Off to a rough start with 2016 GT

[Snakebyte]

Benny, I will be a very happy man if that turns out to be the case. It seems like every time I get to the last item or two on Oliver's (this 2016 GT) to-do list, he says not-so-fast partner. I'm down to this AC problem, resolving the P1450 once and for all, and replacing the cracked driver side mirror. Otherwise, the entire current fix-it list is done.

This car has come such a long way since it was dumped in my driveway in October 2023 (from "Mint" Auto Sales in Orlando, Florida), my daughters would never forgive me if we sold him now. Plus I don't think I could in good conscience do that to a fellow Mustang enthusiast. He's all ours, warts and all. They'd probably be okay with a C4 or RPG or similar send-off done with flair, but not selling him. My oldest daughter takes him out for some exercise several times a week. She says a horse can't stay in the stable all the time. I agree.

I commend you and your family's perspective on this. Your approach to life apparently rubbed off on your daughter.

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[Canuckican]

I am off until Wednesday so I figured this would be a good opportunity to tackle the AC repairs. Yesterday I had the refrigerant professionally removed so I am good to go. All the main parts had arrived by yesterday and the rest arrived today. Plus I received 8 Vevor magnetic socket trays to help me reduce the time I spent trying to find sockets. I also need something like a utensil tray for the metric and SAE wrench drawers so I can keep like-sized wrenches together.

Four 6 ton stand with four 2 ton stands and a 6 ton hydraulic jack under the rear carrier for backup. The Steeda full length ultralite chassis jacking rails are such a handy thing to have!

The pile of parts I have removed is growing. I am certain a pro would not have to do this, but I'm feeling my way along, along with help from Mustang6G threads and Youtube videos.

Disassembling parts of this car that I have not had apart before has already led to several discoveries, none of them surprising. There is one solitary bolt in place instead of the of eight bolts that should holding the battery heat shield in place and only three of five holding the firewall brace in place. I have appropriate replacements on hand so I will address that during reassembly, assuming I can get it reassembled.

The bigger concern is a 13 mm head bolt I found on the passenger side that is backed out about an inch. I'm not sure yet what this bolt secures, but I intend on doing my best to tighten it during this project. To me, it looks like it goes into the block. I did have a brief go at tightening this bolt but I just could not get a good angle on the head and I don't want to chance stripping the head.

I have managed to remove everything except the compressor itself so far. I think the biggest PITA was the very wiggly evaporator to condenser tube. I think installing the new one is going to require all the patience I can muster.

And I know there are three long bolts holding the compressor in place but I have not yet decided my plan A for reaching them. Maybe if I remove the front passenger side tire and wheel well liner, it will give me a better angle because right now I can't even see the three bolts I have to remove. But I do know where they are, so maybe this time me fumbling around in the dark will lead to a happy outcome.

But first, time to watch FP1 and FP2 from Monaco that I recorded earlier. Then, it's back to the project.

 

[fmc_smt]

I am off until Wednesday so I figured this would be a good opportunity to tackle the AC repairs. Yesterday I had the refrigerant professionally removed so I am good to go. All the main parts had arrived by yesterday and the rest arrived today. Plus I received 8 Vevor magnetic socket trays to help me reduce the time I spent trying to find sockets. I also need something like a utensil tray for the metric and SAE wrench drawers so I can keep like-sized wrenches together.

Four 6 ton stand with four 2 ton stands and a 6 ton hydraulic jack under the rear carrier for backup. The Steeda full length ultralite chassis jacking rails are such a handy thing to have!

The pile of parts I have removed is growing. I am certain a pro would not have to do this, but I'm feeling my way along, along with help from Mustang6G threads and Youtube videos.

Disassembling parts of this car that I have not had apart before has already led to several discoveries, none of them surprising. There is one solitary bolt in place instead of the of eight bolts that should holding the battery heat shield in place and only three of five holding the firewall brace in place. I have appropriate replacements on hand so I will address that during reassembly, assuming I can get it reassembled.

The bigger concern is a 13 mm head bolt I found on the passenger side that is backed out about an inch. I'm not sure yet what this bolt secures, but I intend on doing my best to tighten it during this project. To me, it looks like it goes into the block. I did have a brief go at tightening this bolt but I just could not get a good angle on the head and I don't want to chance stripping the head.

I have managed to remove everything except the compressor itself so far. I think the biggest PITA was the very wiggly evaporator to condenser tube. I think installing the new one is going to require all the patience I can muster.

And I know there are three long bolts holding the compressor in place but I have not yet decided my plan A for reaching them. Maybe if I remove the front passenger side tire and wheel well liner, it will give me a better angle because right now I can't even see the three bolts I have to remove. But I do know where they are, so maybe this time me fumbling around in the dark will lead to a happy outcome.

But first, time to watch FP1 and FP2 from Monaco that I recorded earlier. Then, it's back to the project.

That bolt sticking out would be a motor mount bracket bolt !

 

[Canuckican]

That bolt sticking out would be a motor mount bracket bolt !

I removed the front right tire and wheel lining both to a) hopefully get more angles at the various things I was trying to reach and b) retrieve the 3/8" extension that fell down the opening behind the front fender. D'oh.

I was then finally able to loosen the three bolts holding the compressor in place. One I was able to remove with the compressor still in place but the other two had to stay in the sleeves in the compressor until I could finagle it to a spot with enough room to remove the bolts. This means I have now removed all the old AC pieces (except the extractor, not touching that with a 100 foot pole!).

Just to end the day with the job heading towards completion, I installed the new Motorcraft condenser and drier. Next up is flushing the extractor, but not today. Geez this job is a gigantic PITA.

The good news is that once the compressor was out of the way, I was able to get a 3/8" air ratchet in where that loose motor mount bolt was hiding and tighten it up. I'll check the torque specs on it later. Makes me wonder if any of the motor mount bolts are loose on the passenger side. You'd think these bolts would have some Loctite on them from the factory, but maybe the previous owner pulled the motor for some reason.

I think I will run a few of the new hoses before I install the new compressor. It might be easier without it in the way. At least that'll be my plan A.

 

[Canuckican]

Oh, I just had a horrible thought that the loose motor mount bolt was not the right one, that it was actually too long, and that by me tightening it, it just went right through the wall of the block. It would certainly be on-brand for this car from "Mint" Auto Sales in Orlando, Florida.

 

[Canuckican]

I'm not having a very enjoyable time with this AC project. Right now I am stuck trying to install the new condenser output line that goes from the bottom of the condenser to the expansion valve on the firewall. It probably doesn't help that the Motorcraft hose (YF37774) I just got from RockAuto is about 3 inches longer and has the bends in different spots. I am also struggling to get it routed around/through the wiring bundles coming out of the fuse box in the engine compartment. And the power steering hoses are in the way, as are 20 other things.

I am also having fun trying to get the new compressor in place because the two bottom stud bolts have to be in the sleeves in the compressor before you stick it up under, but inevitably they fall out while I am trying to jostle it into position. And I have tried four different types of tape to see if I can find one that'll keep the bolts in the sleeve during installation but so far, nothing sticks.

In the interest of not spewing every cuss word I know as loud as I can and disturbing my neighbors, it's break time.

 

[Johnny Rockit]

If you don't have a few select impact swivel sockets I suggest you get some. Not the crappy chrome ones that come with tool sets from HF etc.
Pull the bolt that was sticking out and use a non black zip tie to mark the length of the bolt in question and slide it into the hole. That will confirm one way or another if you were correct. Blue loc-tite wouldn't hurt either. (I THINK...)

 

[Canuckican]

After an extended break yesterday to watch Monaco qualifying and the MotoGP sprint race I had recorded, I headed back out to the scene of the crime. After a few tries getting the compressor up and held where it needed to go, I was finally able to get the three stud bolts in place and tightened.

Now after watching the Monaco race, it's time to head back again and have another shot with fresh eyes on getting the blasted condenser output line I have been working around routed correctly. I did take some pictures before I started but none captured this line. Unfortunately, the only videos I found were about replacing the compressor and condenser. Nothing about tricks to get the condenser output line in place. I'll figure it out, and hopefully before 9 AM Tuesday because I have an appointment at that time to get the system recharged.

I only have the four AC tubes/hoses left to install and all that stuff will be in place. Oh, and also reinstalling everything I removed to access the stuff I am replacing.

And I am 100 percent certain there is an easier/better way to replace this stuff. Probably by leaving it to the professionals to do, but what's the fun in that?

 

[Canuckican]

I was able to finish up installing the new AC lines and getting everything put back together. I won't know if the install was successful until I get the system recharged tomorrow morning.

And the battery heat shield has the full complement of bolts and the motor mount bolt is snugged up nicely. I also found a wire bundle that runs along the frame rail under the fuse box in the engine bay had worn through the protective and was starting to dig into the wires themselves. So I wrapped this really well in some very sturdy tape I have leftover from an amateur radio project.

The Motorcraft compressor I bought came pre-charged with the correct amount of PAG. I think that since I also replaced the condenser, drier, hoses and expansion valve, I need to add several more ounces. I also saw that this can be done when the AC folks are recharging the system so I am going to leave that up to them. I am just not turning on the compressor before that. Hopefully that doesn't cause any grief, but that's where things are.

It's a good thing that working on cars is not my profession because I would starve. But the amount I learn every time I work on something makes the cuts and bruises worth it. I bruise easily due to some heart meds I have to take so I always end up looking like I actually did get my ass kicked by Oliver!

 

[Canuckican]

Good news this morning getting the AC system recharged. There are no leaks, the grinding noise is gone and the AC is nice and cold. All the tools are put away and the floor has been swept and vacuumed.

Now to give my hands and forearms a bit of time to heal all the little cuts and bruises from trying to fit my large hands into not-large-enough openings. I think the human body needs a swiveling joint partway between the wrist and elbow. Of course, that'd just be something else for me to sprain or prematurely wear out.

I am a bit overdue doing the oil change on my one daughter's Mazda and my other daughter's Fusion. And I still need to install the new front rotors, pads and calipers on my wife's Kia. But not today.

 

[Canuckican]

Oliver had a great time this morning meeting a lot of distant relatives at a local Father's Day Ford car show. It had everything from a GT40, an old GT350, GT500s, SuperSnakes, Falcons, plus some really oddball stuff.

 

[Canuckican]

Barring any new calamities with this ongoing project car, I think next up is either going to be chrome wheels like I've always wanted, or to do the digital dash swap. I can't afford to do either one of them at the moment but I can at least start the research and planning.

Being somewhat of an old fart, I've always had a fondness for the shiny Cragar SS wheels. I think a chrome 18"x8" set of a new take on the Cragars would probably work for me. That assumes I can find ones that don't break the bank, have a suitable offset and spacing and bolt pattern. It looks like there are a lot more options in 19" wheels but I just put new Continental tires on about 400 miles ago and don't want to have to buy tires too. Another option is to send my wheels to a wheel exchange where they send you a chromed version of your own wheels back. I have a feeling that'd be nothing but a giant headache. Hopefully I'll find a nice set of chrome wheels that someone else no longer needs.

And for the instrument cluster swap, I will just collect the parts over the next year or so, then have at it. Thatdigital clusterlooks great, at least that's my opinion at the moment. I'm going to try to locate a 2018+ that has the cluster so I can see it in person before I do anything on mine.

 

[Canuckican]

It's starting to look like I will most likely be using the services of somewhere like The Wheel Exchange and swapping my 18" OEM wheels for a set they have chromed. You can't send them the OEM style of wheel I have on my 2016 GT and get a different style back from them. That's no big deal since I do like the design of the way, just want to flash it up a bit. I'd be looking at about $1200 all in to do this and of course have to get the tires taken off my current wheels and mounted on the replacements, and hope like heck the new ones balance out okay. I'm going to chew on this a while and see if I change my mind, or locate a nice set of 18"s already ready to install.

 

[Johnny Rockit]

Barring any new calamities with this ongoing project car, I think next up is either going to be chrome wheels like I've always wanted, or to do the digital dash swap. I can't afford to do either one of them at the moment but I can at least start the research and planning.

Being somewhat of an old fart, I've always had a fondness for the shiny Cragar SS wheels. I think a chrome 18"x8" set of a new take on the Cragars would probably work for me. That assumes I can find ones that don't break the bank, have a suitable offset and spacing and bolt pattern. It looks like there are a lot more options in 19" wheels but I just put new Continental tires on about 400 miles ago and don't want to have to buy tires too. Another option is to send my wheels to a wheel exchange where they send you a chromed version of your own wheels back. I have a feeling that'd be nothing but a giant headache. Hopefully I'll find a nice set of chrome wheels that someone else no longer needs.

And for the instrument cluster swap, I will just collect the parts over the next year or so, then have at it. Thatdigital clusterlooks great, at least that's my opinion at the moment. I'm going to try to locate a 2018+ that has the cluster so I can see it in person before I do anything on mine.

Photoshop some different chrome wheels onto your car to see what you like the best and go from there.

 

[Canuckican]

Oh yes, I do like these Foose wheels. Too bad I don't have $2,200 kicking around to grab a set.

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