Project Panther

[Screamin_67]

This build started out as a father and sons summer project that quickly spiraled out of control. The original plans were to pop in a tranny and get the old 289 running. New tires on some decent looking wheels and maybe slap some new sheet metal patches on the floor. My eldest son already had a 68 that I had injected, but a tree creased the front end during a snow storm leaving the car as a good candidate for parts.

Some thought was actually given to using her as a parts car for the 68, the floors were gone, but the outer sheet metal was in pretty good shape due to sitting for 20 years. Everything inside was pitted, decayed or rusted. Come to find out the cowl had let go so any water that landed on her, went in her. The 68 needed a front clip and a quarter panel. Decisions... decisions. We decided to completely strip the car down to its shell and see what we had, then decide. The floors were Mustang parts, easy enough to get. The cowl was another 'stang part as was most of the underlying inner structures. The decision was made to upgrade her to a "driver" project.


The day "she" rolled into our lives:

[Screamin_67]

We originally got the old 289 running and stuck a C4 in her, but that was short lived. The engine smoked and ran like a$$ so out it came with plans to rebuild it. We did, to stock specs, but by the time it was ready to put back in, winter had hit. Winter is awful for me, I have way too much time to think, which leads to planning, which in turn leads to spending, culminating in a pile of parts and a maxxed out Paypal account.

I don't have a bunch of money and 3 teenage boys to feed, so most everything you will see on this project was designed and built in my basement and the car assembled in my carport. Yup, no fancy shop, hell, not even an enclosed garage.

[Screamin_67]

Sheet metal was procured as well as a set of 69 Mustang front disks. The 289 sported a fresh rebuild and Craigslist provided a set of 02 Mustang Bullit wheels. Almost all the labor thus far was performed by my 2 eldest boys as I was still recuperating from surgery on my hands. It was a great bonding experience for them as well as myself.

[Screamin_67]

Life happens, my eldest son went off to college, necessitating a different mode of transportation for him. We struck a deal... I bought him out of the Cougar so he could get a newer ride. Now there was no need to get the car done in a hurry, money could be saved and parts sourced on a budget and schedule. We could build it the way I wanted it, something different, not just your run of the mill Mustang or Chevelle.

She needed to be built primarily with OEM sourced parts to maintain my budget as well as facilitate serviceability. Obviously there would be quite a few aftermarket parts thrown into the mix, but no one off, custom made widget that was discontinued 6 months after hitting the market. Any truly custom pieces would be made by me, or to my specs so that they were easily replaceable. Big tires, big power, big sound, low and mean with lots of black and brushed metal. I wanted the car to be as content on the highway as it would be carving some corners on a rural mountain road. But most importantly she had to be safe and comfortable to drive.

Big tires, meant a narrowed, stronger rear end. It needed to have posi, as well as 31 spline axles and disk brakes. I did some research and found that the late model Explorer 8.8 was a very popular swap into V8 S10s and relatively cheap at the local Pick-N-Pull. The boys and I loaded up a 96 or 97 model 8.8 as well as an extra short side shaft and headed back to the house. Summit provided a rebuild kit and new clutches for the Trac-Loc. Shortening the long side to match the short side centered the pinion and netted me a 3" narrower axle in comparison to the factory Cougar 8". New perches and a girdle and it was ready for paint and install.

The new powerplant would have to be a roller 5.0 that I had recently rebuilt for a fox body 'vert my son had. The engine is built to '93 Cobra specs and will suffice until I can afford a 418W stroker. As I love rowing gears in a muscle car, I chose to ditch the C4 and retain the 'verts T5. As T5s aren't the strongest trans, I upgraded the internals with a billet cluster support and steel bearing retainer. A Tri-axe shifter keeps it from bending forks and over shooting 3rd. Eventually it will receive an A5 gear set or be replaced with a TKO. It should handle the 5.0 until that time though.

I'll post pics soon.

[Screamin_67]

Time to spam the thread with pics... I have over 1500, I'll spare you guys the BS and just put up the interesting ones.

new floors and the cowls were patched up. 5.0 booster installed along with a rebuilt stock suspension. The original export braces were junk so I decided to fab up a new set as well as a M/C bar to clear the eventual EFI. Seats were reupholstered and the tank sumped. the last shot is the Ford Probe headlight motors as well as the tigged 8.8 housing.

[Screamin_67]

More...

Test fitting the new wheels and axle. modifying the original auto console to house a T5 shifter, lokar hand brake and all the on-board engine controls. Also got a killer deal from Roush on their 13.2" Mustang GT take-off front brakes. A quick call to mustang Steve and he shipped me out a set of brackets to mate them with my factory drum spindles. the original 67 strut rods needed to be replaced so I fabbed up a set of adjustable units.

[Screamin_67]

And more...

Rebuilt and modded the upper control arms with roller perches from Open tracker as well as relocating the perch 1" further outboard. I also added some gussets and gave them a fresh coat of powder. Upped the spring rate to 620s and installed Koni shocks on all four corners. We installed 3" drop fiberglass mono leaf springs and fabbed up a pan-hard setup to locate the rear end. Sub-frame connectors and a drive shaft loop were built next. The DS loop is actually a modified Ford Racing fox body piece I had laying around... Everything underneath is coated and ready to go. We added a steel firewall behind the rear seat to stiffen the body as well as protect the occupants from fuel slosh in the event of a rear end collision.

[Screamin_67]

The last 10 for now... This is pretty much the stage she is at now.

04 Mustang M/C for the 4 wheel Disk. Decided to run a line lock on the rears asa well as a manual prop valve. All the lines are braided stainless with -3AN fittings, so if anything fails it can be temporarily bypassed. Went with the Borgeson integral box to clean up and delete the power assist ram steering. Also went full roller on the idler as well, I may end up regretting that decision though if my steering wheel doesn't return well. Fabbed up some traction bars that connect directly to the subframe with 5/8 Heims. Spring wrap doesn't seem to be an issue with composite springs, but I don't really want to take a chance especially with a stick, wide tires and a lazy left foot. Started fabbing up a core suppor reinforcement / cover as well as new LCAs. I'm not real happy with the original ones in the background. They use a spherical joint at the frame as well as a screw in Dodge ball joint. The 1-1/8 front sway bar will also be connect via Heims.

[Chev Korbin]

Did you/your son have this build up on another forum, it looks familiar? I have an explorer 8.8 and a 9" in storage, just trying to decide which one I want to use,.. likely use the 8.8 and leave the 9" in storage. I like all the mods you have done so far, very well thought out. What are some of your plans for the car? look forward to more pictures, lol!

[Screamin_67]

Yes, we have some threads on Mercurycougar.net as well as a couple other boards. They go into alot more detail on the car's mods and restoration.

Plans for the car.... Drive the wheels off of it once its done-ish.

Right now we are re-skinning the inner doors to accept Mustang door panels and trim. Electric windows are also going in at the same time. Designing a Push to Start system in my head as well. I plan on deleting the key switch all together as I need the dash real estate for the wiper switch.

[Blue70]

Car has come a long way!
I am debating buying some subframe connectors, or making the Daze connectors like you did.
How did they fit?

[Screamin_67]

All in all, they fit pretty good, a bit of advice though, once you get them pie cut... put them under the car and push them into position with a floor jack. Then tack, remove, and solid weld. I learned the hard way.

[Blue70]

All in all, they fit pretty good, a bit of advice though, once you get them pie cut... put them under the car and push them into position with a floor jack. Then tack, remove, and solid weld. I learned the hard way.

Thanks for the tip! I was going to weld them up here at work, but will do it at home, the way you said instead.
Thank you!

[Screamin_67]

I had a PM asking for details and pics of the center mounted hand brake. The handbrake and boot and cables are Lokar. The handle assembly is mounted to the floor with some spacers added to bring it just below the center console. Once the carpet is in and the console height is determined I can adjust it as necessary. The holes through the floor for the bolts were reinforced and a small pocket was created to allow the cables into the car and the clamp to move.