Here is my 67 Coupe. About to begin engine bay cleanup!
03-23-2011, 01:09 AM
#1
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: California
Posts: 170
Here is my 67 Coupe. About to begin engine bay cleanup! Need suggestions (Pics)
Hello, Ive owned 3 Mustangs throughout the last 18yrs, A 66, 67 and going on my second and last 67 coupe. Anyhow, I have an engine being built as we speak and I dont have much $$, so Im gonna try and clean up/ rewire and paint the engine bay. I know its probably easier to just pull out the engine and take pics and tag every wire but I want to do it lil by lil because I want to keep the mustang driveable as long as I can until i do pull the engine. Problem is, there is wiring ALL over the place, some soo brittle and mickey moused that it falls apart and its spliced everywhere. It also has an aftermarket alarm and thats my concern. I want to remove the alarm, so I can clean up the wiring and remove 2 of the 5 horns that were installed 
. Does anybody have any experience or know anybody that is good with wiring, that wouldnt mind meeting me in person and giving me some advice. I started today to replace a couple wires today and it went well with just 2 wires replaced but Im scared to touch the group of alarm wires going into the car under the dash. Here are some pics of my mustang. I bought it 8 years ago from my bro in laws co worker. He was second owner and it was in really good shape to me. Straight frame, no rust until i left it uncovered for years with leaking windows, now it has floor pan rust. It has a rebuilt 302 from 1973 and still going pretty strong. It has a center console and overhead console (overhead console and headliner or perfect). It obvisouly needs work but I really want to get that engine bay area cleaned, painted and ready for the new engine. My plan is to remove parts, clean, sand, primer, paint and replace and then go onto next item while keeping the engine driveable. I can do most of the work but wires scare me. Ok sorry for long post, onto pics. OH bye the way, I paid only $2400 for it.
. Does anybody have any experience or know anybody that is good with wiring, that wouldnt mind meeting me in person and giving me some advice. I started today to replace a couple wires today and it went well with just 2 wires replaced but Im scared to touch the group of alarm wires going into the car under the dash. Here are some pics of my mustang. I bought it 8 years ago from my bro in laws co worker. He was second owner and it was in really good shape to me. Straight frame, no rust until i left it uncovered for years with leaking windows, now it has floor pan rust. It has a rebuilt 302 from 1973 and still going pretty strong. It has a center console and overhead console (overhead console and headliner or perfect). It obvisouly needs work but I really want to get that engine bay area cleaned, painted and ready for the new engine. My plan is to remove parts, clean, sand, primer, paint and replace and then go onto next item while keeping the engine driveable. I can do most of the work but wires scare me. Ok sorry for long post, onto pics. OH bye the way, I paid only $2400 for it.
Last edited by supermario; 03-23-2011 at 07:43 PM.
03-23-2011, 02:29 AM
#3
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 2,990
From the looks of it you got a nice price on that car, especially with the deluxe interior! Don't mess around with that interior, just shine it all up and it will be gorgeous.
You are definitely right about the wiring... it is a mess, first thing that stood out to me. My recommendation would be to just buy either a stock reproduction harness or a Painless Wiring kit. I've heard great things about the painless, but if you aren't adding anything crazy to your engine a cheaper stock harness would definitely suffice. It will come with all the right connectors, wire colors, etc. which will make life so much easier than trying to sort through and repair what you have now.
As for cleaning up the rest of the engine bay, I know you don't want to but you should definitely just pull the engine and clean it all. OR wait until you have the new engine ready before you start painting the aprons/firewall. Sanding and painting all the engine bay would be very difficult with all the stuff in the way, but it is possible. You will just get a much better finish and it will be much easier to do everything with the engine, radiator, and everything else out of the way.
Where in California are you located? I may be interested in giving you a hand, depending on circumstances
You are definitely right about the wiring... it is a mess, first thing that stood out to me. My recommendation would be to just buy either a stock reproduction harness or a Painless Wiring kit. I've heard great things about the painless, but if you aren't adding anything crazy to your engine a cheaper stock harness would definitely suffice. It will come with all the right connectors, wire colors, etc. which will make life so much easier than trying to sort through and repair what you have now.
As for cleaning up the rest of the engine bay, I know you don't want to but you should definitely just pull the engine and clean it all. OR wait until you have the new engine ready before you start painting the aprons/firewall. Sanding and painting all the engine bay would be very difficult with all the stuff in the way, but it is possible. You will just get a much better finish and it will be much easier to do everything with the engine, radiator, and everything else out of the way.
Where in California are you located? I may be interested in giving you a hand, depending on circumstances
03-23-2011, 07:41 AM
#4
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Madison, Georgia
Posts: 1,643
Looks like a good deal for $2,400. I agree, leave the interior and just clean it up. And just go with a reproduction harness, no need to upgrade to an aftermarket harness unless you need it, IMO.
It will be hard to clean up the bay with the engine in there. You might just want to clean and paint it right before you swap the other engine in there.
It will be hard to clean up the bay with the engine in there. You might just want to clean and paint it right before you swap the other engine in there.
03-23-2011, 04:23 PM
#5
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: California
Posts: 170
I live in eagle rock, in between glendale and downtown LA. I actually wouldnt mind driving down to you in my Mustang just to get some good advice or you could just let me know if there is any day that you happen to be free and bored. As for the pulling the engine, I do plan on pulling the engine, I was just gonna try to do as much as I can and then pull the engine out at the last minute to do a good cleaning. For now Im thinking of cleaning/repainting the horns, radiator support area, shock towers, brace, hood hinges, and any and all brackets that will be used with new engine like the alternator/power steering, brackets. Then once I had that stuff done neatly, I wanted to pull the engine, finish the cleanup, repaint and then hopefully re install the same old engine in one weekend. Im not sure how long it will be before the new engine is ready and thats why Im going to re-install the old Engine. Oh also, Im gonna buy the original wiring harnesses for the engine bay. Part of the mess is the msd ignition and the alarm and thats where I dont wanna mess anything up. Im thinkin of removing the alarm to simplify everything for now. i dont drive the mustang to public places much anyways.
On another note, do you guys know how hard it is to drop a 351 stroker into my car where a 302 was sitting? I was gonna pay a guy $700 to do the swap and thats why I am cleaning it up myself, BUT everytime Im staring at my engine bay, I keep thinking I can do it myself. Do you guys know what would be needed and is different from the 302? Alternator braket, power steering bracket, motor mounts? FYI, I have swapped an engine before when i was younger but it was a simple straight six 200 being rebuilt, so that was much simplier. Thanks again for the help guys. I really appreciated it.
On another note, do you guys know how hard it is to drop a 351 stroker into my car where a 302 was sitting? I was gonna pay a guy $700 to do the swap and thats why I am cleaning it up myself, BUT everytime Im staring at my engine bay, I keep thinking I can do it myself. Do you guys know what would be needed and is different from the 302? Alternator braket, power steering bracket, motor mounts? FYI, I have swapped an engine before when i was younger but it was a simple straight six 200 being rebuilt, so that was much simplier. Thanks again for the help guys. I really appreciated it.
From the looks of it you got a nice price on that car, especially with the deluxe interior! Don't mess around with that interior, just shine it all up and it will be gorgeous.
You are definitely right about the wiring... it is a mess, first thing that stood out to me. My recommendation would be to just buy either a stock reproduction harness or a Painless Wiring kit. I've heard great things about the painless, but if you aren't adding anything crazy to your engine a cheaper stock harness would definitely suffice. It will come with all the right connectors, wire colors, etc. which will make life so much easier than trying to sort through and repair what you have now.
As for cleaning up the rest of the engine bay, I know you don't want to but you should definitely just pull the engine and clean it all. OR wait until you have the new engine ready before you start painting the aprons/firewall. Sanding and painting all the engine bay would be very difficult with all the stuff in the way, but it is possible. You will just get a much better finish and it will be much easier to do everything with the engine, radiator, and everything else out of the way.
Where in California are you located? I may be interested in giving you a hand, depending on circumstances
You are definitely right about the wiring... it is a mess, first thing that stood out to me. My recommendation would be to just buy either a stock reproduction harness or a Painless Wiring kit. I've heard great things about the painless, but if you aren't adding anything crazy to your engine a cheaper stock harness would definitely suffice. It will come with all the right connectors, wire colors, etc. which will make life so much easier than trying to sort through and repair what you have now.
As for cleaning up the rest of the engine bay, I know you don't want to but you should definitely just pull the engine and clean it all. OR wait until you have the new engine ready before you start painting the aprons/firewall. Sanding and painting all the engine bay would be very difficult with all the stuff in the way, but it is possible. You will just get a much better finish and it will be much easier to do everything with the engine, radiator, and everything else out of the way.
Where in California are you located? I may be interested in giving you a hand, depending on circumstances
03-23-2011, 05:57 PM
#6
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: NH
Posts: 476
Don't be to afraid to pull out the alarm. Most of the functions cannot be used in an older car anyway so there's most likely very few wires actually connected to your Mustangs wiring harness. The amout of wires coming from the box may look intimidating but once you see how few are attached it shouldn't be bad.
03-23-2011, 06:10 PM
#7
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 2,990
Definitely start by taking the alarm off if you don't need it, then you should be able to wrap your head around the rest yourself. Wiring is easy, just overwhelming at first.
03-23-2011, 07:42 PM
#8
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: California
Posts: 170
Ok I actually got the msd ignition figured out, it can be rerouted neatly. I looked at the alarm and where its looks confusing is under the dash. All the other wires I can see where they go. Now forgive my ignorance but what is that small little black box mounted just to the right of the solenoid? It has several damaged wires that go various places? Is that part of the alarm? Yesterday when i was moving it around to try and clean it up, a wire just broke becus it was soo brittle, so I bought some new wire and fem/male ends and did up a new wire. All is good now but for a while it wouldnt start until I realized the wire broke off.
Last edited by supermario; 03-23-2011 at 07:46 PM.
03-23-2011, 08:54 PM
#10
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: California
Posts: 170
Thats what I figured too, the alarm? I think Im gonna take my car to the guy that I Ive had alarms installed with. He owns his own stereo/alarm shop and he is pretty good with electrical. I just want to make sure I dont disconnect something and not able to get car started again. Thats what I did the other day, I removed a wire to see what it would do if it wasnt connected to the solenoid and car didnt start. Its kind of strang becus the wire has a fuse and I pulled the fuse so alarm doesnt work and i figured if the fuse was pulled, the connection is lost anyways, so what would it matter if I removed the wire, well it did matter obviously. Thanks for helping me out with all my questions. I cant wait to get the new engine. I need $2k more for the remainder of engine parts. Im also gonna do the suspension myself.