Ford OEM 05-14 Ford Mustang BR3Z-5K483-B

 

Did They Come With The Required Updated Nuts or Did You Have To Purchase? Ford Changed the Design on These Arms 3 or 4 Times over The Years as an Fyi To Interested Viewers. I Saw Them in The Pic & It Reminded Me They Changed Those. Also Latest Part Number Was Released in 2011. The B in the Part Number Tells You Release Year.

W712503S440
Updated Fasteners

KC

 

No I had to purchase them. In the pic you can see the label of the fastener below the box. The stock units look too plastic and had no way to hold the threads from turning when applying torque to the nuts. I did find one of the original types available, all the rest looked like cheap knock offs. I sent a few back before I settled on these.

 

I bought the car 10 years ago as a donor because it was cheap. I was going to put the drivetrain into a '69 Mach 1 I have but decided heck, if it was a 69 or 70 Mach 1 with a smashed quarter, I'd drive it...so I did, and it became known as the "Mashed 1". I drag raced it for a couple of years and just beat on it and had fun, great car...just beat looking. Then one of my guys begged me not to part it out so we decided to fix and save it, and I picked up a '01 Cobra as a donor car but all that is now going into a Fairmont Wagon. Anyway...we took it to PITS as the Mashed 1 and got nothing but positive response...that was 2 years ago, so this year we decided to take it back with a new quarter on it but since the back window had to come out, I decided to go ahead and paint the roof which snowballed into the roof and both quarters.

So here we are cutting out the quarter...I removed a used quarter and outer wheel house from a '99 GT parts car.

Cutting it further apart....

Starting to fit the donor quarter. I didn't cut it in at the top at the factory point because it goes under the roof skin and that would get into a ton more work and potentially damaging the roof skin...so it was cut in lower down the C pillar.

There were some light imperfections in the quarter so that was worked out.... getting ready for a prime


The driver quarter had one small spot that needed fixing, otherwise straigt as an arrow. The roof needed no work, just stripped it to remove the old clear that was coming apart.

Still wet here, i was in a rush yesterday to get the primer on because it was the last warmish day for a week, and I need to let this cure before blocking. So, the clock is ticking, and I need to get red on this part before PITS...it will go with shiny roof and quarters, but the rest of the car will still look beat...LOL

The hood is a dumpster fire since it was bumped in the front long ago. These hoods are not exactly easy to come by and this one was separated at the leading edge which made for a worrying driving experience at highway speeds, and we didn't want the top skin to be gone with the wind, so I dug into it and used 3M panel bonding adhesive to start repairing it. Still looking for a good replacement hood but if I have to, I'll finish this one. At least for now it will be structurally sound.

So that's the back story and current situation for the Mashed 1...even fixed though it will always be known as the "Mashed 1".

 

Holy Cow, Great Work & I Love The Vise Grip Supply!

Also Have a Soft Spot For Vintage C-Clamps! Been Using a 1930's One Myself For Squeezing Brake Calipers Since I Was a Teen!

{Just One More Thing} Like Columbo When Working on Cars!

Been Down That Road!

KC

 

I never seem to have enough clamps or vice grips...and I've got a pile of them...LOL

 

Washed the car by hand for the first time this Spring since doing the buff out / ceramic coating over the winter. Just gotta say WOW, really impressed with how much the water was beading and sheeting off the car. Used the foam cannon (just the one that hooks up to the garden hose, not the pressure washer kind) and and did a quick wipe down with the wash mitt. Then hit it with the hose to rinse and, again, zero of the water clung to the car. I used the leaf blower to get the rest of it and cleared the car in no time flat.

Really impressed with the ceramic stuff. Last week I was filling up and the gas pump shut off late, spilling a little down the side of the car. Was worried it was going to eat the coating, but poured out my water bottle on it and it just sheeted right off.

It's been 2 months, 1000 miles, and 3 or 4 gas station drive through car washes and I'm pretty stunned the ceramic looks as fresh as it did when I applied it (didn't get any post-worthy pics of it today though). Lookin forward to seeing how this holds up over the summer

 

Thanks for clarifying!

I'll most definitely need to try the ceramic coating on my car, but will first need to remove all those nasty swirl marks, before applying ceramic coating... In the meantime, thanks for sharing your results with the ceramic coating.

 

Sounds like it might be worth it to switch. Love to see pictures when you get them. Love to hear more as the season goes on...

 

Changed the pollen filters in both Mustangs, my '13 and the wife's Shelby.
They were both filthy, as it's been YEARS since last replaced. At least 6-7. Almost like they were on Tony's maintenance schedule

 

Gabe! Speaking of Tony, he hasn't been around in 5 months... Despite our efforts in attempting to reach him, he hasn't responded... I also submitted a PM. but unfortunately, he hasn't responded to that either... Just hope he's okay, as it isn't like him to just suddenly disappear...

Meanwhile. congrats on finally getting around to changing those cabin filters...

 

Here's after a quick wipedown with the California car duster

 

Purty!!! Like the glossy shine.

 

Did you apply detail spray to the California car duster? Your car looks like you just polished it...

 

Nope, just the duster. I washed it the weekend beforehand and had been driving it around all week, which with the pollen got it pretty bad. I don't know if the ceramic is supposed to repel dust or not, but it wipes clean easier and water beads "relentlessly" (their marketing lingo but surprisingly true) off of it

I want to do a paint correction & ceramic coat on my wife's Mazda in the background there, but gotta set aside a good weekend it two to do it.

 

I'll most definitely need paint correction first before applying ceramic coating, otherwise, any remaining swirl marks will still be visible... From my understanding, ceramic coating is supposed to repel water by water beading "relentlessly" just as you confirmed...

Just a word of caution on the California duster, once the oils eventually become completely evaporated, make certain to apply small amounts of spray wax to provide lubrication before each dusting, otherwise, you'll just end up smearing dust everywhere and possibly putting swirl marks/fine scratches into the paint surfaces... I learned that lesson the hard way thru personal experience.

 

Gave it some fresh Amsoil 5W50 and a new Motorcraft oil filter.

59,081 miles, bought new August 11, 2012.

 

After a lot of hunting since adding the ISO-Clutch tank in 2023 I finally found an aluminum matching cover for it at Moroso in their left over stock from the last production run a few years back. Got it polished and installed today. Now do not have to see that white tank and black cap standing out when I open the hood...

 

Installed front and rear Hotchkis sway bars. Haven't put the car on the ground yet so I don't know the answer to your question yet.

 

Okay update - I installed them on the second hole front and rear. I'm pretty impressed with the results. The body roll side to side is like not there anymore. The car steers very quick and feels like it's on rails.
I also installed the Barton shifter. That works but it seems like I have to muscle it to work. I may have the fasteners too tight. I'm going to loosen them a bit and find out if it makes it better.
I used BG MOA 110 hoping to reduce the affects of not starting the car for the last 6 months (I've been away). Anyway the engine seems to jet up on RPM much quicker and it's quieter, I like it. I'm going to use that in my truck.