howard. The film focuses on the rivalry between Lauda and Hunt. I dare say this will be a blue ray added to the collection when it’s released.

jh22

A little background:

James Hunt was born James Simon Wallis Hunt on August 29, 1947, Belmont, Sutton, Surrey, England, UK. Died June 15, 993, Wimbledon, London, England, UK. After a fatal heart attack. He was a British race-car driver who won the 1976 Formula One Grand Prix World Championship by one point over his Austrian arch-rival, Niki Lauda. Hunt began racing his own car in Formula Ford events in 1969. He quickly graduated to Formula Three races,  his aggressive driving style and several accidents earned him the nickname “Hunt the Shunt.” In 1972 he joined Hesketh Racing, and in 1974 the team moved up to F1 competition. Hunt scored the team’s only F1 victory, in 1975, before Hesketh was shuttered later that year. He signed with the McLaren team in 1976, and in his first season with that team, he edged out Lauda for the F1 title when the Austrian refused to finish the Japan Grand Prix on a rain-soaked track that he considered unsafe.

Although many people considered Hunt’s title to be tarnished as Lauda had missed part of the season after being seriously injured in a fiery crash, his blond good looks, irreverent charm, and playboy personal life made him a popular favourite and brought a glamorous image to the sport. In his seven years on the F1 circuit, Hunt totalled 10 victories and 14 pole positions in 92 Grand Prix races. After a partial season with Wolf Racing, he retired from the sport in 1979, and he thereafter worked as a sportswriter and BBC commentator.

I have an article on James Hunt that I have cobbled together from various sources or click here.

Royal Mews:

Later that day we had tickets to the Queens Coronation exhibition at Buckingham Palace. I have been there so many times recently it feels like I live there. Anyway, we also had ticket to see the Royal Mews. Now the only horses I like are the virtual sort under the hood, the more the better. But, the mews was more interesting than I was expecting it to be. There were the Royal Ceremonial Coaches there as well as the Queens limo. I have seen these coaches and limo so many times on the telly I have lost count, but it’s not until you see these things close up you realise just how big they are and the amount of craftsmanship involved. I took a few pictures there as they really were interesting.

The Queens own ride has its own unique colour that “only the monarch has and is allowed to use.” I thought the car was black, but it’s a deepest of deep burgundy reds. As for the state coach all in gold it must be about fifteen foot tall and twenty-four foot long. The hand painted works of art on the coach is some serious paint job along with the huge wheels, they are some serious rims!

The Queens own ride
Share my Content

A little R & R

The weekend is almost over and that is the last Bank Holiday before Christmas I am sad to say, an extra day for a weekend now and again makes all the difference.

Rest. A little bit of relaxing was the order of the weekend. There was a little shopping Saturday and me pottering around in the man cave rearranging my tool chest and just trying to make it a working space again instead of my cave becoming a storage area for garden tools and rubber boots. Sunday was a day out with the wife at a big hall near us, each year they wear period costumes with role play for the Tudor era. All the characters were brilliant, sewing, weaving, making felt, cooking, archery, hand making wooden beams for a roof etc. I tried my hardest to break their characters into the modern-day English, they weren’t having none of it, instead I was greeted with things like “Master, I know not this word”, Did they really speak like that? My wife reliably informs me they did.

The car, today was all about the other “R”, Rust. I pushed the car out the garage on such a nice day and pulled the carpets up, pulled the old sound proofing out and cleaned the floor pan. The was a little light surface rust on the bulk head so I decided to treat that little bit, then another little bit, before I knew it I had gone back to the seat mounts with the anti-rust agent. It was not bad at all, just a few little surface patches here and there. The replacement floor pan still looked like new. I also replaced my original plenum today and put new pipes in too for the demister. The old plenum had an issue with the flap not working properly inside to divert the air around, but I was going to put up with it. That was until I moved the lever and the flap inside made a cracking noise and nothing moved, the air direction plate had broke off completely. I got a replacement from Mustang Maniac of course and it’s now a much stronger version. A bit of a pain job to get in and out, but worth the hassle. Nothing looks any different in the car apart from being dark patches where the rust used to be. With that in mind the photo’s I took you couldn’t see the difference, so I didn’t post any today.

But, to make up for it I was sent this little funny via Twitter, it did make made me laugh and I shared it with the wife. My better half just gave me “That” look again. But I have just got to share it!

decision made

I have had a request for the blog layout, I was asked to do a little something with the menus of mine. I thought they looked OK, but I will move them about and make them a little more user-friendly. Let me know if they are any better or go back to how it was.

(Thanks for the feedback Sam.)

Share my Content

It all hinges on…

…hinges on the weather.

Another good weekend on the car and I managed to dodge the household jobs. Or as the women out there know, I was let of doing some jobs around the house! This weekend has been a bit of a gamble with the weather. Saturday I was looking at the sky trying to predict if it would rain, so I put of the job I wanted to do on hold until today. Why am I banging on about the weather? Well, the job I had in mind was to replace the door hinges as they have play in them and you can feel the movement, plus the door doesn’t line up properly. As the garage is narrow for a Classic American Muscle car I would need to push the car out of the garage ope nthe door wide and then take the door off. If it rains it will get the inside wet and it would could end up with a wet puddle on the floor under the carpets. I did manage to get the left hand side (drivers) door off and replace the hinges at least. I will post pictures on a guide a bit later once I have done the other door, but I was pleased with the results. Again the parts were from Mustang Maniac, which were the replacement pins and the brass cups for the guides. I was treating things a little bit to gentle to start with and the pins were not moving at all. I got the Gibbs Brand on it, got the club hammer out and give it some therapy. A few beatings with that soon got the pin out and job done. The top hinge pin was the worst to get out of the two, it took a fair bit longer to get the whole thing clear as the top brass cup had split in it. All I can say is that when I put the door back on to my previous markings of the hinges, I was a little bit out, OK they were a lot out. The door would not shut at all. In fact the bottom of the door caught the sill about two-thirds away along the bottom of the door. It looked like clowns car if I am to be honest. Not good, but it did show me the level of adjustment that I could achieve. The next two hours made sure I knew what adjustment did what to the alignment. That door got progressively heavier and heavier with each adjustment. Now the door lines up fine with the rear quarter panel. I am happy the back muscles aren’t.

dhb1

Saturday was spent in the man cave rubbing down the valance with very fine wet and dry paper on the primer. I had to refill a couple of tiny blemishes again but it all looks good now though and smooth. In the afternoon I decided to finish my review of the Gibbs Brand Lubricant. I have posted the review under the Reviews Menu – Consumables – Gibbs Brand Lubricant, or click here for the quick link. Again supplied by Mustang Maniac, If you have not tried this stuff, you need too! You just got to read the review and buy some. Buy it for the wife around the house, then pinch it back! 😉 (No I am not on commission before you ask! It’s just really good gear.)

full branding
full branding

Quick Links:

Gibbs Brand Lubricant Review click here

Mustang Maniac Blog click here

Mustang Maniac Main Website click here

Share my Content

A Change of Scenery

After time at work we decided to go away for a few days to give ourselves a change of scenery and a break. We booked some real nice hotels we liked the look of. We stayed in Surrey, London and Windsor. During our stop overs I was dragged around Kensington Palace, Hampton Court, Windsor Castle and a couple of boat trips up and down the Thames. All were very good except Kensington Palace which I thought was a complete rip off. In fact I would say my Man Cave was more luxurious with the Mustang posters about the place than the dodgy postcards they were flogging in there. The London hotel was brilliant and I couldn’t ask for more. I was especially pleased with the breakfast for some reason; I could have what ever I wanted and however much I wanted, I got my monies worth. I was such a good boy that I surprised myself being dragged around the shops, in the hot sun not moaning and just carrying what ever was bought. It was like a camel in the desert, I got bought drinks and ice creams most of the day and I carried on humpin’ the bags about as normal again. I have taken lots of photos and thought I would post a few on here to see what people think. I’m no photographer but I like to take pictures, hopefully they look OK. And yes, I am ashamed to say that I did look like a tourist in my own capital city. *shakes head slowly*

friendly bee
Surrey hotel
Hampton court famous trees and palace
Hampton Court Gardens
Hampton Court Gardens
Hampton Court doorway
me and the view of a Hampton Court
Tower Bridge
Tower Of London
changing of the Windsor Guards
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
St George’s Chapel Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle

I have been busy doing bits on the car, like finishing the wire wrapping with tape, sanding the valance etc. I have also paid a visit to Mustang Maniac to get more Gibbs Brand Lubricant and smaller bits for the car. There will be a review of the Gibbs Brand Lubricant soon, trust me you really do want to try this stuff inside the home too. I have every intention to replace the car door hinges this week, but I will have to see how it goes as I have a few jobs lined up for me from the wife, like finish the tiling in the downstairs cloakroom, finish some painting in the utility room, finish the flower beds I started etc. Notice a pattern here?  It’s funny because I don’t leave half a job on the car unfinished. But as my darling wife puts up with a lot from me I don’t mind doing a few jobs I started a couple of years ago, as long as it don’t interfere with Marts Mustang time that is. It may be a coincidence that unfinished jobs started at around the same time I got my Mustang.

I have been busy making another home-made tool, this time it’s a headlight spring tool. To hold the headlight bucket in place there is a fairly strong spring that has to be pulled to the bucket to hold the bulb in place. I have seen pictures of this tool but I have not managed to buy one. So I thought I would make one, this was pretty simple to be honest as it was a thin flat head screw driver I heated up and bent the tip over in stages with my blow lamp. I think it looks quite good! I bet the company didn’t know they now make specialist Ford Mustang tools as well!

I have added the review for the Sealey VS402 Vacuum Brake Bleeding Kit under the Review Menu – Tools, as I have had a few looks at the page under construction, so I thought I better finish it off!

Quick Links:

Home made Headlight Spring Tool – click here

Sealey VS402 v2 Vacuum Brake Bleeding and Testing Kit – click here

Share my Content

Unexpected Bouquet Award

There are not many things that cause me to be speechless because I like to think I have an answer (or a point) for most things.  Today was one of those moments. I was nominated for the Bouquet of Three Award! I write my blog about my passion for the restoration of my Mustang and I enjoy doing it. I never expect to receive any award for that reason as it is quite a niche subject, but if anybody takes time out to read my blog then I am grateful that they have kindly given up their time to share my passion. There are some really great blogs out there and I was lucky enough to find a great blog by Alicia Benton http://aliciabenton.wordpress.com/ Her blog has made me laugh, reflect on and look at things from a slightly different perspective too; it really is worth stopping by to have read. I am humbled to be nominated for this award. I would honestly nominated the award to Alicia if she hadn’t already got it.

Thank you Alicia so very much.

Here are the rules:

1. Proudly display the Award Certificate on your blog page!

2. Announce your win with a post.  Be sure to link your post back to me as a “thank you” for the nomination.

3. Present up to 15 awards to fellow deserving bloggers.

4. Let them know you’ve nominated them for this awesome award.

5. Post 7 interesting things about yourself.

There are nearly 50 plus blogs that I follow and I wish I could give them all an award. But I am restricted of course, so it is a difficult decision I must choose, but here goes –

My nominations in no particular order are as follows:

http://hoodscoop03.com/ – I love this blog and we have become good friends through our mutual love of cars.

http://ronscubadiver.wordpress.com/ – This guy has a true talent for photography and wouldn’t mind parting with money for some of his photos. My favourite photography blog.

http://karengadient.com/ – This is a refreshing bright and colourful blog that keeps me coming back for more.

http://cruisin2.wordpress.com/ – This blog makes me think, I don’t always agree with everything he says, but is that not the point to make us think? A great blog

http://dr1ven.wordpress.com/ – A great petrol heads blog. A wide variety of subjects keeps me informed and educated.

http://julieriso.wordpress.com/ – A great blog to travel around the world with some great posts.

http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com/ – Another great around the world blog, photos and posts are top quality.

http://quattroporte3.wordpress.com/ – I have only been following this blog for a little while and it does inspire me, when I think I am grinding to a halt I can see the hard work that has gone into this guys hard work. I can really relate to it.

http://www.rodalena.com/ – A bright refreshing and informative blog, I’m not sure why I like this blog but I do, but it’s a Well written blog.

http://f1superswede.wordpress.com/ – I love the Formula 1 racing and this guy gives me everything I need, if I miss a race and I need to catch up – this is where I will be.

http://thejigglybits.com/ – This is a great blog and cheers me up no end. Well written and I look forward to the posts.

http://theverybesttop10.com/ – This guy has awards all over the place and it’s easy to see why. A few more won’t hurt.

http://superkonr.wordpress.com/ – A blog dedicated to restoring a classic Mustang.

http://oversteergarage.com/ – A varied video blog of all great American cars.

http://atlastracer.wordpress.com/ – Another great travel blog with some great photos.

Seven Interesting Facts about me:

1) I polish my tools before I put them all away in my polished tool chest

2) I have a sleep disorder where I wake up at least once every night

3) I love gadgets

4) I read the manuals for all the stuff I buy except when I make a flat pack of something. It’s a man thing!

5) I made myself sick once by go-karting for to long without a break

6) I have fallen asleep in shop doorway in London after a heavy night on the town. I woke up with some small change in my lap!

7) I honestly like the Nick Cage movie –  Gone In 60 Seconds

Share my Content

She Moves!

Epic news from the garage.

Today was a great day. I pushed the car out of the garage and poured yet another gallon of premium unleaded into the tank. Turned her over for thirty seconds and let it settle. Turned the key again and she fired up. I let the car run for a few minutes with a little blip of the throttle now and again as you do. It was great to hear the sound again. The car has had the all the brakes done, the single master cylinder converted to a dual system and bled twice. I got in the car nervous, I put the foot on the brake, now it wasn’t as hard as it was. I Put the auto into “R” the revs dropped and I released the brake. She rolled backwards under her own power. Foot on the brake and not a lot until it was almost on the floor, but it stopped. I put the car in “D” and the revs dropped. I released the brake and she crept forward a few feet and sort of stopped going up the kerb onto the drive. A touch of the throttle and the rear wheels snapped into action and off we went. Ohh sh….t, I hit the brake and not a lot. I pressed hard and knocked into “N” I stopped. My heart was pounding and my heart was thrilled and my head was a little sad. I would like the brakes to have been a bit more, but, the brakes are new & not run it yet, rust on the faces of the brakes and the pedal probably needs adjusting a bit more. All these things will get better as time goes on and I guess I am expecting too much to start with. The car is just an animal to take of like that, I loved it! After I pulled up and got out with a smile I was pleased to see that the usual petrol heads had come round to see me while she was running. We had a catch up on the latest bits gone in and the next project to do.  A new neighbour who just moved in down the road followed the noise and came up to me to say hello, another petrol head likes the car. A quick hello to David – a pleasure to meet you and talk cars for a while. 🙂

Over the course of time I have told people about this blog and they say they will look it up. When I bump into them again the first thing they say is “What is that blog address again as I forgot it by the time I got home?” This prompted me to do something a little fun, I got some business cards made up with the details on of the blog, email, Facebook and Twitter. The people seem to like them and I have had a few more hits after I gave them out. What do you think?

business card

I am delighted with the day so far but I still can’t find that stupid brake flare adaptor! I was hoping it was going to drop out, but no that was too simple.

Today was a small drive for a  classic Mustang, but huge step for the project.

Share my Content

It’s in the can

Keepin’ the stock look

What is he bangin’ on about? Yesterday I spent a few hours down at Mustang Maniac where I was talking to Adam about my next project and what I needed, that project being my wiper motor. It turns out that my two-speed motor is like trying to find mermaid tears in the ocean. It seems a total nightmare, but Adam is on the case so I will just have to wait and see what happens. While I was down there I also took my power steering pump and we had a look at the issues, the main one being that the pump is more interested in squirting fluid out the seal than it should be pumping out the back into the steering ram! It turns out that the last Air Con version pump was fitted to another car and I was going to be without. But that wasn’t a problem for Adam as he said “I will swap the “cans” over for you, it will be better than a new one.” This entailed taking the old case of my pump, and putting it straight onto the new upright filler tube version.  The correct pump was found with the in line fittings and we went off to the workshops with a couple of pumps and the usual escort of guard dogs. I was told that the fitting for the pulley was an “interference fit”, this was new one on me. It turns out that interference fit is where the bore is microns smaller than the shaft and so its a real tight fit, no key ways are used.  The special tool was found and I was shown how to do it. There is no way that any of my tools would have done it without damaging the pulley wheel or damaging the case. Watching intently the process took no more than twenty minutes which included me saying “hang on, I want a picture of that”. The cans were swapped over, an I still have the original case and tag under the hood from the original factory fit and not a reconditioned one. How’s that for customer service? I have added the full process to the existing guide, click here, or go to the photos, Engine bay – Power Steering Pump project.

Fitting the tool in place
Fitting the removal tool in place

As we were walking around I was shown around the new additions to the yard. I was shown a customer car that was a complete nightmare that was purchased in good faith, but turned out to be a mess and was in need of some serious TLC. Speaking to Adam he will post his set of pics on the blog when he gets a few minutes. There is also some news he will post about a car he has just bought. I was going to spill the beans but you will just have to wait and see on his blog what it is. It’s a little bit special shall we say.

I got round to bleeding the front brakes today and I can say – I have a pedal. Ohhh, yeah baby! I press the pedal the drums stop, the fluid don’t come out. The pedal don’t go all the way down to the bulk head now and there is resistance. I started off with the Sealey vacuum tool, (review to foloow very soon), then when the final air was out the tried and trusted pipe in a pot method was to be used. All I can say is thanks to the wife who sat there pressing the pedal to command. I did say it will only take two minutes, but as I have a clock in the garage I was constantly reminded of how many minutes had elapsed since she got in the car. The funny side is that as I have no seat in the car, all I could see was a pair of eyes looking over the top of the door sill when I got back up to top the reservoir up again. I wasn’t laughin’ much, honestly darling. Next Weekend I will put more fuel in the car and reverse it out of the garage and drive it back in.

That will be a big day for me if it works, I may just have to get a beer out to celebrate or I will be crying in my beer!

Quick links:

Power Steering Pump Project, click here.

Just in case you need the blog address, I have the link to the right or click here:  http://mustangmaniac.org or go to my Mustang Links Tab.

Share my Content