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1970 Ford Mustang - Fundamental FixesProject High School Hauler sees reliability improvements for street and track From the May, 2011 issue of Modified Mustangs & Fords By Mark Houlahan
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A complete Pertronix ignition... A complete Pertronix ignition system is just the tip of the iceberg when it came to getting this ’70 coupe reliable for road use. We’ll be installing the Pertronix Ignitor III billet distributor (PN D7130700, $295.32), Flame Thrower E-core coil (PN 60103, $72.95), and cut-to-fit 8mm black plug wires with 115-degree boots (PN 808215, $62.54), but first we need to stop the overheating! We introduced you to our ’70 Mustang coupe project last month with an overview of some of the Mustang’s short comings and immediate issues. We also laid out a rough plan of what we want to do to the 40-year-old car to make it a fun and capable street car that can hold its own at the dragstrip, without going overboard and making it a dedicated track car that requires support equipment, a trailer, and so forth; all things way out of our budget. So the first thing on our agenda, before we move forward with power upgrades, suspension, and other goodies, is to get the car to simply run right and be reliable. Right now, the ignition system has a draw (constant voltage to the coil even with the key off), which prevents the car from shutting off. Nothing like having to open the hood and choke the carb or yank the coil wire to get your Mustang to shut off! We also have an electric fuel pump that needs to be rewired, a cracked fan shroud, and a leaking radiator to tackle. First up is the cooling system. As embarrassing as it is to raise the hood and yank the coil wire, it’s more embarrassing to be overheating and blowing steam everywhere, not to mention the car won’t get very far overheating. So, we’ll be yanking the radiator of unknown origin and replacing it with a direct-fit aluminum radiator from the specialists at Champion Cooling Systems. We’ll also add a nice aluminum shroud and electric fan. This will ensure we’re always moving air across the core when needed, shave a few pounds off the nose of the car, save some horsepower, and get rid of the sketchy flex fan. Next on the list is fixing the ignition system. The distributor is original, with a non-working vacuum advance, and still carrying antiquated points triggering under the cap. The coil is an MSD Blaster, which isn’t a bad piece, but again, we have no idea of its age or its current output. So, Pertronix came to the rescue with one of its drop-in, billet Igniter III-based distributors. This is like cramming one of those ignition boxes into a shrinking machine and putting it under the distributor cap. You get multi-strike ignition, full digital control, and a rev limiter, all in one sweet-looking piece of hardware. We’ll add a matching coil and new plug wires, too, to get our spark back up to snuff. Finally, the Holley electric fuel pump will be rewired to power through a relay properly, and to be controlled by an ignition-switched circuit. As it stands right now, it is wired directly to the battery and you have to disconnect the battery or the pump’s wiring to shut it off. In the end, our ’70 coupe will start and run better, hopefully make a little more power, and from now on, the only time we’ll have to raise the hood is if someone wants to see the engine.  [1] Our cooling system has...  [1] Our cooling system has seen better days as well. Not only do we have a leaking core (note the green crud at the top of the radiator), but we also have a broken fan shroud and a noisy flex fan.  [2] We’ll tackle the radiator...  [2] We’ll tackle the radiator swap with this aluminum high-flow direct replacement unit from Champion Cooling Systems. We picked it up from Mustangs Unlimited under PN 339EC-01 for $159.95.  [3] Lucky for us, the ’70...  [3] Lucky for us, the ’70 has no A/C, so the radiator easily unbolts with just four fasteners after draining the coolant and disconnecting the two transmission cooler lines.  [4] The new Champion unit...  [4] The new Champion unit bolts right in and all hoses/cooler lines connect right up with no fabrication. You might notice that the radiator swap occurred at a remote shop location. The leak was so bad we couldn’t even drive the car back to our own shop.  [5] Once back at our own shop,...  [5] Once back at our own shop, we continued with the rest of the cooling upgrades. First, the busted fan shroud is cut away from the new aluminum radiator…then the throwback-to-the-’70s flex fan is unbolted from the water pump hub.  [5] Once back at our own shop,...  [5] Once back at our own shop, we continued with the rest of the cooling upgrades. First, the busted fan shroud is cut away from the new aluminum radiator…then the throwback-to-the-’70s flex fan is unbolted from the water pump hub.  [6] For cooling, we went with...  [6] For cooling, we went with Champion’s matching aluminum fan shroud and electric fan combo, also from Mustangs Unlimited. The 16-inch electric fan and polished shroud setup (PN FS251-01) runs $169.95. Unfortunately, the depth of the two together tried to occupy the same space as our water pump pulley, so it was time for Plan B.  [7] Plan B was to direct-mount...  [7] Plan B was to direct-mount the fan without the shroud. We’d lose just a little cooling efficiency, since the fan would only cover about 90 percent of the core, but we didn’t think there’d be an issue mounting it as such. A test fit showed we’d be fine.  [8] Before mounting the fan,...  [8] Before mounting the fan, we picked up four replacement pulley bolts to secure our water pump pulley. Reusing the stock bolts was not an option, as their length would interfere with the water pump housing.  [8] Before mounting the fan,...  [8] Before mounting the fan, we picked up four replacement pulley bolts to secure our water pump pulley. Reusing the stock bolts was not an option, as their length would interfere with the water pump housing.  [9] The supplied fan attachment...  [9] The supplied fan attachment kit includes four mounting ears, mounting pads, and mounting straps that work like a zip tie. We positioned the fan with its flat edge against the lower radiator tank and then placed the fan straps through the mounting ears installed on the fan.  [10] Once through the radiator...  [10] Once through the radiator core, the mounting pad and locking clip were slid down the strap to secure the fan to the radiator and the excess strap was cut off.  [11] To control the electric...  [11] To control the electric fan, we used a Painless Performance Fan-Thom II fan relay kit with a 185-degree thermostatic switch. PN 30103, the Painless kit includes a relay, temperature switch, circuit breaker, wiring, and terminals for $82.77.  [12] While installing the...  [12] While installing the temperature switch in the thermostat housing would have been best, we didn’t have a housing with a pre-existing threaded opening, and since our ’70 is sans-heater, we simply removed the plug in the intake manifold and installed the switch there for now.  [13] The wiring is quite simple...  [13] The wiring is quite simple and is labeled for easy installation. You’ll need to find a key-switched power lead to trigger the relay and we used the green/red stripe wire at the voltage regulator for that job. Don’t forget when connecting the fan power and ground leads to verify the airflow direction of the fan, and reverse the wiring if needed. Also, zip-tie the fan leads to the fan housing to keep them away from moving engine parts.  [14] Before tackling our ignition...  [14] Before tackling our ignition upgrades, we had to figure out why our coil had power all the time, preventing the owner from shutting the car off. He had to raise the hood and choke the carb off (meaning he wasn’t running an air filter either). After some investigation, we found the ’70 column-mounted ignition switch wasn’t connected to the tumbler lever in the column!  [15] Since the correct pin...  [15] Since the correct pin was long gone, we carefully secured the ignition switch to the tumbler lever with a cotter pin. Essentially, what was happening was the owner was turning the key to off, but the ignition switch wasn’t moving to the off position. That’s a new one on us!  [16] With our ignition switch...  [16] With our ignition switch issue repaired, we needed to cover the carb and get our air filtered once again. We grabbed this shiny, Ford Racing 13-inch, drop-base air cleaner that we had left over from a previous project and donated it to the cause. We know it’s a little like lipstick on a pig at this point, but no sense letting the engine suck in any more dirt.  [17] If you’re a little worried...  [17] If you’re a little worried about swapping a distributor out, don’t fear. It’s easy if you follow a few simple steps. First off, trace your number one plug wire back to your existing distributor and mark the terminal it goes to, then take the cap off and transfer that mark to the distributor body.  [18] Carefully rotate the...  [18] Carefully rotate the engine by hand until the rotor on your distributor lines up with the mark you just made on your existing distributor.  [19] With the engine on No....  [19] With the engine on No. 1 cylinder, remove the old distributor from the engine. At this point, make absolutely sure the engine can’t be rotated. Disconnect the battery, take the key out of the ignition, and remove the ratchet from the crank bolt, whatever it takes. We also removed the old coil and mounting bracket from the intake at this time as well.  [20] On your new distributor,...  [20] On your new distributor, in this case our beautiful billet Pertronix Ignitor III-equipped distributor, locate the terminal you want to use for the number one spark plug wire (we suggest using the same terminal as your old distributor to prevent confusion) and mark the distributor body again. Lower the new distributor into place, moving the shaft a tooth at a time until the rotor lines up with your mark and the distributor is fully seated.  [21] While direct-fit wires...  [21] While direct-fit wires can be easier to install, we prefer the universal wire sets so that we can get the fit and routing exactly how we want it. The time consuming part is measuring and fitting each wire, but the results will look better. Here, we’ve managed to fit the wires by length from front to rear to start trimming them.  [22] It’s best to do one wire...  [22] It’s best to do one wire at a time, and generally we recommend going in the engine’s firing order. For the small-block Ford (using a non-HO flat tappet cam), the firing order is 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 with the wires going in a counterclockwise direction. For those with late-model engine swaps, 351 Windsors, or HO roller cam swaps, the firing order will be 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8.  [23] To properly make a plug...  [23] To properly make a plug wire, measure the length, and cut off the excess wire. Carefully slip a distributor boot over the wire. This may require silicone spray or liquid soap to get the boot to slide down.  [24] Using a plug wire cutting...  [24] Using a plug wire cutting tool or a razor blade, carefully cut down through the insulation to the spiral core, but ensure that you do not cut the core itself.  [25] Fold the core back over...  [25] Fold the core back over the insulation and place the correct terminal (the wires come with boots and terminals for both male- and female-style distributor caps) over the wire end and then crimp the terminal in place using a plug wire crimper. Carefully slide the boot back down until the terminal is in place inside the boot.  [26] The Pertronix E-core–style...  [26] The Pertronix E-core–style coil comes housed in an aluminum heat sink-style mounting bracket. This not only keeps the coil running cool, but offers an easy way to mount the coil away from direct engine vibration and heat transfer. The early Mustang’s flat inner fender is a perfect place to mount the coil.  [27] The distributor is a...  [27] The distributor is a simple two-wire hook-up (just like installing the Ignitor in your own distributor). The red wire attaches to coil positive and the black wire to coil negative. The yellow wire is an extension of the factory coil wire lead and that goes on the coil positive stud as well. Note, the coil takes a male-style-plug wire end, but don’t worry, the coil comes with the proper terminal and boot to be crimped on.  [28] While there’s a lot of...  [28] While there’s a lot of cleaning and detailing left to do to make our ’70’s engine compartment presentable, we do now have a reliable cooling system, a fully electronic ignition with built-in rev limiter to protect our engine, and when we turn the ignition key off, the car actually shuts off without any further interaction from under the hood! Best of all, with a couple of quick pulls on the dyno we even found a few horsepower in all of this. Our previous best was 177.11 hp with 249.39 lb-ft of torque and this time around our ’70 dyno’d at 186.57 hp and 261.8 lb-ft of torque—an improvement of 9.46 and 12.41 respectively.
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