Maintenance - Archive

During a short holiday in de east of the country at the end of Sept the power steering return hose started leaking and completey drained the whole PS pomp. I took out the belt and we drove home without power steering...

So last week I ordered a new return hose plus the two shorter pressure hoses from valve to cylinder (as they were also in a bad shape) from Jaarsma, which he couriered to me the same day. So yesterday I crawled under my '67 Mustang and replaced the 3 old with the 3 new hoses. I did not replace the pressure hose from pump to valve, as this still looks quite okay & flexible.

Still no driving for my '67 Stang as we have building materials blocking the driveway....But yesterday I bought some very nice polished aluminium American Racing "Baja" wheels at Tyra for my '69 Ranchero!!

Removed the new waterpump last week and bought a Midlock recoil M8 set. Today we used this set to make new thread in the aluminium blockpart of the V8, after which we succesfully installed the new waterpump and all other parts! So 'Ché' is finally out on the road again!

Installed the new Airtex waterpump in the Ranchero this weekend, but one of the bolts would not fasten in the front cilinder cover, and now the thread in the cover is gone, shit! So it's leaking water now. I will have to try and make new oversized thread in the aluminium cover for a bigger bolt, hopefully this will fix the leak immediately. Otherwise everything has to come off again to fix a new seal and try again (or even buy a new cilinder cover..) oephh my back hurts!

Meanwhile my '67 Mustang is waiting in the garage for better weather!

Parked my '69 Ranchero about 2 months ago with a badly leaking waterpump, now it was time to remove it and order a replacement!

Back to Jaarsma yesterday - appeared to be a quick fix. Just needed new brake shoes in the front drums. The reason I never experienced the problem before, was beause all the worn parts absorbed the shaking.

Last week I also went back to Jan Balk with part of the newly refurbished bench, as there was a problem with a spring inside. This was also fixed - so back to driving again !

Drove my 69 Ford Ranchero to Jaarsma this week for the APK inspection. The car failed the inspection on worn upper ball joints and front spring bushings. So I left it there for repair and also left the new front springs there that I already bought but hadn't installed yet. Picked Che up today, they did nice work (doesn't come cheap..) including aligning, which makes Che drive even better. And without the terrible squeeking of the worn spring bushings. But I did notice something strange while driving back home, a shaking of the car while braking.... something wrongly installed in the front brakes? I took the drums off tonight but cannot really see any problem... to be continued.

Installed my new alu steering wheel which I bought on Ebay - nice

Another meeting at the Maxis in Muiden. Last week a finally got my '69 Ranchero driving again when I installed a new wheel oil seal...and after installing my repaired and re-upholstered black leather bench! A nice job by Jan Balk. So for this King Cruise we used Che. And met up with my cousin Sjoerd plus friend Dennis and some other Ranchero owners. It started a bit slow because of the weather. But after the sun came out, so did the cars!

An update.
Earlier this month I took the 67 Mustang to Jaarsma for the Dutch APK road inspection. After only the replacement of a wheel bearing and a brake hose I received the paperwork. And instead of next year I only need to come back in 2 years time as the rules for the inspection of (classic) cars have changed .

Meanwhile I am still working on my 69 Ranchero, replacing old parts and trying to fix new problems. After the work on the PS, I have replaced the right side exhaust manifold (leaking), the stabilizer bar bushings and links (worn), the left door hinge spring (worn and therefore causing damage to the door), the front shocks and shock mounts (worn/damaged), the rear shocks, the radiator (original was leaking and getting very hot - replaced by a special S-100 block build for a Mustang by Jaarsma), the rearbrake cylinders (1 leaking) & shoes (1 broken). And work continues, because I need to replace the front coil springs and bushings as the right side is squeeking like crazy. And the C-4 auto transmission does not change gear properly when cold .

Does the work ever stop... probably not .

For the nice touch; next week I will take out my bench for some repairing of the springs and upholstery with real black leather .

Got rid of the ugly fake wood on the front of the dash. Airbrushed all parts black & superfly yellow. Finishing touch is the firered pinstripe!

Didn't do much driving last months. My '67 Stang is waiting in the garage for better weather and meanwhile I am working on my second classic Ford. As I want to use the '69 Ranchero for the weekends, I am working on different things to have it running properly. Biggest issue is the badly leaking power steering, specially the control valve. Also some wiring issues, so I took out various parts of the dash.

Last week I finally got my new and improved registration papers back from the authorities. So I made an appointment and went to Jaarsma last friday. There they installed new bushings on the rod ends, checked the rest of the car for safety and finished the yearly APK inspection. So my '67 convertible is ready for cruisin' again!

And I took the opportunity to buy me some new parts; a right hand remote mirror (my car never had one) and a cowl-cover. This to prevent water leaking through the cowl into the interior of the car. We experienced that problem with heavy rainfall while camping in the UK. And I repeated my order of 2 years ago (!) for the chrome grills on the inside of both doors. I also ordered a completely new ivy gold carpet, because I need to check and renovate the inside of the floor panels next winter season.

But first we need to drive!!

This morning I brought my '67 Stang to the local Ford garage for her yearly inspection. She failed it! I did not expect this, as I haven't driven that much last season since the inspection in April 2004.

First reason for not passing is that the bushings at the steering linkage rod ends are leaking. The second reason is very strange; the VIN is hammered in under the hood near the LEFT fender, but on my registration it says near the RIGHT fender. It seems that the authorities fucked up when I imported the car back in '99 and nobody noticed or cared at previous inspections! So I immediately drove to the RDW import station in Amsterdam to have this sorted out. They more or less agreed to their mistake, took all three parts of my registration and promised to send me corrected papers within 10 days. Pffff, problem solved.

So, after I get my papers back I will take her to Jaarsma (which I should have done in the first place) to have the rod ends replaced and finish the inspection. Then we can legally enjoy driving the Mustang again. And besides, we need her for our wedding in June!

After having lived with an empty garage for two weeks.... today we finally drove to Friesland to take the Mustang convertible back home. Two weeks ago we brought her to Jaarsma to have him arrange for the yearly APK inspection and fix the steering for me.

It took them some time to have her ready, because there were quite some things that needed to be fixed. The lower control arms with the ball joints, one upper ball joint seal, some new seals in the automatic transmission, the back wheel bearings, parts of the power steering and last but not least the waterpump. But most time was spent on improving the ride by checking and changing the stance of the four wheels. This because the repairing of the steering house alone was not enough to get her on the right track.

So, apart from the problems in the wiring, we are ready for some summer cruising again

And, as if we did not spend enough money today , we bought another classic car! A totally restored 1970 Land Rover 88" for Aimée to use as a daily driver, another dream come true!

Today we took my Mustang for the first drive of the season. As always it put a big on my face!

Although I did not fix all electrical problems yet, it was time to put the whole dash back together and take the convertible for a spin. I mean it is almost spring and she has been waiting for a drive far too long. Besides, I want to take her to Pyt Jaarsma asap to have him take care of the steering for me. The play in the steering wheel is really getting out of hand now and I do not fancy to fix that myself. He can then probably also arrange for the yearly APK inspection to be carried out as my certificate expires on the 15th of April.

I was pretty amazed that after putting the whole dashboard back together and after a brake of more than 6 months, she simply starts and goes.....like a Mustang!

Still working on the problems I have with the wiring of my Mustang. I have now replaced the turn signal flasher by a new original one, because I noticed that the one placed in my car was far from original and needed an extra ground (?).

I've also replaced the engine to firewall ground wire, as the old one did not look that great. So bit by bit I hope to solve all electrical problems and avoid the job of replacing all wiring harnesses...

I am currently looking for anything that could cause some of the strange electrical problems that are occuring lately. The console lamps and the door open warning lamp are not working anymore and the power to the Sony radio is gone everytime I use the turn signals or put the automatic in reverse!?!?

I do not know if it is a coincidence but this all started with the alternator trouble I had a couple of months earlier.

So the last couple of weekends I have taken out almost the complete dashboard in search of any broken wiring or so. It seems that the Sony radio (which I built in the glove box a couple of years ago) has not survived this strange behaviour because it is not working at all anymore!

Until now I have found some almost broken wires and some bad plugs which I've repaired or replaced. I have also replaced the instrument voltage regulator (which is mounted behind the gauges) because I did not trust the old one with some lights pulsing like they did.

To be continued.

So here we are, my Mustang and I in Pony Corral; the quarterly magazine by Team Mustang Center Nederland. This interview was taken during the swapmeet in July. There are some mistakes in the text - 60.000 miles instead of 90.000 - and I already replaced the lenses back in 2000. But who cares; we are looking good!

After some bumpy rides the last couple of months, especially with people in the backseat, it was time to replace the old worn leaf springs by some new ones. I decided to still use 4 leaf springs, to keep the original height. Harry helped with this, and we also replaced the complete shackles and used polyurethane bushings. This should give her a bit more stiffer ride.

Second holiday with the Mustang Convertible in the UK! This time we took her on the boat from Rotterdam to Hull for a 7 day trip through Yorkshire.

She almost did not make it though... Just 2 days before the trip the charge indicator (alt) started lighting up during driving. Apart from not charging the battery anymore, this also gave lots of other electrical problems. On 30th May I quicky drove to Jaarsma in Hartwerd to have the alternator repaired. He replaced the brushes and the voltage regulator.

But the same evening the trouble started over again! So the next morning (on the day our ferry sailed from Rotterdam!) I drove her up North again. Just before I arrived at Jaarsma, I had to brake hard for an upcoming traffic jam. This resulted in having no electrical problems at all when arriving at Jaarsma!? So there was nothing Pyt could do to help me because when measuring the battery there was nothing wrong with the car! In the end Pyt wished me a save journey and lended me a new alternator to take with us to the UK, just in case there was something wrong with the revised one.

When driving off the ferry in Hull on 1st June we saw all meters dropping on the dash, "shit, there we go again" I thought. Aimee said: "Why don't you do that break test again". I did and we never had any trouble with the alternator since!!!??? If you have any logical explanation for this, please contact me!

Anyway, we had a very enjoyable holiday, touring and camping in the beautiful Yorkshire Moors & Dales. Highly recommended!

In search of a new parts supplier I went to Pyt Jaarsma of Motown Parts in Hartwerd. He is well known by a lot of members of the Club, Team Mustang Center Nederland.

After already buying the contact breaker point and other stuff I now ordered some parts from Jaarsma which seem to be rare. Chrome rings and lenses for the safety convenience panel on the dash and the expensive chrome deluxe panels at the bottom of both doors, including the doorlights. I want to paint the inside of the doors in the right color (Ivy Gold) and then mount these nice chrome panels; hopefully they will be available shortly.

After have some starting problems, I changed the contact breaker points today. I also changed the air cleaner element. Running smoothly again, my V8!

I also replaced one chrome window cranck as the old one was not working properly anymore. These chrome parts are pretty expensive!

I quickly had to repair a hose to the washer reservoir, but that was the only thing I needed to do to have her pass the inspection this time! (Although again I got the remark that the seal at the lower ball joints are not fitted correctly, this has to be fixed some day...)

Driving around with the double DTM exhaust trumpets was not a big succes, as they kept on vibrating against the rear valance of the body of the car. I have now replaced them by other chrome DTM trumpets. But as these are single and therefore smaller, I had to do something about the big cutouts I made earlier. I have carefully made two sort of "heat-plates" from a piece of stainless steel I had lying around. Still not original but it doesn't look bad at all.

Because of the failed inspection in January, I brought my Mustang to a specialized Mustang garage and had everything repaired. The reason of not doing this myself was that repairing the 'pitman-arm' seemed too difficult to me.

After a long search and trying various options I bought two double chrome DTM exhaust trumpets and "designed my own rear end..." Maybe I can make this look more original some day, when (if) she will get her new paint job.

Anyway, the result is that she passed the inspection today! Of course - it's my birthday!! But with the remark that the seals at the lower ball joints are not fitted correctly. Shit! I paid a lot of money to have that done!

Went for the yearly APK road inspection today and she failed it! Damn. The following needs to be replaced and/or repaired: front wheel bearings left and right, the ball joint seals and a part of the powersteering called the 'pitman-arm' which has too much play.

The inspector is also not happy with the way the new double exhaust ends at the rear of the car. The pipes are too high and blow exhaust fumes back forward via the body of the car. So, I definitely have to search further for some nice and functional chrome end-pieces.

Today I changed the oil and the oilfilter at 59.320 miles.

The last couple of weekend we have been busy replacing the complete exhaust system. What was under the car was a complete joke, it looked like a muffler from an modern Ford Escort welded together with some pipes...

We have replaced it by a complete and original double exhaust system with two Thrush mufflers.

I think originally my Mustang had only a single exhaust as we had some trouble attaching the pipes to the rear end of the car. The pipes are not long enough to make it to the end of the body, and they are fitted too high. I do not know yet how to solve that and make it look nice, mmmm?

(But) I simply had to go for double, it sounds much better!

It's wintertime and therefore time for maintenance again! Last month we have replaced the front shock absorbers of my Mustang. We also replaced the leaking fuel pump by a new one.

With the underbody still hard (after the welding of the little hole near the battery), I decided to give my dear Mustang some underbody protection. This was done today by a pro in Cruquius, very near to were I live.

I know this is not original and completely 'not done' if you want to win prices at Mustang car contests, but I don't care about that. I just want her to last as long as possible in our cold, rainy country!

A very handy colleague who ownes various American cars including a Corvette completely modified for street racing, gave me a helping hand today. He welded a piece of metal on a hole in the chassis today. This hole was right under the battery tray. We also replaced the tray itself by a new one. Thanks, Lucky Luke!

The bottomside of the hood didn't look that great, with surface rust here end there. I decided to clean and sandpaper it and spray-paint it black like the engine compartment.

I also replaced the painted rear and front bumperguards by much better chrome ones. These were a gift from my girlfriend Aimee

Today my Mustang went through the yearly dutch road inspection (APK).

She passed!

Last month we have been very busy in our spare time to put the engine back together. I received lots of help from 'Handy Harry', a man with a lot of technical knowledge. Also thanks to my brother, who pretended to give us a helping hand as well

Cilinder heads have been revised and changed to handle unleaded fuel. This will save me about 25 cents per liter. We have replaced the hydraulic valve lifters and one exhaust manifold, which was broken. With the engine compartment very empty, I have given it some fresh black paint, while also painting most of the engine (Ford) blue.

The best part is that it started and kept running smoothly, right after putting it back together today! I must say I'm very happy with the end result, especially when thinking of were we started. Note: mileage counter is at 56.772.

With half the engine still missing, we replaced the rear shock absorbers today.

I completely removed the "thermactor exhaust control system". I'm in Holland and not in California, now am I? So, why put up with this 'clean-air-pump' which takes up a lot of space in the engine compartment. This did not go without problems, though. When placing a bolt in the cilinder head to fill the hole left by removing the thermactor, the damn thing broke! Oops!

I decided to take out the cilinder heads, and have them revised, while also being able to remove the broken bolt. Besides being revised they will also be modified to handle unleaded fuel. But... before revision I had to remove that damn bolt. Tricky stuff, I must say, but in the end it all turned out great, and the bolt was removed succesfully!

After having various problems with the radiator I decided to replace it by a new and bigger one. And as one of the things causing the engine overheating was the missing shroud, I bought and installed one now.

I also spray-painted a lot of the metal surrounding it, including the grille, with a fresh new black paint. Several tubes and hoses were also replaced. The engine compartment is already starting to look a lot better!

The problem with the engine stopping while driving appeared to be a very dirty fuel filter! The dutch road assistance ANWB found that out a couple of days ago when the engine completely stopped at a friend's house in Purmerend.

Today I've replaced the little bastard!

After doing a lot of repairing and maintenance, it was time to clean and wax the car and let it out of the warehouse a bit. Wax on - wax off (thanx bro!). This is the result, cool huh?

So today the three of us went on our first 'Tour de Mustang'! My two new girlfriends and myself! (my new love Aimee told me that my Mustang is a girl so that's how I will refer to her from now on!)

HapPea!

Missing: one fuel tank. If you have any idea of its where-abouts , please contact me. I miss him dearly.

It appears the fuel tank has been damaged (by an accident?) in the past, but it started leaking from several small holes where it had been repaired. I decided it definitely needed to be replaced, so here I am emptying the tank.

I've been repairing, cleaning and spray-painting the dash the last 2 months. Who needs therapy...?

Good, old-fashioned handy-work made these parts look much better! I had the paint made in the original color (Ivy Gold) and it turned out great, don't you think? Replacing the whole 'lens-holder' seemed too expensive, so I have re-painted it with a sort of 'chrome-paint' and replaced all lenses with new ones.

Almost every light bulb was replaced, and I had to change some of the wiring to get everything working again. Even three out of the four rare safety convenience lights are working again! I found most parts of them under the carpet!

I also had the speedometer repaired, it appeared the mileage counter had stopped at 54.062 miles. So I don't know how much the Mustang has driven. According to the seller, he drove about 12.000 miles with it since he imported it from California about 6 years ago.

When you start looking a bit more close to some parts of the car, you see things like this underneath the rear seats. It isn't that bad though — it's just a lot of dirt collected over the years and some surface rust.

I have cleaned this all out and it looks much better now. I've also started to take apart the dash to clean it out, check the wiring and start sanding it for a fresh paint job, as you can see on the second photo.

To repair some little damages to the paint, I went to a specialized shop in Amsterdam today and had some paint specially made. After some analysis it is their opinion that the Mustang was given a paint-job in Europe and that the colour used is most probably a Ford colour from 1969. Bummer, so my car does not have the original paint, I should have noticed that when I bought it, I guess.

I received my Dutch license plates today. This means I am finally allowed to drive my Mustang in Holland (legally)!

My Mustang was certified today by the Dutch authority for vehicle safety. This means I'm allowed to apply for official registration for the car and request Dutch license plates!

I didn't feel ready yet to start on the car myself, so I had several things repaired and/or replaced in order to get trough this check. Brake parts, radiator, battery, starter motor, starter relay and a lot more.

After paying the big bill, I was given lots of 'free' advice on what else I should improve on the car, like the complete exhaust system (which now is from an Escort and a complete joke), the righthand exhaust manifold (which is broken), the wiring (a mess) and parts of the ignition system. Personaly I think the best advice is to try and do it all myself to save some $$ !

Below are some more photos of the car as it looks now. You gotta love the re-vamped rear of the '67 model, including the 'deeper' tail lights! The second photo shows the ivy gold luxury interior, including the rarely seen four optional warning lights, in the middle of the dash. If you have any info on them - like original price / number in existence - please get in touch.

The third photo is of the original 289 2V engine. It looks worse than it actually is, but it seems that battery-acid sprayed all over the engine and the inside of the hood.

Without changing anything to the Mustang I tried to get it through the RDW registration inspection today. It failed. Brakes are a mess (only one is working a bit and I did like what... 90 miles an hour in Germany!), powersteering hoses are too close to the exhaust and, and, and...

Okay, now what?!?

9-9-'99 - 'Stang-Day!

With the help of a good friend I went to Essen, Germany to pick up the Mustang! Very exciting indeed! I did this with an 'one-day licence plate' as the car still needs official Dutch registration. Ofcourse I did most of the 2,5 hour drive with the top down which resulted in my first 'convertible sun burn'!

The ride did not go without problems though. Due to the hot summer temperature and a traffic jam, the engine overheated! After a little cooling down at the site of the road, that little problem was solved and we made it back to Amsterdam safely.