I have my donor engine about 70% out of my 86gt. In about 2 more weekends, maybe less I will get around to pulling the old tired 302 out of the maverick. (BY the way, if anyone in so cal wants a real good deal on a 72 302, let me know, as I will be selling the old 302) Anyway, I will be yanking the old 72 302 out of the mav and will have a bare engine compartment. Since I want to do this car right, I have to clean, detail and paint the engine compartment myself. What can be done by myself?? Is this something I should just tow to a paint/body shop and have them do it?? I am not ready to paint the entire car yet, and want to get the engine compartment painted first, then drop in my efi motor, then start on the rest of the car. What can I do about those stupid holes in the shock towers that are used as lube points for the suspension. Are there any sealed suspension pieces that I can go with so that I can seal the shock tower holes back up and not need them to lube the suspension?? thanks for the help. ps, if anyone has some good engine compartment pics, feel free to post them, as I am not sure If I should paint it the color of the body, or paint it black.
It's certainly easier to rattle can your engine bay with Krylon 1613 semi flat black, but 71 & up Mavericks had their engine bays painted body color from the factory. Only 70 Mavericks had semi flat black engine bays. You may want to consult a body shop for the body color paint, only because those ungodly lube access holes need to be welded up. Both TCP & Global West make upper control arms that require no maintenance. Very pricey though. I have the stock uppers & bought a $20 lube fitting kit to acess them. Most of your Mustang vendors sell them. The trick to quality looking engine bay is prep! Lots of sanding!!! Replating all of your original hardware is another touch that gives your engine bay good pop. You can have every piece of hardware clear cadded for under $75. The more you strip down your engine bay the better quality job. I removed the steering box & detailed it, the mastercylinder/booster, brake lines, front swaybar, solenoid, etc. The only problem is then you start moving into other areas of detailing & it seems like you will never get done. ie. swaybar, front suspension, inner wheel well housings, strut rods, crossmemeber...it just keeps snow balling. I swore I was building a driver & got carried away & did way more than I originally planned. So it goes...
re: lube access holes I plan to go to one of the parts houses that have those plastic discs that snap in (for interior bolt access) and paint them the color of my engine bay (black). The rear holes would be a major pain to weld up (unless you have the engine bay stripped already). just a thought.
I have never heard of that Rick, I like that idea. Let me know when you get that done, or if you know a place where I could find those, or a picture---thanks
GS - not all '71 & up engine bays were body color from the factory. My '71 has the semi flat black engine bay.
i found some rubber plugs that i liked, then got some washers that they would snap into the center hole. took a hole cutter and cut holes the size of the washers and welded them in flush. after the paint i will pop the plugs in for a clean factory look. my 71' is painted the body color. will see if i can find a pic....frank...
I've seen those pieces on the 'Help' racks in all the autoparts stores (AutoCrap, PepGirls, Oh Really's, etc).
I thought the upper control arm grease fitting were supposed to be 90' fitting so the zerk points toward the tire. So all you have to do is reach behind the tire to grease them. I think the reason most shock towers have holes burnt into them is because someone put the wrong grease fittings in the control arms. I say get the right fittings then weld those puppies shut. my $.02 Russ
The upper control arms came with plugs from the factory. They were not delivered to customers with the zert fittings in them. Usually the dealer would install the 90 degree zert fittings at the first service. The problem was that the lube gun heads would not fit over the zerts do to the lack of clearance. Ultimately some owners & shops cut holes in the shock towers & installed straight zert fittings as that was usually the most common source of frontend squeeks in Fords of that era.
