wrenching

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Current status: working on the braking system. Brandon and I gacked up the brake line going to the rear drum brakes, so I’m attempting to replace them. That means unclipping the brake line from the underside of the car. Naturally, I gacked up the clips trying to remove them from the underside of the car, so now I’m attempting to remove them from above — which means I’m now tearing the carpet apart in the interior. Progress?

One step forward, one step back. I was super excited that I finally got the driveshaft into the Mustang, at long last. Well, this evening, I took it back out.

The little clips holding the brake line and the fuel line underneath the car and in the transmission tunnel are kicking my ass. After hooking up the parking brake, I decided that I needed more space in order to deal with the clips, so I undid the parking brake and removed the driveshaft. I still haven’t managed to remove those little clips yet. Fuck me.

At this rate, I don’t stand a chance of getting this car running in time for the local autocross this weekend.

The frustrating thing is that there really isn’t all that much left keeping the car from driving out of the garage. It’s just literally taking me weeks upon weeks to do simple things that most competent wrenches could turn out in a single weekend. Here’s the list of things I need to do to make the car drivable:

  1. Install the driveshaft.
  2. Hook up the parking brake.
  3. Install the exhaust/
  4. Tuck in the wiring underneath the dash.
  5. Replace the brake lines, bleed the braking system.
  6. Hook up and bleed the clutch hydraulics.
  7. Install the center console and shift lever.
  8. Install the seats.

Like I said, not much needs to be done. At this rate, though, it’s gonna take me another three weeks to finish the car…

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New driveshaft yoke was installed on to the shortened driveshaft that Mike gave to me, so a piece of his old Mustang lives on in mine. I need to replace some of the hardware before I can state that the drivetrain is completely done, but I can smell the finish line now. I can’t wait to drive this car with an overdrive gear, gear ratios that make sense, and a limited slip diff in the back. The race is on to see if I can get this car running and driving for the local autocross event this Sunday at Schoolcraft…

Progress on the Mustang was slow this weekend. I bailed on the Pittsburgh Match Tour to wrench on the Mustang in hopes of getting the car running for the New Jersey Pro, but I’ve finally accepted that the car just won’t be ready. It kills me to do it, but I’ve decided to cancel my entry to the New Jersey Pro and keep working on the Mustang instead of subbing my Miata in as my Pro Solo entry. I just have to put in new brake lines, install and bleed the hydraulic lines for the clutch, install the driveshaft, install the new seats, and reinstall the hood. At this rate, it will take me three weeks to do all of that.

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Thanks to “Brad” at Tire Rack for helping me get this order put together. It’s a set of 16×8″ American Racing wheels with RE-71Rs mounted. At 26 pounds a wheel, this is also the heaviest wheel I’ve ever willingly purchased for any car. Still, I’m hoping that I can bring the Mustang out to the NJ Pro Solo, and have canceled my entry for this weekend’s Pittsburgh Match Tour in order to get some more wrenching time in on the Mustang. We’ll see if I get the Mustang running in time or not to use this sweet rubber, or if I’ll have to bring the Miata instead…

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Dragged the tire trailer out from the backyard, and installed the trailer wiring harness on the Fiesta ST. My trailer may not be as fancy or as good-looking as those newfangled Leroy tire trailers, but dagummit, my ugly trailer can haul two sets of wheels and tires in a pinch. Also, I have new 245 width tires for the Miata to make the car legal for T5 for this weekend’s time trials at Gingerman. Time to hit up the tire shop tomorrow morning…

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Roll bar is fitted to the car. Just need to anchor the footwell plate for the petty bar and drill out a snapped bolt (fuck), and the roll bar install will be complete. Just in time, hopefully, for the SCCA Time Trials at Gingerman this weekend.

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I finally unboxed my Hard Dog roll bar. I bought this roll bar years ago for the NC with the intention of retiring it from autocross duty, but I never got around to it. I sold the Miata to Shane and shoved the thing into storage in my garage. Now I have the car back, so I guess it’s time to continue the original plans I had years ago for the car…

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Trying to keep up the momentum by wrenching on the Mustang whenever I have moments of free time. Decided to install the rally odometer and the stopwatch to the glovebox door. Looks pretty sweet if I might say so myself. Not that this equipment will really help Brandon and I, as we’re both buffoons, but at least the car will look and feel vintage rally-ish when we’re driving around lost.

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At long last, the T5z transmission is in the car and bolted to the engine! Thanks goes out to Jason Nixon for helping me out today with the install. It only took me over a year to get to this point, haha.