Tube and lube....????

Today was another successful day on the Butler Farm. The morning began with the re-installment of the doors. The freshly painted hinges and new door pins and rollers gave the doors a new look and feel. It took about 30 minutes to install and properly adjust them. Minor adjustments will need to be made later. After the installment of the doors, we made a trip to Lowes Home Improvement for plastic tubing to run our high voltage wire in. The tubing is used to prevent chaffing that can cause connection problems. After thinking about how it may be tough to run the wire through the hose, we decided to purchase a special lubrication that is used by professional electricians.

Upon returning to the shop, instead of diving straight into running wire, Mike and I decided to paint the window trim and cowl. The cowl was coated with hammered texture paint while the window trim was coated with flat black. After painting the pieces, Mike and I noticed a gauge pod in the 5.0 Mustang that would be perfect for holding our voltage reading gauges. It installed perfectly into our car. While all of the painting and installing was going on, Mr. Butler was designing a control panel to mount all of the electronics on.

At the end of the day, we finally decided to tackle the task of squeezing the cable through the stiff rubber hose. After about two hours of fighting and frustration, we decided to slice the hose down one side and push the cable in through the slit.

Mounting and adjusting the passenger side door.

The bottom of a pin that allows the hinge to pivot. This clip keeps the pin in the hinge and allows for easier removal in case you need to remove the doors again.

The new pins.

The sweet looking gauge pod.

Autometer white face and Westach black face gauges.

The driver's door in position.

The beginnings of the control panel.

Spotting where the bolt holes should be drilled.

Planning on where to mount the controller.

This aluminum plate under the controller allows the heat to dissipate more evenly and quickly.

Thanks to Michael, the DC to DC Converter is in a clean stylish position that complements the engine compartment.

After the controller and contactor are mounted. This control panel allowed us to use less wire and clean up the engine compartment tremendously.

Hidden behind the panel is the relays and cooling fans along with all of the wire that we plan to run.

After mounting the shunt. At first look, you don't even notice its position in the engine bay.

Deciding on where to mount the Anderson quick disconnect. Tomorrow I will be designing a foot to hold the switch in place.

Mike and Mr. Butler trying to squeeze the cable into the hose.

Mr. Butler lubing up the cable. Our first plan of action was to use dish detergent, but we later found out that that was worse than trying to run the hose in dry.

You can pick this product at any of your nearest home improvement centers.

After a brutal battle, the decision was to cut the hose, stuff the cable in through the side, and retire for the night.

Back at the shop...

Today was a long and tiring experience at Mr. Butler’s shop. My day began by removing the old, sagging door hinges from the car to replace with the new hinge pins. After carefully balancing each door off of the car and down onto a padded area on the floor, I proceeded to use an angle grinder to cut the worn out door pins off. I was successful after about 45 minutes worth of cutting. I had to be extra careful no to damage the door itself. After prepping the hinges with a fresh coat of paint, I placed them back on the doors with the new pins in place. The next objective was removing the old door weather stripping and replacing with a more durable rubber weather stripping so that moisture can not penetrate the cab. After doing so we needed to take a trip to town to pick up a few brass fittings to adapt our new brake lines to the calipers. Napa Auto Parts was able to help us in finding the right supplies needed to adapt the brake lines to the calipers. After returning back to the shop after a quick lunch break, we proceeded in installing the brake line fittings and bleeding the brakes. Using a hand held vacuum pump, we were able to pump fluid throughout the lines and give the mustang a little stopping power. The reason for bleeding brake lines is to make sure that there is no air bubbles in the fluid that can interrupt the flow of the fluid. Later on in the evening, Mr. Ed Butler generously offered his welding abilities to us to weld in our front battery rack.

A shot of the doors after unloading them from the bed of my truck. While fixing the hinges, I also removed all of the wiring that dealt with the speakers and any other electronics that weren't necessary.

A shot of the mustang after removing the wheels in order to perform surgery on the brakes.

The mass supply of parts and components needed to complete the week's chores.

A pic of the new pins before I put on the new rollers. Getting the pin that held the roller in out, was a workout. Alot of hammering and different length punches were used.

Prepping the hinges on the grinder for a new coat of paint.

Bare metal

First coat.

A pic of the new door jam weather seal.

This is how Mr. Butler persuaded the pistons on the rear brake calipers to go in.

Using a vise and c-clamp did the trick. We measured the distance needed for the rotor and pads to fit into the caliper at once. This helped us in knowing how far to push the piston in.

This is a shot of where the parking brake cable attaches to the arm.

Left side caliper on.

Mr. Butler attaching the line to the right caliper.

This is the new fittings that we picked up from Napa. Notice how they adapt our line to the new caliper.

A pic after we attached the line to the rear-end and calipers.

A picture of the parking brake cable hooked into the arm.

Right side completed.

Where the line attaches to the body for support under the car.

The new parking brake cable.

Unloading the batteries.

Mr. Butler modifying the brake line mount just to insure that no rubbing is allowed on the strut while turning.

Smoothing edges

Notice the better clearance.

A pan placed just incase of a spill while priming the brake lines with fluid.

Mr. Butler's father preparing to weld.

Steady hands and expertise.

Spotting on the bracket.

Running the bead.

Cleaning the weld.

Testing complete. We're ready for business!