Tips & Tricks

I've been meaning to add some tips that I either found online or figured out as I went along with recent work. Here are two:

(1) When removing a harmonic balancer you can put the crank pulley bolts back into the balancer and then put a pry bar between them to hold the balancer still. Then loosen and remove the large balancer center bolt with a large breaker bar.

This procedure works well, but hopefully the bolt is not rusted
or seized into the crank snout.

(2) There are a number of ways to keep track of water pump bolts when replacing the water pump, but the best solution I found was to find a water pump template online and print it out. :-) I wish I could find the template I used so I could link to it, and give credit, but I can't find it...

I used the template at left to hold the stock bolts.
The template at right holds the new ARP bolts I am using instead.
Both paper templates are taped to a cardboard box to hold the bolts easily.

Wheel of Fortune?

[See Both Updates at End...] I had planned to purchase the aftermarket Ford Racing steering wheel (M-3601-B) for the 2001 Bullitt. I liked that the wheel had a much thicker rim, is the proper Dark Charcoal color, is OE quality, and is pretty reasonably priced at $200-$240. But I hadn't been able to find one in stock the past couple months at the less expensive places, although this modification has been around for many years.

Here's the Ford Racing M-3601-B steering rim installed
with factory Cobra wheel horn, airbag, and cruise switches.

I then saw Wheelskins leather steering wheel covers being advertised online. I remember these from the 1980's personally, and they've been around longer than that. These days the covers are not just slick genuine leather, but come in multiple colors and even have perforated leather available as well. The good news is they are only $43 shipped and come in Charcoal leather (or better yet) Black for a Bullitt.

Here's the charcoal Wheelskin, size AXX, in charcoal leather
with perforated leather on the sides only. Some other colors are shown at right.
They have a light grey, and red too, not shown. Black ended up being the right
color for a Bullitt.

The best deal on these is on eBay from a reseller. But the Wheelskin company will send you an extra needle and more thread for free if you want to try a fancy stitch. (I recommend requesting these for spares.) It's best to research a little online before starting, but using a regular stitch the job is about as difficult as tying a shoe. :-)

The Charcoal color is too light by two shades in sunlight
for the Bullitt's Dark Charcoal interior.

Some tips for a 2001 Mustang: (1) don't bother stitching around the four steering wheel spokes with "dummy stitches", they don't look that good anyway; (2) use a standard stitch, the waxy lacing is too obtrusive on fancier stitches and doesn't pull as tight; (3) stitch in four separate sections between the spokes, not the entire wheel at once like most folks do, you can get the lacing tighter and even rest mid-job if needed; (4) do a double stitch as the last stitch before each spoke for strength; and (5) start lacing in the middle of the rim between the spokes and work out to each spoke. Although I didn't use this tip for my install, if you use multiple color leather, you can get multiple color lacing too.

Overall, I think a Wheelskin is a really good addition with much better feel when driving. It was much less expensive than a complete steering wheel swap, and probably takes about the same time to complete (60 minutes). I also like how the lacing bunches the leather a bit, giving a consistent ridge to grab onto, unlike the smooth aftermarket wheel rim. I'd give my first install a solid B, some folks will try the fancier stitches and make them look good too.

I'm planning to do this one over—I'll use the Black leather instead to try it out—but neither would be an exact match for a Dark Charcoal interior. Other Mustang interior colors might be easier to match.

[Updated January 28, 2011] Ok, I just bought the Wheelskin in Black with perforated leather on the sides only to match the Ford Racing wheel. I installed it as described above, but with black thread to match the cover. The color is very close to the Dark Charcoal of the Bullitt interior, and recommended instead of the Charcoal Wheelskin.

Here's the Black Wheelskin draped over the Charcoal Wheelskin
on the Dark Charcoal Bullitt interior. I took the photo in direct
and indirect sunlight to show the color differences.

The finished product in Black looks really good! I see that the airbag cover is now not quite the right shade so I'll be tending to that next. :-)

The installed Wheelskin looks really good in Black, and is a huge
improvement over the stock plastic-feeling rim. And a great
deal for only $43 and a hour's time.

[Updated October 8, 2011] As part of Project Executive Hot Rod, I installed a custom-made steering wheel in the Bullitt. For the money, the Wheelskin is a good deal. The custom wheel was more than ten times the cost of a Wheelskin...

Rings Around the Gauges

I just installed a set of gauge rings from Explicit Auto in the 2001 Bullitt. I saw photos online of these rings, and I immediately liked the satin finish rather than the more common chrome or shiny finish I see elsewhere. I believe Explicit Auto is not officially in business anymore, but I was able to purchase a leftover set of rings.

The install is straightforward, and the directions supplied in the kit are super. The rings are plastic and they install from behind the gauge bezel. This installation gave me a chance to clean out the dust that had accumulated in the gauge cluster over the past ten (!) years. I think the finished product looks pretty good.

The gauge rings look good with the silver Autometer bezel at left.

The satin finish goes well with the other Bullitt interior features
such as aluminum shift knob and pedals.

Happy New Year: Out with the Old, and In with the New

I finished installing an Energy Suspension 4.2135G Shackle Set on the '66. I had noticed that the rear of the car would sway a bit and get loose under acceleration. Also, the driver's side of the rear was about 1/2" lower than the passenger side when the car was just sitting.

I knew that the car had a set of mid-eye 5-leaf springs with rubber eye bushings and stock shackles with Milodyne bushings from around 2002. I didn't want to spend the $250 and up for a set of new springs, and then $80 for shackles, until I knew I had to. So I bought the Energy Suspension shackle kit to update the old leafs.

Energy Suspension 4.2135G Leaf Spring Kit
includes 9/16" shackles and bushings for 1/2" front eye bolts.

The front eye bushing was in need of replacement.

[Photo Above] I removed the inner sleeve from the eye bushings by drilling them (the drill bit walks around the sleeve) and hammering them with a small socket extension. Then I used a 38mm socket and hammered the bushings and outer sleeves out together (lubed with PB Blaster), then hammered the socket back through. I originally bought the 38mm socket to fit the front of the Global West adjustable strut rods and it works here too. (Serendipity, baby!) Loud, lousy job, but it works...

The front eye bushings installed.

And on the car (before final torque).

Here are the new 9/16" shackles vs. the old 1/2" shackles.
Big difference.

[Photo above] Here's the driver's side (before final torque).. Notice the swapped bolts: This is the only way they'd fit. (Regarding tailpipe clearance on the driver's side, make sure you let the car rest fully on the springs to observe—the shackles pivot a great deal when the car sits on the ground vs. being jacked up in the air. I put a small dent in my large Magnaflow tailpipe to accommodate, but this probably wasn't even needed.) The top bolt requires pushing the sleeve in just a bit from the inside and inserting the bolt through the outside. I was puzzled for awhile on this one...

The passenger side installed (before final torque),
much more room thankfully.

The kit seems just great, and a great value as usual on Amazon. I'd recommend swapping the leaf bushings out one leaf at a time, and installing the shackles first, then the front eyes, then the axle u-bolts. I swapped leafs side-to-side, so I removed both leafs at once and tried to keep the rear axle on jack stands under the car, by myself. The axle did tip to one side and bruised the black axle paint a bit (and my ego), so be very careful if you work alone. Remember to use the supplied grease on the bushings and sleeves, and even on the bolts where they fit into the sleeves. Apply final torque to all the bolts while the car is resting on the ground, not jacked up.


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