November 21, 2024

In the summer of 2024, I paid way too much for a cherry red 1965 Mustang with a manual transmission from a very nice fella up north.
Mid-life crisis jokes aside, it’s been one hell of a learning journey. I like to think Dad would be speechless.
I’ve done so many damn things to this car already… off the top of my head:
* Oil Pan + Gasket Swap – that was miserable
* New, modern, touch-screen stereo
* New bulbs in the dash console
* New pedal covers
* Oil change
* Transmission gear oil change – that was awful
* New washer fluid reservoir
* New washer fluid motor
* New washer fluid jets
* New wiper blades
* New overflow for radiator
* New horns and wiring repair
* Completely rewired under dash to a new, modern fuse box
* Rewired auto-choke back to the new fuse box
* New spark plugs – required removing the passenger side exhaust manifold
* New starter solenoid
* New starter coil
* New gas tank emblem
* New battery, battery platform, battery hold-down (was being held down by bungie cords)
* Bled the brakes + new brake fluid – this only kind of worked. I may not have been patient enough
* Driver’s door panel replacement. These things are CHEAP
* New air filter and air filter gasket
* Discovered that this car has a 1970 manual transmission, but came with an auto originally

* Also discovered that it came from the factory…. “Springtime Yellow”
So we come to today. I was feeling motivated.
When I connected back up the spark plugs, I very clearly got the firing order wrong. The car runs like shit right now. So much pinging.
Tonight I got under the car with a flashlight and a paint pen and found the harmonic balancer. After grabbing a 15/16 socket and wrench, I turned the crank until I could see TDC (top dead center) on the markings – which is harder than it sounds. Apparently the 289 small block has a weird TDC marking.

Look, I’m really just trying to find where plug 1 is on the distributor, man. Yes. I know it’s marked. But apparently that can’t be trusted, because 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 didn’t work.
No dice on TDC. The distributor still points to like… 3 or something. Not 1 (as marked on the distributor cap).
In any case, I know I can take the valve covers off and do this easily. I know I can put a screwdriver in plug 1’s hole and watch it go up and down. Both of those require my very abiding wife’s help.
So I ordered a plug stop tool from Amazon. That will help me find TDC without the assistance. Arrives on Saturday.
More to come…




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