Disc Brakes

I want to convert the front brakes to disc but I would also like to keep the 14" wheels and tires that I have on here now. I read a few posts that some 14" wheels will not work when converting to disc brakes. I need to figure out if these wheels are reproduction or not to assist in figuring out what brake conversions will work

Spare parts

I looked at the contents of some boxes that came with the car. There was an old carburetor, carburetor rebuild kit, distributor cap , ignition wires and voltage regulator. I think these parts have all been replaced but I need to verify that. , manual for heater core and some used engine parts. There are a few pieces that I have not identified, some look like internal engine components.

Heater

Before


After




The heater air plenum assembly is torn so I ordered a new one from California Mustang. I had to remove the heater box to replace the plenum so I stripped and painted the blower motor, and vent door. I also saw some surface rust under the dash that I removed using rust reformer and painted.

AM Radio

I took the radio out to see why it is not working. No wires are connected to it. The antenna wire is where it should be and appears intact. The speaker wires were cut and I am not sure which of the unattached wires under the dash are for the radio power and radio light. The connectors I have in my kit are not the right size to fit the ones on the radio so I need to buy some more. I also found this zip file of wiring pictures which will help me.

I bought some 18 - 22 gauge connectors and wire at the local Radio Shack. Using a voltmeter I found an unattached wire that is connected to the ignition switch and used that to power the radio. The radio is now working but since it is AM only will most likely be replaced.

Cigarette lighter

I can not figure out how to attach the cigarette lighter to the dash. I may be missing a piece.

Here is what I have, I am calling the thing on the left the lighter and the thing on the right a socket.

The lighter fits into the socket and the socket fits into a hole near the ashtrasy.


My problem is there is nothing holding the socket in the hole. I am missing a retainer so I bought a new socket and retainer from California Mustang.

Driver's Seat

My first project was to figure out why the driver's seat was so hard to adjust for different size drivers. I found this helpful link about restoring seat tracks and thought this will be easy.

There are supposed to be four 1/2 nuts that hold on the driver's seat that you need to get under the car to loosen. Mine only had three.

With the seat out of the car I see that the parts of the left rail does not always unlock when the lever is pressed and the right rail gets caught on the wire that attaches to the left rail. This is because the left rail is loose even with the bolts still on it.
After removing the seat tracks I noticed one of the welds on the bottom seat frame broke. This is most likely the cause of the hard to move seat. I either need to learn to weld and buy a welder or have somebody fix this.

While bending the tabs on the seat tracks to release them I broke the tab off. I do not think this will matter because the screw that attaches the track to the base will keep the bearing from falling out.

One of the nylon tabs on the rail was missing and I could not find any for sale on line so I made my own by carving up a plastic hanger.

Here are the frame rails parts before cleaning and painting.


The seat cover, pad and felt and burlap are attached to the frame with hog rings.


I removed all of the flammable stuff from the seat bottom so I can take the frame to a welder to fix the weld that failed.


The owner of a local auto repair shop welded the seat base back together. I cleaned up and repainted the base and tracks. I bought hog rings and pliers from CJ Pony Parts and put the original burlap, felt, cushion and cover back over the base. The cover has some small tears on the side and back but not very noticeable.

I put the tracks and springs back on and now they move freely.

Expenses for seat

• Welding $20 (Bill said he would do it for free but I felt I had to give him something)
• Hog rings and pliers $20.95 (this will also be used when replacing the rear seat cover)
  
• Front Seat Mounting Nuts (4) $7.00

I bought a new toy

I just bought a 1967 Mustang with 289 that I found on craigs list. It is drivable and looks great from ten feet away but there are many issues with this car including these hopefully easy projects

• Driver seat hard to adjust
• Radio does not work
• Cigarette lighter not attached
• Washer pump does not work
• Tear in rear seat
• Trunk not aligned perfectly
• Hood not aligned perfectly
• Engine compartment may not have been cleaned in over 40 years.
  

Long Term Goals

• Hire somebody to paint the exterior
• Needs new interior paint
• Convert at least front brakes to disc
• Add duel exhaust and headers

There are other issues like rust (hopefully just surface rust but need to tear off some trim to verify).

I will try to post my progress here.