Shelby light tension hood springs

Well this is not the most exciting update but it is an update never the less. My 1967 – 1968 Shelby light tension hood hinge springs arrived this week. The light tension springs are needed due to the lighter weight of the fiberglass hood over the factory metal one. Just another piece of the puzzle.

RRS 3-link rear suspension & disc brakes packages

So I still have a lot of shopping to do with RRS, the biggest of all is the 3-link rear suspension kit. Here is a run down of the benefits of the setup.

The RRS 3-link is designed to transform the handling of an early Ford chassis to match or exceed the demands of new millennium performance production Fords.

This is accomplished by focusing on the following four criteria:

1. rear geometry and roll centre
2. suspension reaction time
3. torque transference (chassis stress management)
4. ease of installation and tuning (bolt in ride height and shock tuning.

A closer look shows the incorporation of the rear disc brakes kit which I’ll also be picking up. This rear kit uses molycarbide rotors which offer 25% improved stopping distance.

Besides the paint, this purchase will most probably be the most expensive single purchase remaining in the whole project. I’m not to sure when I can set some cash aside for it either, so it may be a good few months.

RRS update… Strut Brace and Under Dash Booster

Ok well i know you all may think RRS are paying me or I’m some crazy RRS fan or something like that, but i assure you that is not the case. I just find there is a lack of information on Mustang parts and news from this side of the planet.

Anyway back to business, as i mentioned last week RRS are coming out with a Shock Tower Brace and it’s confirmed that for Australia it will be available in four weeks at $AUD395 incl GST. plus delivery.

But there also is the exciting news that there will be another product ready for sale in four weeks time, the under-dash Pedal Booster/Master Cylinder which is slated for a $AUD1,500 retail plus GST and delivery.

I think this will further damage my bank account. I still have the rear brake package and rear suspension to buy.

Again both these products haven’t been advertised or featured on their site, but have been confirmed. You heard it here first.

The RetroGauge Mustang Mini-Tach for 1967 and 1968 Mustangs

Unfortunately for most 1967 or 1968 owners their car is not a GT. and therefore is not fitted with the factory GT tachometer. Those who have tried hunting one down will also know that a genuine one will cost you big dollars and even more if repairs are needed.

Fortunately one Aussie guy has come up with an alternate solution. Mike Brand is now producing and selling his Retrogauge™ Mini-Tach’s all over the world. I actually bought my original 1967 deluxe hard seat backs of Mike and i have nothing but praise for his operation.

Here’s some background information:

In my professional life I have a company which specialises in the import, design and manufacturing of automotive and marine gauges. Having worked in the instrumentation field for most of my life I figured it shouldn’t be too hard to modify or build a tachometer to suit my purpose. As most ‘67 and ‘68 Mustang owners would know, there is a location in the instrument cluster for a factory clock. The clock was an option and not that common, so the majority of the vehicles out there have nothing more than a plastic blank filling the space. Because this is centrally located, I figured it was a great spot to put the tach. The problem was I didn’t want to cut my cluster and of course I was after an authentic look.

I set about building my tach using existing tooling that we had available, which after some modification turned out to be ideal. The tach is manufactured using components from various countries but the final assembly and calibration is done under my own roof in Australia .

Mike’s novel and ingenious idea has seen him feature in Mustang Monthly so it seems to be turning a few heads. It certainly is something i would consider if i wasn’t going with the Autometer gauges but none the less it’s going to prove a great way for those who can’t find nor afford an original GT tach to have that bit of GT flare in their ride.

Basically here’s what it’s all about:

A custom designed solution for any ‘67 or ‘68 Mustang owner who has ever wanted a tachometer for their car but doesn’t want to pay an exorbitant price for a genuine GT cluster. The RetroGauge™ Mini-Tach is an ideal solution for the following good reasons:

* No cutting or modifying any part of the dash or cluster whatsoever;
* Simply replaces the plastic blank (crosshairs) or clock in the instrument cluster;
* Illuminated by the existing dash lights so no extra lighting is needed;
* Only two new wires required – one for the feed and one for the signal;
* Characters and dial emulate the existing instruments for an authentic look;
* Available in both 6000 and 8000 RPM versions (V8 only at this time);

BEFORE

AFTER

You can visit Mike here http://www.retrogauge.com/and stay tuned for a look at my original deluxe hard seat backs i bought from Mike.

RRS Tower Brace… coming soon!

There’s some exciting news this week out of the RRS stable here in Australia with word getting out they are about to add a Tower Brace and Monte Carlo bar package.

As this is a new product details are a little limited although early reports from RRS indicate that the brace will be available in about four weeks and will be priced at around $AUD400 and luckily enough I’ve gotten my hands on image of the brace.

This is great news particularly for Australian enthusiasts who previously had to look overseas for a similar brace. Personally I was leaning towards the Total Control Products (TCP) tower brace seen here.

But now with the prospect of such a quality item here in Aus it makes my decision easy.

RRS already provides advanced suspension, brake and steering conversion kits along with many other products to suit ’60 – ’87 unit body Fords and this looking like another quality product to add to their inventory.

Here’s a good visual breakdown of the products RRS already provides.

More info on the brace next week.

Projector headlight retrofit pt2

I’ve revisted this idea again which i spoke about in part one. I’m still 100% going to go with the projector headlights and have decided on the Bi-Xenon Audi RS6/A6 projectors and ballasts from HID Planet

Here’s what you get in the kit:

RS6/A6 Bi-Xenon ECE Complete System:

Complete RS6/A6 HID System comes with projectors, bulbs, ballasts, and ballast housings.

This Complete System comes with the parts needed for a full retrofit or replacement. The system comes with the following:

# RS6/A6 Bi-Xenon Projectors
# Hella Generation-3 12V Ballasts (pair)
# Philips D2S 4100K Bulbs (pair)
# Ballast Housings (pair)
# Ballast Power Leads/Pigtails

They look great I think and although there is a little bit of work in the modification, installation and not to mention wiring for the Bi-Xenon solenoid I think it’s well worth it in the end.

Now that I’ve decided on the lighting system, I have to choose the actually headlights that will be cut out and used as the housing for the projectors. What I’ve come across is the European style ‘Angel Eyes’ headlights like the Volkswagen and BMW’s use.

So basically imagine the second image with the projectors, coupled with the above image using the Angel Eye light housings. I think that will look great! although I do imagine A LOT of work on the wiring and electrics.

I think my next update on this will be when I buy the various parts. Stay tuned.

Photos courtesy of Aleks and Fastbackfreak.

RRS coilover and rack & pinion steering

RRS or Revelation Racing Supplies is an Australian company manufacturing quality race bred components for various vintage cars, including the Ford Mustang of course.

They mainly produce steering and suspension components, much like the US based companies like Total Control Products or Flaming River, however for the budding Australian enthusiast RRS is the only option as TCP and Flaming River are both illegal in Australia due to not having engineering certificates amongst other things, believe me, I’ve looked into it.

One of my first purchases was the RRS Phase one lightweight front coil over suspension seen here.

Obviously I haven’t had a chance to fit them yet, but I’m very excited about how they are going to handle. In this purchase i also got myself a RHD power rack & pinion setup. I’m not really keen to use the original steering. I want to have a vintage car with the handling of a modern one.

I’m not done with RRS yet though, I still have to get the rear disc brake setup, the 3 link rear suspension get and the molycarbide brake discs for the front. More on these later.

PIAA 959 lights arrive!

I had a nice surprise waiting fro me when i returned home this evening. A box from the states with my PIAA 959 projector fog lights! If you remember my previous post, I was a little excited about scoring these as they are now sold out and impossible to find at a good price. I managed to purchase them brand new off one of the members on the Eleanor forums.

My first thoughts were of the sheer size of the units themselves. I’ve never actually held a pair, I’ve only seen them installed and thought they were small, but they are quite large, just fitting into the palm of my hand.

They turned up in record time, under a week, and safe and well. Here are some pictures i just took.

Air Conditioning and AC Vents

Originally my car wasn’t equipped with air conditioning and in Australia where our winter’s are the equivalent to the hottest day in other countries and our summer’s are hotter than the sun i thought it would be best to investigate and implement air conditioning.

Two major tasks were required. One, find original 67 ac vents and control unit, which is becoming a tall order these days, and two, decide which air system i would install.

Let’s start with the later. Rather than finding bits and pieces to reconstruct an original setup I’ve decided to fork out the cash and buy a complete new setup and adapt it to the original vents and control unit. However i haven’t decided which to buy and so I’m still researching that bit. I’ve come across Vintage Air but i know there was another major one i cannot seem to remember from when i researched these last year.

On to the ac vents and controller setup. I managed to purchase these through eBay from an Australian seller for a reasonable price. They are however from a non-deluxe interior car, meaning for it to go into my car with deluxe interior it will need to be chromed. It also has a fair bit of pitting which will need attention. The centre vent is complete (although the picture will tell a different story) the other bits and pieces did come with it, they just need to be put back in.