A Collage of Pony Tricks
| 30 June 2007
From time to time, inadvertent scratches to the taillight panel of your first generation Mustang are almost guaranteed when you remove and install the gas cap. The trick to minimize or eliminate them is to install two gaskets between the panel and the mounting flange of the fuel filler neck. Two gaskets give the cap twice as much clearance compared to what the factory provided and that cuts way down on the likelihood of scratches.
An aftermarket steering wheel installed on a first generation car, especially a driver, can be a nice addition because it replaces the factory wheel that’s probably cracked in several places. Installation is relatively easy but you need to be aware of one caveat; the steering column probably won’t have the correct gap where it meets the trim cup behind the new wheel. But that problem can be solved by adjusting the column. Loosen the clamp where the column is held in place under the dash and then slide the column up or down until you have a visually acceptable gap. Retighten the clamp when you’re done. On cars where the column goes all the way to the steering box, there’s an isolator mounted in the lower end. A hole in the center of the isolator fits over the neck of the box and may be stuck in place. If that’s the case, you probably won’t be able to adjust the column until you persuade the isolator to loosen its grip on the steering box.
If you’re going to paint your pony and then replace the exterior trim, letters, and badges, you can save some frustration by trial-fitting the new parts before doing the paint job; this is called a mock-up. Some replacement parts fit properly and some don’t. Door handles are a good example. Some handles have the bosses for the attaching screws drilled and tapped at a slightly different angle compared to the factory units. It’s no big deal to elongate the holes in the sheet metal to make the replacement handle line up if you do it before the paint is applied. But if you wait until the new paint is on the car, the last thing you want to do is run a file through a hole and create a raw edge.
Another fitment example is the spacing of attaching lugs on the back of letters and badges. Repop pieces don’t always have the correct pin spacing. The best way around this problem is to not buy the ones with incorrect pin placement because the right ones are available (think Scott Drake). Be sure you get the right ones by making a template from the old ones. Simply take the old pieces and push their pins into corrugated cardboard. Pull them out of the cardboard and label each pattern for what it represents. Now you have a template that you can take with you when you buy the new parts. If the pins on the new pieces fit the template, you’re in business.
In line with the fitment issue in the previous paragraphs, here’s another trap to be aware of. Some of the badges on the outside of our cars are mounted to sheet metal that isn’t flat. For example the fender badges that mount to front fenders are curved to match the curve of the sheet metal. But when you buy new badges, they’re not curved; they’re flat. Don’t get caught pushing the pins of new flat badges into new barrel clips mounted in curved fenders. It’s exasperating plus sometimes quite difficult to remove the badges so they can be contoured. It’s much easier to leave the barrel clips out of the holes and trial-fit the badges. If the contour needs to be changed, carefully bend the badges by hand until they fit the shape of the sheet metal. Go slowly and check the fit frequently because the badges are made of white metal. They can be bent (slightly) one time in one direction but if you go too far and need to bend them back to remove some of the initial bend, there’s a good chance you’ll break them or crack them. When the contour is correct, install the barrel clips and then push the badges in place.
If the window glass in your car has water spots or acid rain spots, you might want to remove the spots. But if you’ve tried, you know it’s very hard to do, seemingly impossible if they’re heavy. The trick is to find a product that’s specifically designed for the job. One such product is Zaino Z-12 Clear-View Glass Polish developed and marketed by Zaino Brothers. The manufacturer recommends using a slow speed polishing machine with a cotton bonnet but doing the job by hand isn’t very difficult. One thing to be aware of is that Z-12 will leave a white stain on rough and porous surfaces so care should be taken when working close to those surfaces. On the plus side, the stain is relatively easy to remove with detailer or spray-on window cleaner if it’s not too heavy. Z-12 is available online at the Zaino website, http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc, or locally at Carolina Shine on Monroe Road in Charlotte.
Do you have an unusual noise coming from the engine compartment when the engine is running? Are you having a hard time deciding where it’s coming from? Is it the water pump, a bad bearing in the generator or alternator, something wrong with the power steering pump, something haywire with the air conditioning compressor, or is it something else? To help identify the offending device, try using a listening rod. Buy a piece of wooden dowel;⅜” or ½” in diameter by 36” long. With the engine running, put one end of the dowel on a suspect device and hold the other end to your ear. Move the dowel from device to device until the noise you’re hunting for is transmitted through the dowel. Now that you know where the noise is coming from, you can decide what needs to be done to fix it.
CAUTION: With the engine running, you need to be very careful with the dowel when it’s in the vicinity of moving parts. Being wood, it will break if it gets caught but it can still injure you and may cause damage to your car. Stay focused to avoid contact with the moving parts and to avoid personal injury.