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Kats Project

Drum brakes do work, as Pete said they do get hot when used hard and a lot and that will lead to fade but under normal use you should be able to lock up all four when panic stopping. Drag racers in the 60's used to take the disc brakes off and use drums because they have less drag on the drum than pads on a rotor but trust me, you can only stop from high speed once, then they need to cool off before you try it again!
The shoes need to be adjusted so that they are close to the drum. The self adjuster works when you brake in reverse. They rust and maybe haven't been adjusted properly to start with. Also the single master cylinder doesn't have any safety factor, you may want to upgrade to a 67 or later dual bowl MC. Non-power brakes do take more effort but shouldn't go to the floor.
 
brakes

yeah, a large pair of channel locks(something else to add to your tool collection) or looks like you could almost use an oil filter wrench to get that cap off!
The site I've listed is where I purchased my brake parts. I believe his name is Dan, he is really nice and knowledgeable~ just a good ole down to earth guy! Again, get that stang up on stands, take the wheels/drums off and see what's going on. Drum parts aren't terribly expensive including new drums to boot, unless you want to upgrade to front disc brakes! When you replace the old(new)single cylinder master cyclinder with a dual, you'll have to do some new plumbing of brake lines. If you're brake lines are original, then they need replacing anyway. You don't want 40plus year brake lines. Hey, it all adds up I tell ya! lol

Have you set a cost of what you don't mind investing into your project? Generally a long term project they are, but insidiously drain a bank account~ but it's FUN RIGHT!!! :craz Seriously, would you spend an additional 15k on your project?
For me, my garage and my stang is my retreat and my stang keeps my mind thinking/pondering/and the challenge keeps me sharp and my knowledge base in always increasing~ at least about '67 Mustangs! :ecit
dne'

http://stores.ebay.com/CHOCKOSTANG-CLASSIC-MUSTANG
 
The lines don't look at that old at all, so I don't think they are original. I don't think there is much of any original mechanical/electrical left in the car. Either way, I was going to buy new drums to all 4 wheels, and new lines, as well as a dual bowl MC... just so I have the peace of mind knowing it's all new.

I'll probably spend 5-10k on this car over the next few years. I'm not going to go all out on the car and make it super nice or anything. Just functional and look decent.
 
see if some huge muscle man can get the lid off
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Did someone call me? LOL

and

Aren't most men intimated by boobs?
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Not intimidated. Mesmerized. Especially if they're bouncing.


The OE style master cylinder installed on your car does appear new. Yes, they will develop surface rust very quickly on the bare metal. The lines look new, but I noticed in the picture of your recently installed drivers side front spring that where the brake line goes through the shock tower there doesn't appear to be a rubber isolator preventing the hard brake line from chaffing on the hole in the shock tower. If this is correct, install a rubber isolator and check the other side for a similar situation.

As with a LOT of these older cars it appears that your previous owner had good intentions.... but he just went about it in half-ass fashion. There looks to be a LOT of little things that'll need to be addressed before this car is "roadworthy".

Triple check your re-located trunk mounted battery to ensure that the POS cable is routed cleanly/professionally. If it looks like it could chaff on the body anywhere.... fix this immediately as it could end up burning your whole darn house down. The bungy cord securing the battery to the trunk floor will only slow the battery down for a few milli-seconds before the battery comes crashing through the windshield in an abrupt stop/frontend collision.... hopefully not taking someones head off with it. Checkout some trunk mounted battery installation kits. Summit/Jegs sell them and they'll properly secure the battery through the frame rail. A trunk mounted "wet" battery should be in a vented enclosed box to prevent dangerous fumes from entering the passenger compartment. If you're staying with that battery, box it and vent it. A "dry" battery, such as an Optima Red Top, is a gel celled battery and doesn't produce fumes/need a box.

The trunk panel kill switch should be fairly simple to remove, but I'm betting that your main dash harness up under the dash has probably been hacked into on more than one occasion. One of the posters here, Midlife, dabbles with the restoration of these underdash harnesses. Take a look up under your dash to verify the integrity of you dash harness. If it's questionable, contact Midlife and he'll assist you with a quality repair at the best price in the industry.

You pulling frontend is likely one of three things. Either a bad tire (underinflated maybe?..... possible, but doubtful), mis-aligned frontend or something is sticking such as improperly adjusted/serviced/worn front hub bearings or brake shoes. This should be an easy fix. Dis-assemble the drivers side front brake/hub. Inspect and re-assemble as per repair manual. This should be done regardless of the "pulling" to one side. If the hub/brake work doesn't solve the problem it's most likely an alignment issue. Check carefully in your area for a shop that understands how to align classic cars. The $59.99 alignment shop likely won't have a clue what they're looking at as adjustments to align modern vehicles are considerably different.

With those small holes in your trunk area.... even with a perfectly functioning exhaust system.... you'll likely smell exhaust fumes inside the passenger compartment while driving. Keep the windows rolled down and drive faster.... or get the holes fixed.

The headlight bucket.... the headlight "door" is attached to the headlight bucket with 4 screws. Remove these screws and the door will come off. You'll see that the top inboard corner of your headlight bucket is cracked/broken. There's a somewhat recent discussion of repairing headlight buckets in the Paint/Body section of this forum. Replacement reproduction headlight buckets fit poorly. Try to repair yours or replace it with an original crack-free one (good luck finding one).

Your hood alignment..... try spraying some WD-40 on the joints of the hinge mechanisms to ensure they are operating freely before trying to adjust them. If this doesn't work..... open your hood all of the way and prop it open with a broomstick..... slightly loosen the three bolts (each side) securing the hinges to the inner fender apron..... lift up on the front of the hood (opening it a tad further than it was)... tighten the hinges back down and check the hood alignment by carefully (read.... slowly) closing the hood. Repeat as necessary to achieve the desired results.

Don't worry about your "newby" status. At one time we were all just as confused as you. Well, not me specifically, but most of these other guys.
 
The lines look new, but I noticed in the picture of your recently installed drivers side front spring that where the brake line goes through the shock tower there doesn't appear to be a rubber isolator preventing the hard brake line from chaffing on the hole in the shock tower. If this is correct, install a rubber isolator and check the other side for a similar situation.
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Ahh ok so what you're saying is have to put on a rubber for protection and it will stop chaffing of the hole? :rofl Sorry, too much coffee this morning. :craz
I doubled checked and there isn't a little rubber isolator at all. Something else to add to the list to get.

The bungy cord securing the battery to the trunk floor will only slow the battery down for a few milli-seconds before the battery comes crashing through the windshield in an abrupt stop/frontend collision....
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Wow, I didn't even think about that!! Thanks for bringing that to my attention!

Looks likes I have a few things I'll have to mess around with this week.
 
HA! Well might have figured out the issue with the drifting to the right. I read somewhere that if one of the rear leaf springs was funky, it could cause problems in the front on the opposite side. So I took a peek. Looks like the PO was attempting to tighten up the rear suspension with coil springs.

Rear Drivers side - At the top of the spring has an uhh insulator thingamabob :lol at the top which touches under the car.
IMG_3939.jpg


Yet the other side in the rear, there is the coil spring but nothing on top of it. Its just sitting there doing nothing it seems.
IMG_3941.jpg


Not really fond of how he attached the springs either. :amaz I guess I can just remove those springs in the back assuming the leaf springs are still ok?
 
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Those are the typical bolt on overload springs. They are attached as designed and the one is missing the bumper on the top. Removing them may cause the car to track straighter but will also allow the rear to drop, even with only one doing anything. Check the leaves from the side and see if any show a break too. Broken leaves ane not fun.

Looks like new rear springs will move up the line of replacement now.
 
Well that's about the darndest things I've ever seen! Was a PO trying to be cheap by not replacing the rear leaf springs? Leaf springs aren't terribly expensive, but then you open another can of worms with the famous thoughtn saying "while I'm at it, I may as well~" may as well replace the shocks, the rear brake lines if they haven't(espcially the flex line), the U-bolts, be a good time to clean up the rear axle and pretty it up, etc. And then starts a new topic for you, How do I want my stang's stance, what springs? or heck, take the coil springs out and see how it sits. With something like that, I'm sure you'll find more strange modifications! lol

I'd take those coil springs off~!
 
Overload coil springs... AND air shocks.

When you remove the air shocks inspect the car's sheet metal around the shocks upper attach point. The sheet metal in this area wasn't designed to support the weight of the vehicle and using air shocks usually results in cracks developing in the sheet metal. Easy enough to fix, just check for it before installing conventional shocks.
 
All looked ok underneath. We removed the springs and bled the brakes tonight. Now we have another problem. We took it around the block to check the brakes - working way better than before and pulling to right is almost gone now - but as we pulled into the garage, the lines from the trans cooler (the ones a few inches off the ground) caught on the cement floor and SPLOOOOSH, fluid gushed every where, lines got bent all to hell. Oops. Guess should have lifted those sooner than later. :lol Lesson learned!
 
Export brace on. Almost. I still need to do some adjusting to get it to fit right on the cowl. I figure if I put some jack stands underneath the door area and let the front of the car hang a bit, it should be enough to move to brace and get bolts in it. Suprisingly, it wasn't too bad getting it on the shock towers. There is one bolt on the tower that isn't wanting to cooperate so trying to use a flathead screwdriver wedged up in there to get the nut tightened down.

brace.jpg
 
I love the BFH. :coo
1:27am... Export brace is finally fully on. Oh my word that was a royal pain in the butt, but not as bad as I was expecting!
 
Why bother with a fender cover. There's already has dents and scratches and good chance fenders will be replaced. Now if the body work was done and nice paint job, then I'd care. :lol
 
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