ok finally got it figured out. it was the clutch safety switch. somehow it managed to get caught near the quadrant thus was shorting out on the quadrant when i was touching it. taped up the wires with some electrical tape and works like a charm. weird how this all of a sudden happened and coincided with me scraping my exhaust. either way thanks to all of you for your help and responses. it was a huge help. boy i'm glad for mustang forums.
