I wrote this snippet back on April 27th. I decided to hold off on posting it to see if there would be any 'fruit' to the changes that I knew I was going through way back then. So far my mower is sweet, I built a six foot privacy fence around our yard, and I have eaten meat about once a week instead of every day! I feel great, I've lost some weight, gained some muscle, and feel like I can conquer the world!
So read on and see what I was thinking 2 months ago:
Something is happening to me fellow followers. The influence of my Precious Beauty is having a major effect on this Nuevo Mexicano. When she set her sights on getting our weekly trash widdled down to fit inside a glove compartment, I secretly snickered and thought, "Yeah, O-K." Then, to my surprise, the next week we had a little baggie of trash; it was so tiny, the trash dudes glanced at that pitiful bag and moved onto their route leaving our sorry bag on the driveway. You can read all about it here.
Taking her lead, I decided this weekend to retire my riding lawn mower for a Scotts Classic Reel 20 incher. Not because of the toxic emissions of my Briggs Stratton 6 HP Beast or the skyrocketing price of gas, mind you, I just wanted to see if I could do it. I mean if my Pretty Little Red-haired girl can do the trash thing, then surely I could do this. Cutting my lawn has never been more fun! Plus, I got some exercise in the process, sweet deal!
So let's see where this greener approach to life takes us shall we? Our garden is thriving and doing great. I guess if I am going to go full tilt into this though, there is the question about what to with the StangBeast. Any takers?
Monday, April 27, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Giving food to the beast within
Pre-restoration Autolite 2100
Whether or not you can admit it, you have a beast within: A certain inner being striving for excitement or excellence, straining to reach the surface from the black abyss below. And so it is the for the StangBeast. When I would drive this car it didn't feel right. I understood this was no 440 with 650HP but c'mon, it's a stang, and I wanted to tap into her inner heart with utter desperation. When I would romp on the pedal there was no metal connecting to my foot. It was very disheartening when, after I rebuilt the carb and replaced the intake gaskets, she still seemed like a tamed donkey rather than a roaring, raging, beast of power. I had replaced the blown-up 25 year old plug wires with new Taylor 8mm wires. Put on a new distributor cap and rotor. Replaced the worn points with electronic ignition including a new coil. There had to be some life inside this animal and I was determined and destined to find it.
I searched my options to find the best way of tapping into the beast. I contemplated replacing the engine entirely with a new 302 with 350HP drop shipped to the house and ready to rock. It would come completely assembled in the box, just throw it in and turn the key. I was mere inches away from this option when I remembered reading about Pony Carbs. They are a shop out in NM, my homeland, that specializes in carburetors. I decided to send my carb off to them and if that didn't help me, I knew a new engine was next, and last, on the list.
So neatly packaged, my carb left for its journey to New Mexico, a full restoration treatment on the menu. It was a short 2 weeks before I got my carb back which was ok since it was mostly rainy and snowy during that time; not a chance I'd be taking the stang out for a ride. I got a call when the carb arrived at Restoration Destination and was a little shocked when Jon told me that my carb was actually off a '67 Galaxie! He reassured me that it was no biggie and that he'd have my carb fully restored, plated, and run-tested, in a week and shipped back home.
Sure enough, my restored carb arrived. My postman, Dean, who regularly drools all over my car, peeking through the garage window, and telling me all about the Mustang he had but sold blah blah blah. Poor dude. Anyway, he rapped on the door, excitedly handed over my box and a few minutes later came back to my house asking if he could look at it! He was just as blown away as I was to see the newly restored carb.
So on to the before and after photogs. The moral of this blog is tell you "go ahead and feed that inner beast". Give it some food. I am not talking about the beast that causes you to stumble and fall and fail. I'm talking about the one that gives you adrenaline to run that last mile, the one that offers creative inspiration to write that new song, or paint that fresh new painting, or helps you speak in front of a large audience for the first time. Go ahead and be successful! Tear it up! Knock it out of the park! Burn rubber! Live Your Life!
Restored riser plateMonday, April 13, 2009
Intake gaskets and then Carburetor restoration
When my ride came out sweeter than "honeysuckle on the vine, Ma" I made the precarious decision of doing a little sumpin', sumpin to my engine. I noticed a little drop or two of oil when she sat in the garage over an extended period of time and I wanted to find out the source of the leak and eradicate it.
The level of expertise you will need to tackle this job is pretty minimal. To get access to all of the bolts you must remove the carburetor. Start by removing the air cleaner and all the rubber hoses from the carb. Unscrew the hot air choke tube that attaches to the the choke. Four nuts secure the carb to the manifold and then you are home free. Well almost.
You will need a 1/2" socket and a pry-bar for the intake manifold. There are 12 bolts holding that beast down and once you get those out you will need to pry it off and out. I used a 2x2 piece of wood that I use for tire chocks and beat against it with a hammer. A few grunts and slams with the hammer and the manifold should come loose. If you go the prying method be careful not to gouge the lip on the block or you will be royally screwed.
The intake weighs some poundage, but if you are not a girlie-man you should be able to man-handle it. (I say this under the full realization that there are some girls out there that can knock my lights out, so take this for what it is, a pun, and move on) If you need help, grab your buddy or buddette and you should be good to go. I actually faced the engine from the front and climbed into the engine bay. That's the beauty of the Mustang, you can get right in and close the hatch then pop out like a jack-in-the-box to scare anyone who dares pop the hood. It's pretty fun, you should try it.
So using my legs against the frame rails for support and pulling up with super-human strength the intake finally gave in and came to papa. I put the heavy metal beast on my lap and swung my legs out of the bay. I used oven cleaner on the outside of the oily intake and cleaned it up pretty well. Then I focused my attention to the gaskets on the block side. I used a razor blade and scraper to get all of the old gasket off and get the block thoroughly ready for new gaskets.
Another thing to mention is that I did remove the valve covers for convenience sake. I needed the extra room and eight bolts each is a small price to pay for a dented or bent valve cover. Oh and another thing or three that slipped my mind are the distributor, thermostat, and radiator hose. Just leave the wires on the distributor cap, pull it off and move it out of the way. Be sure to mark it first so you will know exactly how to position it on the reinstall. Unless of course you are a timing genius and do not need to know how it needs to go back in. Frankly, I am not a timing whiz so I marked mine on the inside of the distributor and on the engine brace.
Closing remarks, take your time. Patience is a virtue and if you are patient you will complete this project successfully. Use plenty of lighting. Use rags or shop towels to cover the open intake hole and over the open block once you get the intake off. Any bolt dropped or foreign debris entering into the block area will be detrimental to your engine. I used two different types of gasket sealer. Blue for the left and right lip edges and black for the front and rear lip edges. Let it cure for 24 hours if you can and be sure to repeatedly retorque the intake bolts every month or sooner.
Now on to the picture show! Thanks for coming! Be sure to subscribe to my new RSS feed. Next time we'll rap about the carb restoration. Rock on peeps!
Carb is off and intake is sitting pretty waiting to come off
Closeup of the intakes, block these with rags
You will find more than you would ever wish for under that intake
Don't let any foreign objects in this area; bolts, old gasket pieces, etc
The level of expertise you will need to tackle this job is pretty minimal. To get access to all of the bolts you must remove the carburetor. Start by removing the air cleaner and all the rubber hoses from the carb. Unscrew the hot air choke tube that attaches to the the choke. Four nuts secure the carb to the manifold and then you are home free. Well almost.
You will need a 1/2" socket and a pry-bar for the intake manifold. There are 12 bolts holding that beast down and once you get those out you will need to pry it off and out. I used a 2x2 piece of wood that I use for tire chocks and beat against it with a hammer. A few grunts and slams with the hammer and the manifold should come loose. If you go the prying method be careful not to gouge the lip on the block or you will be royally screwed.
The intake weighs some poundage, but if you are not a girlie-man you should be able to man-handle it. (I say this under the full realization that there are some girls out there that can knock my lights out, so take this for what it is, a pun, and move on) If you need help, grab your buddy or buddette and you should be good to go. I actually faced the engine from the front and climbed into the engine bay. That's the beauty of the Mustang, you can get right in and close the hatch then pop out like a jack-in-the-box to scare anyone who dares pop the hood. It's pretty fun, you should try it.
So using my legs against the frame rails for support and pulling up with super-human strength the intake finally gave in and came to papa. I put the heavy metal beast on my lap and swung my legs out of the bay. I used oven cleaner on the outside of the oily intake and cleaned it up pretty well. Then I focused my attention to the gaskets on the block side. I used a razor blade and scraper to get all of the old gasket off and get the block thoroughly ready for new gaskets.
Another thing to mention is that I did remove the valve covers for convenience sake. I needed the extra room and eight bolts each is a small price to pay for a dented or bent valve cover. Oh and another thing or three that slipped my mind are the distributor, thermostat, and radiator hose. Just leave the wires on the distributor cap, pull it off and move it out of the way. Be sure to mark it first so you will know exactly how to position it on the reinstall. Unless of course you are a timing genius and do not need to know how it needs to go back in. Frankly, I am not a timing whiz so I marked mine on the inside of the distributor and on the engine brace.
Closing remarks, take your time. Patience is a virtue and if you are patient you will complete this project successfully. Use plenty of lighting. Use rags or shop towels to cover the open intake hole and over the open block once you get the intake off. Any bolt dropped or foreign debris entering into the block area will be detrimental to your engine. I used two different types of gasket sealer. Blue for the left and right lip edges and black for the front and rear lip edges. Let it cure for 24 hours if you can and be sure to repeatedly retorque the intake bolts every month or sooner.
Now on to the picture show! Thanks for coming! Be sure to subscribe to my new RSS feed. Next time we'll rap about the carb restoration. Rock on peeps!
Carb is off and intake is sitting pretty waiting to come off
Closeup of the intakes, block these with rags
You will find more than you would ever wish for under that intake
Don't let any foreign objects in this area; bolts, old gasket pieces, etcFriday, April 10, 2009
Finished Restoration
Finally we have reached the end of the path for this restoration journey. Here are some final pics. Feel free to scroll down this blog to see how we got here!
Let me know what you think. I will let these pics speak for themselves.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
