1969 Mustang Stringer Rebuild

Keeganino wrote: Make sure when you paint the bell housing you use a self etching primer. That aluminum does not hold paint otherwise

I guess in my case I will need to use a primer for the bell housing, intake and exhaust manifolds. Keegan what did you use, Duplicolor's self etching primer?

I just got an extra 1x6 and will rip them and cut to fit. Ironic that I named my thread the long road ahead, as I have not touched the boat in a year....

Yeah Gary.   I lost mine with my wire stretcher. They came as a set. Makes me mad because I actually had the fancy one that also does sheetrock.

Board strecher Mike ? Not needed,If you refoam,the water it holds keeps the wood expanded.No foam, you need to rehydrate the fir like original

If you get it perfect, you could use 2x8's but they are only 7.5" in the first place.   I went with the 2x10's as I had misplaced my board stretcher at the time.

Went to look at the Fir today. The vertical grain looked beautiful. The #2 stuff had several knots, some checks and wanes. Believe I'll go with the vertical grain. About $100 for 2x8x12 and $27 for 1x6x10. Forgot to ask about the moister, i'll check that when I pickup.

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My oil pan had the same leak.There is some kind of rubber diaphram rivited between that plate and the pan.There is a hole in it and the dipstick tube passes thru it. I ended up cleaning it well and using rtv sealant on it.If I ever have to pull the motor I'm going to install this one I took off a PCM pan,the dipstick tube threads on. And like Mike says,where do you stop with the motor? Since your in there might want to check the oil pump and change to a heavy duty oil pump drive shaft too.And check the teeth on the flywheel.

The fun begins.   I used a citrus based engine cleaner and a couple different scrub brushes. I acetoned after that. Duplicolor should have the right paint.
Already going to start adding to the "while I am in here" list.
As long as you have the oil pan off, you may as well do a rear seal. Since you are doing the rear, you may as well do the front one. As long as you are doing that, you may as well do a timing set, etc, etc, etc...

For secondaries, you want 1x6. I think I got 12 footers. Just get an extra and rip down for your longitudinals.

Engine is out. Along with pretty much everything else. Now I need to level, brace and get to cutting. Right after a trip to Harbor Freight.

Add this to the Redneck Engine Hoist. Actually it worked great. Not a single creek in the rafters.


Muddy oily mess in the bell housing. I'm sure from the flooding it took when the freeze plug popped out last year.


Crack to be welded.


Velvet drive. Needs to go to Eric.


I know these are made to hold engines but it just seems weird having her cantilevered like that. Planning on repainting, if I can find the right blue. Any hints on cleaning and getting the old stuff off?


Found my slow oil leak. Will have to fix this for sure, can't having my new bilge oily. I'll replace the oil pan gasket as well while it's all out.

David,
Go look at it and if in doubt, report back. The "and better" is really a term open to interpretation!!

Riley wrote: Pete, if it's 13% out of the kiln, how do you get it to 8%? Should it be bought ahead of time and be stored so that it air dries some more?

Bruce,
Yes, if at all possible, get it a couple months in advance. Sticker (1x2 spacers) it and put it in a cool spot with good air circulation. I suggested this to Tim along with a fan blowing on it. I believe he did do it. Rotating the wood top to bottom and end to end helps as well.

I'm currently doing some green wood bowl turning on that 48 lathe I rebuilt. I've never done the green wood before and it's not fun! The selection of small blocks of unusual woods is fantastic plus real cheap but I don't feel the trouble you go through is worth it. First, you rough turn the blank figuring at least 10% shrinkage. Then you set the blocks to dry for 2 to 3 years!! If you don't have that time, you use the microwave method that I used. I almost started a couple of Beech blanks on fire!! This green wood turning was really a experiment. I found a sample set of Beech, Sasafrass, Cherry and Walnut.

David,
Go take a look at it. If the #1 looks nice, is straight and doesn't have a large loose knots in it, it will be cheaper. Don't worry about bad edges as they will be trimmed off when you scrib to the hull. Make sure you ask them about the moisture content. If it's a good yard, they should have a meter. Out of the kiln, you'll see about 13%. 10% is getting there and usable. 8% is great.

Nothing there at all.Just a matter of unbolting it.

Your right David,it's aluminum.Ask around and get yourself a good welder.We have alot of truck repair places around,since we live in a gravel mining area. Most gravel trailers are aluminum so they have alot of pratice.If you look close you can see the weld in that picture,I didn't even have to clean it up. Must be a common thing for these to crack I'll bet.

That's it Gary.

I seem to recall the bell housing to be aluminum, is that right or am I imagining things?