Thread: 1974 Mustang II Build

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“…….At least he'll be used to using those garbage no vent mandated gas cans. It sure is a hard learning curve……”



That’s coming I’m sure but not something he has to worry about as long as he is using Grandpa’s cans.

I fortunately have enough of the old non-leakmaster spouts to use on the gas cans I keep fueled for the Generator. I’ve drilled an 1/8” vent hole in the top of the handles on the cans and just thread a short drywall screw in the hole when the cans are in storage.

One of the nice things about the 74 Mustang IIs was they don’t have the unleaded restrictor/flapper valve in the tank neck which makes filling from a gas can a bit nicer too……but again, not my problem (I’m not the one likely to run out of gas in it).


Not that I haven't had the experience of having to put gas in this one along side the road.......remember I said it used to be the wife's car



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Spent some more time on the 74 on Sunday. I had Cade pull the valve cover so we could take a look at the valve train. Everything looked like it would live for a while so I had him bolt the cover back on. I really didn’t think we’d find anything but it was a good opportunity to show him the little things like how to pull the plug wires without ripping the boots in half or over tightening the valve cover bolts.

valve cover by M Patterson, on Flickr

Then I let him play with the electrical. He got all the lights working except the brake lights which turned out to be a bad brake light switch……..He sure fits under the dash a lot better than I do


In his mind the big accomplishment was getting the radio to work

One of the comments he made was whether I thought it was a good idea to buy a parts car if we could find one(I had to inwardly grin thinking his moms going to love this ) so we spent a bit of time discussing the pros and cons of buying one…..not that there are any currently available right now.


It was another pretty good day. He has other plans for next Sunday so it will be a couple of weeks before we get back to it.

I did bring up that there was a Swap Meet in Tucson on Sat the 11th of Nov that I normally try to sell some parts at and that he was welcome to go with me (I’d already cleared it with his mom). He seemed pretty excited about it so we’ll see how that goes.



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Nice! Always liked that body style.

Teaching takes so much time but worth it in the end. I know what you mean by having a youngster do something that you know doesn't really need to be done, but they learn several things in the process. It always takes a lot of self control to let them to some mechanic work cause I want to jump in and do it for them. It's fun to watch this thread.

Cade stayed over last night and after helping me put the flag up started his day building up a bit more credit for the Mustang II fund by doing some painting. I'm pretty proud of him he did a good job, painted the whole thing including trim, didn't complain or rush thru it so we could start on the car. So one shed down and two to go.

20170917_080031 by M Patterson, on Flickr


After he got cleaned up we went out to the shed and collected some of the 4 speed stuff so it be cleaned up when we hit a slow time......the transmission itself is kind of buried so we'll dig that out next time he's over.


bellhousing by M Patterson, on Flickr

Then we pulled the 74 back in to the shop and put it up on jack stands (along with the lecture about always using stands when he's working under a car). We did an under car inspection and he got his first whiff of 90W when I had him check the differential. The only real surprise was that the PS rack is leaking out the ends so we may be looking into a rebuilt rack. Then we took a peek at the front brakes (which looked good). By the time that was done it was about time to pack it in so the rear brakes will wait till another time.


20170917_104207 by M Patterson, on Flickr

So that was pretty much it for today the Mustang is back in the shed till he makes it over again.



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It was a busy day today but I think Cade had a good time. It was a paint day for him, starting by getting the second of the 3 sheds painted (and acquiring some more money to put towards parts).

paint 1 by M Patterson, on Flickr


The it was on to getting the 4 speed out of the shed and into the shop.


4 spd by M Patterson, on Flickr


It's funny Cade used to cringe when he had to touch a greasy part and couldn't wait to wash his hands when he got a bit of dirt or oil on them. At least as far as working on the Mustang goes getting his hands dirty doesn't seem to faze him now and while I kind of pity him a bit for having to clean this one up, it's part of that paying your dues where we all started.

Before we went ahead and got the Mustang out I asked him if he wanted to give me a hand with the 37 Dodge for a minute. I needed someone to ride with me and monitor the speed on the speed controller so I could compare it to the speedometer. After we got that done I drove over on the road that runs by the back of my place and opened it up a little. After going thru the 3 gears I ask Cade what he thought. His eyes were wide, he was grinning from ear to ear and said COOOOL


Cades' Uncle had come down from Phoenix today so while he and I talked Cade spent the rest of the morning touching up the paint chips the car had accumulated over the years.

paint 2 by M Patterson, on Flickr


And that's pretty much how the Sunday was spent.



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Yep, that says it all! COOOOOL!!!

Awesome. That will be a great memory for him! Make sure you bring that on your next trip up to Illinois.

Good on ya mate.
You're pointing the boy in the right direction.
Our two boys had the run of my workshop.
They grew up to be practical men.
Our younger son TJ (Tony John) had his fuel pump pack up at 2:00 am on a rural road fifteen miles from home.
He syphoned fuel from his tank into an empty 2 litre Coke bottle, ripped his windscreen washer hoses off, used them to connect to the fuel line through the firewall, put that line into the bottle, plus another shorter line, sealed the neck of the bottle with rags, blew into the shorter line to force the petrol out, and managed to get himself home.

Those are the skills and thinking abilities you're going to be instilling in Cade.
Yep; good on ya mate.

I wish you'd been my granddad!

As it was a holiday Cade was over this today instead of yesterday. It was kind of iffy if he would be allowed to as his grades have slipped a bit (right on the border line of putting the mustang on hold until he brings them back up). We had a talk before he started today and we'll see how he does. I had him start off the day by painting the last shed. Then it was on to cleaning up the 4 speed for the Mustang.

Nothing better than a boy and his greasy 4 speed.


4 spd 1 by M Patterson, on Flickr

It's not show quality but after 2 1/2 hours it's good enough to put under a driver.

4 spd 2 by M Patterson, on Flickr


Cade was starting to look a bit like a raccoon by the time it was clean, but really didn't seem to mind.


4 spd 4 by M Patterson, on Flickr


I've got to admit throughout painting the sheds and doing the grunge work on the Mustang his attitude and work have both been great and I'm really proud of him.


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This is a great thread. Thanks

It doesn't have to be show quality, the show comes when you're banging gears.

That last photo is priceless. His face covered in dirt/grease "gazing" on the fruits of his labor... way cool.

It's another Sunday in Mustang land.

Cade's day started at 6AM again. I've run out of sheds to paint so today he started making some money by washing windows. I usually wash them in the spring and fall so they were due. That whole sitting there and being able to say "you missed a spot" is alllll right (the wife usually reserves that job for herself when I wash them

WW by M Patterson, on Flickr

He got about 1/2 of them done, so I've got a job for him to do the next time he comes over.

Then it was out to the car. When I originally built the 74 for my wife she was adamant that she had to have power steering in it. Some things you just say "yes dear" to so I changed out the manual rack, installed a PS pump etc etc. Fast forward to now and after sitting the last several years the rack is leaking like a sieve.

I figured it was a good morning for Cade to start figuring out how to look up parts and look at options for stretching his money. We looked up rebuilt racks and he pretty quickly figured out he would have to work a lot of hours to pay for a decent rebuilt R&P. He noticed that the manual racks were considerably cheaper and ask about those (as I'd hoped he would). I explained that it would be a bolt in and the only thing besides the rack he would need would be a shorter belt for the alternator once the PS pump was eliminated. His big concern was how much harder it would make the car to steer. When I told him the car was originally a manual steering car and his mom had driven it that way for a couple of years with no problems that pretty much sealed the deal. He was even more convinced when I told him I still had the original rack out in the shed. We brought it in the shop and the inner tie rods are still tight, and the boots good....it needs new mounting bushings but I think I may have a set of those.

After we ate up the time figuring out what to do about the rack, we still needed to actually do something on the car. The valve cover was leaking a bit......we had pulled the VC to check the cam a while back and re-used the old gasket. I had come across a new one out in the shed a few days ago, so I donated that to the cause. Cade got the VC off and I introduced him to the joys of gasket scraping

GS by M Patterson, on Flickr


He managed to get the cover back on and the car buttoned up again with no problems, although I watched pretty close on how tight he got with the valve cover bolts. I KNOW at some point I will have to teach him about drilling out broken bolts and thread repair......I'm just glad it wasn't today


vc by M Patterson, on Flickr


With that done, he asked me where the VIN was on the car. I showed him and asked why. He reminded me that when he cleaned up the 4 speed he had come across some stamped numbers on it. I had explained that that was a partial VIN used to identify what car the transmission had come in. He had decided to see if the transmission was "numbers matching" to the car. It was and he was tickled pink. No offence to anyone, but the thought that went thru my mind was "dear god please don't let him become one of those guys

We needed to go to town to pick up a brake light switch so we have that when we put the 4 speed pedals in next time he's over. We called it quits a little early today and decided to put the 74 back in the shed till next time. I got the car turned around and drove it into the arena where the shed is and shut it off while Cade shut the gate. I asked him if he wanted to take it for a lap or 2 around the arena. I didn't have to ask twice. He was grinning and nervous the whole time but for his first time did pretty good (even though we barely got above an idle) . I do know that was a drive he will never forget (and will likely recall when he teaches his kids for the first time). Anyway that was pretty much it for today. It's always a good day when be both come in the house smiling.



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Sunday again and the old Mustang has 3 pedals once more......of course only 2 are currently functional. Were not quite to the point of changing out the transmission but Cade decided he wanted to get the stick pedal set up back in.

He grumbled a bit getting the pivot bolt thru the clutch pedal, bracket, brake pedal, and other side of the bracket, but he managed to get it done without using any of the "magic words" . I don't know if I ever fit under a dash as well as he does . At least I know now who's going to be changing fuses and flashers in Grandmas' and Grandpas' vehicles from now on!!!!



clutch by M Patterson, on Flickr


We will probably get the manual rack on next weekend so for now we bypassed the PS pump with a shorter belt due to the rack leak. He had some issues getting a couple of the bolts grandpa had tightened loose and needed a longer ratchet and swivel socket on a couple. I had told him when we started on the Mustang that he could work out of the far right tool box for hand tools he needed that he didn't have in his own box (until the first time any of those tools ends up walking away!!!!) I keep the ratchets in the very top of the box and I wish I had a picture of him standing on his tip toes and streching so he could see into the very top to get a ratchet out I figure by this time next year that won;t be an issue.



The bottom box had been my Dads and the top two boxes and all the hand tools in the boxes were my first tool set. When I'm gone I want both grandsons to have one of the roller chests and side boxes (they'll have to fight over the center box (which had been part of my original tool set). I'm kind of hope Cade wants the box he's using now, but who knows.


tool boxes by M Patterson, on Flickr


Anyway when we finished up for the day, I let Cade do a few more laps around the arena......he had been a little worried about being able drive it without power steering . He did fine, but a couple of times I had to remind myself there is no brake pedal on the passenger side

Anyway another good day and a couple of little things checked off the to do list.




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