It is Sunday March 1st, 2026, and it has been several months since I posted about either my car or my truck - I've been preoccupied with the deck and one or two other things since the start of the year. So, time for a quick recap, starting with the '68 Mustang coupe:
At the end of September last year I had finished installing the new engine, rebuilt the carburetor, and got it all running. About a month later, after I got back from vacation, I ran-in the new engine in the garage: twenty (20) minutes at approx. 3000 RPM. I set the revs at the carb so that I didn't have to keep my foot on the gas pedal! After everything had cooled back down, I drained the break-in oil, refilled with 10-30W, and recorded the video clip below. Incidentally I discovered that break-in oil has a high zinc content that is designed to seal the cylinder walls.
I mooched around the house for a bit looking for an extra pair of hands and managed to convince Amy Sheep to pop down to the garage and help me re-install the hood. I still needed to adjust the clutch and get the shifter stick stops lined up, which is most easily achieved by driving the car in and out of the garage and making adjustments. Unfortunately, when I went to re-start the car, I was struck down instantly by a broken throttle cable!
OMG! Below is a photo of the replacement cable I bought from Summit which just showed up. Because this is the same part, I only have to replace the cable; the other parts like the shroud that I already custom fitted can be reused...I just have to find a minute to swap them over. Hopefully the replacement won't snap...
What about the '67 F250?
Well, at the end of
November last year the truck was running, somewhat nosily, and pretty much ready to go. I decided to repair the exhaust rather than replace it - to be honest I'm fed up with spending money on this particular vehicle. I bought several of what my Dad used to call "bandages" and double wrapped all the junctions in the exhaust pipe. The engine sounds much quieter now, but I will still have to get the entire exhaust system replaced pretty soon.
Anyway, this morning Amy Sheep and I finally plucked up the courage to take the F250 on a quick test drive around the block. That went pretty well, so after a quick cup ot' tea, we drove down to the bottom of the hill and filled up with gas:
The truck was dripping quite a bit of oil while we were at the gas station. On the way back up the hill we noticed smoke was creeping out from under the hood. It turns out that oil is leaking from the intake manifold gasket - it was pooling at the back of the block. So, the next thing with the F250 will be pulling the intake manifold and replacing the gaskets.....
To be continued....
