Rustoration of 1991 FOXBODY Mustang GT as a Cobra Clone

I removed the lower intake. I was able to siphone out some coolant from the rear port of the heads to reduce the mess when I pulled the heads. Everything came off without any prying. i went through the head bolt detorque sequence and they were nice and tight.

I had a little time so and I could put the valve covers back on when I was done, so I removed and bagged the rockers and pushrods. Hopefully Monday I can get the intake and heads off and cleaned up. Top end is nice and clean. i could not get the correct exhaust studs, M12-1.75 so I grabbed some flange head bolts and a tap. I used a little antiseize which worked better than wd40 or 3and1 oil.

I removed the passenger side exhaust manifold. I had to remove cylinder 2's spark plug but other than that it came out easily even with the tranny dip stick in place. I removed the lower intake bolts roughly following the detorque spec but honestly there were only 2 that were actually tight. The rest were very loose and that was probably the source of the leak. i didn't break the seal yet because I knew I'd run out of time and I don't want it to spend the weekend open to the elements. I may pull rockers and push rods because I can put the valve covers back if I run out of time. I know the cleaning process is going to be a considerable amount of time. I removed the collector to y pipe stude. 2 studs came out without a problem but the 3rd I had to weld a sacrifical wrench to and broke it free with a bar and cut the wrench away. Then I spun it off with vise grips.

Removed the driver's side exhaust manifold.  Removed the fueo rail. The 10mm bolt under the fuel pressure regulator was a pain to access. after I attempted to wiggle it with a pair of vice grips and a pry bar at the water pump I decided to neatly cut the tube where I know I have room to make a crimp and use a hose and clamps. if it's not raining all day I may get to the passenger exhaust manifold and start the intake removal.

After the nut breaker failed I pulled the rubber hangers from the cross member and lowered the y- pipe enough to access the stud and cut it with a grinder. I'll have to fight with y pipe later to get it back into place.  Used the power steering pump puller and the pulley came off easy. all the bolts out I Bungied it to the rad support. there was 1 wire to the alarm that tied into the alternator but I cut it because it was through the fuel rail. i disconected the fuel lines. only other problem I had was the heater return tube is stuck. It's a $90 part from rock auto which is rather not buy. I'll mess with it some more before I replace it. The fuel rail may have to come off so I can wiggle it more. Might cut it, crimp and hose clamp it back together later or weld a collar over the cut. 

Instead of making steady progress I have just been fighting the exhaust manifold to y pipe bolts. I partially cut through 3 and broke them on purpose.   I can extract the pieces when I remove the headers. The 4th I could get a straight extension on and it ended up unthreading itself from the exhaust manifold. Now it's stuck loosely in the flange collar of the y pipe above the catalytic converter. I have a vise grip on it and am widdeling it down like a beaver with a Dremel extension. Laying on your back showering yourself with rust and sparks is so much fun.  I just remembered I had this funky tool called a nut splitter. This should be a good test since there is no flange now that the stud is hanging. Will save the fun for tomorrow. I did get the power steering pump tool and a Hayes manual for the torque specs. 

So the time has come to change the head gasket and lower intake gasket on the sn95 1998 mustang V6 with 124k. It's got a clear miss on cylinder 5,6 and smokes white after it's warm. Hasn't overheated yet because I have avoided using it. I'll thread as many fasteners back into place and the rest will get bagged and labeled. Disconnected the battery. (Heard a horror story of somebody bumping the starter by bridging the solenoid with a tool) it's an auto but still paranoid. Removed the intake hose. Disconnected the throttle and cruise linkage. Popped the vaccum lines off the top of the intake. Disconnected the coil pack. Pulled the plug leads and labeled them 1-6. Removed the coil pack from the mount. Started siphoning the coolant which may have some oil in it. Removed the serpentine belt. I chocked the rear wheels and raised the car up, I also put ramps under the front wheels since we are on a sloped driveway and supported with jackstands. Disc

Finally finished the wiring for the fan controller delay button and the volt meter. I needed to check the amperage draw on the fan controller to make sure the thin wires on the button weren't over loaded so I hooked the dvm and set it to dc amperage.  When the fan controller is activated the draw is .39 amps so the switch is fine.   i am not sure if I will keep the back light because it outshines everything. I also installed the volt meter in the gauge pod. I wired it to the ignition switch which goes straight to the fuse box. I de-pinned the black and green wire from ignition switch, I wrapped a 16 gauge wire around the back of the pin and soldered it.

Next up, I decided to dig into the hatch wiring. It's rough, there twist and tape, speaker wire and crispy wires. Speaker wire used to ground the third brake light. crispy wires to the license plate bulbs.

I checked the inertia switch for continuity and it was fine but no voltage present.  I went to the fuel pump relay and got 3 volts from the primary input wire and that wire goes to a fusible link at the starter solenoid. I thought they were slightly floppy when reconnecting them so I cut them off after checking that I had spares. and tested continuity. Open. Replaced both since they seem soft and the pump primes! Now I have a station car that needs a head gasket before I can run the car.  Also need to drop in the volt meter and the hot start fan delay button.

I decided to pull the driver's fender because the fan controller was behind the washer tank and above the horn assembly. I disconnected the power the the fan controller and ran it into the grommet in the firewall with enough slack to put the disconnect button anywhere. I went to make the plug connections and found I was 3 inches short on a few of the main ones. I knew the harness was looped behind the strut tower but thought I had enough slack. I pulled the harness back throught the apron and went to send it through the smaller hole in the back of the strut tower that is a straight run and the day time running light pigtail was to big. I took some pics and de-pinned it to run it through. Every thing worked and I hooked the harness up.  i used 2 push pin zip ties into the under upper frame rail.  I had to go back and split out the coil plug from the loom to get it routed how I wanted. Now the main harness is coming through a smaller hole it was to

Today I installed the cluster and shroud and switches. I push pin zip tied the flasher, accessory relay behind the airbag module. I routed the harness into the lower dash frame and used the oe push pin holes. I made the passenger side kick panel connections. Everything was neatly tucked away except the blower motor power wire. I fished my puller wire, a 3 foot solid core copper conductor I use for automotive fishing, through in a few spots but the only route that popped out by the motor was this half inch gap between the blower motor housing and heatercore housing.  both plugs would be too big to fit so i decided to depin the blower motor wire  and passed it through with the fish wire. i put the plug back on under the dash and connected it. Next is the engine bay connections, the fan controller hot start button and the fog light relay mod. There is corral.net article describing the wiring that got deleted but can be viewed in the internet

I accomplished a great deal today. I test fitted the shroud and decided I needed to repair the left top dash mount. it was split and very weak and floppy. i made a cardboard template and bent it to shape. i traced it on to some 18 ga scrap probably from the OE gas tank. i cut the rough shape with snips. i bent it and made the final trim marks and removed the excess with an angle grinder. i broke the loose piece off and trimmed the remaining mount with a hack saw blade. Then I used a razor on a scrapper to make it flush. i drilled two mounting holes in the bracket and used the rubber bumper plug to the left of the mount for a screw, then I drilled a second hole in the dash. i test fitted the bracket with both screws cleaned and painted it with epoxy black. i installed it wet and scratch the paint. I sprayed some paint in the cap and dabbed the scratches and screw heads