Sprinkler systems aside, there was some small progress on the Mustang this week.
NAPA auto parts made the mistake of sending me a 20% off coupon right about the time I was looking at getting a new alternator, power steering pump, voltage regulator and starter solenoid. Never one to let a good coupon go to waste, I procured my parts at discount prices!
In order to re-install the power steering pump I needed to remove a broken bolt from the pump bracket. This bolt was the only one we broke taking the engine out of the car:
Here’s a closer view:
The bolt was well and truly stuck in there and the only choice I had was to buy a new one or drill it out. Since I was all out of 20% off coupons, I went looking for my drill.
A few minutes of drilling a small pilot hole yielded promising results:
Drilling a slightly bigger hole into the bolt finally made it collapse enough so I could rotate it out:
The hole the bolt was stuck in was threaded. While drilling, I nicked a couple of the threads so I took a grade-8 bolt and threaded it into the slot. With a little persuasion, the bolt threaded in and reset the threads in the bracket nicely.
I then turned my attention to the bracket itself:
Like most other things I’m putting back on the Mustang, it needed a little tender loving care. Brake cleaner, a wire brush and some sandpaper cleaned it up quite nicely:
It’s still not perfect and I may eventually paint it – but it’s good enough to be put on the car now and not be embarrassed.
Hopefully that’ll happen soon…
The Mustang Restoration 