Busy Weekend With the Mustang

Remember in my last post about the Mustang where I said "There are still big, expensive jobs to do, but they are ....... going to be done by somebody else (carpet and headliner),...... "  Those were my thoughts, anyway, until we found out what it would cost to have somebody do the carpet and headliner.  The headliner alone would have cost over $600, and $400 of that was just to remove and re-install the windshield and rear window.  Then $225 to install the $40 headliner.  There had to be a better way, and there was.  I found online that there are a couple of shops making a one-piece textured ABS headliner that could be installed without removing the glass, and is an easy enough job for a do-it-yourselfer.  Strangely enough, the shop making the headliner that we ordered is located in my old home town of Corona, California where the Mustang spent many years.  The carpeting job we decided to do ourselves because there is an already cut-and-formed kit available for the car. 

So, this past weekend, Brian came down with his truck loaded with new parts, including new front seats and trunk carpet.  We spent Saturday afternoon after he arrived installing acoustic underlayment for the cab.  The stuff is called Dynamat, and is supposed to provide a great improvement in keeping down engine and road noise as well as providing a moisture barrier.  It had to be cut and fit to the curves of the floor, driveshaft tunnel and rear bulkhead:

 

I thought this was a pretty tedious and time consuming job, but the next day we tackled the carpet, which turned out to be the really difficult and time consuming job.  We sort of expected it to fit perfect by just laying it in, but it had to be trimmed a lot and the holes needed for the seats bolts, shift lever, and seat belt bolts were difficult to cut.  where possible, we located the holes by poking up from the bottom with an awl.  First came the rear section of carpet:

Then the front, plus the seat frame adapters:

 

The original rear seats, which were in really good shape, were cleaned up:

Then the sill plates were installed:

 

 

Then the front seats, which took a lot more bending and fitting of hardware than expected:

Note sexy floor mats, too. 

 

 

By this time we had been at it non-stop from 8 am to 3 pm.  We rolled it out into the driveway for a photo op:

 

 

And a test fitting:

 

 

That car is SMALL.  Brian couldn't even get into the back seats but I reminded him that he spent a lot of time there when he was a kid.  The side supports on the drivers seat, combined with the steering wheel, make it a bit of a squeeze to get in for driving.  Once in, though, the seats are very comfortable. 

There are two more interior items to install; the headliner and a console between the driver and passenger seats.  These are back ordered and are not to be shipped until late April, so in the meantime, the Mustang is taking a nap.  I need the shop space as my own vehicles are in need of some maintenance. 

A New Rider for the Good Roads

Last summer I made this post about daughter Jenny wanting to learn to ride; http://thegoodroads.blogspot.com/2013/08/another-potential-rider.html.  She was serious.  She took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) Basic Rider Course and got her license.  Then a friend loaned her a motorcycle, and a neighbor with a bike went with her on some rides from her house in San Francisco.  She asked me if I would help her find a bike of her own. 

I spent a lot of time looking on Craigslist and then one weekend Carolyn and I went to look at a couple of Kawasaki Ninja 250s, which I thought would be the perfect bike for her.  I used to own one before my current street bike, so I knew quite a bit about the bike.  It was hard to find one for sale that did not have a salvage title due to minor drops which broke the very expensive fairing.  I also had to find one with more than 7500 miles, so it could be registered in California without meeting CA smog requirements.  After a few false leads, we finally found this one at a car dealer, of all places:

It is a 2006 model, the next-to-last year they made these.  The bike was very clean, but had a somewhat clattery motor, which I thought was probably due to needing a valve adjustment.  It also needed a new front rotor and chain and sprockets.  We bought the bike and I proceeded to do a complete refurbishment on it.  Since I would not be able to work on it after we got it to Jenny, I needed to make sure everything was good to go. 

First order of business was a valve adjustment and spark plug replacement:

My motorcycle lift sure came in handy for this project.  Next, I replaced the fork oil and the front brake rotor and pads:

By this time I got the new chain and sprockets I ordered and installed those.  Here is a comparison of the old and new rear sprockets:

I also lubed and adjusted the clutch and throttle cables and put in new rear brake pads and new brake fluid front and rear.  I also changed the oil and filter, cleaned the oil screen in the engine sump, and balanced the carbs. 

After all this the engine was still too noisy.  I decided to check the cam chain tensioner and found these wear marks on the plunger:

 

I ordered a new cam chain tensioner and that solved the clatter problem.  The engine purred like a kitten. 

The next step was to get the bike down to Jenny in San Francisco.  I knew from experience with my Ninja 250 that it would fit in our Honda Odssey mini van if the fairings were removed and the van seats taken out.  I got it loaded and tied down:

 

We drove down to San Francisco last Thursday, and on Friday morning I put the fairings back on and then followed Jenny to the DMV to get it registered.  I did not look forward to this for a couple of reasons.  First, I knew dealing with the California DMV was usually an unpleasant experience, but mainly I was worried about the title transfer.  When we bought the bike from the dealer, we did not transfer the title but just got a bill of sale, because I didn't want to pay sales tax and license fees in Washington if I was not going to own the bike.  So my name was not on the Oregon title anywhere, but I did have the bill of sale. 

We got to the dreaded place:

 

And found the typical waiting line:

 

However, Jenny had made an appointment, so after we got the bike inspected, I parked it and went back inside to find Jen already waiting with a number to see a DMV agent and being chatted up by this guy.

 

Then we got to the agent, who turned out to be really friendly (she had only been working there for a month, so there is still some time for her to conform):

 

SUCCESS!  The title transfer and registration went really well and we even got the new license plate.  Much relief on both our parts. 

Up to this point, Jen had not ridden the bike, so we went back home and I rode it to a nearby parking lot for her to get acquainted:

 

 

 

Oh good! She liked it.  It has a much lower seat height than the dual sport bike she had been loaned, which is just what a newby needs  (Old guys too, it turns out).  The bike seems very proportionate to her size and she looks good on it.  I just needed to convince her the twin liked a lot more revs than she was used to with the single cylinder loaner and MSF bikes. 

The next day we went for a long ride.  She had never had to deal with a manual choke before (both the loaner and MSF bikes were fuel injected), so we went over choke operation on a cold start:

I brought along Carolyn's helmet so that we could use the intercom to chat while riding:

 

My ride was her loaner Yamaha XT 250.  It was a surprisingly nice bike and would easily keep up with traffic, even on the freeway.  (Granddaughter Adena in the background)

 

We ended up riding 230 miles on Saturday, including a stop at the famous Alice's Restaurant:

 

Note that volunteer maintenance sign on the left:

 

Alice's is a big biker hangout, like the Rock Store in Southern California.  Here is the scene across the street where we stopped:

 

We rode some really Good Roads and Jen did great.......not a threat to Valinteno Rossi in the curves yet, but she goes plenty fast on the highway and seems more used to traffic than I am.  After we got back to her house it was time to celebrate the ride with PBR and pretzels:

 

The next day we went for a shorter ride of about 100 miles up highway 1 to Point Reyes and then over to 101 to return to San Francisco.  I got this shot of Jen at the Golden Gate overlook:

 

That afternoon (Sunday), I rode the XT over to Oakland to return it to her friends.  She is going with them to Death Valley next weekend where she will ride the XT on some of the unpaved roads there.......another new motorcycling experience for her.  Should be fun. 

All the time Jen and I were riding, Carolyn was entertaining the grandkids.  They went to birthday parties, soccer games, and of course, shopping. 

Monday we drove the empty van home and had good weather all the way, as we had all weekend.  It was a great weekend and I loved the chance to ride with my daughter and help a new rider get started. 

Dash Is Complete!

It has taken some time waiting for parts, and lots and lots of labor time, but the dash is finally done.  The ugly hole in the dash where the radio mounting holes had been butchered has been fixed, and the radio installed and checked out with the new speakers.  We used a radio patch plate available for these old Mustangs that should have been welded in before the car was painted, but we didn't know any better then.  Brian came up with a way to fit it onto the dash and spent quite a bit of time cutting and finishing it. 

I also had to get a new wiper switch, a new fog lamp switch, and a new ignition lock tumbler.  The old tumbler was so worn that the key had to be jiggled just right to be able to turn it.  This means there are going to be three keys needed for the car instead of two.......one for the trunk, one for the doors, and one for the ignition. 

The new wiper switch makes the wipers run, but they do not self-park.  The problem is in the motor itself, but a new motor is over $100, and more importantly, is a real bitch to replace now that the wiring harness, steering column, and brake/clutch support bracket is in.  The wipers can be parked pretty well by using the switch to turn them off at the right time.  In my opinion it would be a crime to drive this car in the rain or even on wet roads and get that beautiful clean undercarriage dirty, so no wipers should be needed.  This is pretty unrealistic for a Western Washington car, though. 

Anyway, here are some pictures of the dash:

I feel really relieved to have reached this point.  We have got past what I consider the hard parts because I didn't have much experience with many of the steps that had to be done up to now.  There are still big, expensive jobs to do, but they are either going to be done by somebody else (carpet and headliner), or they are jobs that I have some experience with (engine, clutch, trans, drive line).  I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.