Another day a few more tasks on the job list complete

 Gearbox and engine mount day.

Today was rear gearbox mount and right side engine mount replacement day.

The day started with the rear gearbox mount needing to be replaced.

While the car has a single exhaust system for most of the way, it combines just after the gearbox extension housing. This can make life a bit tricky re replace the rear gearbox mount.

Fortunately, not so tricky after all. The main bracket came off and out fairly easily and then it was a matter of unbolting the mount and then reinstalling the new one and the crossmember.

Here is a picture of the old one. Does not look to bad, but on close inspection the cracked rubber can be seen.

The next job was the engine mount. After unbolting the mount, the challenge then is to get it out. I figured that if I unbolt the left mount (that was replaced not long ago by the looks of it) from the block, this would enable me to lift the motor enough to get the warn out mount out of the tight space. I lifted the engine by placing a large block of wood under the sump to spread the load on the sump to then lift the motor. I found that I had to unbolt the fan shroud to enable enough lift as the fan blade was hitting the top of the shroud. As the shroud it the original fibreglass version, I did not want to damage it.

Once the old engine mount was out, I installed the new one only to find that the new one had the block bolt holes about 5mm out from where they needed to be. After a quick call to Russell at Just Mustangs, I arranged to go meet him at the factory in Riddell's Creek to check the others and arrange a swap over.

Here is the new mount ready to go in. 

Unfortunately I ran out of time so I placed the old one back in and lowered the engine back on the old one to take pressure off the sump as I will probably not get back to it until next weekend.

While waiting for Russell to be available I made a start on the front castor / strut bushes. After a bit of work I managed to get the castor rod out but it looks like the bushes are in there and are press fitted. 

As I did not have much time and I wanted to check for other kits, I put it all back together. Here is the kit with just the rubber bushes. Next weekend, I will have another go at getting the old ones out. They are similar to a X series Falcon, but the 71 to 73 Mustangs have a bulky cross member under the radiator where as the X series Falcons have a angle brace that goes from the radiator support to the frame rail. Ford changed them for the 71 to 73 Mustangs.. So time will tell.

While checking out the problem with the engine mount at Just Mustangs, I came across a nice new Auto trans shifter cover. Mine, white not cracked, is old looking and is missing the rubber in the leaver slot. As it is a simple 7 screw removal and replacement task, I figured why not. The new one looks so much better. The flash picture does not show the nicer looking cover.

Here is the old one. All the silver (Chrome) is missing from the high points..

Here is the new one installed.

Along the way, while looking for the engine number, I managed to dislodge / break the washer water pipe that connects to the underside of the bonnet. Im not sure if it is bung around the pipe or some other design. So I have asked a few questions on a few Mustang forums to find out before I try and pull it out and possibly damage it more.

 

Well, that's about it for now. That's the end of Sunday. No more time to work on the car and back to work tomorrow. More research to be done over the week between work..

Stay tuned for more updates.