Chasing Bugs

I expected there would be bugs to iron out in the car and I haven't been disappointed.  I had a list of things I knew I still needed to do, but most of them have been postponed due to unexpected problems that have come up.  One of the first was a failure of a brand new voltage regulator.  I had replaced the original one that looked new enough to re-use, but I felt that it might have been overcharging the battery (I have since learned the voltage reading on the voltmeter was normal.)  So I bought a modern digital voltmeter, but within a few days the battery was completely dead.  Using suggestions I found on the internet I traced the short to the new voltage regulator that was replaced under warranty.  Another unexpected problem was that the new starter sometimes failed to engage the flywheel, causing a grinding noise and failure to start.  When I first installed the starter it was obvious it did not fit quite right, being too big for the hole in the engine plate shown in this picture (at the top):

My solution was to take a grinder and grind the flange on the starter down to a size that would fit, but when it started 'skipping' I took it back and got another one.  The second one also was too big for the hole, but it was closer.  I just filed it down some and put it in.  This one did the same thing, and it got worse.  I was afraid it was damaging the teeth on the flywheel, and it was obvious it was not just a defective starter, but probably due to it not fitting properly even after my attempts to modify it.  For some reason, the hole in the engine plate was exactly 4 inches in diameter, while all the replacement parts called for a 4.5 diameter starter, although the two I had tried varied from about 4.25 to 4-1/8.  I made a template of the mounting plate and took it to a different car parts place:

The counter guy kept bringing out starters from different model years until after the third or fourth one we go one that fit the template.  I believe it was from a 1977 model.......don't have a clue why this happened except there must have been a change to the car sometime when it was not in my hands.
Since I installed that starter I have had no problems........with the starter, anyway.  The next problem I had was that the driver's side window came off the track when I went to roll it up on a particularly cold morning.  Got that problem fixed but then we had a stretch of warm weather and I noticed the temp gage starting to creep up when I had the car idling for a long period.  On top of that, when the temp went up, the heater core started to leak; probably due to the increased pressure in the cooling system.  The heater core was the original one that came with the car and I had flushed it a bunch of times and tested it for leaks, but I guess it wasn't up to handling the added pressure.  My local Mustang expert told me the fan was too far away from the radiator and was drawing air from the side, rather than through the radiator.  I needed a longer fan spacer.  Since replacing the fan spacer and the heater core both required draining the coolant, I decided to do both those jobs at the same time.  I also had to remove the console to get the heater box out, so I decided that would be good time to try to get some sort of antenna on the radio, which was blocked by the console.  I replaced the one inch fan spacer with a 2-1/2 inch one, which brought the fan to one inch from the radiator:

  Old fan spacer

 

New fan spacer painted Ford blue

 

I bought an antenna wire and after plugging it into the back of the radio I got reception.  The problem is that I think the reception would be better if the antenna was outside the car, but Brian didn't want a hole in the fender for an antenna, so we will see what kind of reception we get with running the antenna under the console. 

 

The good news is that the motor continues to run well and sound great.  I think it might be running a little rich, due to adding an air cleaner and different exhaust than was on the motor when it was dyno'd.  I plan to take it back to Tom's Performance for a final carb adjustment. 

 

Also, the brakes are bedding in well, and stopping is not problem.  I have almost 400 miles on the car now, and as I get more used to it I find it more  and more fun to drive......real old school, but fun.