Speedometer update

Destiny's instrument cluster bezel looks like it has seen more miles than those 97298 it has on the odometer.

So, in order to start my project for refreshing the interior, I decided to replace the bezel with a new one that I obtained from NPD a long time ago. First thing to do after disconnecting the battery was to loosen the speedometer cable from the C4. Just unscrew the 7/16" bolt seen in the below pic and pull.

Unscrewed the six screws holding the cluster in the dash and pulled. Unscrewed the speedo cable. At this point it is good to have masking tape handy for marking the wires at the time they are pulled. It is not difficult but helps when you put all the stuff back in. There are 8 bulbs; 4 for the illumination and 4 for ALT, OIL, High Beam and Turn Signal. Then there are 2 connectors for Voltage regulator (6 Volts) and 2 for Temp and Fuel gauges, each.

I spent some time and documented the wiring. Makes it easier to replace the bulbs later. Surely this would be found on shop manual's schemes as well.

Unscrewed the six screws behind the cluster for removal of the 'gauge part' and one more for removing the metal plate. Under the plate you find the transparent plastic "lens" with semi-transparent reddish Oil and Alt markings. Note the cardboard-made bases for the warning lights in the gauge.

At this stage I found out that those dots in the center of the gauges were not included in the new bezel and I would have to paint them instead. So I drilled them out of the lens.

I found some chrome paint in a local shop and here is the end result which does not differ a lot from the "chrome" on the new bezel.

You get a lot of respect from fellow mustangers if you have one of those rare early Mustangs originally shipped to and sold here, with kilometers per hour dial in the speedometer. You could replace the dial overlay with a sticker as well.  I am satisfied with the miles on it and as it is not demanded by authorities to have a kms/h dial (as I think in Sweden may be the case) I'll stick with the miles. So next thing to do is to glue the dots with contact cement and screw the parts together.

And installed it back to dash with new mounting kit (10838-1AK from NPD). A huge difference in looks with little money. Also the gauges are more visible as the shine enforces the scant light of the 4W bulbs. 

Don't forget to re-install speedometer cable to C4 before the test drive.

Load-O-Matic

When chasing the reason for Destiny's thirst for fuel I figured that the there could either be a leak in fuel system, something wrong with the carburetor or something wrong with the ignition system. No leaks in fuel lines were found and in the beginning of summer I had cleaned and checked the carburetor as well. So the only thing wrong would be the ignition. The spark plugs seemed clean and they had the right colour.  When opening the notorious Load-O-Matic distributor I noticed that the bottom of the base was wet from some unrecognizable fluid.





I figured that moisture does not belong there and maybe the shaft or gasket were worn out and it was engine oil climbing up the shaft. As I could not find a repair kit for LOM in the NPD's catalogue I decided to check if my local suppliers would have a new and hopefully a more modern distributor for me. But the bad thing is that LOM is the only counterpart for the Autolite 1100 and Holley1940 1V-carburetors used in these sixes. The reason for this is that LOM is advanced only by vacuum through spark control valve, found only in the above mentioned carbs. So should I change the dizzy, would I be forced to change the carburetor too if I wanted them to work together. And that was something I wouldn't like to do. But luckily USParts surprised me once again. They happened to have one of those remanufactured LOMs in their stock which I was able to purchase for a very reasonable 118.15 euros (including v.a.t. and the FMOC member discount).

Load-O-Matic has only the vacuum for advance

In went the new one after the had come out. When checking the old one on the shop table more fluid streamed out of the vacuum advance unit of the LOM. I am not sure what it was but I took some of it outside, fired it and it burned.

Unrecognized fluid drained

Was it fuel drained from flooding carburetor or had the vacuum from carburetor sucked engine oil all the way through the vacuum unit. I surely do not know. After setting the initial advance to 12 degrees I tookher to test drive which proofed me that the replacement was worth doing. I could not hear the slight sound of malfuntioning advance when pushing the pedal. And now the distributor remained dry too. If the fluid was fuel it must have been there for a long time and for a very mysterious reason. As a matter of fact I am suspicius that the flooding fuel would be able to flow towards the dizzy due to fact that the vacuum should pull it away from it.

Yes. I hate that blue cap too but that was the only left. It belongs to a '66 with Ford Blue engine, not for '65 but it will have to do now. At least I know that the dizzy is ok. May the troubleshooting continue elsewhere.