Mini-Mustang Restoration.

It is amazing what a little bit of paint, sandpaper and a $6 reproduction Autolite decal from CJ Pony Parts can improve a knackered rusty old voltage regulator.

    I just got done sorting out a very small part of my 1967 Ford Mustang project.  The item I am talking about is the humble voltage regulator.  At this time I live about an hour drive from where my Mustang is 

cached away in a barn on family property.  I really don't feel like lay on the ground and play around with the car in Winter temps. My dream is to have a heated place to work on this Mustang (and those in the future...).  For the time being, that is not going to happen.  So until warmer temps come about, this is what I can do...

     The last time I was in my hometown I took about 20 minutes and took a couple small parts off the car and brought them back to where I currently live.  I was able to sort them out in a heated basement workshop and not freeze my bum off.

The voltage regulator in it's natural habitat, on the radiator support.  Complete with God only knows how many years of surface rust.

    The weird thing is that there is the possibility that this voltage regulator is crap and needs to be changed out anyway...  Yes that thought went through my mind.  When I get the Mustang up and on the road and I see the lights blink, the battery does not charge, etc....then I will change it out.  Until that time the power of positive thinking reigns supreme and the current voltage regulator earns it right for a facelift.

   So I invested in a can of satin-black spray paint, a reproduction Autolite decal (it is really great that things like this are made for vintage Mustangs!) some vinegar to soak the rusty cover in.  For a small part, this thing turned out decent.  I mean, it goes on the radiator support and no one is going to see it...  And besides the engine compartment looks like it is over 50 years old.  I don't care, I love cleaning up little detail parts like this.  I also cleaned up the vinyl bag that holds washer fluid for the windscreen, but that is another story for anther time.

   What happens when this part fails?  Story number one...  I had got discharged from the US Navy in May 1993.  I drove my first '67 Mustang from San Diego, So. Cal. to Bellevue, Ohio.  The Mustang performed flawless all through the Desert, the Continental Divide, etc.  Then I hit the Indiana-Ohio border...  I stopped for fuel and got a dreaded click-click when I turned the key.  I checked the battery fluid level and it was dry.  The battery had over charged and boiled the fluid out of the battery.  I was able to refill with water and it fired up.  I made it home and had to change the battery and regulator shortly after that.

    A couple years later in Summer 1995 I was at a Grateful Dead Show north of Detroit, Michigan and the same thing happened.  Got to love Dead Heads who donated empty beer cans of water to get me back on the road.  I made it home and the next day found me talking to Dan at the local NAPA buying yet another voltage regulator.  

   Anyway this voltage regulator will look totally awesome bolted up to the dirty radiator support.  How it actually works is a story for another day...

The internals look alright, looks like they made it fine over the years.  I've got a good vibe on this one!

  

Back where it belongs...  Yes this connection for the radio resistor needs to be repaired.  One day I will clean up the engine compartment...