BrettNorton Posted July 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 @RedTwilight Yes, that's the Capri's engine bay lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted July 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2015 (edited) July 2015, I got a bunch of Prothane bushings in today. First, let me be one to say that these things feel like plastic. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, it's just something I didn't expect. Anyway, here is all of what I got: Sway bar end links Front control arm bushings Upper strut bushings Non-offset steering rack bushings 27 mm sway bar bushings Front and rear spring isolators The deal with the Capri is still being processed and more suspension parts are on the way... Edited July 14, 2016 by BrettNorton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted July 25, 2015 Report Share Posted July 25, 2015 All that urethane thooo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2015 (edited) August 2015, Got myself a set of SVE springs and a set of those new SVE caster camber plates, both from Late Model Restoration. Edited July 14, 2016 by BrettNorton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2015 (edited) August 2015, The decision of what kind of rear control arms to buy for my Mustang was a pretty long research process. Originally, I was just planning on buying a cheap set of SVE upper / lower control arms w/ hardware, and a some Prothane upper axle bushings. I would just slap all that stuff together and call the rear suspension good. HOWEVER, the Mustang community has swayed me to do otherwise. My 94 Mustang will be a street car, and having those SVE control arms installed would present me with a few problems. Buying the SVE rear control arms for my car would be fine if I were to regularly drag race it, baby it though the corners, and always drive it on flat roads. Being a street car though, my car will see quite a few fast corners, and it will see angled driveways. With the SVE rear control arms and Prothane bushings underneath my car, the rear suspension would severely bind up in fast corners and angled driveways. And when the rear suspension of my car binds, the rear control arm bushings will get torn up, the torque boxes will be destroyed (even with the reinforcement plates), and I'll probably lose control of my car and wreck it due to sudden snap-oversteer thanks to too stiff of a rear suspension. Damn! That meant that I had to find a new plan for what rear control arms I should buy for my Mustang. Being that I'm in college and on a budget, something like a 3-Link rear suspension is out the window for me. I can't afford it, nor do I have the time or tools to install it. What I need is a factory-style 4-link rear suspension setup that will provide good street manners, yet not be something that makes my car have to be nurtured through the corners. The first thing that I found out was that I need to use factory replacement upper control arms and new rubber upper control arm bushings. The UCA's need some degree of flexibility in order to allow the rear suspension to properly articulate, not bind up, and not destroy bushings / torque boxes. I looked and looked for a set of factory replacement UCA's online, and the only company that sells them is Maximum Motorsports... at $240 a set. ...Ouch... I think I'll just get a set of used factory control arms from my local junkyard for like $50 or so, clean them up, and replace the old rubber bushings with new ones. As for the lower control arms, the factory LCA's and rubber bushings allow for too much flex in the rear suspension, which causes wheel hop during hard acceleration. The SVE LCA's with the tough 1-piece urethane bushings on both ends are too stiff, so I had to keep looking. What I eventually decided on was a set of J&M Street / Race LCA's from American Muscle. I've heard good things about them and they seem to be pretty sturdy and affordable. The J&M Street / Race LCA's are made of strong tubular steel and have 3-piece urethane bushings on the chassis side and solid spherical bushings on the axle side. This design allows the LCA's to articulate and move through their whole range of motion without flexing or binding up. These should work perfectly for me. So, my rear control arm setup. J&M Street / Race LCA's with 3-piece urethane bushings on the chassis side and solid spherical bushings on the axle side. Factory (used) UCA's with ACDelco rubber UCA bushings, both on the chassis side and axle side. Edited July 14, 2016 by BrettNorton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Younts_Autosport Posted August 12, 2015 Report Share Posted August 12, 2015 Glad to see you're getting all your stuff in and some kind of progress is still being made. I've been working on my V6 ever since I started driving in high school so I know the feeling of trying to get stuff done on a college budget. Keep it up cause we're rooting for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted August 12, 2015 Report Share Posted August 12, 2015 As I was reading through your update I was thinking that a urethane/spherical combo control arm would be perfect... glad to see you ended up landing on that option! When I had an SRA I ran SVE weight jacker lower control arms (adjustable height spring perch) and Steeda adjustable upper control arms that had a spherical bushing on the chassis end and I used a urethane bushing installed in the top of the rear end housing. I never had any binding issues with those because of the spherical bushings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2015 @95riosnake I asked some questions over on Corral about what rear control arms setup I should use, and one guy recommended that I buy Maximum Motorsports weight-jacker LCA's. They're the best LCA's on the market, but, THEY'RE EXPENSIVE. I can't just blow $400+ on a set of LCA's. The J&M LCA's I bought are affordable and non-adjustable, but I don't think I'll be playing with my car's ride height anyway. Adjustable UCA's would be nice to have as well, but once again, THEY'RE EXPENSIVE. A set of factory UCA's from my local junkyard are pretty cheap, and the new rubber UCA bushings I bought were only about $30 total. The factory UCA's and some new rubber UCA bushings should give the rear suspension all of the flex and give that it needs to work right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2015 (edited) August 2015, Came home today with a complete 8.8" rear end out of a 98 Mustang GT. I bought it from a junkyard local to me called Midwest Mustang. I can admit that the price was a tad expensive (damn, $500 for an 8.8" rear end?), however, Midwest Mustang is the only junkyard I could find that has 94-98 Mustang GT parts in inventory. All of the other U-Pull-It yards in my area are only parting out V6 Mustangs. The rear end itself has 3.27 gears, traction-lok diff, and 5-lug disc brakes. It's pretty old and dirty, but I'll be getting all the rust, dust, dirt, and grime cleaned off of it before I bolt it into the car. I got a cheap set of factory upper control arms from Midwest Mustang as well. Luckily, with a little ball joint pressing tool, I was able to get the old bushings pressed out of the UCA's. They came out almost too easily. The old upper axle bushings though, didn't give in to the ball joint pressing tool at all. They're still stuck in the axle pretty good. I'll try and get those old axle bushings out when I'm back up at my grandparent's house where all of my tools are at. Edited July 14, 2016 by BrettNorton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 @95riosnakeI asked some questions over on Corral about what rear control arms setup I should use, and one guy recommended that I buy Maximum Motorsports weight-jacker LCA's. They're the best LCA's on the market, but, THEY'RE EXPENSIVE. I can't just blow $400+ on a set of LCA's. The J&M LCA's I bought are affordable and non-adjustable, but I don't think I'll be playing with my car's ride height anyway.Adjustable UCA's would be nice to have as well, but once again, THEY'RE EXPENSIVE. A set of factory UCA's from my local junkyard are pretty cheap, and the new rubber UCA bushings I bought were only about $30 total. The factory UCA's and some new rubber UCA bushings should give the rear suspension all of the flex and give that it needs to work right. I have the mm extreme duty weight jacket lowers, and wile they are very expensive the quality is night and day over my old sve stuff, I too run the stock uppers at the moment because that was recommended by mm before I go phb and t/a. And in this configuration my car does extremely well and I believe you will be happy.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 (edited) It's the end of my summer break, I have all of the Mustang's suspension parts, and the suspension work will begin soon. Now is probably a good time to tell the story of that Capri that I previously posted pics of. Remember it? That little gray car that looked like a 4-eye Fox Body Mustang? The images of it are posted below. It's a gray 1986 Mercury Capri 5.0 RS w/ T-tops. About a month ago, it was going to be the donor car for my build. But now, it's the subject of a legal dispute. In other words, this car is a Craigslist deal gone bad. This is going to be a very long story, so bear with me here. I'll start with a generic description of the seller's ad for that 86 Capri on Craigslist. It was posted on July 1. FOR SALE: 86 5.0 MOTOR, T5 TRANS, 8.8" REAR END W/ 3.73'S ($1000 OBO) I've got an 86 Capri 5.0 RS that I'm selling the drivetrain out of. The car has about 130,000 miles on it. The engine is a 5.0 302 motor with the stock bottom end and stock cam. It's got GT40P heads, Comp Cams 1.6 roller rockers, upgraded valve springs, GT40 intake, Explorer 65 mm throttle body, MSD distributor, and Ford Racing headers. Only problem with it is that the rear main seal leaks. The T5 trans is bone stock and has never been opened up. It doesn't slip or grind in any gears at all, but the clutch is starting to slip a little bit. The 8.8" rear end has the traction-lok limited slip diff, 4-lug drum brakes, and the factory 3.73 gears. No problems with it at all. I'll even throw in an aluminum driveshaft as well. I'll pull everything out of the car once it's all paid for. Only selling since I'm going to build a drag car out of this Capri and just can't upgrade the original drivetrain any more. "THIS." I thought to myself, "THIS. It's all of the major parts I need for my build... FOR ONLY $1000!!!" I quickly called the seller who we'll call Alex. I explained my interest in the parts he was selling and we agreed to meet up so that ALex could show me how everything performed in the car. The day we met up on July 5, Alex took me for a ride in his 86 Capri. The car ran and drove perfectly in all driving situations. In-town, cruising, highway, acceleration, braking, handling, everything about how that 86 Capri ran and drove was perfect. We got back to where Alex was living and he showed me everything under the hood and under the car. Everything that the ad said checked out, both the good and bad parts. Alex and I wrote up a bill of sale with our signatures and the date, I paid Alex the $1000 in cash, and I went off on my merry way. On July 8, Alex texts me that he's having trouble with his living situation, but that the motor and trans have been pulled out of the car. Alex then told me that I would have to wait on the rear end since the new place he was living at (an apartment) wouldn't allow a car w/o an axle to be in the parking lot. I told Alex that I would be able to wait on the rear end and everything until about early August, and that he could take his time in finding another axle to put under his car. About 3 weeks go by, and on July 26, I texted Alex asking him if he still had the motor and trans, and how the axle situation was coming along. No response. So then I called his number. "I'm sorry," my phone says. "You have reached a non-working number." "OHHHHH... SHIT." I thought to myself. The next day on July 27, I go to the place where the transaction between Alex and I took place. A lady (who we'll call Tammy) answered the door and I asked if she knew where Alex the Capri parts seller man was at. Her reply was, and I'm quoting this exactly, Alex that piece of shit?" Right there, I became dazed, confused. "What do you mean by that?" I ask. Tammy goes on to explain that Alex wasn't really a part of her family and that while living at her house, he: 1) Screwed her over on rent, bills, and other forms of payment. 2) Destroyed a sizable portion of her house's basement. 3) Was kicked out of the house 3 weeks ago. 4) Is a rip-off / con artist. Tammy had no idea where Alex was, but her son did. Tammy got Alex's new phone number from her son, and I thanked her for her help. Before I left, Tammy told me this, which still sticks in my head clearly to this very day. "Brett, you're lucky, it's a saving-grace, a godsend, that Alex doesn't know where you live. I would try to track him down, but I'm afraid of what he'll do to my house, my pets, or me. Alex trusts you much more than me, so use that to your advantage." I thanked Tammy for her help and the advice, and started my way home. That same evening on July 27, I texted the new number that I got from Tammy that I was still ready to pick the Capri's drivetrain up next week on the first week of August. Lo and behold, I get a text back from Alex saying that he started a new job and that his hours vary. He never asked me a thing about how I got his new number. Over the next few days, I continued to call and text Alex how I was ready to pick up the Capri's drivetrain. He never responded to anything. On August 4, a week had gone by without any responses from Alex, so I decided to call him from a phone number other than my own. HE ANSWERED. I told Alex my name, that I had a good truck, and that I was ready to pick up the Capri's drivetrain. Before I even finished that sentence, he hung up on me. "AHA!" I thought to myself. "That son of a bitch is INTENTIONALLY ignoring my calls and texts!" For the next 2 days (August 5-6), my mother and I dug into Alex's life over the internet and did everything we could in order to try and track him down. We were only able to find possible addresses of his in terms of where he lives, but couldn't find any specific address of his. Alex has had quite a few addresses over the years. However, we were able to find out what town he lives in, that he has been going through his 2nd divorce, where he works, and his 2nd ex-wife's address. On August 7, I went to the county police station in order to file a police report of the whole situation going on. I told the police the whole story, to which they responded that I'm dealing with a civil case and that I couldn't file a police report. I could either go to the County Courthouse to file a small-claims court case against Alex, or I could file a case with the State Attorney General's Office so that they could track Alex down and get my money back from him. Just yesterday (August 13), after a week of preparations for my next semester of school and my Mustang's suspension rebuild, I filed a case with the State Attorney General's Office. The case is in their hands now, and they'll get whatever they can from Alex and inform me of everything they find out. One of two things has probably happened. Alex has either not pulled any of the drivetrain parts out of the Capri at all, and is still driving it. Or worse, he might have pulled the Capri's drivetrain out and resold it to somebody else for more $$$. Alex and I have made a deal as stated in the bill of sale. I've held up my end of the deal by paying him the $1000, but he hasn't held up his end. He still has those Capri drivetrain parts in his possession, and is ignoring all of my attempts to contact him. The case is in the hands of the Attorney General's Office now. I don't care if I get any of the Capri's drivetrain parts now, I just want my $1000 back. Alex is NOT getting away with this. Edited July 14, 2016 by BrettNorton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prokiller Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 dude that really sucks. it's such a shame that there are people like this out there. word of advise though is next time only give him a down payment of like $100 and the rest upon delivery of the items. that way you're only out a small amount and he then knows if he wants more he has to hold up his end of the bargain. hopefully you'll get your money back in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Psychorugby Posted August 15, 2015 Moderators Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 I've had to learn the same lesson... NEVER pay up front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 (edited) August 2015, I've started the new semester of school, so the Mustang's suspension rebuild will be kinda slow over the next few days. Regardless, I was able to get some work done today with an Advance Auto ball joint press. First, I got the old upper axle bushings out of the rear end with the ball joint press. I could have bought that Maximum Motorsports upper axle bushing tool, but I was able to get innovative with the various press adapters, a few thick washers, and some PB blaster. I would have worked on the rear end some more, but it started raining, and I had to move all of my tools and other crap inside the shop, leaving the axle outside. Next, I got the factory upper control arms cleaned and painted up. I'll get the new rubber UCA bushings pressed in tomorrow. Lastly, I got the front control arms rebuilt with some Moog ball joints and Prothane FCA bushings. With a tube of lithium grease, the bushings slid into the bushing shells without any drama. The ball joints though, didn't surrender as easily as the bushings did. At first, I was able to press them into the FCA's, but they didn't go in straight and didn't seat all the way around. With a little persuasion from an impact gun though, the ball joints then seated all the way into the FCA's. Front control arms are rebuilt! I'll probably be able to finish up the ball joint press jobs tomorrow. Edited July 14, 2016 by BrettNorton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2015 (edited) August 2015, I got the rest of the ball joint press jobs finished today. Got the new rubber bushings pressed into the upper control arms and the axle. I also got the 3-piece urethane bushings assembled in the J&M rear control arms. I thought it would be a pretty simple job, but DAMN. I WAS WRONG. Even with the lithium grease, the urethane balls didn't go into the control arms very easily at all. Make sure that you follow the instructions exactly, otherwise air WILL get trapped in the whole bushing assembly and it won't go together right. I ended up having to use a vice to put the bushings into the control arms. And like all other parts of my car, I got the rear end nice, cleaned up, and painted. I'll be cleaning up and painting the axle ends when I go through the rear end and get it all rebuilt. Edited July 14, 2016 by BrettNorton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2015 (edited) August 2015, Everything's starting to come together now. I got the SVE caster camber plates installed with new KYB GR-2 struts, but the instructions for the SVE plates are VERY confusing. Vague steps, references to pictures not given, no notches on the bolt plates (to determine which side of the plate is supposed to face forward), and even Steeda is mentioned. Thanks to a review of the SVE plates on Late Model Restoration, I was able to get the plates and struts assembled and installed properly. I saved the rubber bump stop, dust cover, and part of the lower strut mount bushing from the old struts. Then I got those parts installed on the new KYB struts. I also got all of the control arms bolted into the car, both front and rear. Edited July 14, 2016 by BrettNorton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2015 August 2015, As I was preparing to take a pic of the new rear control arms all nice and bolted in, I noticed something tucked up in between the driver's side frame rail and the spare tire well of my car. HOLY SHIT!!! I CAN"T BELIEVE I was working underneath that thing! If I had tried to bolt the whole rear end underneath the car with that thing right above my head, I would've been in some deep shit. The pic included here is a negative frame. Anybody care to take a guess as to what thing I'm talking about? That little thing right in between the driver's side frame rail and the spare tire well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedTwilight Posted August 23, 2015 Report Share Posted August 23, 2015 Can't really tell from the pic. Is it a black widow nest or am I looking at rust? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 @RedTwilight You're close on the nest part. That thing is a nest, but it's not a black widow nest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedTwilight Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 @RedTwilight You're close on the nest part. That thing is a nest, but it's not a black widow nest.OOHH!!! Now I see on the big screen here at work. WASP's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 Ding. Ding. Yup, that's a wasp nest. I found it right above my head after I was finished working underneath the car that day. Good thing I had some Raid on me, that thing is long gone now. That's probably the 3rd or 4th one that's been built on my car. There's actually still a wasp nest in the driver's side mirror of my car, but everything in that one's dead now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 (edited) August 2015, Installed all the steering parts today. I cleaned the steering rack with degreaser the best that I could, then bolted it into the car with some Prothane non-offset rack bushings. I got the steering shaft bolted back into the car as well. That rubber grommet that goes through the firewall gave me a few headaches, but it went through with only a few grunts and cuss words. I finished up by installing the new Moog steering parts. Inner tie rods, steering rack boots, and outer tie rods. All I have left to install are the SVE springs, the spindles, the rear end, and my Mustang's suspension rebuild will be all finished up. I'm going to save the last of the suspension parts for Labor Day next week. Edited July 14, 2016 by BrettNorton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prokiller Posted August 25, 2015 Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 moving along nicely. should hopefully have it mobile at the end of next week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2015 (edited) August 2015, I kinda lied about installing the springs, spindles, and rear end on Labor Day. I actually got it all done today. Obviously, the front end alignment is off. I'll get that taken care of when the car has an engine in it and is drivable again. In a few years, I'll be rebuilding the rear end with 3.73 gears, new Traction-Lok clutches, and new bearings and seals. Edited July 14, 2016 by BrettNorton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2015 (edited) August 2015, TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!!!! The Mustang's suspension rebuild is complete! It's is back on its wheels again! Edited July 14, 2016 by BrettNorton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted August 27, 2015 Report Share Posted August 27, 2015 Congrats dude! Must be a huge relief having her mobile again n Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted August 27, 2015 Report Share Posted August 27, 2015 You're doing great work on this car! Can't wait to see more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedTwilight Posted August 27, 2015 Report Share Posted August 27, 2015 Congrats on getting on the ground. Now whacha got planned for rest of the drivetrain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prokiller Posted August 27, 2015 Report Share Posted August 27, 2015 you've really done a lot so far on this car to get it to where it is. good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmage Posted August 27, 2015 Report Share Posted August 27, 2015 dang that front end sits high without a motor lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedTwilight Posted August 27, 2015 Report Share Posted August 27, 2015 dang that front end sits high without a motor lol Maybe he's going for the '60's Gasser look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2015 No. No 60's gasser look. Car's just higher than a pothead... smoking weed... on a spaceship...... in space. Supposedly, those SVE springs drop a 94-04 Mustang by 1.1". My car's high-up look is likely a combination of new spring isolators, those small 15" wheels, and the absence of a motor / trans. IMO, those SVE springs are probably going to make my car sit perfectly once I get a motor and trans put in it. I don't care if it sits a little high at all. It'll just add to the POS / sleeper look that I want it to have. As for the rest of the drivetrain, the engine will be the next step of the build here. I don't have very much disposable income to spend on the Mustang right now, so (I'm sorry to have to say this) the engine work probably won't begin until about mid December during my winter break. That's when I'll have the time available and money saved up to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted August 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 @Evilcw311 I still have no idea where Alex lives, or where the Capri's drivetrain parts are at. The attorney general's office is taking too long (filed the case more than 2 weeks ago) and the police aren't willing to help me out since this issue is "a civil case that has to go to court." When I have time this week, I'm resorting to the last option I have that doesn't involve assault charges against me. I'll be filing a small claims court case against Alex. Thanks to the dumbass posting on Facebook, I know where he works and can have him subpoenaed from his job. Once I get him into court, I know my case will win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted September 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 (edited) September 2015, I WAS going to work on the Mustang today, but one of life's priorities took over and I had to deal with it ASAP. My 99 Volvo's front driver's door wouldn't open yesterday. I found out when I got home from school that day. No matter whether the door was locked or unlocked, if I used the inside or outside door handles, that door wouldn't open. Luckily, I was able to pull the door panel off, use a screwdriver to open the door from the inside, and find out what was wrong. I pulled the whole latch assembly out of the door, and saw that the latch wasn't releasing when I pulled either door handle. I couldn't tear the latch assembly apart for inspection, so all I know is that something inside that latch assembly either broke or wore out, which wouldn't release the latch when either door handle was pulled. So, I began the online search for a new front driver's side door latch assembly. Rock Auto didn't sell it, so I looked on another Euro car parts website. I was able to find the latch assembly that I was looking for, but the price tag? HOLY JEEZ MAN. $170 for a new Volvo S70 door latch. A new door latch for my 94 Mustang is only about $50 on Late Model Restoration. My answer for my door latch problem? SALVAGE YARD! I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I have a local salvage yard called Midwest Mustang which, as you can assume, specializes in parting out Mustangs. Specifically, Fox Bodies, SN95's, and New Edge Mustangs. I assume that Midwest Mustang snatches up every Mustang in the Kansas City area that gets sold for scrap. The pic of all those Mustangs below is only a fraction of what's in Midwest Mustang's yard. Within all of those rows of Mustangs, I found the body shell of a black 98 Volvo S70 that was being parted out due to engine failure. Motor, trans, suspension, all gone. Interior, trashed. Body, PERFECT. The front driver's door opened and closed, so I pulled out that latch assembly and only paid $50 for it. I walked around the yard some more, and found some junk vehicles that will likely supply a few good parts for my build. I found a black 94-95 GT that had a nice, straight, clear coat peeling front bumper on it. I also found quite a few 96-01 5.0 Ford Explorers, one of which I'll be pulling the engine out of in a few months. Lastly, I found a white 96-98 Cobra that had some nice original Cobra R wheels on it. (Sorry, I didn't get any pics) After leaving the Mustang fantasy land, I got home, installed the working door latch in my 99 Volvo, and BOOM! DRIVER'S DOOR OPENS, CLOSES, LOCKS, AND UNLOCKS AGAIN!!! Edited July 14, 2016 by BrettNorton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted September 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 This past Wednesday, when I had time off from work and school, I filed a case against Alex the Capri parts seller in small claims court. I had the local sheriff deliver the summons to his workplace, and I got my letter from the court today. My case against Alex will be in late October, so I have quite a few weeks to prepare myself. I've got just about all the evidence I need to validate my claim against him, and I know my case will win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedTwilight Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 I know it's all a big pain,but looks like you were left with no other choices.Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted September 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2015 (edited) September 2015, I cleaned out part of the shop last week. Needed some shelter to replace the serpentine and timing belts on the Volvo. As for the Mustang, I ripped out all of the old brake and fuel lines yesterday. I'm running new brake lines due to deleting the ABS pump, and I'll have to plumb an entirely new fuel system to make a carburetor work reliably. I THINK I'll be able to clean out the rest of the shop next week. Then the Mustang's going inside. As for the case against Alex the fraudulent parts seller, I got a call from the sheriff last Wednesday. He said that he went to deliver the summons letter to Alex at his employer, but couldn't give the letter to Alex. The reason? Alex's employment was terminated the day before the summons letter was delivered. At least that's what the sheriff told me. The court date is still set in late October, so I can't give up yet. Edited July 14, 2016 by BrettNorton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted December 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2015 December 2015, Engine work is beginning soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted December 15, 2015 Report Share Posted December 15, 2015 Sweet! What happened with the court date? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNorton Posted December 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 A bit of a long story again... As for that court date @95riosnake is talking about, it happened in late October. My case was dismissed without prejudice because that summons letter was never delivered to Alex. Since he "didn't know of the charges against him," I had, in legal terms, no case against Alex. In mid November, I saw that Alex had posted the name of his employer on Facebook again. Right away, I filed another case against him (not all that expensive to file a small-claims case) and have another court date in late December, a few days before Christmas. In early December, I got a letter from this court TV show in California called "Hot Bench." They were interested in me presenting my case on their TV show. After about a week of thinking about it (in between school and work), I decided that I wanted to go on that Hot Bench show. I figured that the TV show would find Alex, that I would be flown out to California for a few days, and that I would get my money back and then some. I finally called the producer that sent me the letter, and had a few questions to ask. "What kind of forms will I need to fill out?" "Do I need to go through any interviews?" "Will this affect my school in any way?" "How is Alex going to have to get involved in this whole deal?" Welp, I ended up not being able to go on that Hot Bench show to get my money back. The phone conversation between the producer and I went pretty well until that question "How is Alex going to have to get involved in this whole deal?" Turns out that I needed to give that TV show Alex's contact information, which, as I've already said many times, I've got none of. I don't know Alex's address, I don't know his phone number, his e-mail address, NOTHING. "Mrs. TV Show Producer Lady, I assume that you guys probably have the resources to find Alex?" "SORRY." Mrs. Producer Lady said, "We're not detectives." So, no TV show court case for me. Last week, I received notification that that summons letter was successfully delivered to Alex at his new employer. I know I'll win my case against him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
