Rustoration of 1991 FOXBODY Mustang GT as a Cobra Clone

I had an old wrench I had cut the end off for a past project and decided to make a shift lever adapter for my bakolite 33  Ford knob. Think I need to turn it 45° more. If I drop 2 washers into the receiver it should be right but I ran out of time today. I also have a black ball shift knob and the silver skull which I bought some threaded hardware to make them more sturdy and extend the lever. I swapped the Allen key for slotted set screws. I also want to mess around with the angle cause I currently have to reach for 1st.   I am a fan of early hurst bent style levers and the 70s Mopar pistol grip as well. The shifter I have currently is a gen1 t5 Hurst shifter but it still has the plastic ball cup. There might be a brass one but for now it's not important. Another cheesy idea I had was going to pick up a cheap survival knife at a swap meet, drill some holes in the blade and try that, still with the Paracord wrap on a metal handle. Don't know if I could get the angle right and I...

So with the change in temperature at the beginning of the year the water pump started sleeping when it was cold. This gradually got worse through the heat cycles. With corrosion evident on the bottom of the pump I decided to redo the water pump even though I am sure it could have just been resealed and been ok. I think I made 3 mistakes last time. I used the crap black gaskets that came with the pump. I used ultra grey rtv. I sealed the inner air pockets inside the pump. These filled with fluid and with the thermal expansion compromised the gasket. I went for a motorcraft pump this time as well as the light blue permatex rtv 22071. After I heatcycle the motor a few times I am going to go back and torque everything again. I also replaced the 2 left bolts that had corrosion on the from last time, with stainless ones. (5/16 - 18 4") I would have liked a 3 7/8" bolt but it's not available in stainless locally. I put a cut in an old bolt and chased the ...