1969 Mustang Stringer Rebuild

Hello Vondy! hows it been? glad to see ya going to restring the stang. keep us posted, and yes you can remove all the innerds just make sure you have it braced up correctly. good luck jeff

Lets see some pics!

vondy wrote: Would the trailer be sufficient for bracing it or would I need to build some extra bracing?

Depends on the trailer. On my 63 skier the aft end of my trailer bunks sit right at the corners of the transom, I made some wedges to fit between the trailer frame rails and the hull at about the windshield. With all the stringers out my hull is still pretty rigid but the wedges stabilize it when climbing in and out.

Jack

Yes, you can remove all of the stringers in one shot to get all the grinding done first... but Im not sure I would recommend doing so for 2 reasons.

1. You will need to brace the boat as mentioned above. Without any structural members running the length of the hull, even the small hulls will deflect. The trailer is not sufficient- you will need additional braces front and rear at the chines at a minimum... and more is better. You could probably get away with just the trailer if you remove/replace one stringer at a time.

2. By removing/replacing one stringer at a time, it gives you a good reference point as you go along and shape and then install each stringer. It is very hard to take measurements once the boat is completely gutted. Even if you take 1000 measurements before disassembling, you will ALWAYS find something you failed to measure. Been there, done that.

If your boat were anything but a Holman Moody, it would be pretty straightforward to replace your mounts with newer adjustable ones from PCM. The H-M uses different mounting provisions though (bellhousing and front cover), so it would not be easy to do away with yours. I would stick with the wedges. Of course, Id be willing to swap some PCM parts for those H-M nonadjustables if youre dead set on going that way.

Seemed to me as accurate as the alignment needs to be that adjustable engine mounts would be easier and more accurate than banging on wedges. One problem I had was that the front needed to be adjusted so I ended up adding wedges to those as well.

Would there not be a concern for loosening and tightening the lags once a year. Seems like it would weaken the connection and be another point at which water could get in.

I'm not against the wedges, I just want to make sure if there is a better way I do it.

Any thoughts on the crack in the rear starboard bellhousing mount clamp?

Riley, I dug up some old pics of the mounts, before I added new wedges.

I do have side-to-side movement by-the-way.

Vondy, that's a much better set up than mine. You've got your side to side with the mounts and a little tap either way on the wedges for height. I'd stay with that set up. Keep your wedges to make new ones out of. I think mine are oak.

Keegan, the curved wood is an oak mount that sits on top of the stringers. There is just up and down movement with the wedges. I don't know what can be done if you need a side to side adjustment, other than move the engine forward or backward a bit and drill new lag holes. Fortunately , we did not have to do that. That white bilge will be the last one I do! I see you did yours the same color.

Vondy, your mounts are really good. I like how H/M put the rear mount forward of the tranny so you can remove it easily.

vondy wrote: Any thoughts on the crack in the rear starboard bellhousing mount clamp?

David, you mean in that area right behind the bolts of the sideways clamp mount? This one was cracked on mine.I took it to a good welder and they fixxed me up fine.

Hay Vondy! you are correct Alum.

Is it easy enough to separate the bell housing from the engine and transmission to take it to a welder? No major gaskets or seals to worry about?

Gave the lumber yard a call today looking for Douglas Fir. I told him I needed the good stuff and he said they have #1, C and better, vertical grain. I'm not that versed in wood grades. Does that sound right to y'all?

I'm also not sure on sizes yet but a 2x8x14 is $113.

Pulling to engine tomorrow to officially get started.

Pete, if it's 13% out of the kiln, how do you get it to 8%? Should it be bought ahead of time and be stored so that it air dries some more?

8122pbrainard wrote: David, Go take a look at it. If the #1 looks nice, is straight and doesn't have a large loose knots in it, it will be cheaper. Don't worry about bad edges as they will be trimmed off when you scrib to the hull. Make sure you ask them about the moisture content. If it's a good yard, they should have a meter. Out of the kiln, you'll see about 13%. 10% is getting there and usable. 8% is great.

Pete, he said his number 1 stuff was the c & better vertical grain. From the way I typed it, it might have looked like 3 options. He does have number 2 as well.

8122pbrainard wrote: David, Go look at it and if in doubt, report back. The "and better" is really a term open to interpretation!!

I'll do that.

Looks like I'll need 2x8x12s for the mains and 1x2x9s for the secondaries. Does that sound right? What do others use for the cross bracing? Fir or something cheaper? I don't have a lot in this boat.