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Ford, To Introduce Bullitt Edition Mustang In 2007
By Jay Stevens

Ford is aiming to produce several versions of performance retro-Mustangs; it will start next year with the introduction of a Bullitt edition. The automaker also intends to bolster versions of MKS, Lincoln flagship.

"We're not just going to put it out there and let the thing die a slow death. We're going to continue freshening this Mustang every single year. In 2007 we've got the new Bullitt version of the Mustang coming out, and I just wish I could talk about the '08s, '09s and '10s," said Jeff Wood, Ford's vehicle program director.

Wood also added that a different Mustang package will be introduced each year until 2010. Mustang is one of the popular cars in Ford lineup these days. To further enhance the image and popularity of the car, the automaker will be incorporating several modifications in special edition Mustangs.

The Bullitt edition Mustang is equipped with a 310-plus horsepower V8 with a lowered suspension and a special interior design. Bullitt edition boasts its classic Ford Mustang parts that convey toughness and longevity. The first retro-styled edition of the vehicle is also given sturdy Ford Mustang wheels.

2007 Bullitt also features plain grille without galloping pony badge or spotlights and a black-painted panel between the taillights. It is intended to resemble the McQueen's '68. Bullitt's artistic design sculpture was created by Italdesign Giugiaro, a company that's sculpted vehicles for many of the world's automakers. The car also uses the plastic wing, retro-style gauges, seats, steel fuel door, and ground effects add-ons conventional to special-edition Mustangs in favor of signature dark green paint. Said version will be available in Highland Green.

The name 'Bullitt' of the first retro-Mustang came from the movie featuring iconic 1968 390 GT, which

was used by Steve McQueen. The remarkable movie is still hot at the present time. It still makes hearts beat faster.

The production Mustang was based on Ford Falcon compact. Its first production rolled off in 1964 at Dearborn, Michigan plant. The car was introduced via all three American television networks that time. Said introduction was one of the most successful in car history. After so many decades, Mustang is still one of Ford pride vehicles.

1966 Shelby Mustang GT350 - Hertz So Blue

For the past 20 years, Steve Beck has dreamed two dreams. One was to own a '66 Shelby GT350. The other was to completely restore his dream Shelby to showroom condition. With this car, he has realized both. Only he never thought his dream car would be a rare blue and gold version of the Hertz GT350H. Because the black and gold color combination has become synonymous with the Hertz Shelby, including the new GT-H, many don't realize that 20 percent of the '66 GT350Hs were painted other colors. According to Steve's research from the Shelby American Automobile Club, Hertz originally requested 1,000 cars-200 in black and gold with the remaining 800 painted in regular Shelby colors. That was revised at the end of January 1966 when Hertz reversed the request, asking instead for 800 black and gold cars with the remaining 200 divided into groups of 50 in blue, green, red, and white. Interestingly, the blue Hertz Shelbys were painted Sapphire Blue, a Thunderbird color, not Shelby's usual Guardsman Blue. Steve's GT350H was originally shipped to Larson Ford in New York for delivery to the Hertz location of a New York airport. SAAC records show that the car was involved in several minor incidents-likely street racing, Steve says-and was repaired by Hertz. After its tour of rental duty, the Shelby was sold, and its original automatic transmission was replaced by a four-speed for autocross competition. At one time, it even competed at the Bonneville Salt Flats. According to SAAC records, in the '80s the car was owned by Hal Keck, a well-known Cobra racer who drove for Carroll Shelby in 1965-1966, winning the 24 Hours of Daytona with codriver Jo Schlesser in a Cobra Daytona Coupe in 1965. Steve obtained the Shelby in 2001. In spite of the low 11,000 miles on the odometer, the car was very rusty-no doubt thanks to its time on the salt flats and the ravages of outside storage for six years. But it was original and complete. Steve had obtained the first part of his dream and was about to embark on part two. We'll let him tell the story: "I spent the next year searching for N.O.S. parts so I could replace the unrestorable ones. During that time, I disassembled the car, tagging and bagging everything. The next two summers were spent bead-blasting and refinishing every part that could be saved so I could keep the car as original as possible. I spent hours on individual parts such as the aluminum quarter-window frames and the Shelby ID tag. I spent three hours restoring the GT350 rear-panel emblem. "The restoration took about four years in my spare time. The bodywork and sheetmetal replacement, including the floors, was done at New Windsor Automotive, a shop specializing in Mustang restorations. The engine was rebuilt with the assistance of Karl 'Jake' Jacobson at Jake's Auto Clinic in New Market, Maryland, where we cleaned and rebuilt the block using original parts except the cam and valvetrain. I did the detailing on the interior, engine compartment, engine, and transmission. I located the correct automatic to replace the four-speed. "By 2004, the body was ready for paint, and a friend recommended Mickey Schultz. He spent two months doing whatever was necessary for a first-class paint job. Everything was done in PPG DP74 epoxy primer and Deltron paint, which is not exactly inexpensive, but it's probably the best stuff out there. Coincidentally, the DP74 is very close to the original red oxide primer." Steve completed the restoration in March 2006, exactly 40 years after the car was originally delivered to Hertz. He purchased a truck and trailer for transporting the Shelby to shows, including the All-Ford Nationals in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where we discovered the car. "The completion of this car caps a 20-year dream to own a '66 Shelby and also to have one restored to this level. It sits uncovered in my garage because I enjoy looking at it as a constant reminder that it's really there and not just a dream."

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Calibrating Ford Mustang Speedometers

If you've ever performed any kind of driveline or wheel and tire swap, you're probably familiar with speedometer calibration. By stepping up to larger tires and/or wheels, the speedometer reads slow compared to the actual vehicle speed. Change your rearend-gear ratio and the speedo reads high. It becomes a vicious circle as you change components and swap rolling stock. Sound familiar?

Speedometer-gear calibration and selection should be an integral part of any changes to your Mustang's chassis or driveline. Changes to wheel and tire size alter the speedometer reading because the larger tire diameter reduces the number of wheel revolutions per minute, in turn lowering the speedometer reading. When reducing the overall tire height, wheel revs are increased, which increases the speedometer reading. By the same token, a rearend-gear swap changes the speedometer reading because of the altered driveshaft speed. Speedometer gearing and calibration have to change accordingly.

Speedometer Function
Mechanical speedometers were used in '64-'93 Mustangs. They are more complex than their electronic counterparts, used in '94-and-up Mustangs, consisting of drive gears, cable, a drive head, a rotating bar magnet, a needle shell, and the odometer assembly.

Speedometers get their motivation from the transmission-tailshaft drive gear, which drives the speedometer cable. From the gear, a rotating cable drives the bar magnet, located inside a lightweight metal shell, which is tied to the speedometer needle and a watch spring, which we'll call the return spring. The needle shell is drawn to the magnetic field created by the spinning bar magnet. The return spring creates pressure against the magnetic field as the bar spins. As the bar magnet whirls around, the needle shell is attracted to the magnet. The bar magnet rotates faster with increasing vehicle speed, drawing the needle shell clockwise with its rotation. The faster the magnet spins, the higher the needle moves around the dial. As vehicle speed decreases, magnet speed decreases, causing the needle to swing back toward zero with help from the return spring. The spinning magnet is always counteracting the return spring that's trying to bring the needle back to zero.

Odometer function is a matter of gearing from the speedometer head. A series of gears originating at the head drive the odometer. Each of the number wheels in the odometer has cogs that move neighboring wheels along as mileage progresses. A mile moves each time a tenth completes a full 360-degree cycle. It becomes a chain-reaction increase as each wheel makes a full 360-degree spin.

Speedometer calibration involves the right combination of tires, wheels, and speedometer drive gears. But there's more to it if you want pinpoint accuracy. Take your lead from Ford's old Master Parts Catalog (available on CD), which tells what combination of gears to use based on factory-tire sizing. We're going to help you get started with the basics of speedometer-gear selection and how to fine tune.

For one thing, get used to the idea that you're never going to achieve perfect speedometer calibration. It doesn't even happen in police cars despite the best efforts to keep them calibrated. Your speedometer will always be off to some degree because there are endless variations that cause inaccuracy. For example, temperature and humidity effect speedometer accuracy because they change the return-spring tension. Tire irregularities also cause inaccuracies. A dip in the road can cause a brief inaccuracy. Entering a turn can momentarily cause an inaccurate reading because we're messing with tire diameter. As tires wear, speedometer accuracy changes. Install new tires, and it changes again. A cold tire is smaller than a warm tire.

Speedometer accuracy is determined by a road test alongside a vehicle with an accurate speedometer. If one isn't available, a stretch of interstate highway with mile markers works best. Begin your speedometer check at a mile marker and a given tenth. If the odometer comes up short at the next mile marker, your speedometer is geared too slow. If your odometer winds up beyond the tenth you began with, the speedometer is geared too fast.

A speedometer geared too slow needs a driven gear with fewer teeth. By the same token, a speedometer geared too fast needs a driven gear with more teeth. Calibration should begin with the factory-suggested gearing for your Mustang; fine-tune it from there.

Choosing the Right Gear
Calibrating a speedometer is like bodywork and paint: To do a good job, you must have proper preparation. In this case, it starts with the correct speedometer drive gears. Without the correct gears, you can't fine-tune speedometer performance.

Ford's Master Parts Catalog provides the right gear combination for factory-original applications based on tire size and axle ratio. There are two basic part numbers for the speedometer drive and driven gears; PN 17285 for the drive gear on the transmission tailshaft and PN 17271 for the driven gear on the speedometer cable.

There are eight types of Ford drive gears located on the transmission tailshaft, but only two apply to Mustangs; Type 3, which is a steel gear, and Type 4A, which is nylon in either pink or black. Six other types were used throughout the Ford car and truck line.

Three basic types of driven gears, located at the transmission end of the speedometer cable, apply to Mustangs; Type 3, Type 3a, and Type 1. Type 3 has a short pilot shaft, and Type 3a has a long pilot shaft. Type 1 is a different type of driven gear altogether because it only works with a special adaptor found on Mustangs with 3.91:1, 4.11:1, and 4.30:1 axle ratios.

When shopping for speedometer-drive gears, it's important to remember left-side or right-side because this determines proper gear-tooth angle. Left-hand or right-hand depends on transmission type. All C4, C6, FMX, AOD, AODE, and three-speed manual transmissions have speedometer cable access from the left-hand side. Ditto for the rare Dagenham four-speed. Both Ford Top Loader and Borg-Warner T10 four-speeds have access from the right-hand side. This means gear-tooth angle is different from one side to the other. It must be compatible between drive and driven gears.

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