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The BIBLE of Car Care
This is a ebook which contains the most extensive collection of car care knowledge ever! It is free, but you must register to unlock the last parts of the book.

Autopia Guide to Detailing (right click and save as)

Removing Window Tint
Supplies

Razor Blades
Windex or Watered Down Ammonia
#0000 Steel Wool
Plastic Tarp
Large Trash Bag
Sunny Day
Patience

Side Windows

-Use the razor blades to get under the tint and make a small dog ear.
-Peel the tint off by putting constant pressure 145 degree's away from the surface of the glass.
-Don't worry if you cannot pull it off in one piece, thats what the razor blades are for.
-After you get most of the tint off you'll notice all the adhesive still on the windows. You will need to get this off.
-Spray the window liberally with the Windex or Ammonia.
-Wet the steel wool with the Windex or Ammonia and being scrubbing. Don't bear down to hard or you will break the class. You can scrub away becuase the 0000 steel wool will not harm the glass.
-Finish by buffing the glass with a cotton cloth.

Back Window

WARNING: If you have a rear defroster, you can damage or destroy the defroster if you are not careful. Proceed at your own risk!

TIP: Park your car with the rear window facing the sun.
1. Use a plastic tarp and cover the rear interior of your car.
2. Spray some water on the outside of your back window.
3. Cut the large plastic bag along the seams so that you can spread it out all over the back window.
4. Lay it on the outside of the back glass and trim it to exactly fit the window.
5. Spray the inside of the window liberally with the Windex/Ammonia.
6. Take the plastic bag you just cut and place it on the inside of the back glass. Make sure you cover the entire rear glass with the bag.
7. Wait about an hour letting the sun bake the tint off.
8. Remove the plastic bag and begin peeling like you did on the side glass. BE CAREFUL NOT TO CUT THE DEFROSTER LINES.
9. Peel off as much as you can.
10. Use the cleaning method above with the steel wool.

Good Luck!

sn95 rocker panel removal- by 94five0
why remove your rocker pannels?
different look
easier use to jacking car w/ conventional floor jack(non scissors)
somthin to do when yer bored..
because someone dared ya..

very simple procedure,(as far as body works goes) ending results vary depending on what you're already sporting on the car, exterior mod wise. If you're running an a/m body kit (stalker, cervini's, svo side pipes) then your already ahead of the game..so why are you reading this? If you're stock exterior wise, then it's something to set you apart from the same "big wing, cowl hood" look, you see on every other mustang.
this style could be most referenced to the late, great 5.0 lx mustangs. simple. not too frilly, but stream-lined in a performance way. I first saw it on an SCCA prepped cobra, (cowl hood, no wing..big tires..) an the look was jus different. simple...but cool.

<>

materials:
1.thin profile,needle nosed pliers
2.rubber mallet
3. car cleaning agent, for exteriror use on removal of dirt
4.screwdriver(philips)
5. patience


procedure is same. side per side..

1. under the car, below the door frame, you'll notice two pieces of molded plastic. this slight curved piece (A) near the front tire, an a longer piece that travels the length of the door to the rear wheel well.(B) the entire removal of the rocker pannel that is in two pieces. both separate.

2. removal (A):<< take the screws out of the inner frame near the front wheel well. you should see a clear break that indicates the part where (A) bolts to the wheel well. slip the corner part off. you should now have remaining (B) to undo..

3.removal (B):===== requires bit of finesse. but it is doable. Under the car, from front to back, you'll see where the lower part of (B) pannel bolts to the subframe..there should be a row of 15-20 lil black body plugs, bolting the pannel to the subframe. no real big way to do it gnaw em up or knockem out w/ a mallet. remove these, an your almost done.

4. last part, (congratulations!) removal of upper plugs bolting (B) to lower door frame. This requires some skill. a skilled body man can take them off without ripping anything, and this is advisable if you do not wish to destroy your parts.. you need to pry them off basicly. Ford uses compressed, plastic body clips that when released, snag tight in a hole. this is what's holding the lower pannel to the bottom door frame.(painted metal part) Using a thin pair of needle nosed pliers, compress the clips and pry at the pannel. It should pop off. When you get a few of them off, the rest should come w/ little problem.

5. wow..kinda different huh? Ipso facto, you're done.. bravo. what your left w/ is a swiss cheeze look,( an probly alot of grit an dirt from the outlines of the pannels..) clean em up...two avenues to take from here.

1.weld over holes/ paint it later..(nice, clean look)
2. put rubber plugs in them. 5/16.. 32 (16 per side)

I opted for 2 as a temp. solution. bought the plugs at ACE. total cost.. $3.16
thats it. I'd like to thank Lee (qwksnke) for the awesome tech forum, Paul for the use of his shop, and Jason for his expertise on all things blue oval..much obliged.

---==9

Fox Heater core removal- written by a Corral.net member
The following documentation is a report of my experiences in the world of 5.0 heater cores. Specifically, it included the history of my experiences and most importantly, how to change that heater core WITHOUT discharging your air conditioning, dispelling much false information out there on the subject! This is especially important these days with the astronomical prices of R12 and R12 system service. This document covers the 1985 GT 5.0 and the 1990 LX 5.0 models. Keep in mind that your model may be very similar if not exactly the same. A good amount of information contained in this document applies to the 1982-1993 model year 5.0 Mustangs.

Have you experienced the 'Green Pool of Death' or have you succumbed to constant fog on the right hand side of the windshield? If so your car probably has a ruptured heater core. I'm sure that you have heard all of the horror stories about changing this little headache out. I was quoted from a local Ford dealer that he would happily charge about $700 for the job. If this doesn't sound like much money to you, then stop reading this now, take your car down to the local Ford dealer and lay the headaches on them! Well, as for me, I'm very reluctant to part with that $700, so I'll do it myself, thank you.

I have done about six heater cores in Fox-3 Mustangs over the past eight years. So I consider myself somewhat of an expert on the subject.

My experience in late model Mustang heater core replacement started on my 1985 GT 5 speed back in about 1990 when I observed the green pool of death and a continuous foggy haze on the right hand side of the windshield. So I began to attack the heater core project just like everyone had recommended, including removing the entire dashboard, and discharging the air conditioning system to remove the evaporator case from the firewall. And after much perspiration persistence, I installed the last screw in the glove box and fired the engine. The heater worked great, and no leaks! Sadly enough, this was not the end of the story. I did this horrible job four more times. Each core only lasting somewhere between six weeks to a year. It didn't seem to matter if I used an off brand core or got one directly from a dealership. Why were these failing? Ahhh, what I needed was the police special service part heater core flow restrictor. So I made one and installed it. It was an aluminum standoff with a 0.25" hole drilled through the center of it. More details on that later.

The cores still failed. While I installed the last core in that car, I made a very important observation. When I was closing the heater core cover with the two self-tapping screws, I heard a sound, like that of thin metal wrinkling. At this point I began to theorize why these heater cores fail.

There are two reasons that heater cores fail in Fox-3 Mustangs:

The first reason is normal wear and tear associated with thermal cycling. You can expect a new, factory installed (not dealer!) core to last between 5 and 6 years before it will start seeping coolant. This is given a 5.0L engine and the normal hard driving/abuses that this class of car is put through.

The second reason that heater cores fail is purely mechanical. At the factory, the cores are installed in the cases with a black gooey sealant called dumb gum. Over the years, the sealant gets hard. Not hard like a brick, but hard enough that when you install a new core in the same location as the old core, the sealant will not conform to the slightly different shape of the new core. I'm not saying that the cores are dimensionally different, but the fins that make up the water passages, being in a zigzag pattern, are invariably in a slightly offset position, requiring that the sealant be displaced in a different pattern. What I recommend is that it is ESSENTIAL to remove ALL of the black sealant BEFORE installing the new core! Unless of course, you enjoy this job and want to do it again. If you must use a sealant when re-assembling the heater core cover, I recommend Dow Corning RTV 3140. RTV 3140 is a silicone coating used in the electronics & aerospace industries because it is very lightweight and flowable. 3140's flowability will avoid any distortion or flexing of the new core when the cover is tightened, ONLY IF THE OLD BLACK SEALANT IS REMOVED! Remember, REMOVING THE OLD BLACK SEALANT IS CRUCIAL!

The most recent heater core job that I did was in my '90 LX 5.0 5 speed when it hit 66K miles last February. I did the whole job with the A/C completely connected!

The trick to it is to get everything loosened up, and REMOVE the bracket off of the A/C accumulator (engine_c.jpg). This will allow enough freedom to get the evaporator case away from the firewall about one inch. It's very difficult and a royal pain, but you'll need to remove the two 5/16 self-tapping screws that hold the core cover in place. I used an small ignition wrench to remove the screws. With everything loose and the dash propped up (drvrs_v.jpg) and away from the windshield, you can open the core cover and remove the old core (removal.jpg). Removing the old core without damaging it is a good test to determine if you can install the new core without damaging it, so keep that in mind. It is crucial in this procedure to prop the core cover and the dash up out of the way so you can work (detail_1.jpg). I used a large socket and a 1/2 drive extension (detail_2.jpg) to hold the cover open (dashview.jpg) to extract the old core and install the new one without tweaking it (very important.) Before installing the new core, I painstakingly cleaned, with surgical precision, the old black goo sealant that seated the old core (install.jpg). By far, the most difficult task of the entire job is getting the new core's tubes lined up with the gasket and holes in the firewall. On my car this step took the longest of any single step in the entire job. But don't despair, get a helper and with one person maneuvering the case on the inside and one person on the outside steering the lines to their propper place, you will get it, it just takes time!

How do you make the flow restrictors? I made them from 5/8 OD aluminum stand-offs drilled to 0.25" ID (restrict.jpg). The heater seems to be effective but the motor has to be good and hot for the heater to be _really_ hot. I can live with this, but if I were to do it again, I might consider a 3/8 ID. After about 20 minutes of normal driving, I observed air temperature of 157F. This is with a 192F thermostat. When installing the heater core restrictor, make sure that it goes in the input or pressure side. The input/pressure side is the top metal tube that runs along the intake and the larger of the two pipes on the heater core.

Copy and paste this link into your address bar to vist the web page: http://home.netcom.com/~skent/mustang/1990/heater_core/hcore.html

Gen 1 Lightning Hood Strut install---by KB Zilla
A few months ago I installed a Cervinis Cowl Hood on my 93 Lightning. I love the hood, but I hate prop rods. As you know most aftermarket Hoods for the Gen 1 Lightnings do not have provisions for the stock hood springs.
I was determined to make some hood struts work. I remembered installing the Redline Tuning hood struts on my 2004 Mach 1 and wondered if I could adapt one of their kits to work on a Gen 1 Lightning. I was sucessful in finding a kit that will work.
I used the Ford Ranger kit, and by trial and error figured out the best placement for the brackets.

So for $59.99 + shipping you can have hood struts that work great and look even better.

Follow the instructions that come with the hood struts but substitute my pictures and measurements.

Here is the link to the hood strut kit I used.

http://www.redlinetuning.com/QL-FORD-RANGER-9804.html
Here is the link to the online installation instructions (Adobe PDF file)
http://www.redlinetuning.com/manual...-RANGER_103.pdf
The upper measurement is taken from the corner of the hood just like the instructions, but use my measurement of 24".
As you can see in my pictures, make sure to turn the bottom bracket around differently than the Ranger instructions, and slide it up against the factory "Bump" on the fender (if for some reason you don’t have a factory "bump" I show the measurement to be 1-1/2" from the fender bolt).

**VERY IMPORTANT**
You will need to make sure to remove the middle hood bumpers along the fender edge if you still have them. If they are not removed the hood or hood struts could be damaged the first time you try to shut the hood.
As a side note, I plan to change out the bolts that hold the lower bracket to the fender. The bolts stick down really far and look kind of odd. I want to replace them with some shorter bolts with nuts and lock washers for a cleaner look.
Let me know if anyone comes up with any improvements on my ideas.





Foxbody Foglight mod
Very good writeup from Corral.net on performing the foglight mod on a fox GT/Cobra


How to wire your foglights in with the marker lights



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