Getting the Mustang Ready for Summer vacation

The car makes a great winter project, but with the prospect of good weather, I don't want to spend time indoors in the shop.  I also want my shop space back for working on motorcycles and property maintenance equipment.  So I have made a push to get a couple of projects done on the car and then I will put it away for the summer.  There is also a sort of deadline to get things done, as next Sunday Carolyn and I are leaving for a 19-day trip to Ireland and the Isle Of Man.  My daughter and her SO Jon are going also.  The big draw with the Isle Of Man is, of course, the famous TT motorcycle race. 

After a run of really nice weather, it has turned rainy and so I have been working on the car.  The main things I wanted to get done is the rear disk brakes and the instrument cluster.  The brakes were a bit tricky since I had to cut the stock brake line across the axle and make new flare end fittings because the disk brakes use flex lines at the calipers.  Nevertheless, I got it done, and this is how it looks:

Next, I tackled the instrument cluster.  In my last post about the car I was installing the under dash wiring and converting the ammeter to a voltmeter.  Now I have connected the instrument cluster to the under dash wiring and also installed the speedometer cable to the back of the speedometer, the backup light switch to the backup lights wiring, and the brake light switch to the brake pedal. 

The wires under the duct tape are for the backup light switch.  This switch is activated by the transmission under the driveline tunnel. 

This last photo reminds me that I also put in a new ignition switch and light switch and new bezels for the lights and wiper switches.  Oh, and I also put in the engine bay wiring harness for the gauges and starter solenoid.  Guess I have been pretty bush since the last post. 

Snow Check

We have had a warm and dry Spring so far and I thought it might be a good time to check the snow levels on the mountain roads.  Joe and I took a ride up in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest to see how far we could get.  We tried three different passes and got this:

and this:

On the third pass, I thought we were going to make it, but no go.  Snow levels were around 2700 feet on my GPS and most of the passes are around 3500, so it is going to be a couple of weeks yet, and maybe more if it cools back down.  Last year we didn't get over the mountains until July. 

On the ride we encountered some helicopter logging:

Quite an operation, with lots of men working and expensive equipment.  I've read that the value of timber is up, and everybody seems to be taking advantage of the high prices. 

We took a side trip up to the trail head for the Silverstar Peak trail and found that to be snow free even though the trail head was at 3100 feet.  I guess it all depends on the amount of sun exposure the road gets.  I took this picture from the trail head with Mt St Helens in the distance:

So, the ride was somewhat abbreviated, but we took advantage of the extra time after we got back to do some work on Joe's new (to him) bike.  The back roads take their toll on things that are not fastened down well, and Joe had lost a few critical screws and had a rear fender flopping around.  After we found what we needed, we stopped in the local hardware store to buy stuff......much cheaper than official Kawasaki parts.