94 Mustang rejuvenation
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mustanggarage
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true, lol, but then we would just get more spammers.
well if anyone who reads this thread has ever installed lowering springs on the front of one of these cars they will know that I have never done it before or I would not have been so optimistic yesterday lol. no this did not go easier than the rear springs in fact it took me even longer to finish. but I did get it done.
first I put it up on the lift, pulled the front wheels, and then put a jack under the lower control arm to load the spring. then I removed the upper strut nut with a 1/2 inch drive impact. so far so good. then I removed the abs mounting bracket, and the two bolts holding the strut and removed the strut. easy peazy. then I removed the 2 15 mm bolts holding the brake caliper in place and wired it up out of the way. then I removed the abs sensor, then the sway bar nut and dropped the jack. then I simply removed the spring,,,, ok not so simply. I pried and cussed and pried and could not get the spring out. so I went to oreilly's and rented an external spring compressor and came back and could not get it to work. so I just tied a ratchet strap on it to keep it from exploding out at me if it should suddenly give way and just let my mad out and pried it with two long pry bars until it finally came out. that took me hours. so then I cleaned it up and went to put the new spring back in. I decided to leave what I thought was a spring isolator in the control arm but there was simply no way to get the spring in there. so I decided to remove the isolator. that was when I finally realized why it was so hard to get the spring out. I drove a 3 inch pry bar under that isolator and pried it up, put in another and drove it in, pried up, and slowly moved around until I finally got that stupid thing out. this is what I found.
It wasn't a spring isolator, and if I had ever done this job before I would have known that lol. the stupid spring had rusted so bad it was rusted in two. I literally had to pry that last ring of the spring out of the a arm like it had been welded in there. It should have just fallen out. I think that the previous owner must have parked this car with the drivers side facing north for years and let snow and crap just rust that side completely. it was the drivers side in the rear that was the worst as well.
anyway I finally after several hours got the new spring in, unfortunately I discovered that the drivers side ball joint was also shot. so I asked my wife to go back to oreillys and get 2 ball joints and there ball joint compressor. in the meantime, I pulled the other side apart, it was so much easier, it was like I had done it before lol. then I watched a couple utube videos and tried to replace the ball joints. unfortunately the ball joint compressor was not big enough. the hole that the ball joint stud was supposed to fit through was too small. I made it work anyway. but it was a struggle. I had to get out my big breaker bar to get the old ones out and new ones pressed in.
but once I finally got those replaced I went back to oreilly for another trip, took back my rented tools and got some new sway bar endlinks. came back and put everything back together. several mistakes putting things back together. of course. important safety note, you can't get the stupid abs sensor back in if you have re-installed the strut already.
anyway I did get it back together.
then while I still had it on the lift I replaced the broken drivers side fog light with the new assembly I got from late model restoration. and finally put the wheels back on, dropped it to the ground and torqued the wheels back on.
well if anyone who reads this thread has ever installed lowering springs on the front of one of these cars they will know that I have never done it before or I would not have been so optimistic yesterday lol. no this did not go easier than the rear springs in fact it took me even longer to finish. but I did get it done.
first I put it up on the lift, pulled the front wheels, and then put a jack under the lower control arm to load the spring. then I removed the upper strut nut with a 1/2 inch drive impact. so far so good. then I removed the abs mounting bracket, and the two bolts holding the strut and removed the strut. easy peazy. then I removed the 2 15 mm bolts holding the brake caliper in place and wired it up out of the way. then I removed the abs sensor, then the sway bar nut and dropped the jack. then I simply removed the spring,,,, ok not so simply. I pried and cussed and pried and could not get the spring out. so I went to oreilly's and rented an external spring compressor and came back and could not get it to work. so I just tied a ratchet strap on it to keep it from exploding out at me if it should suddenly give way and just let my mad out and pried it with two long pry bars until it finally came out. that took me hours. so then I cleaned it up and went to put the new spring back in. I decided to leave what I thought was a spring isolator in the control arm but there was simply no way to get the spring in there. so I decided to remove the isolator. that was when I finally realized why it was so hard to get the spring out. I drove a 3 inch pry bar under that isolator and pried it up, put in another and drove it in, pried up, and slowly moved around until I finally got that stupid thing out. this is what I found.
It wasn't a spring isolator, and if I had ever done this job before I would have known that lol. the stupid spring had rusted so bad it was rusted in two. I literally had to pry that last ring of the spring out of the a arm like it had been welded in there. It should have just fallen out. I think that the previous owner must have parked this car with the drivers side facing north for years and let snow and crap just rust that side completely. it was the drivers side in the rear that was the worst as well.
anyway I finally after several hours got the new spring in, unfortunately I discovered that the drivers side ball joint was also shot. so I asked my wife to go back to oreillys and get 2 ball joints and there ball joint compressor. in the meantime, I pulled the other side apart, it was so much easier, it was like I had done it before lol. then I watched a couple utube videos and tried to replace the ball joints. unfortunately the ball joint compressor was not big enough. the hole that the ball joint stud was supposed to fit through was too small. I made it work anyway. but it was a struggle. I had to get out my big breaker bar to get the old ones out and new ones pressed in.
but once I finally got those replaced I went back to oreilly for another trip, took back my rented tools and got some new sway bar endlinks. came back and put everything back together. several mistakes putting things back together. of course. important safety note, you can't get the stupid abs sensor back in if you have re-installed the strut already.
anyway I did get it back together.
then while I still had it on the lift I replaced the broken drivers side fog light with the new assembly I got from late model restoration. and finally put the wheels back on, dropped it to the ground and torqued the wheels back on.
That was the problem I had with the 60s Mustangs. They rode like a truck. And they were only a Falcon with different skin. Did not handle well either at high speed.
mustanggarage
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The odometer says 78,000. But the car looked like it has seen a lot more than. That to me
As far as the ride. I finished the suspension at about 12:30 last night and got it off the lift. That is as far as it has moved. I will have to let you know about that later
mustanggarage
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ok. well I took it for a drive tonight. the ride does not seem to have been adversely affected. it still rides fine. it handles better. the suspension feels tighter, less wallowing etc. no tire rubbing around corners yet either. so, I will have to take it on a longer drive to say much more than that. but there was obviously some seriously worn components in the suspension so I am sure it will be more apparent when I have a chance to drive it more. btw here is a finished pic after my test drive.
mustanggarage
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just the joys of living on a gravel road. I usually clean the car before I take pictures.
O
oldognewtrick
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With those spoke wheels, powder coating the calipers would make them pop, says the armchair quarterback...
mustanggarage
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yeah I considered painting them with caliper paint. but it was getting late. I plan to upgrade the brakes with some nice slotted and crossdrilled rotors and pads, I will probably get the powdercoated covers for the rotors at that time. in order to powder coat the calipers though you have to remove them from the car, thoroughly clean out all the brake fluid, dissasemble them and replace all the seals after you bake them because the baking process tends to dry out and crack seals. so it is a pretty involved process. paint or covers is much easier.
mustanggarage
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I got the Hinge on the drivers side replaced tonight. that was a minor pain, but we got it. I also took my Dad and daughter home tonight. it was A LOT of weight. and no rubbing. I am very pleased with the way the car handles now.
mustanggarage
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the short answer is yes. many aluminum wheels come powder coated. the same things apply with the caveat that aluminum must be very clean the oxidation must be removed. all polish etc. must be removed. I believe eastwood PRE is ok to use on aluminum but some kind of solvent should be used to make sure it is clean. I don't know about pot metal. I guess as long as the melting point is over 400 it should be ok.
mustanggarage
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ok. well as I said I had considered using those covers. but I found they cost 199.00. then I decided to paint them. but that will require a lot of cleaning, waiting for it to dry. painting, waiting for it to dry. etc. then the paint may or may not stay on. but instead I found a kit from auto anything that includes new powder coated calipers for less than the cost of the covers. so I ordered this set that has new zinc coated rotors, new pads and new powder coated calipers. I also bought some caliper decals to put on them. I will hopefully get them installed this weekend. but I decided to post a little preview of coming attractions. also this weekend my oldest daughter wanted to go for a ride with the top down.
here are a couple pictures.
here is my wife driving the car for the first time.
here are a couple pictures.
here is my wife driving the car for the first time.
mustanggarage
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next up for how to spend money and time on the mustang.
I chose the powerstop z26 option with powder coated calipers for many reasons. I researched several options. first the ever popular cobra brake option. going with that option from late model restoration would be around 1400.00 for front and rear. Or if I could find them on ebay I could possibly have gotten used brakes for a bit cheaper. The Baer and wilwood options were very similar in cost. I also considered just getting new pads and rotors and buying those caliper covers. I decided that option was just too rice for me. I considered painting the calipers and that was actually the way I planned to go until I found this kit on auto anything. It has new powdercoated calipers and nice zinc coated rotors and pads. I have the same pads and rotors on my 89 convertible and they have worked well there so I am sure these will be more than adequate for my purposes. This car is primarily a driver so buying the big brake kits would be solely an ego thing. totally for appearance and I decided that thousand extra dollars it would cost me was not worth it to me. so here it is.
now I need to bleed the brakes and bed the pads.
I chose the powerstop z26 option with powder coated calipers for many reasons. I researched several options. first the ever popular cobra brake option. going with that option from late model restoration would be around 1400.00 for front and rear. Or if I could find them on ebay I could possibly have gotten used brakes for a bit cheaper. The Baer and wilwood options were very similar in cost. I also considered just getting new pads and rotors and buying those caliper covers. I decided that option was just too rice for me. I considered painting the calipers and that was actually the way I planned to go until I found this kit on auto anything. It has new powdercoated calipers and nice zinc coated rotors and pads. I have the same pads and rotors on my 89 convertible and they have worked well there so I am sure these will be more than adequate for my purposes. This car is primarily a driver so buying the big brake kits would be solely an ego thing. totally for appearance and I decided that thousand extra dollars it would cost me was not worth it to me. so here it is.
now I need to bleed the brakes and bed the pads.
