welcome to the doghouse

[havasu]

Oh, I am so jealous of you! That has always been my dream purchase, but until I buy some land, it's just not worth it. Congrats, now go dig a hole for me!

 

[mustanggarage]

I decided to build the engine for the 67 this weekend. I had my daughter and son out helping, and my dad was making sure everything was done right. my daughter is 12 and small for her age but she torqued the main caps to 70 foot pounds and installed the pistons. We would have finished but the darn push rods they sent me were for a 302 with hydraulic lifters not the roller lifters so I had to order new ones then we can button up the top end and it will be ready to drop in the car when everything else is ready.

I got my son involved also but my daughter was taking pictures of the engine not the people so I did not get a good pic of him

 

[havasu]

You are giving the kids lifelong memories. I wish more dad's would spend time including kids, especially girls, with some serious wrenching. I did the same for my daughter and now that she is grown up, she has no problem installing a dead battery, changing a flat, and being able to diagnose her own car problems.

 

[mustanggarage]

I agree. the kids are not real excited about it of course but once I get them out there they seem to enjoy it. and I am sure that later on they will look back on it with pride and know that they helped. also as you mentioned familiarizing with tools is never wasted.

the engine is finished with the exception of the distributor it is on back order. I also ordered a set of shorty headers that I will install soon. I will post up some pics of the finished product at that time.:thumbsup:

 

[mustanggarage]

well the skid loader has definitely earned its keep so far this year. It took me an hour to clean my drive this morning but I was able to do it. I would have been walking to the main road, about 3/4 of a mile to get a ride if I had not had it.

btw 3/4 of a mile is a nice short walk in the summer with the dogs. I do it for fun several times a week. in the winter, during a blizzard, through snow my 3/4 ton truck can't drive through and wind blowing so hard you feel like your face is being sandblasted, 3/4 of a mile is a long dang ways, so I'm very happy to have the skid loader today. to my wife once again.

 

[mustanggarage]

I was looking on craigslist the other day and I found a guy selling some bowling alley lanes. I bought 10 feet of it not really knowing what I wanted to do with it. I also have been planning on rebuilding the AOD for my daughters mustang. I bought a video for it and they had a table with a hole cut in it for rebuilding the transmission. I decided to build a rolling table for doing projects, the aod to start and other things later. I started by lap jointing 3 2x4's together with construction adhesive and 3 inch deck screws. these formed the legs and the cross pieces were lap jointed into them. the same with the horizontals. everything was glued and screwed. then I put the bowling lane top on it and sanded it smooth put 12 coats of minwax on it. some locking casters and I have a nice mobile work table. I stood on it tonight and lifted the transmission up to rest on the bell housing. it is rock solid. it will be nice to have. and it fits in the spot next to my table saw so I don't lose too much space in between projects.

here is the start of the teardown. I just wanted to get the pan off to see if this transmission was worth rebuilding. I bought both the engine and transmission off ebay for 450.00 and honestly from the look of the internals on both I think I could have hosed them off and bolted them in. but I am going to continue the rebuild on this as much for the experience as anything. but the pan was flat clean, no metal no burnt smell all in all I think a great core. so was the engine. :rockin:

for valentines my sweet wife had this waiting for me in my shop when I got home. what can I say I am a lucky man.

 

[havasu]

I would love to have a good parts washer like that! I sure hope you reciprocated equally!

 

[mustanggarage]

sadly no. warning long story ahead lol. the other day my daughter was home alone and heard a loud bang in the attached garage (the wifes garage). she did not go out to see what it was. about a half hour later my wife came home opened the door and it did not open all the way apparently and you can guess what happened. anyway we have to replace the door track etc. tommorrow. she said that this could be our valentines gift to each other because it was going to be over 1300.00 and we are going on vacation thursday. anyway I fortunately did not completely fall for that I bought her roses candy and a card, but I certainly got the better end of the deal. I will have to make it up somehow.

 

[havasu]

I hate when crap happens!

 

[mustanggarage]

I did some rearranging yesterday. I am getting ready to do some major work on the 67 mustang. I ordered some parts today. I need to have the 67 in the shop so I can work on it so I put it in the bubble and parked the 65 in my big haulmark enclosed trailer. it makes for a nice one car garage in a pinch. I have it all blocked up nice so I can drive in and out when I want to take the stang for a spin. and now I can push the 67 out to work on it. :rockin: first step is to finish the front suspension. I just put the old stuff back on it to get it moved on to the trailer, now I will replace the whole front suspension and install the rack and pinion steering. then the brakes and electrical. My plan is to get the engine in and running this year. after that it will just be finishing up the interior and exterior trim. cubic dollars that's all it takes, but I am financing this as I go. no borrowing, no credit cards so it will just have to come as finances allow. wish me luck.:thumbsup:

 

[havasu]

Sounds like you are doing the build the right way! We'll be waiting here for some great results!

 

[mustanggarage]

It has been a long process but I paid off the body shop last month. I told the guy I wanted to pay as I go and if I get behind let me know so I can pay more so I don't end up with a big bill at the end. well that didn't work out so well. he did not have it figured right so I still ended up with a good sized bill at the end. anyway since I told him from the beginning how I wanted to do it and it was his mistake, he was good about letting me make payments until it was paid with no interest. and he did such an excellent job on it even though it cost way more than I thought it would I am happy. but now that bill is paid so it is on to the next installment.

since I don't have any pictures of the 67 in the shop yet and I wanted to put this picture in my "garage blog" I will just add this bit of gratuitous mustang garage photography.

taken while getting the stang show ready. it is really nice to polish the wheels and tires, clean the undercarriage and polish the rocker panels up on the lift.

 

[havasu]

Damn, she sure is shiny!

 

[mustanggarage]

no pictures yet but we finished rebuilding the AOD transmission. it went very well. much easier than I was really expecting. we planned to do it in 2 evenings but finished it easily in one. the transmission was actually in amazingly good condition. I also powder coated the transmission pan. Since I got my yearly savings back from the government lol, plus my annual bonus that I have taken from my check I bought a bunch of car parts. this week I will be getting lots done. I plan to have the engine and transmission in the car next week. it of course will not be nearly ready to run but it will be a major step forward. lots of pictures to follow.:thumbsup:

 

[mustanggarage]

we got a lot done the last few days. we still have a long, long way to go, but big progress nonetheless. here are some update pictures.

Christmas comes early to the mustang

garage.

here is a look under the car after we pulled all the old front suspension off. as you can see the underside has been coated in rhino-lining for sound suppression and to prevent rock damage.

after the new upper and lower control arms, shocks, and rack and pinion conversion were installed. I pulled the truck back in, with the car lifted I can still park both my trucks in the garage. :thumbsup:

after all new suspension is on.

 

[havasu]

I'm sure glad you washed the truck for the last picture. I was about to call you a slacker!

Really, really nice so far!

 

[mustanggarage]

ok. yesterday we installed the pedal support, the powerbrake booster and master cylinder. modified and installed the steering column. installed the lokar gas pedal. and put the march serpentine setup on the engine.

today we put the rear main seal in the engine and installed the engine and transmission.

this is my redneck transmission jack. a little funky and clunky but it did the job.

There's Dad telling my Daughter how it's done..

big steps. we also mounted the new fuse box so I have a massive pile of spaghetti inside the car now.

and there she is sitting in place at last. a long way to go till it's ready to fire up, but dang it looks good in there.:rockin::rockin:

heres my Dad enjoying a job well done.

I also did a lot of little projects along the way. powdercoating the shock mounts and the tie rod adjusters etc. etc.

what a great feeling, and a little shop kudos. My Dad said "man it is great having this shop. If I had had a place like this back when I was wrenching for a living I would have thought I had died and gone to heaven. I have to agree. the shop works well. the tools are well organized, we have pretty much everything we need and it just makes very difficult jobs so easy.

I mean like I can remember just struggling to get the stupid starter installed on my 65. today it was just not even a challenge. It is so nice having the shop I have always wanted.

 

[mustanggarage]

I'm sure glad you washed the truck for the last picture. I was about to call you a slacker!

Really, really nice so far!

yeah, that is one thing that sucks about my place. we live on a dirt road and it is impossible to keep a car clean for any period of time.

 

[havasu]

I had to laugh at that transmission jack. I once needed to use my motorcycle lift to mount my upper cabinets in my kitchen. As they say, "A mans gotta do what a man gotta do!"

Love the pics....keep 'em coming!

 

[mustanggarage]

I seriously hate wiring. and as far as the motorcycle lift thing. Hey if you have got a tool that makes the job easier go for it. That way your wife will be glad or at least less annoyed by all the tools you buy. you can say hey remember that time I used my motorcycle lift to hang those cabinets. tools are never a waste of money.:thumbsup: