Posts by C6ZZKGT

  • K-restoration blog updated - Drive shaft stripes

    Charles' driveshaft appears to have outside lock U-Joints on both ends. Having both U-Joints of the same style would be the norm. I do not understand why your driveshaft has one of each. The yokes that they fit into are specific to the U-Joint type and they generally are not interchangeable. It would appear to me that somewhere in its past life, your driveshaft was modified. It is possible though that your front yoke is setup for outside clips but you cannot tell from the pictures.


    -Fred-

  • K Coupe Fuel Pressure

    If you are running a 4100 carburetor it is possible that the air bleeds on the secondary venturi cluster are plugged. This happens a lot when carburetors are not used over a period of time. This can also happen to the accelerator pumps jets, especially with todays fuels. There are six bleeds and you will need to remove the carburetor top and venturi cluster to access all of the holes. They can easily be cleaned with a small wire like on a parts tag wired to a part. While you are in there, you might as well do the primary venturi cluster as well. If these are plugged, the fuel will keep siphoning out of the float bowl even if the engine is not running. This will also create a rich fuel mixture while it is running.


    -Fred-

  • 65 K Code vs 65 GT K code

    I will preface my remarks here by stating that this is truly my own opinion that has been formed over my many years in this crazy car hobby. I could be way off base however I did live and race through the times that these cars were new. K convertibles are very rare as are all K cars in general. Convertibles are far more rare because back when these cars were new people wanted the lightest bodies with high performance engines. The coupe was the lightest and originally more preferred. When the fastback came along, the style was attractive and some people could put aside the weight difference just to have the fastback style. A friend of mine bought a 66 Hipo coupe brand new just to go racing. He avoided the fastback because of its extra weight and was quite successful with the car for many years. Now the convertible, being the heaviest and less rigid body style, was really not often thought of in performance circles. I only saw one convertible back in those days at the drag strip. I do not know if it was a factory Hipo or not. It was competetive but not on top of his class. This was back in a day when people ordered cars for racing with zero creature comforts. Now we look for an early Hipo convertible and there are few because they were the redheaded step child for the performance oriented crowd. Then if you added the GT group that was more frills that were not considered performance oriented. The Hipo cars already had the handling characteristics of the GT and disc brakes were an option on Hipo cars without being a GT. Then to go one further you could add the luxury (pony) interior group creating an even more expensive car. The Hipo convertible , GT and pony interior in one unit are, to me, the rarest of the Hipo convertibles. I have been fortunate to have had three of them all at one time but that was when they were easier to find. You can hold out for at least a GT optioned convertible but it will not drive any differently than a standard Hipo convertible. The biggest problem is getting one that is rust free and with the original drive train. Best of luck in your search.


    -Fred-

  • Starter motor types

    Mark, I was trying to keep this simple by only addressing our early Mustangs. The later Mustangs beginning in 1968 did start to have different starters between automatics and standard transmissions. Most of this was due to the chageover in some Mustangs from 157 or 160 tooth ring gear flywheels to 164 tooth flywheels. That does not affect our early Mustangs. I looked on the VMF forum and I noticed that most problems were related to the later cars. You are correct that your starter teeth should not be hitting the ring gear when the starter is disengaged. Believe me, you would know if they were engaged as they will make a tremendous amount of noise while the engine is running plus the starter and flywheel teeth would both turn blue from the heat. You can simulate this by just holding your ignition switch to the start position after the engine starts. It is normal to have wear on the front side of the ring gear teeth from use over time. I would suggest that you either replace the ring gear or at the very least reverse it as has been previously suggested. You already have my input as to reversing the gear. Keep in mind that your block separator plate to the bell housing already acts as a shim for the starter. Any further shims will only cause less engagement of the starter drive.


    -Fred-

  • Starter motor types

    Mark, If you are contacting the ring gear only on the front face, then moving the starter away from the bell housing will only make that worse. You need to also look at your starter drive to see how much contact that gear is making. I just looked the starter up in my Ford MPC and it lists manual and automatic trans starters as the same for our early Mustang applications. There are Fairlane applications where automatic and manual transmissions take different starters. The starter nose that you have is the correct one for your Kar.


    -Fred-

  • Starter motor types

    As much trouble as it is to pull the trans, bell housing and flywheel, I would put on a new ring gear instead of just reversing it. I have had one that was extreme in its wear pattern as it was rolling the teeth over and would not work in the opposite direction. Of course, being that I am in the U.S. makes that easier as I can get one from my local parts store or just go out into my own garage and pull an NOS one out of own stock:). However, being as you are in England, it would be a good idea to acquire one before attempting the job.


    -Fred-

  • 67 Fan Spacer

    The Ford MPC lists the spacer as 2.44 inches thick which includes the pilot. The only other applications that I could find for it are a 1969 full size Ford 428 police car and a 67 Fairlane with a 289 and hang on A/C. The hang on A/C is not the same as factory installed A/C as the factory installed A/C had fan clutches.


    -Fred-

  • 65 Hipo Fuel Pump

    Here is a little known tidbit of information regarding 3939-S fuel pumps. Ford actually used the 3939-S pump on some 1969 Ford F100 pickup trucks with a 302. These must be the elusive Muscle Parts Specials trucks from 1969 or maybe NASCAR or Holman and Moody Special trucks. :) The pump in question as to the date code could very well have been a rebuilt version of one of the F100 pickup truck pumps or an over the counter replacement pump built in 1969. Either way, it is definitely not an original 1965 vintage pump.


    -Fred-

  • 65 Hipo Fuel Pump

    Richard, Please note that the pump date code absolutely is with the day of the month first, month in the next position and the year in the third position. I have restored over 200 of these pumps and they all follow that sequence. Using the first number as the year, how would you decode the following:

    11L4A, 24M4A, 28G5A, 12K8A, 14M4A, 15A9A, 15F7B, 15H9A, 12A6A, 22M5A, 17C6A, 19L4A

    These are just a few examples of some of the ones that I have done and some that I still currently have in my possession. Everyone might want to check the date codes on your own fuel pumps to see where you stand on this.


    -Fred-

  • 65 K Code Undercarrige detailing

    Jerry, The 289 High Permormance Mustang book, available from this site, has a fair amount of information that you are seeking. Purchasing the book also helps to keep this site going. The book also has information regarding the high performance 289 Mustang that you do not generally find anywhere else. The book is in its fourth edition and includes a registry of our unique vehicles.


    http://www.hipomustang.com/default2.asp?page=13


    -Fred-

  • Exhaust manifolds

    I have seen a couple of versions of repro hipo exhaust manifolds. The ones that I remember most had part numbers on them but they were actually Ford service part numbers and not the engineering numbers that are normally on them. They did not have date codes. The average person might not pick up on the fact that the casting numbers are incorrect.


    -Fred-