Latest Pictures 1976 Mach 1 with V6 and AC

Here are some pictures of my car. Took it out to church last evening and it was a hit as I drove through town. Let me know what you think.

Ground, Ground, Ground!

As I left Autozone parts store, the words from the cashier could not have been more prophetic. Ground, ground, ground! Sure enough, by adding a ground strap to my '76 Mach 1 with a V6, the temperature gauge now reads correctly.

A few weeks ago, I replaced the coolant temperature sending unit located in front of the carburetor on the water outlet neck. Once I did that, the temperature gauge always indicated the car was running really hot. The needle on the gauge was pegged to the right after the car was running for a while.

So I contacted the Yahoo Mustang II group and asked for suggestions. One suggestion was to ground the engine to the frame or firewall. Since there was not a proper ground, this could make the temperature gauge readings incorrect. Sure enough, after I attached the ground strap from the engine to the driver side inner fender, the temperature gauge now reads correctly. The car temperature stays in the normal range after the car is warmed up and even after I take it for a spin around the neighborhood.

So for all of you restoring your Mustang IIs, make sure you ground your engine to the frame. While no one was able to tell me where the stock grounding strap was originally located, my solution as seen in the picture works just fine and is not too noticeable.

Thank you Mustang Monthly magazine!

If you haven't opened your Mustang Monthly  November 2009 issue yet, you will be in for a real treat when you do! Of course if you are like me, that's the first piece of mail I always open.

On page 48 you will find an excellent Mustang II. To quote the article, "Love 'em or hate 'em, there are some great looking '74-'78 Mustang IIs out there" (p. 49). The article by Jerry Heasley is a wonderful tribute to the Mustang IIs. This neat "Little Lincoln" '77 Ghia looks super! Andrea Lucas of New Jersey owns a black and tan Ghia in excellent condition. Way to go Andrea. Thank you for keeping the Mustang II alive. Enjoy your car!

As for myself, this issue will never be too far away. I would like to also thank Mustang Monthly for giving equal time to the Mustang II. Maybe one day, all Mustang owners will look at Mustang IIs as we do!

How to add a coolant recovery tank.

My 1976 Mach 1 with air conditioning does not have a coolant recovery tank. Not worrying about my car being completely original, I decided to add a simple, plastic container I purchased from O'Reilly Auto Parts.

After purchasing their container, I needed to decide where to put the tank. The normal spot is right next to the windshield washer fluid container. Unfortunately, my coil is right there. So I decided to move the coil closer to the firewall which would give me a spot for the coolant recovery tank.

After I moved the coil, next came installing the recovery tank. Using the bracket that was provided, I drilled one hole in the side of the inner fender and then installed the container. I re-routed the hose from the top of the radiator to the bottom of the recovery tank and then ran a hose from the top of the container to the front of the car.

Now I have a coolant recovery tank to catch any excess radiator fluid. It works like a charm! Here's a picture of the completed project. You can see the coolant recovery tank up front and the coil at the rear.

Repair It, Don't Replace It

We often think about those words when it comes to restoring our Mustangs. With the Mustang II, often repair it is the only avenue because parts are so hard to come by or may be too costly.

In the case of my Mustang II, my tachometer was working intermittently. I asked others on the Yahoo group and what I was told is maybe a connection on the tachometer circuit board was loose.

So, I took apart the instrument panel, which, amazingly was very straightforward, and started to jiggle the individual electronic components on the board. This is probably not the preferred method of determining if there is a loose connection but it worked for me. Low and behold, I found one component that when I jiggled it, the tachometer would work and then stop working. Here is a picture that is very similar to what I found when I looked at the back of the tachometer.

I took the tachometer out of the instrument panel and with a soldering iron, I added a little solder to that component's connections. Once I put the tachometer back in the car, it worked just fine. That was a month ago and I have taken the car out every weekend since. The tach still works great.

So, before you go replacing any of the parts with printed circuit boards, you might inspect the board to see if any of the connections have worked their way loose.

Mustang IIs Were Really Designed with the Customer in Mind

I was reading a book about Lee Iacocca yesterday and found a section on the Mustang II. The book is titled, Iacocca: America's Most Dynamic Businessman!, a biography by David Abodaher. As I was reading, I was amazed at all of the marketing research that was done prior to deciding on a final design for the Mustang II. Because the Capri was so successful, Iacocca decided that the Mustang II should be a sub-compact instead of a compact as was being tossed around at Ford. In addition, Iacocca suggested several other changes to include adding luxury items like an AM/FM radio, plush carpet, and complete instrumentation. We can't find a car today that doesn't offer these items. He even responded to public requests to change the galloping pony which resulted in an emblem that more resembles what a galloping pony should look like.

Iacocca also wanted the Mustang II to look like it was a more expensive car that it was actually priced. With some prototypes in hand, Iacocca looked to the public for the direction Ford should take with the Mustang II. Multiple market studies were conducted on both sides of the country to decide which version of the Mustang II would be produced, either the hatchback or the notchback, frequently referred to as the coupe. The interesting thing was how quickly Ford was able to design and begin producing the Mustang II. Also, after all of the market research, it was decided to produce both versions, 50-50.

Well, we all know that the number of Mustang IIs produced outpaced the earlier years. We don't need to rehash these numbers. It also appears that there was a concerted effort to improve the ride of the vehicle. Even Lee took a test ride to make sure he was happy with the ride of the Mustang II. Just from this short read about Lee Iacocca's influence on the Mustang II and of course Ford, I don't see how anyone can disown the Mustang II and not call it a true Mustang.

Long live the Mustang II!

How do you buy and ship a car using eBay?

Have you ever wondered how to purchase a car on eBay and then have it shipped to you? Well I did that when I purchased my Mustang II and although there were some tense moments, the whole process was very simple and rewarding.

Get an Inspection of the Car
Of course, buying a vehicle sight unseen is a risky process and is not recommended if you can inspect a vehicle yourself or have someone else inspect it before the purchase. In my case, I took a risk that the pictures provided by the seller were representative of the true condition of the vehicle.

Ask a Lot of Questions
During the course of the bidding process, ask questions. I asked for additional pictures on multiple occasions to get a better idea of what sort of damage there was based on the description of the vehicle. I did this initially via eBay and then received the pictures via email. If a seller is not willing to send you more detailed pictures, then I would assume he/she is trying to hide something.

Confirm the VIN Matches
It is important the you get the VIN before making a purchase as this will help you confirm the identity of the vehicle. I asked for the vehicle identification number and then went on the Internet to one of the many VIN decoders to confirm that the vehicle I was buying had the same equipment and was the same color as per the VIN. For Mustang IIs, you can use the one at www.mustangii.net that is located on their tech page. If the equipment has changed and the colors are different, you should then ask the seller why that is.

Start the Shipping Process Early
Before the auction was completed, I was already in contact with possible shippers via www.uship.com. Just like eBay, carriers bid on your shipment which hopefully will allow you to get the best price for your vehicle. Before I placed a bid on the car, I was able to list my shipping job on the web site and immediately receive a number of offers. This helped me make sure the shipping cost was not going to be so high that it put the entire purchase price out of my budget. Another I was able to do by starting the process early was check the feedback of the shippers bidding on the job. Like on eBay, shippers, as well as buyers, receive feedback which you can review prior to engaging a shipper in your shipment.

Finalize the Shipment
Once I won the vehicle, I decided on a shipping company based on price and feedback. In this case, I did not take the lowest priced deal. I took the company that had a lot of positive feedback and was one of the lower prices. I completed the deal with them to get the car shipped to me via uship.com. We communicated via email and telephone throughout the entire process.

Monitor the Shipment
Here's where the nerve racking part of the deal happened. The company I hired, hired a moving company, who hired a driver to move my car from Florida to my home in South Carolina. Unknown to me, the driver and the moving company he worked for were having some difficulties. Right in the middle of the move, the driver decided to not transport my car any further than where he was which happened to be in Georgia.

The company I hired through uship.com stepped right in the resolve the matter. They were in constant contact with me and made sure my car got to me, although nearly a week later than originally scheduled. As a result, they refuned me the original deposit that I had paid them which significantly reduced the cost of shipping my car to me.

Close the Deal
In the end, the whole process was very smooth. The bidding process yielded a low fee to begin with and the company I hired was very interested in positive result to the shipment so they did whatever was need to make me a satisfied customer. The seller of the car provided all the information I asked for the the vehicle was exactly as I had expected. As a result, I left positive feedback for both the shipper of the vehicle and the seller of the car. If I buy another vehicle on eBay, I will use the same process I used before in hopes that once again, I will get me car safe and sound.

If you have any specific questions that were not answere here, please do not hesitate to leave a post and I will responsd.