Crank Pulley Removal, Almost.

Tonight we started to remove the crank/drive pulley needed to complete the oil pan removal since we were unable to remove the frame stabilizer bar (broke two ratchets trying with a 6' extender on the end). We quickly found that the fan had to be removed, and undid the 4 bolts that held that pulley in place.

After the fan was out of the way, we were able to turn the crank shaft pulley by hand, about 1/16 of a turn and hear hissing and gurgling from deep inside the engine. This is a good sign, nothing is seized. We put a breaker bar on the center bolt and tried to torque it off, but it would not go. The pulley kept spinning in place. A few google searches turned up some ideas, we tried placing the car in gear. All that did was spin the rear wheel almost completely off the wheel dollie before we noticed what was going on. Tried setting the parking break to hold the rear wheel in place, but it did not do the job. Might need to be tightened up a bit, but we're not ready to start messing with that yet. We tried reaching through the pulley and bracing against the frame with a screwdriver, but that was not strong enough either. The preferred method on the web seems to be to use an impact wrench. We did a bit of research on compressors and impact wrenches, and it looks like we are going to take that route. We could get an electric impact wrench, but we're going to need the compressor anyways, and the pneumatics are better tools. I'll be checking the local pawn shops to see if there are any good deals to be had, and then Harbor Freight if we can't find a good one used.

Carburetor and Valve Cover Removal

We made some good progress this evening. Since we had the video cam charged up and running, we took the carburetor off, and removed the valve cover. Lesson of the night: Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey.

The carburetor needs a bit of cleaning, but seems to be in good shape. There was one odd copper pipe that looked like it re-breathes hot air from the intake manifold back into the carburetor. There was some corrosion on this, but it appears to be just a copper pipe, and a compression fitting. The valve cover cleaned up nicely, and we placed it back over the valves to keep them clean. We have a few seals that will need to be replaced, around the valve cover and the carburetor.

From the looks of the valve springs etc, I'm not sure we are going to tear down the engine much further for cleaning. We'll finish the oil pan, and clean out any gunk in the sump and then hopefully start working on the seals. There will be another days or so work to clean out the carburetor.

Next work day will be removing the drive pulley so that we can complete the removal of the oil pan. Oh, and we built a creeper out of some spare wood, wheels, and cushions we had laying around.

dad and I are geting tetanus shots today so we can not be nerves. i am shear we will get cut at least once

Black Friday

Grampy was here, and brought Connor a whole toolbox of tools that were from Connor's Great Grandfather's Service Station in Willimantic, CT. We put them to good use immediately, and put in about 5 1/2 hours work on the car today. Here's what we got done:

• Remove air filter, and holder
• Drained the oil
• Removed the stabilizer bar (sway bar?) to be able to remove the oil pan
• Removed all the screws from the oil pan
• Tried to remove the frame bar so that the oil pan could be removed
• Removed the upper radiator hose
• Drained the radiator
• Removed the lower radiator hose
• Removed the radiator
• Loosened the A/C compressor, and removed the belt
• Loosened the alternator, and removed the belt

Things we learned today: "Blaster" is helpful in removing stuck bolts, but there are times when it won't work. Placing a pipe on the end of a ratchet can get you additional torque for removing stuck bolts, but you can then break the extension bar or ratchet before the bolt comes free.

Carburetor   

Turning Wrench, Oil pan bolts

Upper and lower hoses removed

Radiator Fluid, not too bad.

Selecting the perfect wrench

when we vacuumed the car it got rid or most of the black mold smell.

Work Day One

Mustang ready for work

Started work today, and we were able to put in 3 hours this evening. We started the shop notebook, and recorded what we did, and logged the date and time. Here's what we got accomplished:

• Set up the rolling workbench.
• Built the "car stop" 4x4 post and plywood to keep the Mustang from rolling out of the garage.
• Car on wheel dollies, and re-positioned car.
• Removed all the seats, and moved them to the shed.
• Removed all the extras from the trunk.
• Removed the vinyl covering from the trunk, and a few miscellaneous other coverings that were decayed.
• Shop Vac the trunk, and passenger compartment.

Rolling Workbench

Were now ready to start working on the engine, draining oil etc. The plan is to start this when Grampy is visiting over Thanksgiving.

Wheel Dollies and a Workshop

The front wheels are up on wheel dollies. We also want to get the back wheels on a set as well. This will allow us to move the car around the garage to get some elbow room to do the real work. I have picked up a couple small sheets of steel to use to cover the drain channels in the garage so the wheels will glide over them. I also picked up a 4x4 post that we'll use as a "keeper" to keep the car from rolling out of the garage. Once we have built the keeper we'll put the rear dollies on, and slide the car to the right side of the garage. I'm thinking that we'll also spin the car around so that we can get at the engine better. The last step will be to complete the "rolling parts drawer" that will keep the engine pieces we've removed safe and sound.

it is raining to day and we have not started prep yet cues steve is not home

Setting up and Getting Started

It's time to get started on the car, but first we want to do a little planning. The engine needs to be rebuilt, or at least taken completely apart and cleaned. While we're at it we'll replace the gaskets and seals.

Here's the short term plan

1. Workshop Prep
2. Lighting
3. Pictures and Video
4. Drain Oil
5. Remove Oil Filter
6. Remove Oil Pan
7. Remove Air filter
8. Remove Carburetor
9. Remove Exhaust Manifold
10. Remove Valve Covers
11. Remove Valves
12. Remove Headers

We can do the Workshop prep, lighting, and Pictures/Video and set up a good environment to work in. We need to make a stopper for the end of the garage to keep the car from rolling out of the garage if someone leans on it. A sheet of plywood, and a 4x4 post is the current plan. I am thinking a set of caster wheels and a scrap of mdf would make a good parts table that we can store under the car while we are not working on it. 

I will look for some cheap workshop lights, halogens on a stand or similar so that we'll be able to work after dark, and still get some decent pictures and video. We'll need to get the video camera on a tripod, and take some still pictures as well, there's a little setup time here, but it's not too bad. We'll also need some sort of notebook for taking notes about what we saw, conditions of parts, fluids, and the order of disassembly. Since shop manuals for cars are based upon "tear downs" we could attempt to make our own shop manual in this process. 

Draining the oil will be the first real step towards the rebuild. I have the drain pan so we will be ready to go as soon as the shop prep work is completed. Remove Drain plug, wait for oil to drain out, check condition of oil, make notes. Remove oil filter. Remove oil pan and seals, take notes.