1965 Ford Mustang Rally Pac Color Change And Red LED Lighting Conversion – San Diego, Ca

Just finished working on a 1965 Mustang Rally Pac. The customer wanted a color change from the stock black wrinkle finish to a white wrinkle finish, and the lights changed to a red LED illumination. I started off with a beautiful reproduction 1965 Rally Pac from Scott Drake. Taking these apart is a delicate operation.  All the wiring and gauge internals are sharing a compact space. Since the Rally Pac has modern internals, I took pictures during the process, so I would insure that everything went back together the same way. The trickiest part was trying to find red LED lights. These days, most automotive light bulbs have a LED equivalent.  The light bulbs on an original Rally Pac are 1895s, but the reproduction unit were miniature bulbs with no number on it. The bulbs were manufactured by a company in India called AutoPac.  I went to their site, and they had no information on them.  I ended trying a few different LED styles that would  fit inside the housings, and that had the most even illumination. I ended up using cut-to-fit LED tape, and it worked awesome. After I bench tested it, I carefully re-assembled the Rally Pac. Now this Rally Pac is ready for installation.

Replacing And Repairing Window Regulators On 1964 1/2 – 1973 Ford Mustangs – San Diego,Ca

Is your Classic Mustang’s window regulators giving you problems? The causes are usually broken window track rollers, or a broken window regulators.  Over the years, the design has become more modular. Ford did away with the separate scissor and regulator assembles in 1966 for the Mustangs. Also, the window track rollers were integrated to the window regulator beginning in 1967, so window roller failure is rare from then on.  Explaining how to replace a window regulator is sometimes hard to do. The regulator comes out and goes back in only one way, but can get caught in the process. The most important thing to remember is that the number one premature failure of window regulators are improper adjustments on the up and down movement of the door glass itself. With the regulator out, the glass should fall freely into the door. Don’t actually do that, or you may damage something.  I’ve services 45-year-old regulators, and they worked almost as good as new.  If your window regulator ever gets suddenly stuck, then do not try to force it. Once you strip the regulator gear, you have to replace it. I can usually get them free, and make adjustments and lubricate them back to working condition. If I feel that there is too much play in the window regulator, I will recommend a new one. There is no sense in paying for labor twice!  While I’m inside your doors, I will check and lubricate all other moving parts such as the latch mechanisms.  Removing the card board backed door panels can get damaged by removing them too many times.  Taking your time and patient are keys to working on Classic Cars.

1958 Ford F100 Pick Up Door Glass, Door Glass Guides, Door Latches and Locks Replacement – San Diego

A customer at JBA Performance Center was complaining that the windows didn’t role up on his 1958 Ford F100. At first it seemed like one of the window rollers broke which is a common problem, but after pulling the door panels it was discovered that there weren’t any glass to begin with. Most of the parts are reproduced except the front window guides, so I had to hunt around San Diego for some used ones. I got lucking, and managed to find both sides. Someone tried replacing all the window channels, but were all damaged because of the lack of the lower guides and glass. Another set of channels were installed, and they aligned properly with the used window guides. The only part of the window system that were actually in the doors were the window regulators. They were inspected and lubed before the glass went in. The new door glass are not available as an assembly, so the new glass guides had to be installed on the glass.  After everything was installed, the windows rolled up and down smoothly.  Next, were the door latches and locks. The doors had to be slammed shut, and if you were lucky they would close.  The door latches had a reciprocating star shaped catch that weren’t very safe back in the 1950′s. They’re also harder to adjust them compared to the latches from the mid 1960′s. New latches and locks were installed, but it took some work to get them open and close properly most of the time. The last thing that needed replacement were the inside door latch release mechanisms. They have a dual function. They open the doors, and lock the doors from the inside. Because the springs were very worn, the door would not always shut solid. They are used only, and hard to find.  In the meantime, the doors will have to be shut carefully.