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Blog posts of '2019' 'February'

Reader Ride: Jim's 1965 Ford Mustang 289

Check out the wonderful story from Jim about his 1965 Ford Mustang 289!

1965 Mustang coupe. I am the third owner. I found this car as a barn find in Yucaipa California. It had been sitting since 1978 and was in need of restoration. The car was purchased new in San Bernardino, CA from Garner Ford. It was purchased from the original owner in 1978, blew a head gasket and got parked.

I bought the the car in 2009. All of the original factory equipment was still on the car. Original drive train and all parts were there. The license plate and frame are the original pieces. I have the original titles and registrations showing the history. I have several repair receipts from the original and second owners. There was no rust at all in the car. I completed the restoration in 2014. The car is equipped with the original A/C. Original color was Light Blue with blue interior. The car was completely disassembled for restoration.

What are Survivors?

Simply put, a survivor is a classic that has withstood the test of time. What does this mean, and more importantly how is that possible? To break it down further, survivors have maintained their original features and many of their original parts. This includes its original finish, its original interior, its factory power train, and even some of its original equipment such as a spare tire or lug wrench.

Unsurprisingly, ideal survivors are the classics holed up in garages for decades that escaped wind, rain, sun, traffic, and ultimately left in almost perfect conditions. Realistically, survivors do require repairs. To maintain their identity as a survivor, any modifications cannot involve changing original features such as the finish.

We recently had a customer that wanted work on one of these cars. He wanted us to rebuild his compressor, but not alter the exterior. In this case, we didn't bead-blast and repaint it. We just rebuilt it functionally. At Original Air, we can do this on a number of parts, but not necessarily all parts. Most parts that we can rebuild or recondition without altering the appearance are listed below:

  • Most valves such as VIR's, expansion valves (STV), hot-gas valves (HGV), accumulators and even some filler-driers (depending upon where they have to be cut open)
  • Most evaporators or evaporator units
  • Most condensers
  • Most heater controls
  • House repairs are typically much more difficult, but there are sometimes some options.

Are you an owner of a survivor that needs a repair? Fill out our rebuild request form today!

How to Identify Long and Short Chevy Water Pumps

Some time ago, we had a client reach out to ask us how to identify a short or long water pump on their Chevy engine. Except for trucks and Corvettes, all models from 1955 through 1968 had short water pumps. They always had the compressor mounted on the passenger side of the engine while the alternator stood on the driver's side. Short water pumps measure from the front to the back where it mounts on the engine block to the pulley flange. They measure 5 5/8 inches for SB engines and 5 3/4 inches for BB engines.

With the exception of the models mentioned above, long water pumps started in 1969 and ran on engines with standard v-belt drives into the 1980s when belt-drive systems became more complex. These longer engines always had the compressor mounted on the driver's side of the engine whereas the alternator sat on the passenger side. Long water pumps measure from where they attach to the engine block to the pulley flange. They measure 7 inches for SB engines and 7 1/4 inches for BB engines.

To determine if the pulleys remain on the car, check between the back of the pulley and the water pump. Except for incredibly small fingers, you should not be able to get in between the setup for short water pumps. Likewise, with the exception of incredibly thick fingers, they should fit in between a long water pump setup.

Here are two additional helpful diagrams from our friends at Summit Racing Equipment to further help identify short and long water pumps: