64.5 Mustang resto-mod

[xsboost90]

Ok so let me start by saying this build has not been received well by some other forums. Im not restoring the car, im building it the way i want. Otherwise, here we go. I have to say, most of the good feedback ive had has been from people who also post on here, so i figured i would move over to a forum that welcomes custom mods etc....

In 2013 just before the birth of my second daughter i bought a 64 mustang from a friend of mine who needed to clean house. Up to this point i had been involved with old porsches (944's mostly) for about ten years and attending track events almost the whole time. I am a PCA instructor and i love driving at the track and teaching at the track. Even did a short stint with NASA as a 944spec racer. Anyway, the car was missing the motor and trans and despite looking pretty nice, really needed alot of work. I stripped the car down to a shell and had it sand blasted in my driveway at my old house and epoxy primered the whole thing. Not much rust issues, partial ds floor pan replacement and a ps quarter, some small holes here and there but not bad. I built a rotisserie to work on the car for awhile and welded in my frame ties, torque boxes and smoothed under the hood some. I'll skip some time by saying ive had about three of everything, rear ends, engines and transmission setups. I finally settled on biting the bullet and bought a new ford 9", 35 spline and mounted it in the car with an AJE rear susepension and Ridetech coilovers. The front end is also AJE which uses late model mustang parts and a custom strut and K member. This allowed me to choose any motor, so i found an LY6 6.0 chev. truck motor(352hp stock) with 7000 miles on it and a t56(AstonMartin) trans to use as well. This more compact motor will be cheaper, take up less room so i dont have to cut out my struts, and i just like it. Also in the last year ive moved and taken on a garage project, fixing up an old pole barn into my shop, building a "body shop" area in the back, and just installed a new lift-which is awesome for a guy who has never had one at home.

Some hurtles ive had so far- the t56 i located was originally from an Aston Martin- which is different than say an Fbody trans. But it was very cheap and in great shape. I had to have a spacer for the slave cylinder made to space it forward about an inch, and a custom pilot bearing is in order, but using a camaro bellhousing it is otherwise usable. I will have to use a 30 spline dodge trans yolk but not worried about that. The trans tunnel was cut out completely around the trans to fit and welded back in around it since its quite a bit bigger. Im also using all late model sn95 94-04 mustang steering, brakes and wheels etc. - Front brakes are cobra 13" units, cobra master on a stock booster which fits amazingly well after very little work. Rear brakes are a kit from Right Stuff but is basically a GM metric caliper (88-92 camaro front) with custom mounts and 11" rotors. My clutch master is a wilwood mounted snugly between the booster and the ds apron with custom linkage- seems to work great but we'll see when the clutch is installed. The gas pedal is a corvette drive by wire unit with a custom mount welded to the firewall- should be great! My current wheel setup is mostly for fitment but they are 9-10" x 17" replica wheels called SC i believe that mimmic the Saleen wheels from the 80's and early 90's but with much more lip. They were cheap and i figured if i could get these to fit then any late model mustang wheel will fit as well. Plan on running 275's up front and 295's in the rear- not crazy wide but with a light enough car and only 400hp or so it should hook nicely. I have enough room out back for up to probably a 315 tire, but the front is yet to be determined. Just hoping the 9's are ok up there.

Not much in the way of body mods but i did flare the quarters 2" and if needed i may do the front as well. I did shave the drip rails off and im using fiberglass front and rear bumpers, prob color matched. Im hoping for a vintage trans am racer "basic" appearance with a modern driveline and suspension. No wings, scoops or other stuff. Fuel injection will be handled by a Tanks INC pump setup in a new stainless tank. While the car was on the rotisserie i sprayed the entire bottom in bedliner spray. This stuff is great, very tough and should hold up to rocks, driving etc. Im also doing the inside with this stuff under the carpet and in the trunk- should insulate and seal everything nicely. Sorry if im jumping around, its hard to remember two years of welding and spending but otherwise i'll update as i go. Just sprayed under the hood matte black after doing some smoothing out, and the car is back on my lift waiting for me to finish a paint job on a buddys LS1 swapped 944 turbo. Yeah i cant get away from them. Anyway, heres some pics from the last two years and prob. another year or so to the finish, but i wanted to share with some people who may appreciate the effort. Never know maybe i can finally do a power tour when its done.

[andrewb70]

Glad you made it over here from LS1tech...

Andrew

[Spork82]

Im a ford guy and that motor looks pretty cool under the hood for a chev....

Keep up the good work

[xsboost90]

nice to see you here Andrew. Thanks for the compliments. I would have loved to do a Coyote motor but the size and cost of the thing is beyond my budget. These motors are very available and seem to run good and last forever.

[69stang]

While I don't get the whole LS engine thing I certainly appreciate the "hot rod" mentality that goes into building something like this. I'm sure not everyone agrees with what I'm doing to my 69 and I too would be shunned by the purists. Each to their own. Did you space out the quarter skins then glass them? I'm in the process of bumping mine out 2 inches by moving the outer wheelhouses out and blending the quarter skins into the body.

[1968CamaroSS_Sam]

Looks like your project is moving along great. Nice work. Welcome to the site.

[Warlock13]

Awesome, I followed you on LS1Tech and I will here too!

You and a few others are building exactly what I want to build for my wife.

Keep up the great work and the updates! :cheers:

[xsboost90]

i cut the lip of the wheel opening about an inch from the opening, then pulled it out two inches. Then i relief cut the quarter and strip, and added metal in between. After welded up, i carefully shaped the flare so it was convex around the whole opening. Then i glassed it to seal up the welds and smooth it out. Havent gotten back to those just yet but i have seen them pull the quarters out like you are doing. My dad did that to an old nova for a guy to fit 10" wheels in there. Originally i wanted to cut the quarters at the top and pull the whole shoulder out but i was afraid i would end up with alot more work than i bargained for.

[xsboost90]

gratuitous picture post. Some misc pics from the last two years. And my part time helper (when i can drag her out to the garage.)

[JTC85]

Looks good!, Your car is going to be awesome when its done!, as for the haters until they start offering to pay your bills their opinions don't matter.

[Godbolt]

Looks good!, Your car is going to be awesome when its done!, as for the haters until they start offering to pay your bills their opinions don't matter.

Agree completely with JTC.

Nice job with the flares. I cut my car absolutely to pieces. The only thing left untouched is the roof! It's yours so make it the way you want it. Will look tough when it's done and I am looking forward to following this.

[xsboost90]

Love your car Godbolt- awesome- the Aussies always do things to the max!

working on my buddys car alittle today but still managed to start pulling the 6 liter apart preparing for a bigger cam and clean up, paint and new seals. This motor has 7000 miles on it so inside still looks brand new. Cant wait to see it in there. I also received my pilot bushing in the mail today, custom size to fit the chev motor and large Aston input shaft on the trans. Looks like it will work perfectly!

Any ideas on how to paint the motor? I keep going back and forth - i want a nice clean- almost modern factory look under the hood, no chrome or billet just detailed out. Im thinking paint the block black, keep the heads aluminum- respray the wp with some aluminum color to clean it up. Intake charcoal grey or something BUT i saw a pic of a completely blacked out motor today and it was awesome - all matte black with gloss intake and valve covers would be sweet! Then again maybe grabber blue the motor to Ford it up abit....car is going Guardsman blue like the A/C cobra color. so many options- Andrew is good at this...ideas?

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[jaybee]

Great project! You're right, many boards are supportive of modified cars...but only if they're modified in "approved" ways. It's your car...build it your way. If it's quality work everyone else can just lump it.

[xsboost90]

mocking up the front end. Cant decide what to do with the lower front valance. Dont want he fiberglass shelby valance, dont want stock. Must modify in some way!!! Cant wait to get the red car done so i can start on my body work.

[Zenith]

Didn't realize that this was a VVT motor. What cam are you planning on running?

[xsboost90]

Mast makes a cam for this-981-202 cam and springs and the 936-745 pushrods- what im planning on. I asked them what i needed for my application. Im guessing that comes with the limiters.....

got my radio delete plate in the mail today- guess the cam better sound pretty good cuz i'll be jamming to that.

[Crestronwizard]

Looking good. You're on the right site now.

[xsboost90]

thanks! i cant help but look at your car and want to go way overboard but i have to keep reminding myself that im going for a vintage look....modern drivetrain. Your car is looking great!

[xsboost90]

so been awhile since ive updated here. Decided this summer that the flares had to go, cut the quarters off and welded on new skins and stretched them over the widened rear wheel houses. After that ive been collecting parts and working on other peoples projects but i have managed to install my MAST cam, springs etc., purchased a swap harness for the motor, im working on installing a six point rollbar, fitting a cable operated hood latch, getting the hydraulics for the trans pieced together and collecting all the little bits and pieces needed to fit all this together. Coming along although it doesnt look like much. I finished shaving the drip rails and welded some 1/8" rod along the radius. Heres a pic of the valve cover/covers on the motor- takes some of the LSishness away. SHould look good all sprayed color. Did spray some more epoxy coat on the car since the bare metal was starting to rust sitting around the garage. 120354120355120356120353

[I_make_oil]

Like what your doing. It's going to awesome. Subscribed.

[Godbolt]

Very nice! Looks like you are stiffening up that unibody too.

As for the front valance, Rons $5000 build thread might give you some ideas? It's hard making those decisions. I went back and forth and round and round. The only thing I knew for sure was that I didn't want the "Eleanor" look.

[xsboost90]

finished up some paint work on a buddys car today and got over to my motor and started cleaning up things. Installed the phase limiter in the timing gear and put the chain and tensioner together. Dropped the push rods in and torqued everything down. Time to start prepping the motor for paint! This week- work on roll cage and prep motor for paint then assemble.

[Ls1velle]

Looking Good. I did a LS1 into my wifes 66 coupe, by far the best choice i could have made. Fitment was easy and its light. The car is awesome to drive.

[Ls1velle]

https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/87253-66-Mustang-Coupe/page3 heres a link to my build. Feel free to ask questions.

[Josh@Ridetech]

Nice, I'll be following this one! Keep up the good work!

[Dave B]

Such a cool car, I'm dying for a coupe..but I'm outta room. As a Ford guy, I can't deny the potential of a LS motor, they are pretty sweet for the cost of them. I'll be following along.

[xsboost90]

thanks for the compliments- now that these projects are slowing down i can hopefully update more frequently. -my first choice in motors was a crate 331- my machine shop said buy a 351w so i bought one of those. It was so heavy and to get the power i wanted, quite expensive. I looked at coyote motors but the cost of the motor/trans/front suspension change and the space that thing takes up made me think real hard about it. I decided to do the Anthony Jones Engineering strut front suspension with an LS motor that i am fairly familiar with already. Plus i like being different and giving people something to talk about. I get bored seeing the same SBF in every mustang also.

[xsboost90]

got some real work done tonite. My cousin came over and we measured and trimmed the hoop for the six point rollbar and i made some serious 3/8" plates to set it on. Welded the plates and hoop in place, then i worked on the rear down bars, cutting out portions of the rear package tray till they fit right. Getting the angles right on the rear was a pain but i managed to get them both equal from the taillights and welded in the rear plates, down bars and all the connections. Still need to work on the forward lower bars but i have varied opinions on how they should go, so i'll save that for another day. Also have a harness bar to put in but thats an easy one.

Ordered some blue eurethane spray paint 2k for the motor in Grabber blue and one can of clearcoat 2k. Have to start cleaning things up and epoxy coat everything then the motor is getting all sprayed and put back together. Cant wait!

[xsboost90]

well ive been going back and forth with the motor color for over two years now. Said and done, i decided to go with my first choice, Grabber blue. Its not a ford motor but i think its a great color and it'll make the old chev motor feel more at home in the car. This was also similar to the color the stock motor would have been (260 v8). Ordered up some eurethane spray paint and a can of 2k eurethane clear. Etch primered all the bare metal and sprayed this stuff right over that. Hopefully it adheres well but ive had pretty good luck with this method in the past. The intake and some other things will prob. go charcoal or cast coat and then some black/silver details. Alternator is getting sprayed as well! I like it so far, prob. spray the fabricated valve cover coil covers in this blue as well with some kind of sticker - maybe FORD RACING 6.0? too cheesy? probably.

[Protour_Pinto]

You are 100% correct on the engine color, I think some FORD script on the Valve covers or mimic the Cobra offerings down to a faux aircleaner mounted on top.

[xsboost90]

haha i thought about a fake air cleaner but my strut bar and intake may be in the way. I dont want to go too far in the way of faking anything but a "tribute to originality" is always nice. I'll have to look at the oe motor pics some more on the interwebs and see what i can do. I thought about painting my polished coil/valve cover covers wrinkle black and taping up some lines on them like the 428 ford covers....mmmm

[xsboost90]

started doing some engine assembly tonite. This thing has been down so long im dying to get it back together. Put the timing cover, cam sensors, oil pan on, valve covers and valley pan. I had to figure out how the coils go back on because originally i was going to remote mount them and took everything apart. Luckily i figured it out and then i wanted to make sure the fabricated covers i bought would fit over the truck coils. took some grinding, cutting, filing and tweaking but i managed to get them on, straight and fitting around the truck coils pretty well. Good thing these are getting painted cuz i scratched the hell out of the polished surfaces. Now on to the front of the motor....water pump is just sitting on for fitment- still gets painted- i made some alternator drop brackets but i didnt like the spacers i had in there to true the belt up so i cut those off and im going to make some heavy duty pieces to replace that. Once everything is fit i'll get painted and made pretty for sure. I wanted the alternator very low in the car- out of the way and lower center of gravity. Not many aftermarket brackets for the truck motor and very costly-plus very large- so i figured i would give it a try. Oil cooler lines almost fit perfect just need to tweak them down slightly around the bottom of the alternator but no biggie.

So what do you think on color here? Im thinking paint the polished covers blue- some kind of little logo or script on there- then paint the intake either cast coat, aluminum coat, or graphite metallic. Under the hood is painted black so it needs some color in there.

[Godbolt]

I think the covers look good polished.

Some logo/ decals here you might like?

http://store.cobraautomotive.com/valve-cover-emblem-427-pent-roof/

http://store.cobraautomotive.com/decal-valve-cover-1963-64-ford-427-galaxie-baldy-chrome/

Anyway, it's looking really good.

[xsboost90]

that would be pretty cool...maybe make them with the 364ci and the birds....:)

[Crestronwizard]

Nice to see some updates! Keep at it

[xsboost90]

So I'm still painting the covers blue, but I looked at those valve covers Godbolt posted and got an idea. I emailed my vinyl guy and this is what we came up with. Whatyathink?

[xsboost90]

Got em sanded primed and painted today. Can't wait for these stickers to arrive!!

[Godbolt]

So I'm still painting the covers blue, but I looked at those valve covers Godbolt posted and got an idea. I emailed my vinyl guy and this is what we came up with. Whatyathink?

Very cool!

[xsboost90]

Got the covers on. Stickers this week

[68fury]

Really diggin this build. Happy to see someone else as crazy as me! I actually decided to do an ls swap on my mopar haha

[xsboost90]

ha i bet you get some hell for that one! nice!

tried to put on the sticker on the valve cover and messed it all up- try again this weekend. Bought a couple porsche parts cars so ive been sidetracked parting some things out. Back to business real soon!

[xsboost90]

got out to the garage and did some painting on the motor pieces. INtake went cast coat, decided the water pump wanted to be blue for a more retro look, and i talked to my vinyl guy and installed the decals correctly. I think they look killer on there. Cant wait for my BP-Automotive swap harness to show up so i can put it on there! Guess i need to stop messing around and get the car sprayed under the hood etc. so i can install this bad boy.

[Godbolt]

Great job! Looks fantastic.

[xsboost90]

121968121969so like everything else on this car that ive done three times, the gas tank was bound to be changed. Threw the original one away, bought a new stainless tank and a TanksInc fuel pump awhile back. Just sold both of those and bought TanksInc's drop in tank with more internal baffles and drop in walboro 255 pump assembly. Looks pretty good- comes painted silver- must be powder coat very nice! Got it with in two days. Starting to clean up the garage so i can get back to work on this thing. Stopped down to the convention center while they were setting up for the Cavalcade of Customs show that is there every Jan. and ran into one of the guys from here with a sweet orange 65/66 mustang with a blown Coyote motor in it. Damn- i need this car done!!

[andrewb70]

Call Tanks Ink and get the cork gasket kit instead of the rubber. Use aviation sealer with the cork and it'll be all good.

Andrew

[xsboost90]

hmm- not a bad move- need the fuel sender anyway. Really need to get the LS swap line kit from them as well....

[andrewb70]

hmm- not a bad move- need the fuel sender anyway. Really need to get the LS swap line kit from them as well....

My rubber gaskets swelled within 30 days of seeing gas. I have all the part numbers for the Corvette filter in my Cougar build thread. Make sure that you use either the Earl's adapters or the later style from Russell. Don't use the adapters that have the plastic clips.

Andrew

[xsboost90]

damn i already have the filter/regulator from Tanks and the adapters they sell for it- prob plastic clips- havent bought the fuel line yet. Whats wrong with those? breakage?

[andrewb70]

damn i already have the filter/regulator from Tanks and the adapters they sell for it- prob plastic clips- havent bought the fuel line yet. Whats wrong with those? breakage?

The adapters with plastic clips have been known to burn cars down, I am not exaggerating. The new Russel fittings are nice, or if you don't want to give money to the vendor that made the fittings with the plastic clips originally (Russels first design), then Earl's makes adapters as well, but those need the GM disconnect tool, but also have a secondary retention clip. You have options.

For hose, run 3/8" NiCopp under the car and use your favorite PTFE lines hose for the short flexible runs. Here is how to mate the NiCopp lines to the flexible AN hose:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46hFmkTGGV8

Andrew

[xsboost90]

so about a week ago we put the motor and trans together- clutch installed etc- and put the assembly up into the car from the bottom. I wanted to mock up some more things like steering shafts and other crap. It was so much work trying to get this thing together without scratching anything up that im thinking of just leaving it in and working around it. I did find out that my awesome strut brace that i made that fits with the engine in place, doesnt fit with my big valve cover/covers on and coils installed. So i had to chop that up pretty good and add a couple bends to it but its back in and looks good. I may need to drop the motor slightly for more clearance though but shouldnt be that hard. Next to fit the steering column again and cut the shaft to length and check out the front suspension to make sure that is all correct. Then onto the alternator bracket and everything else.....123590123591

[xsboost90]

ok checked my Russell adapters for my fuel lines and they have plastic clips- good or bad?

While the motor is in im trying to mock up as much as possible so today i put a seat in the car temporary and set the column in place, made up the steering shaft with the flaming river parts- pretty easy- and then drilled the hole for the engine harness through the firewall. I had to place the heater core and duct work in there to make sure nothing was going to interfere. Now i have tons of wires to hide up under the dash when i get that far, and an engine harness and modern body harness to splice together somehow. Anyone have suggestions for mounting all the aftermarket fuse panels, relay boxes and ecu up under the dash? Ive decided to get rid of the glovebox BOX and put my fuses and stuff in there, but not sure if i should just suspend them in the hole there or make a metal box to mount them inside of. The ECU could prob. just get suspended with some brackets under the dash some how but i refuse to lay on my head looking at fuses when something inevitably happens. I put the pedals and brake booster/master in as well to make sure everything still fits. Interferes slightly with my cool valve covers so i'll have to trim them on the back side. After jogging the motor to the passenger side slightly, i have alittle more room for the cover and steering shaft, but still gonna be close.

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[Josh@Ridetech]

Nice. Everything is coming together really well!

[xsboost90]

thanks Josh!

ok so ive been overtaken with this power steering issue lately that i wanted to correct. Originally i didnt want the GM power steering pump due to the high placement of the pump, i had already made a custom mount for my alternator down low, and the fact that almost no brackets i liked fit the truck motor. I decided to get a Mustang pump that would work with my rack- pretty much any 79-2004 - and make a mount for it on the passenger side. At that time i had my friend use a $30,000 digital scanner to scan my motor and the pump, then solid works up a cool bracket and we had it made up at a metal shop. This fit the pump up to my motor perfectly and we even added a little tensioner since it was on by itself separate from the other stuff. I was happy with that until i realized that the crank pulley on my motor was 1.5" larger than the mustang pulley....so the ps pump was going to run 140% of what it should rpm wise. I took the assy. and threw it in the corner not wanting to think about the work that i had just lost. SO now that the motor is in again, i revisited this. I was thinking, ok add a bigger pulley to it, or an underdrive crank pulley for a truck- doesnt exist im sure- or send the pump out for a rework at who knows what cost. I decided screw it i'll buy a GM pump, get adapter lines and make a new bracket. Browzing the interwebs the other night i came across a 97-2013 corvette ps pump for a good price so i picked that up. Today the pump arrives and i unpack it. ITS THE SAME PUMP!!!! Ok its alittle different but it bolts right into the custom bracket i already have!!!!!!!!!! Besides the fill tube being wrong- would hit the water pump- i swapped the fill (reservoir) tube with the ford one thats 90 degrees and all is good. Once my lines and new pulley arrive i can final test fit but damn this should be easy!!

BTW if anyone with a truck motor-long wp wants a custom bracket to mount a corvette ps pump onto the passenger side where the a/c would be let me know we still have all the files just would have to have them sent to a metal shop. I'll have to test fit this on a car motor cuz im running off the rear pulley of the truck, may work never know...

[xsboost90]

Here's the pics

[xsboost90]

Better pic of the bracket

[xsboost90]

just ordered all my fuel line fittings, adapters, hoses, nicopp line etc...now im too tired to move. Jegs website sucks

[rhurley]

Dang this is sweet!!! I was seconds away from doing an LS swap in mine. Its not even drivable yet and I wished I had......

[xsboost90]

got my ps pulley the other day and im waiting for the tool to get here, but i can kinda fit it on there for fitment purposes. Clears the frame, clears everything else. Figured i would put the front sway on and see if that clears everything. It JUST misses the custom ps mount -like 1/4" or so- and i have to run longer sway bar links to clear the front steering tie rods (per AJE suspensions) so i have those on order too. Had to clearance my frame rails on each side to clear the lifted up swaybar but thats just a lip that hangs out at the bottom so grind, weld, repeat. 124053124054124055
^ after this pic i cut that spot in the frame back, welded it and ground it all smooth on each side. Wasnt feeling the pounded over with a hammer look.

[xsboost90]

got a stack of fuel stuff here- waiting on the high pressure hose still- but quite a pile. Cork gaskets arrived, fuel sender, all the fittings and connections. Roll of NiCopp line and i even got a new dipstick from an LS1tech guy- brand new!

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[andrewb70]

Good stuff. If you want to rent my 37 degree flaring tool with a deposit, shoot me a PM.

Andrew

[xsboost90]

I have a flaring tool but thanks. What clamps under the car did you use? So many options.

[andrewb70]

I have a flaring tool but thanks. What clamps under the car did you use? So many options.

You have a 37 degree flaring tool? I used some basic stainless cushioned clamps that I got from Amazon.

Andrew

[xsboost90]

yup- got the flare tool, just need some clamps and my hose to show up. I may get some work done on this thing someday after all!!
Thanks.

[xsboost90]

ordered my rear end "third member" last night and got my power steering cooler in the mail. Figured i would start mocking up some power steering brackets for the reservoir. Decided to mount it on the passenger side above the pump and used the holes that originally bolted my strut tower in as a mounting point. Fabbed a bracket, then decided to make a stabilizer to keep it from jiggling around and breaking the thing. Once its painted black it'll blend right in.


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[xsboost90]

not too much progress lately. Spent a couple days at the hospital this week for the birth of my son Jacob and the rest of the week hanging out at home. I DID however get a couple packages while i was sitting around. One package was pricey - my 3.70 trac loc 9" center section for my rear end. We'll see how this gear does with my combination of t56 trans and motor. Seems like a popular gear if your not drag racing and i plan on more driving and track stuff than anything. First gear should be ok. Ordered some longer swaybar links and they showed up about four inches longer than what i hoped somehow so i'll have to deal with that. Guess its about time to pull the rear end out, repaint it with a gun and assemble with all the pretty parts i have. Any ideas on fluids for a 9" rear. Havent looked it up yet- the center did come with a friction modifier. Now i can paint, assemble my brakes and put it all in for good. I have to resist the urge to ditch the brakes i bought and my cobra fronts for a large Baer system all around- i keep telling myself i can upgrade later if this doesnt work out- but its oh so pretty.Gratuitous baby pic- love this little guy- maybe the car will be done by the time he can drive...
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[Godbolt]

Cool new additions. All of them.
Congratulations.

[Motown 454]

Cool new additions. All of them.
Congratulations.

Agreed ! congrats.

[Dave B]

Congratulations on the baby boy!

[xsboost90]

thanks guys- my first boy out of three! Finally someone to help work on this thing.

Spent alittle time out in the garage today back and forth between finishing up my buddys 944 turbo that we did some paint work on, and fitting my suspension pieces on the mustang. Managed to find the right swaybar links up at autozone and put those on- may need a slight trim but look promising at least. While it was in the air i dropped the struts back on and hooked up the tie rods. AJE supplies some long bolts and washers to use for the bump steer kit but didnt look like everything i needed to get the arms lined up with the steering. Managed to find some good bar stock in the shop- 1"- with the right inside diameter and made some large spacers and bolted it all up. Very strong now for sure. I dropped all four new wheels on her to see what it looked like- no tires yet- but i wanted to check clearances. Front looks good- close to the frame im sure the tires will be rubbing somewhere on full lock, but otherwise lots of room. 13" rotors look badass in there. STill trying to decide on a color to paint the calipers. Something understated...or Grabber blue like the motor...dunno..
Rolled the car outside on the build wheels so i could put the turbo up in the air to put the bumper back on- not sure what i did before i had a lift.
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[xsboost90]

okay so one step forward, two steps back right. So the other day my cousin and buddy from work stopped by and we decided to work on some mustang stuff. Started on the rear end for my cousins 67 Mustang- getting it prepped for leaf spring mounts and new brakes- and then pulled the rear out of my car to get it sprayed and install the new center section, axels, brakes etc. So got the rear out and pulled the axels out- man these things look really big for a 31 spline axel- check it against my new diff and it wont fit in there. Seems as though i had bought 35 spline axels with my rear end back in 2014 and everything i wrote down said 31!!! So i call PEM back about swapping out this center section but evidently the trac loc isnt made in a 35 spline and upgrading and shipping etc is going to cost me mucho mulla. I asked if i could return the whole unit and they want a 15percent restocking fee plus shipping this 70lb box back to them. Well damn. I called the place i bought the rear axel from- Quick Performance- and discussed the situation and he said they could build an awesome center section for the same price, this time with a 3.80 gear and a quality clutch setup etc all good stuff. So i bought another center section and figured well if i can sell the other new one for just under what i paid, i may save some over the restock fee. I have one guy interested if not i'll have to eat the restock fee but damn whatever right. On a positive note, i'll have a built 35 spline 9" Ford rear end and it should be bullitt proof with my set up.

[xsboost90]

Helped a buddy today pick up some 911 parts and when we got back to the garage i roped him into helping me with my alternator mount. I designed my own alternator drop bracket and had it waterjetted some time ago from some thick steel, but ive never gotten around to making the standoffs that set it proper distance for the belt to be mounted. We clamped the pulleys to a straight edge level and did some measuring. I had all the specs and after he left, started looking around for some proper size tubing to make the standoffs. Found some leftover swaybar end links that were too long and stole the center spacers out and cut one up. Made the two lower mounts and once everything was straight, fabbed up the steel upper mount to keep the top of the bracket from twisting from the belt load. I made a basic box plate and had to angle cut it to fit between the two properly, then decided to get artsy and cut the center out of it so it wasnt as heavy visually on the motor. Looks pretty good. After figuring out my idler pulley spacing and welding on the spacers in the right spots, dropped everything together and it looks pretty good! I had the original belt from the truck motor laying here, so i shortened it, put it back together with some wire and tried it out- since i need a belt length anyway- and it looks like my tensioner etc works really well. Custom power steering bracket and custom alternator bracket, both mounted low as they can go, more out of sight and lower center of gravity. Everyone said i was silly for doing this but im glad i did.....

-hmm guess im out of room for pictures- need more file space.

[xsboost90]

Measured out the belts today for the power steering and the big belt. Installed the power steering pulley and bought a couple belts at the local auto place. Both fit perfect, straight as an arrow and the self tensioners are right in the little tension lines. BTW- any way to get more space on here for pictures? just had to delete a bunch to make room. 124819124820

[xsboost90]

Think I found a name for this project. The MUTTSTANG

[xsboost90]

out to the garage for an hour tonite- stripped the rear end down and welded on the tabs for my brake lines and decided to put a drain in the bottom as well. Saw a few other builds with drain plugs and thought yeah draining this would be a pain! Ordered an ebay special plug and bung and welded that in pretty easily. Now to strip the paint off and either paint or find a cheap powder coater to do it up. 124929

[rickpaw]

....BTW- any way to get more space on here for pictures? just had to delete a bunch to make room....

You can host the pictures on sites such as photobucket/flickr, and link the images on here.

Nice work btw. I'm dropping in a LS into my friend's 65 Mustang fastback with DSE front suspension, and been following your build.

[Crestronwizard]

Looking good :)

[xsboost90]

well it looks as though the PT gods have granted me much more space for my pictures! Anyway, ive been trying to complete the other side job in the garage the last couple weeks- putting new fenders on a race car for a buddy- paint, body work etc, and some safety updates. I did manage to sneak my 9" into the work load and sanded it all down- was painted with spray bomb from the factory i think- welded in my drain plug, welded on the brake hose tabs, and sprayed it in primer to get it ready for some hot rod black. Will pretty much look the same but should hold up much better as the other paint was scraping off quite easily. Should be done by the time the new center section arrives and maybe i can put it all back together!

I DO have a few styling questions if anyone on here cares to pitch in ideas...

trying to keep this car a very good mix of new school imitates old school, clean and not real showy. I have made custom brackets for the power steering and alternator. Not sure if i want to just blast these hot rod black with the rear end, paint them blue like the motor, silver, grey like the intake, or???

Also i want to spray the calipers all one color. Im thinking gloss black, but not opposed to something cool just not yellow/orange and prob. not red. Cobra front calipers and rears. Prob. spray the spindles and rear brake brackets that cast coat like the intake. I just keep changing my mind and its nice to hear from others that would obsess over the same small things.

ALso attached is a picture of the Sunoco Camaro- this is not what my car will look like obviously, but the "style" im going for - vintage race car. Anyone have one of these early camaro lower valance splitters laying around? I dont like the mustang ones and this one could possibly be adapted..

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[Godbolt]

Hmmmm, I vote for silver/grey like the intake for your brackets.

How about blue callipers? They can look cool and would keep a theme going. Consistency really makes a difference I think.

That Camaro is TOUGH!

[xsboost90]

I was kinda thinking that too. Think auto paint would hold up on calipers? I have some eurethane grabber blue

[classiccarnut]

Awesome build so far! And Congrats on the new born! As for the brackets and calipers I personally would paint them black. I think painting them blue would look kinda cheesy later on. Black always looks good (no matter what year it is/ what trends are going on) as its clean and doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. Killer Camaro, actually saw one crash pretty bad at Watkins Glen back in 2013. I believe it was #13 or 16 can't remember any more. Anyways keep up the great work! Going to be badass when finished!

[xsboost90]

yeah after i thought about it, most of the cool Porsche stuff ive worked on had gloss black calipers (or red) and they looked pretty timeless. Easy to clean also- dont look as dirty. I got the rear end sanded, reprimered in some black and then put a couple coats of Rat Rod Black from Eastwood on there. Looks pretty glossy right now, but should be a nice matte finish like under my hood when its dry completely. Also got a cool piece from a co-worker that lives nearby. He just bought a fox body mustang race car-maybe raced twice?- and he removed the brand new cobra steering rack and put in a manual unit. Gave me the rack and lines for nothing- im sure i owe him. The rack in the car now is a reman gt rack- still nice but the cobra is better valved supposedly and looks alittle nicer too since this came spraybombed from the reman company and i bombed it graphite. Worked alittle on the steering shaft - drilled the shaft slightly under each set screw to set them and put the shaft all together. Just need to pull the steering column and drill that, then after the interior is all painted i can reinstall that again for the last time!

Got antsy and bought a seat for the car so i could set up the rollcage install. I know i wanted a Sparco Evo 2 for the passenger seat- slightly roomier for any passengers that ride along, but since my last car had the Evo1 and it was alittle snug-which is good but not all the time good- i may need one for the drivers side as well. I went ahead and ordered a Sparco Evo2 and some low mount sliders and i'll fit them to the drivers side, weld the cage up and if i decide i need a different drivers seat, this will go on the passenger side. No fancy leather buckets with headrests removed for this guy- all business. Sparco seats are very comfortable for me though- nice lumbar support- i could drive my old car for quite a bit and not get achy. Dont really need the FIA rating but hey never know right.125141125142125144

[xsboost90]

figured out what brake pads i needed for the Mutt and ordered them. Weird combo of parts. Got some Hawk Blue track pads for the front and softer Hawk Black pads for the rear- expecting alittle brake induced oversteer. We'll see how this combo works out on the track. What do you guys run on your PT cars? Im guessing most are running some sort of ceramic street pad or something? After running my former 944turbo on hawk blues and then swapping to street pads, it was night and day. Any kind of hard driving with the ceramics and i found myself almost not stopping. Decided to run hawks full time and had no issues besides more brake dust. Eventually you will wear your rotors quicker but i think i had one pair of rotors on the car the four or five years i owned it- still in spec.

[wfo guy]

Looking good!

[4086D9]

Love this build!

[Zachalanche]

Looking good.
what headers are you using?

[xsboost90]

125270I bought some lsx swap headers online- short ones. Stainless - they fit very well although I would like to find some long tubes eventually.

[xsboost90]

got my seat today. sitting in there but need to finish up the mounting brace.125304 prob buy one more for the passenger side i like it.

[xsboost90]

so lately ive changed my focus to brakes. I had sand blasted the Cobra sn95 calipers about a year ago and put them in a box with a rebuild kit and the other parts. The rears are d154 metric gm calipers with built in ebrakes so they were already bare metal. I picked up some VHT caliper paint in gloss black the other day after checking a dozen stores in the area along with some caliper cleaner and just got my HAWK pads in the mail the other day. Cleaned and resprayed all four calipers black, reassembled-rebuilt the fronts- and got them ready for the car. Decided since my front spindles were just whatever color they arrived when i bought them, i would spray them cast coat like my intake- along with the rear brake mounts that came in the RIGHT STUFF kit as well. The other night i got the front end all put back together, tightened and torqued for hopefully the last time before i can drive it.

After working in the garage the other night, i now knew what pieces i needed for the brake lines, so i ordered
-braided front mustang cobra brake hoses
-braided metric GM caliper brake hoses
-braided center rear end "T" hose
-Ni-Copp 3/16 brake line
-assortment of fittings and ends in various sizes

This should get the brakes routed, we'll see how my craftsmanship is on these lines. Flaring them is no problem, making them pretty- well....

So tonite my 9" center section finally arrived from Quicktime Performance and it looks awesome! Nodular case, 35 spline Richmond Powertrax Grip PRO, 3.80 gears- should be fun and reliable. Since none of my buddies seemed to want to help this week install the rear end, it was all me and the trans jack getting the rearend back into the car- without scratching the new paint. Decided to wait to install the center section until it was hanging in the car for weight, so got the housing in, then pressed in all the studs and dropped the gears in- used some black rtv on the diff and tightened it all down. I degreased and clearcoated the bare center housing since i like the look but i didnt want to see any rust back there. I guess if it does start to rust i could always go that red oxide factory looking color but i'll cross that bridge later.

Time to set the pinion angle so i can measure for a drive shaft. So as per my notes and the suspension thead on here, looks like i want about 4 degrees difference between the rear end and back of the trans. With an angle finder i have 2degrees down on the back of the trans, but about 8 degrees up on the rear end- which would need to be about 2degrees down from what i gather. I have lots of adjustment with this rear setup though so i should be able to drop the mount down a couple holes. The more i look at this triangulated four link setup, the more i think it could be converted to a three link system pretty easy and install a Watts Link. Anyone seen this conversion done before?

Anyway- got the rear in and dropped the axels in, brackets and rear brakes on. Should look pretty clean. I installed the rear vent hose for the rear end and looped it up into the subframe to prevent it from blowing gear oil under the car. Now i wait for more parts to arrive.....

[xsboost90]

do tonite after the kiddos were off to bed, i ran up to "the zone" and got some 80-90 gl5 (NON friction modified) to put in the rear end. I'll prob. find some good Swepco or something to put in there but i figured i would break it in the cheap way and drain it after everything is shaken down. Once that was in- damn that thing took over three quarts!! - i decided to do some welding on my roll bar. The kit came with a hoop, two rear down bars, two front bars and a harness bar. Well the harness bar was a smaller diameter, and too high for my seat. I also wanted a triangulated bar top to bottom to strengthen the whole deal and the front bars will be very short as to fit next to the seats but not higher than the sides. I repurposed much of the bars and used one of the long forward bars as the harness bar, and the other as the triangulated bars. This took alot of messing around since i am terrible at fitting bars together (even after watching numerous youtube vids) but i managed to get it done with only a couple gaps to fill in but nothing terrible. I'll use the smaller diameter bar as the forward bars by the seats and that'll give me more clearance since its tight already next to the seat.

Now im waiting on my seat side mounts to show up as my low mounts are too wide to fit the seat in the correct position. Also couldnt help but look over my trans mount that i made a couple years ago and decide to buy a factory cobra t56 trans mount- which bolts to the frame similar to mine but has nice humps for the exhaust and fingers crossed may bolt right in where i need it. Doubt it but...theres a chance. Damnit this car is going to nickel and dime me to death.

[xsboost90]

got some of my brake line stuff in the mail today, so i figured i would see how it fits. Ended up getting the rear end done! Doing inverted flares 3/16 with NiCopp lines - should look very clean. Bought a factory style "t" hose for the rear end which fits into all the stock locations, but in braided with teflon coating, so it matches the rest of the hoses and should hold up nicely. Fronts should be here tomorrow and once i get it resprayed under the hood i should be able to start running the lines. Always something that needs to be done first....

oh- and after talking to AJE about not having enough adjustment to get my pinion angle, they are working on a solution, maybe new uppers to compensate- could be the Quicktime rear end uppers are welded forward alittle or wrong uppers to start.

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[classiccarnut]

Looking good! Keep it up! Love the rear end set up, this car is going to be a monster when you're done with it!

[xsboost90]

thanks for the compliment! Hopefully the car is as reliable as fun...

so after finishing up some work on the rear axel i turned around to look at the trans brace. I built this about two years ago at 1am on a week night to hold the trans up and figured i would revisit this at another time. I decided the other night that it needed replaced, so i hit up the interwebz looking for a suitable replacement. I found out that the 03-04 mustang cobra also came with the tremec t56 trans, and they had a similar situation where the stock trans mount was too far forward, so they had to move it back. Their solution was a mount with some bolt on brackets that attached to the frame rails. I bought one of these setups used on ebay and fingers crossed, waited for it to arrive. As it turns out, the brace itself is perfect. Along with a new Prothane trans mount, it bolted right in place to the trans. The frame mounts, well that took some cutting and welding. I first intended to modify the mounts to bolt on just as factory, but after looking at having to basically remake them to work, i cut them down and welded the mounts to my frame rails. Really the new design isnt much different than my first home made design, just looks a lot cleaner. Also has alittle more room for exhaust routing.

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[xsboost90]

i did talk to AJE about the rear end pinion angle issues. They said that all the cars they had mounted this setup on were showing good pinion angles. I measured all the components and sent those back to AJE and all were correct. They suggested slightly modifying the upper mounts to shorten them, so i cut 1/2" off each and put them back together. Now i have about 2 degrees down in the front and zero at full up on the rear end. More adjusting to do but headed in the right direction.

[Dave B]

That transmission mount worked out awesome, pretty cool idea.

[xsboost90]

finally got the drivers seat mounted in there where i wanted it and im done fitting some things under the hood, so i pulled most of it back out and resprayed under the hood. I had painted it once with Eastwood Rat rod black and it looked ok but my gun was not spraying real great, so now that i have the gun situation fixed, i wetsanded everything down and masked off the motor and reshot it all one last coat. Looks much better and now i can start getting the inside ready for paint and hopefully one step closer to putting some things together!!

One thing i did find out though, now that my seat is just where i want it, the door will touch it when its closed. Not sure if i can fudge the brackets over some more to clear or if im going to have to modify both doors to clear the damn seats. :(126264

[xsboost90]

Not much happening and I needed some motivation. Got a deal on some rt615k's 255 and 275 and mounted them today. Looks good time to get something done.

[Z06killinSBF]

Man this thing is coming along nicely! keep it up

[xsboost90]

had to see it with the fender on tonite. Thanks for the compliment cant wait to get it together enough to start it....

[xsboost90]

so ive been working on other projects again, and hanging out with the kids. The other day i looked at the car and decided it needed something to get me motivated. Finished sanding the rollbar down, did alittle smoothing and then primed and sprayed the inside all hot rod black. Then loaded the bedliner spray and sprayed three quarts of that on the floors and entire trunk. Just need to touch up some spots under the car and im ready to start assembling what i have of the drive train. The other night i put the brake booster, master, clutch master and resevoir in as well as the gas pedal and dropped the harness back in the firewall. Once i fab up the mounts for the fuses and relays, and smooth out the top of the dash, it will also be painted black like the rest. Cant wait to get some systems working on this thing. Goal is running this year, driving soon after that, then body work.

Also picked up my new evo2 drivers seat. Cant wait to drive this thing!

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[baggins]

Big fan of this swap... as you can tell by my car

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/07/20150829_090656_zps8pqasj7g-1.jpg (http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/nicktomstew1/media/20150829_090656_zps8pqasj7g.jpg.html)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/07/20160126_162747_zpsvecxyxpp-1.jpg (http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/nicktomstew1/media/20160126_162747_zpsvecxyxpp.jpg.html)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/07/20160126_162400_zps9ql6dxtg-1.jpg (http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/nicktomstew1/media/20160126_162400_zps9ql6dxtg.jpg.html)

[xsboost90]

that thing is badass! if i had the balls or the money i would prob do that twin turbo on my car. Im hoping only 400 to the rear will be enough fun for the time being. Maybe some day though, i'll get bored and go there.

anyway the progress has been rolling along since the inside of the car was painted and i needed to figure out my fuse panel situation before i could paint the dash. So i grabbed some sheet i had laying here and made a quick panel for the inside of the glove box to mount everything to, and i liked it enough that i welded it all up and that is that. The fuse box and engine relay/fuse box is mounted just inside the glove box door with a little shelf inside to put spares on, and the ecu is mounted on little stands on the back of this same panel, along with another row of relays that came in the harness kit. Welded up a mount for the top inside the glove box that bolts in, and two more bolts on the bottom of the dash out of side and welded the nuts up inside the dash. Sprayed it black and reassembled- fits great. I may make some sides for it once it mounted permanently but looks pretty good as is, and you can drop the whole thing out to service it in minutes.

-got that wrapped up and decided that i need to get the dash sprayed so i can continue bolting pretty things to it, so out came the welder and filled in a bunch of the holes for the factory trim and vinyl cap, and then the filler to smooth the top all out. Should get it in primer this week and once my paint shows up, get it sprayed hot rod black like under the hood and inside. Then i can put the switches in, wires and start running them front and rear.....still lots to do.

[Zenith]

Looking good! Mind if I steal that engine paint scheme? :P

[xsboost90]

go ahead glad i could inspire someone with my motor since i looked around for ever to figure out how to do mine. tons of ideas out there

got the dash in primer, should have some black on there soon and then i can start wiring this thing up!

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[xsboost90]

well i did get the dash board painted and started installing stuff. Got the fuse panel stuff in the dash and dropped the pedals in, made a new linkage for my clutch and im working on figuring out where all these wires go. Meanwhile side tracked with another project and off this week to florida so.... updates later. 129830129831129832

[xsboost90]

ok so spent the last week on the beach with the familly but only hours after returning im in the garage making progress! Got the car up on the lift and touched up the spots with bed liner underneath that got burnt when i welded the cage in, then started installing a bunch of the rubber factory plugs that go in the bottom of the car everywhere. I remembered i had an ebrake kit to install while im under there so i sat in the car and figured out where i wanted the ebrake. Then cut the hole in the center, a few bolts and the handle was in. Ran the cables from the rear calipers to the brakets under the car and cut them, ran the cables and wala! Pretty easy actually. Cant adjust them till i get the brakes all hooked up and bled out since they use the rear pads, but looks awesome and fits perfect. Also decided what radiator i wanted so got on the ole interwebs and ordered up a Mishimoto MMRAD-MUS-64 radiator and the optional electric fan kit. Heard these are awesome, right in the middle of the price range and have a good warranty. Once that is in, i can get all the hoses, wiring etc started up front. I may make this thing start this year after all.130381130382130383

[xsboost90]

more fun stuff arrived today- Mishimoto radiator and electric fan setup! Way more room for the fans than i thought and bolted right in. Nice piece cant wait to get some hoses for this thing.

[Crestronwizard]

Coming along nicely. :)

[xsboost90]

thanks! Ugh, got a 12" fan kit by mistake- gotta order a 16" and return this one. All the other projects are out of the garage now though so i can focus on my car finally. Time to start routing hoses.

[gswartz]

Nice! This is going to be a sweet ride when its done!

[1bad68cat]

ok so spent the last week on the beach with the familly but only hours after returning im in the garage making progress! Got the car up on the lift and touched up the spots with bed liner underneath that got burnt when i welded the cage in, then started installing a bunch of the rubber factory plugs that go in the bottom of the car everywhere. I remembered i had an ebrake kit to install while im under there so i sat in the car and figured out where i wanted the ebrake. Then cut the hole in the center, a few bolts and the handle was in. Ran the cables from the rear calipers to the brakets under the car and cut them, ran the cables and wala! Pretty easy actually. Cant adjust them till i get the brakes all hooked up and bled out since they use the rear pads, but looks awesome and fits perfect. Also decided what radiator i wanted so got on the ole interwebs and ordered up a Mishimoto MMRAD-MUS-64 radiator and the optional electric fan kit. Heard these are awesome, right in the middle of the price range and have a good warranty. Once that is in, i can get all the hoses, wiring etc started up front. I may make this thing start this year after all.130381130382130383

Just want to suggest something if you haven't thought about it yet. You may want to install your driveshaft and cycle the suspension to see if the driveshaft will hit the e-brake assembly. I had to revert back to the stock ebrake-handle location because my driveshaft hit the lower portion of the ebrake at full bump. Also wasn't too happy with how hard you have to pull to actually get the ebrake to work. A longer lever would have been nice for more leverage.

[vernlee]

Nice build , Can you tell me what headers you used ?
thanks
Vern

[xsboost90]

130664

yeah ive noticed its going to be close- i may have to raise the assembly up into the car some. Nothings easy.

headers are stainless ebay $200 headers advertised for LSX swaps. They fit pretty well, would like long tubes at some point.

[vernlee]

130664

yeah ive noticed its going to be close- i may have to raise the assembly up into the car some. Nothings easy.

headers are stainless ebay $200 headers advertised for LSX swaps. They fit pretty well, would like long tubes at some point.

Thanks , I have removed my shock towers completely so I have plenty of room , just not sure which headers to buy
Vern

[vernlee]

Thanks , I have removed my shock towers completely so I have plenty of room , just not sure which headers to buy
Vern

[Warlock13]

Love this build!

Keep up the great work, and the updates!

[xsboost90]

130770130769130768ok so i got the radiator bolted in and mounted up the 16" fan with the through ties(we'll see if that stays or not). Took some measurements last night and went to the zone to look at hoses today. Grabbed some long 5/8 hose with molded 90's at one end and two hoses that looked like they may work for the radiator. After some cutting and trimming they all look like they will work for what i need. I ordered up some stainless t-bolt style clamps since i dont want to look at worm gears and i dont want the bands for serviceability. Only issue im having is i also bought a small hose for the bleeder on the top of the motor in the cooling system. The hose fits great but i cant find a tee to attach it into the 5/8" heater hose so like a 5/8 x 5/8 x 1/4" T for coolant. Maybe found one but its plastic...rather have metal. Any ideas?

Also started working on mounting the battery tray in the rear of the car, so i ran the long wire from the starter along the frame rail and up to the trunk. I bought a ford starter solenoid to put in the trunk so the wire is only activated when you are cranking. Still more wires to run for that but should work pretty well. Thinking of putting a battery shut off somewhere too if anything just for when the car is parked and anti theft since i have a stock ign. switch. ALSO looked into catch cans for the LS motor and the verdict is a dual Sakamichi can is in my future but man its pricey! Asked my buddy about this and he just bought the same one- road race time makes this necessary.

Also trying to fit my big valve cover covers on there and now that i have all this stuff in there its much tighter. I removed all of my engine accessory brackets and painted them cast grey like my intake and painted the alternator black on a whim - it may come back out and go grey or silver again but it was pretty dingy looking so it needed something. Eventually all this stuff will get replaced anyway im sure with nice new shiney stuff.

[xsboost90]

got some more garage time tonite and made some real progress. I finished routing the battery cable to the trunk and mounted the battery box in the right rear corner. Mounted my ford starter solenoid and connected the long cable to one side and the pos. battery cable in the box to the other. Placed the ground wire in the box, routed that out and mounted it to the frame rail nearby. Since the tank is right there i decided to mount that in, using some of my black alan bolts i purchased recently for random things on the car. Got that bolted down and decided to put all my TANKS stuff that has been sitting in boxes for way too long into the tank. Used my cork gaskets and aviation sealer (yes i did!) and had to fit the float assy, filler neck and put the fuel pump together and mount that all in. I got this far so i figured i would route the fuel lines from the tank to a bulk head connector through the floor somewhere. I originally had planned on going straight down the center, coming out behind the rear end and then down the drivers side from there, but came up with the idea to route them left in the trunk, and come out next to the frame rail. Im not sure who invented twist loc fuel lines but i want to smack them....pita. Got the fuel lines in the trunk done after a youtube vid and much cussing to get them together. I did put all the fittings on the fuel filter and mount that in front of the rear end, on the side of the frame connector since there is too much above the rear end to mount there and i should be able to route hardline to that and duck under the frame rail up high and run down the outside of the ds frame rail to the front-one line after the filter. OH and i gave the rollover tank vent just sitting in there for fitment, not sure where that is going yet....

soon i may just be down to fluids and a battery...scary..130798130799130800

the bulk heads will probably get turned up and the hardlines will go up into the cavity next to the frame rail, over the rear subframe/suspension and then to the filter. Another night perhaps.

[Godbolt]

Looks great. Coming along now.

[langleylad]

I'm using the same ebay headers , 90 degree spark plug boots and a few hammer blows to two pipes are in order .

[xsboost90]

actually my stock plug wires with metal boots- which are new- fit right in there and dont touch at all with these headers. Maybe on the 5.7 or something the plugs are angled.

ok so started routing my fuel lines under the car up to the fuel filter/regulator. Figured out that where i placed my bulk heads made it impossible to tighten the fittings. After redrilling the holes and plugging the old ones, i got the bulk heads back into a spot with alittle more room. Routed the lines up over the rear sub frame and down to the filter, attached it with some rubber/stainless clamps like everything else and she is routed! I have just enough Ni-Copp to route up to the front of the car if i dont mess up at all....oh boy.

Also got my stainless T clamp radiator clamps but a couple of them were the wrong size so once those are on i'll post some pics- look awesome! OH and i modified my ebrake assembly. Pulled the side mounts off, raised the handle up into the car prob. two inches, then put the mounts inside the car and welded them to the handle assy. Alittle grinding and black paint and wala! She sits alittle higher than before- which was really too low i thought, and i have tons of clearance for the driveshaft now hopefully.

[Shortacus]

looking awesome!

[xsboost90]

thanks buuuuddddddyyyy...

so slowly but surely putting the fuel system together. Got the rubber line from the fuel rail to the wheel well done, then bent up a piece to go through the torque box-which already conveniently had holes only on the drivers side!- and then down the frame rail and connector. Just as the rail turns up in the back, i ran my fuel line under the subframe connector so hopefully if i do any rail grinds i wont get into the fuel line, then over to the fuel filter i mounted the other day. Took a couple tries and im out of everything so this works. I need one fitting i neglected to purchase six months ago, and i may order some firebraid push loc line for under the hood if i can find some- this rubber stuff looks pretty plain. Need to add some clamps to the frame rail and around everywhere but im out of those too!

I did get my oil cooler today and im trying to find where i can mount this and my ps cooler without covering the entire radiator. I may mount the ps cooler off to the side and the oil cooler where it is here. Also debating on running the hoses down or up from the cooler- heard pros/cons on both and not sure what to do. Seems like line routing would be easier pointed down, but mounting it would be easier pointed up....so IDEAS?

Trying to talk some buddies into going to the LS Fest this year instead of the 944fest with their swapped Porsche 944s so i can hitch a ride. Thought about trailering down the unfinished muttang to the show but not sure it would be worth it. Im only a couple hours away so seems like i should prob. go if not this year, definitely once the car is driving.

[xsboost90]

ok so the last week or so ive been concentrating on my heater system. This needs to be installed before i can route wiring so i figured i would get it done. Originally planned on just buying a new heater box and core, but after looking at mine, rebuilding it would be much cheaper. Sanded it all down and sprayed the housing wrinkle black, then installed all the new seals inside- of which there were none to begin with! Got the core today and dropped it in, closed her up and installed the new defrost duct that replaces the original cardboard duct. Trimmed my heater hoses to length, found some new hose clamps and dropped it in with the blower motor etc. installed. Looks great and was able to plug in the ecu harness without removing anything.

SInce the box is in i wanted to start routing wires, but man im going crosseyed looking at this stuff. I'll wait.... in the mean time ive been detailing out the coil brackets since i dont think my cool valve cover covers are going to fit with the fuel line, brake booster, strut brace installed. Major bummer but what can you do. One of these days i'll upgrade to some fancy valve covers and aftermarket coils and i'll be pretty. Still need some clamps to hold my heater hoses up and to the strut brace, and i need to cut in my bleeder hose T, but otherwise the heater hoses are about done. Now to figure out a mount for this oil cooler and route some lines.....


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[xsboost90]

well its hard to capture the awesome ness of my brake lines with pictures but i almost have brakes on the car. Piped from the rear end along the inner frame rail up to the firewall and into the area where the stock steering gear would have been. Mounted the proportioning valve on the back of the ds strut tower and piped to that. Ran one line over the bottom of the firewall to the passenger wheel well and tucked it just under the edge so its hard to see, then covered it with rubber hose so it blends into the black firewall. Waiting for a couple new fittings for the master cylinder and i can pipe from the prop- to the mc, then finish up the brackets for the front hoses and tie those in and bleed them out!!

Also got my 3/8 oil line hose today and ran them from the hardline on the motor out to the spot in front of the radiator where the oil cooler will soon reside. Need to make some brackets for that and then i can mount and pressurize the motor with oil!!!! Just need to think of a creative way to mount this damn cooler.

We looked at the wiring while my cousin was here tonite, but our eyes went crossed and we went elsewhere to work. Thats going to be the hard part i think.

The other night i got the fitting for my fuel line in the wheel well and finished up the fuel system. Then i fabbed up a box that covers the line in the wheel well so that road debris wont tear it up and mounted that over the line, making sure it can drain water etc. out the bottom to avoid rust.

[xsboost90]

worked on the brake lines the last week and just got them done and bled out tonite! Figured out a clean looking way to route the lines and modified the stock brake line brackets to fit my modern front cobra lines. Turned out pretty good. Now to bleed the clutch and then back to wiring....but for now she's back on the ground and my ebrake works!!

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[xsboost90]

ok so been trucking along, exciting for me because starting the car is well within sight! The wiring is probably the hardest thing for me on this car so its going really slow, but in the mean time ive mounted the oil cooler, primed the motor with oil and filled, set the rear pinion angle, ordered a drive shaft and finally managed to get the wrinkle paint on the steering column to look right and installed all that. Steering wheel is in and the car turns left and right - cant believe it. I had disassembled my alternator and sprayed it black, but didnt like it so it was resprayed cast light some other things. Better i guess. Still working on power steering hoses but the pressure line is done. Bought an Optima red top battery and its sitting in there. Once the wiring is done it may just start. Also took on a small side project to work on with my daugher(s) - a 1941 Chrysler.... pedal car. Friend gave it to us since they had no interest in restoring it and my oldest was excited to get started on it. Time to start the training....

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[MSTSFabbed]

Awesome man! Loving the progress and the engine color choices!

We're kindred spirits I'd say: I'm planning out an LS swap into my 67 stang and building a '32 Ford roadster go kart for my boys! Keep up the good work!

[xsboost90]

haha nice! My cousin that often helps out has a 67 coupe. I keep trying to talk him into some serious mods or an LS swap, but he prefers the more stock approach.

Got my drive shaft from Cincinnati Driveline today and dropped it in. Looks great, fits great. Finally feel like some things are dropping into place. Found some stainless hose clamps and finished my cooling system since i could not locate the proper size t-bolts for the heater hoses. Still piecing together the power steering system, need to make a plug for the trans speed sensor hole, fill with fluid and do alot of wiring.

[xsboost90]

wiring!!! man this is harder than i thought it would be. I have some progress moving forward, ignition switch and headlight switch is in, brake like switch in and wired. Dimmer switch is ran but not mounted. Wiring for the lights is going through a hose through the wheel well to the front of the car, rear harness is routed to the trunk. Put my fresh air vent in under the dash and mounted a bunch of grounds.
Speaking of grounds, tried to crank the motor over using the starter the other night and couldnt get it to spin. Realized i had no engine grounds! Trip to the zone and now i have a ground on each side of the engine from the back of the head to the frame rails. Also moving some positive terminals to a stud mount on the frame rail so it doesnt become over crowded on the starter. Tried it again tonite and the motor cranks very well.

Since they dont evidently make a speed sensor plug for an Aston martin t56 trans i had to get creative. Found something that fit very well in the hole, did some RTV on that and then made a block off plate to bolt over it. Filled the trans with 4.5 quarts of DEX3 and no leaks! Worked on my power steering and now only have one fitting until that system can be filled with fluid. Also topped off the antifreeze since that system is done. Just need some intake pieces and maybe my first bends of my exhaust to mount the o2 sensors, then some wiring and she could start.

[xsboost90]

well awhile back i ordered an optima red top battery, but i was kinda surprised at how small it was. The battery box i have is huge! Friend of mine is mounting his battery in the rear of his red porsche 944 (LS swap) and his new blue top was alittle big in the quarter panel area. Looks like we are swapping so i'll have a full size blue battery and he will have a slightly smaller red one!

worked on wiring till 1am last night and got alittle progress.

[FLYNAVY53]

very happy I just stumbled on this one...excited to see the rest of it come together!!

[rickpaw]

Nice progress.

Quick question. Where did you get the hub for the Momo steering wheel? I have ididit column/Momo wheel on a 65 Fastback, and the hub I have is too short, and places the wheel too close to the turn signal lever.

Tu

[gswartz]

WOW great build!

[xsboost90]

the momo adapter i found on line- said to fit a GM style Flaming river column. I did however have some problems with it as it was like the splines were just too tapered or small to get it on there. I ended up stripping the treads on my column trying to draw it on there and had to retap them.

[rickpaw]

the momo adapter i found on line- said to fit a GM style Flaming river column. I did however have some problems with it as it was like the splines were just too tapered or small to get it on there. I ended up stripping the treads on my column trying to draw it on there and had to retap them.

Thanks. I got the same adapter, but it was for the wrong spline counts so I sent it back.

Great build BTW. I'm swapping in a 5.3 LM7/4l60e combo to the fastback right now. That thing has been fighting me since day one.

[xsboost90]

so ive been working on some other things and finally started back on the stang. Doing some wiring the other night and realized that the engine harness was wired enough that it "should" start. Put some gas in and cranked it and it fired first try!! Its not real happy since there is no MAF or exhaust yet, but it did start and run. Very exciting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-YZ0nfO9Rc

Tonite we worked on putting some heat/sound barrier in the car. Covered the front floor area and did a large piece on the roof and some other places for vibration dampening. You can definitely tell the car doesnt echo inside anymore. SHould be cooler on the feet too.

[xsboost90]

and hey since i made a video for that "Are You Driver Enough" contest that evidently doesnt exist anymore, here it is.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHyvuqdeTBQ

[xsboost90]

work has begun on the intake....

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[langleylad]

and hey since i made a video for that "Are You Driver Enough" contest that evidently doesnt exist anymore, here it is.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHyvuqdeTBQ

Nice job on the video

[xsboost90]

thanks, seemed like a shame after all that work to never show it to anyone. Wish that contest was this year too!!

[xsboost90]

oh and anyone that was interested in my pedal car project, you can look up Kids Garage Episode 1-6 on youtube and there is a full build on there with my two daughters... here is the finished product. Wish my car went this fast. 133441133440133439

[xsboost90]

well havent posted in a while but i have been working on the car. Had kind of a set back motor wise. I got the car running and then hooked up more pieces of the puzzle and wanted to hear it run. The car started then shut off. After three days of diagnosis i found out the cam gear had come loose. Pulled it down and fixed the cam gear then found out that it had bent four valves as well. Got that fixed and back together, car started perfectly then shut off again. Tore it back down and found the cam gear had sheared the pin off the cam, no bent valves this time. Went to pull the cam out and found it has a spun bearing and wont pull out of the block. This is my new super expensive MAST racing cam...:( . So now the engine is down to a short block, out of the car and headed to the machine shop to get fixed up and hopefully they can save my new cam that has maybe two minutes run time on it. So, what doesnt make you stronger i guess.....134611

[Wldtang]

Like how you made the double hump xmember work with the trans

[xsboost90]

thanks Wldtang, sometimes i have a spark of brilliance.

Talked to the machine shop friday and they got my cam out, polished it, pulled the broken pin out and changed the cam bearings no problem. Now its getting new rod bearings and i'll order the ARP head bolts and crank bolt that i wanted the first time so she can go back together soon. BIG thanks to 12sec-ss for hooking me up with a new cam gear and for MASTmotorsports for pointing me in the right direction to CAM Motion to get my cam pin. Called these guys and they are sending me a cam pin no charge! Hopefully the parts will be here and i can pick up the motor from the shop and get this thing back together even better than before and be running this year!

(pin they sent was wrong...:( )

[Michaels 69]

I like this build a lot, nice job on everything!! I have a 69 cougar that I might put an LS in it, this will piss a lot of my friends off but OH well! LOL

Michael

[xsboost90]

kind of my sentiments. I want people to look at the car, appreciate it, think its cool and then be like damn it has that in it, well thats either way cool or im not sure how i feel now but either way its different.

[xsboost90]

Well if there was any doubt that this car should be third times a charm I present exhibit A.

Three engines
Three cam gears
Three transmissions
Three rear ends
Three gas tanks
Three sets of brakes
third set of quarter panels
third set of wheels
My third mustang
Third paint job on this car


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[andrewb70]

Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Andrew

[xsboost90]

haha im having the machine shop install the timing chain this time around. Not that i couldnt do it but while its there, its their problem. Waiting on the pin then they can put it all together. Checked it out last night and everything is polished up, crank is back in, new cam bearings in, looking good. This time it'll get some ARP love and respray some stuff to clean it back up again. With any luck it'll be running before xmas and then i can install my Speed Hut gauges that should be here monday.

[Michaels 69]

kind of my sentiments. I want people to look at the car, appreciate it, think its cool and then be like damn it has that in it, well thats either way cool or im not sure how i feel now but either way its different.

It's hard to say no on an LS swap compared to a Coyote 5.0...$$$$$$! Good luck on the the shop putting every thing in and hope everything stays put!!

[xsboost90]

so picked up the motor thur$$day and ordered my ARP bolts this time and new gaskets etc. Engine got new cam and rod bearings, crank and cam were polished up, new cam pin, bolt and gear and they put the short block all back together. Went out today and had some more maxspray eurethane paint mixed in a rattle can and ended up respraying every blue piece of the motor since everything was kinda scratched, knicked or scuffed up. Trying to figure out where my SPEEDHUT gauge sending units are going to go, i think i'll get this worked out before the motor goes back in. May have to drill and retap the head to get the adapter to fit for the coolant temp and find a spot to put the oil sending unit. Took alot more cash to put this thing back to where i already was than i expected so i my have to chill till after the holiday is over. I could start wiring up gauges i guess....be nice to see what the motors doing when i start it.

[wfo guy]

I must have missed what happened but what caused the cam pin to shear?

[xsboost90]

so when i assembled the motor it was spread out over like two years- instead of my usual two days. So somewhere along the line i tightened bu didnt torque down the big single cam bolt. So after it was running it came loose, dropped the cam gear, and bent some valves. After repairing the valves, flushing everything, new gear, new bolt, new head bolts, new crank bolt etc., i started it and it happened again only not quite the carnage. Cam pin must have had a crack in it or something, sheared off, lost compression but no bent valves. Tried to pull the cam to have the pin removed and couldnt get the cam out. After digging around found that the center cam bearing had spun, and was seized to the cam- my new MAST racing cam! Pulled the motor and sent it to my machine shop who pulled the motor down to a bare block, pulled the cam and polished everything up luckily and replaced the cam bearings and rod bearings that apparently got some junk in them. I think maybe there was some metal in there after the first incident that went through the cam. So they flushed everything including the pump and pan, so now its back to square one putting it all back together again. BUT by now im getting pretty good at this LS stuff. I did order ARP head bolts this time instead of the cheaper but one time use factory TTY bolts including the crank bolt as well. Just go those today, and ordered some adapters for my Speedhut gauge senders so i dont even have to drill and tap anything while the motor is out.

One question for those LS pple that may know- can i pull the factory oil sender and put my speedhut oil press. sender in there without pissing off the ecu? I mean we can program around it after its done if its only for a factory gauge and check engine light.

135131

[andrewb70]

The ECU does not do anything with the oil pressure int arms of the tune. I have also seen people drill and tap the side of that tall boss where the stock oil pressure sender is located and install your gauge sender there. You can also install the gauge sender down by the oil filter if you use the f-body style crossover plate. That plate has an extra boss on it that can be drilled and tapped for the sender. I don't see it mounted in the block picture above, so not sure what you got going on there.

Andrew

[ragz]

Just read the complete thread, great stuff, love it when people build what they want....priceless.

[xsboost90]

Cool I just removed the stock sender and installed the sender for the new gauge. Ordered the adapter for the temp sender in the ps head. Im running the factory oil cooler lines from the block that bolts by the filter up to the front of the engine then it goes to rubber hose to the cooler. Could prob. drill and tap that but if i can use the stock location i'll just do that. Dont think the factory sender would do anything for me besides hold the plug thats on my harness- kinda wish i hadnt wasted the money on the LS3 new sender now since i wont be using it.

Decided since I didn't have to drill or tap anything I would put the heads on, then the flywheel, then clutch, then....


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[xsboost90]

this is what is on my motor factory-

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[xsboost90]

https://youtu.be/AldSm_sXSTM

[Godbolt]

It's alive! Happy days.

[xsboost90]

more shiney things! So my Scott Drake dash panel showed up the other day and i stuck the SpeedHut gauges in there tonite and they look awesome! Also got a Hurst shifter lever and bolted it in- about as close to what i need as i could find in that style- may be alittle tall- feels pretty comfortable in that position but i may end up cutting it and leaning it back and welding it up under the boot. Ordered up a nice vintage-y looking white knob to put on there too. Since the car runs and moves under its own power i pulled it out of the garage the other day when it was warm and pulling it back in accidentally pressed the one pedal too hard whilst also releasing the other pedal too quickly...oops. :)
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[Godbolt]

Nice skid! Gauges do look really good. Coming together well.

[xsboost90]

so i bought myself a birthday present from Summit parts- universal X pipe kit and two 45 turns in 2.5" mild steel. Eventually i'll probably be putting long tube headers on this car but for now i wanted to get the tubes on, so i did a bunch of cutting and trimming and got the x pipe in the right spot, welded up the down pipes from the headers and got it all tacked up. It was still early so i finish welded everything- not perfect but i'll probably exhaust paint it all black or something and it will look decent. Im pretty happy with the result for the price and it is tucked way up under the car for no clearance issues and i managed to get it level and symmetrical. The trans brace with the exhaust clearances works great and now i just need to measure for what room i have for mufflers and prob. some turn downs since i have no room to go over the axel and out the back. I have some rubber mount steel hangers coming soon and i'll do a few to keep the weight off the collectors. Side exits are pretty much out of question since my frame ties are hanging down and would prob. cause the pipe to be real low. Should work though.


135659135660135661135662

[xsboost90]

ok one more pedal car update- took the girls car down to the big show downtown and entered it for competition just as something fun for the girls to do. Ended up winning second place pedal car. The girls are pumped and now i need to get my car done for next year. Cant wait. 135813

[wfo guy]

Nice story. :)

[xsboost90]

got alittle closer to done on the exhaust. Bought these two chamber mufflers and had to do some adjusting to get the pipes to clear everything like my fuel filter on the LH frame rail, and the driveshaft isnt straight down the middle so the mufflers had to follow the angle to clear correctly but i got it straight as i could. Now to find some turn downs and weld this thing all together and hit it with some high heat paint.

[xsboost90]

and....

[Mach1_Ron]

That's Cool how you got the car sideways on a 2 post lift......lol
Nice job....

[xsboost90]

haha thanks.

ok so up to this point ive removed the stock drum brakes, installed some GT mustang sn95 brakes, then sold them and bought some sn95 cobra brakes....so the next logical step is to go SN95 Cobra R brakes....this just happened.These are four piston Brembo calipers with a plated 13" rotor as opposed to the "old" cobra 13" rotor and two piston caliper. See you guys are a bad influence. You can never have too much brakes.

136561136562136563

[xsboost90]

also finished off the exhaust with some turn downs and have begun wiring again. Got the gauges all done but need to hook up a few other things before i try them out.

[Zenith]

Those are some beefcake brakes. Where did you source the parts?

[xsboost90]

you can buy those at a few locations but american muscle carries them for the 2000 CobraR mustang factory. Im using sn95 spindles and hubs so they bolt right up. One kit, rotors, lines, calipers etc...

[Wldtang]

What brand column is that?

[xsboost90]

column is a flaming river "mustang" column. Its the right length. I made the factory top mount work and made a lower mount instead of buying their expensive lower mount - documented in my page- and its pretty sturdy. Has a GM plug which actually fits right into my AAW wiring harness, tilt, turn signal and no key. Takes a GM style adapter - i did the Momo wheel adapter for mine. Bought a flaming river steering knuckle shaft and two knuckles-one for the column and one to fit my Fox body rack and cut it to fit. Pretty easy install really.

[Z06killinSBF]

Have you fitted the fenders on with the AJE kit and SN95 wheels? Just curious how well they fit. I just ordered the AJE K member last week but will be attempting to use foxbody A arms. I'm also using front wheels for an sn95 and could use them to sit in just slightly since the current 1" spacer is too much.

[xsboost90]

cant get these pics to go straight but i believe i posted these awhile back. Fronts are out a quarter of an inch now to clear my calipers but should fit fine. Only possible issue could be catching the bottom of the fender with the tire in a turn we'll see. Going to install all the bodywork again soon to fit everything up. Still working on electric now under the dash- pretty close- looks like i have to pull the heater box out the damn blower is dragging on something in there....:(

BTW- i dont believe that stock a-arms are the same as the AJE stuff- thats what AJE has said...

[xsboost90]

well damn i got all done with wiring the dash and went to pretty it up and decided to test the blower motor. Thing was shaking like crazy. Pulled the whole heater box out and swapped fan blades, now its nice and smooth and the motor started smoking from an internal short....well time to order more parts....the one thing i didnt replace on the heater system. BUT while it was all out i decided i didnt like my heater core lines going so close to the coil packs on the valve cover, so i made up some hard lines to go from the fire wall over to the strut tower, brazed them together and i'll paint them and make a rubber mount on the strut tower for them. Much cleaner look and less likely to fail hopefully.

[xsboost90]

so here are some shots of my custom hard lined hoses for the heater core. 5/8" copper, bent to fit, brazed together with a flat piece of copper, brazed at the ends to keep the hose from falling off, then painted grey to match under the hood. Not bad...

[xsboost90]

so i finally got my new blower motor, installed that, painted the hard lined heater core pipes gloss black and installed the heater box the other night and filled it all back with the green stuff. Almost all the wiring in the car is done with the exception of the radio- dont have one- and some small dome lights etc. I did picked up some stainless screws finally and installed my gauges for hopefully the last time and put the satellite antenna for the speedo on the dash. Since i had another project that needed the lift, i moved the car into the "body shop" and worked on the project for a while. Since im now waiting on parts for that, i decided its time to start on the body work for the mustang. Buzzed the quarter panel down and started spreading the filler around the edges were the quarter was spliced in. Im two skims in now and its looking pretty good just some little wobbles here and there from the welding and where i had to shrink the metal mid quarter because of the stretched wheel well. Looks like the rest of my parts will be getting stripped pretty soon as a friend is having his chevelle stripped and im throwing my doors,fenders, hood and trunk in there at the same time. Then his car and my parts will be at my garage getting epoxy coated and some metal work on his car while im doing body work to mine...should be interesting. 137093137094137095

[67SSDan]

I dig it!!

[xsboost90]

Thanks!!

Next week will rock. Tuesday parts getting blasted. Saturday car is going to the dyno to get tuned. We will see the rwhp of this beast can't wait!!!

[Crestronwizard]

Top notch work. Congrats. Who is doing the tuning?

[andrewb70]

I like the copper hoses, but you need to ditch those clamps. get some of the Gates heat shrink hose clamps. McMaster Carr carries them.

Andrew

[xsboost90]

car is going to WeaponX to get tuned by Tracey over there he comes well recommended in this area. I do hate the clamps, tried several times to find the right size Tbolt clamps to fit and they were too small or too big. Actually that picture isnt even the current state- repainted the hoses gloss black and bought some new wormgear clamps. Really dont want the shrink wrap clamps because i want servicability and that sounds like it would make that difficult. They will get something different though.

[xsboost90]

had my buddys 67 chevelle blasted yesterday and threw my parts in there with it to be stripped. Everything looks pretty good besides a few small rust spots on each door and fender. I had to laugh he stripped the inside of the trunk, which had been repainted and when they repainted it they taped up the factory spare sticker on the inside. He blasted the whole thing and it took every inch of paint off but that sticker would not budge. I almost think i should just leave that OE sticker on there its pretty tough.

(thats not rust on the inside of the trunk its glue and seam sealer left over.)

[rhurley]

Moving quickly!

What color?

[xsboost90]

going the factory color CASPIAN blue. Car was black when i bought it and i thought a "tribute to originality" would be nice.

got the quarter in primer- its not done completely but the car is going to the dyno saturday so i wanted the body work coated.137501

[rhurley]

I know it was a year ago. But did you ever sell your incorrect 3rd member??

[xsboost90]

yep sold it pretty quick. Locally i believe.

well car is one the trailer and we'll see what she makes in the morning.. Cant wait!

[xsboost90]

Took the car for a tune today. Took awhile to get things started but eventually we got the car on the dyno and down to business. After two hours he did the final pulls and came up at 391rwhp at 6100 rpm. Not terrible for a mustang dyno. Correction to a dyno jet shows 435rwhp!! At least now the headers don't glow when I start it.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NrWOtJ3u8DE

[rhurley]

Very nice!

Thats good power for a stock bottom end Ls. stock heads to right??

[xsboost90]

almost completely stock truck LY6 6.0 - installed a mast cam, push rods and springs, ls3 intake and LS7 injectors. - otherwise stock low compression steel block motor- factory heads are pretty good though same as ls3 with different valve material(heavier). Im thinking some long tubes and a FAST intake in the future could get me pretty sweet.

[rhurley]

almost completely stock truck LY6 6.0 - installed a mast cam, push rods and springs, ls3 intake and LS7 injectors. - otherwise stock low compression steel block motor- factory heads are pretty good though same as ls3 with different valve material(heavier). Im thinking some long tubes and a FAST intake in the future could get me pretty sweet.

Thats great power then. Long tubes will prob gain you another 10 hp. If you want to save money do a Trailblazer SS intake that has proven same HP numbers or better than fast.

[Z06killinSBF]

It just keeps getting better and better, nice power!

[Josh@Ridetech]

^ Agreed. Can't wait to see more!

[xsboost90]

got all my bare metal parts in epoxy finally today. I guess the next step is to reassemble the car and see how she fits together so i can start finishing up metal work and do some body work.

[xsboost90]

trying to get some engine stuff sorted before i start back on the body work. Fans wouldnt run, ecu wouldnt put out a signal to switch them on after several attempts and adjustments. Decided to go with a separate unit to regulate the fans so now the car has a thermostat at the radiator and a separate breaker/relay circuit just for the fan. Hopefully that works, hardest part was making it all look clean under the hood!

Also on the dyno the belts were squeaking alittle and i wasnt sure why. First the alignment on my alternator was just slightly off- since all of the brackets are custom made, the pulley on the front of the alternator was slightly different than the crank and caused it to be off, so i had to put a small spacer behind the pulley. Then i noticed the belts which i measured and bought for the car, were just alittle long. The tensioner was almost totally open, and the power steering tensioner had come in so far as to make contact with the pump pulley! Couple new belts slightly shorter and everything was great. Just need to test out the fan and start doing some more dusty work.

Meanwhile this 67 Chevelle project in the corner of the garage i took on has turned into an all out body rebuild due to lots of rust- man im glad my car was pretty solid. Ive learned alot building my car so hopefully this one will benefit from it.

[xsboost90]

let the body work recommence. Passenger quarter is getting close. Welded in where the roof meets the quarter and around the back window where it meets the trunk filler panel. Ground that smooth then skim coated. Put the first skim on the drivers quarter and it looks pretty good. Lots of blocking in my future.

[xsboost90]

sand sand sand....


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[xsboost90]

still sanding and sanding away. Been working on my cousin's 67 mustang lately, swapped an 8.8 rear into it with Wilwood brakes and remade some brake lines etc. Now waiting on a vac pump since cam is killing vac to the booster. Also starting to weld on the 67 Chevelle sitting in the corner for a buddy of mine (who is on here) - started putting the floor pan back in last night. I did get a few pretty parts lately, new taillights, rear lower valance, door locks/trunk lock/ign. cylinder with new keys, and a Hurst shifter boot for that old school racer look....we'll see.

[ryeguy2006a]

Wow, great project! It looks like we have very similar goals for our cars. Keeping true to the original vibe, but with modern drivetrain and suspension.

[ryeguy2006a]

If you want to save money do a Trailblazer SS intake that has proven same HP numbers or better than fast.

I don't mean to clutter your build thread but this is misinformation. 1) the TBSS intake is cathedral port, his motor is square port and 2) although the TBSS intake performed better all around than the stock LS6 intake, the FAST intakes are still superior all around performers.

[Wolvee]

Great Work!

[Jimbo1367]

What MAST cam did you go with?

[xsboost90]

yeah i wasnt buying the truck intake stuff--eventually i'll go FAST and maybe heads or blower....or both!

i bought the MAST SS cam (585 lift) that retains the VVT in hopes of having some sort of linear power band and gas mileage. Really was a pita messing with the vvt mostly on my part but if i have any more issues or change cams it will go non-vvt from here on out. That said, i am happy with the MAST product and she runs unbelievable. Cant wait to see how she drives out on the road.....

[85coupe50]

Great work, Almost there!

[xsboost90]

Quarters are almost done and roof is looking good. Few more hours of sanding and some primer will fly

[xsboost90]

well getting to primer took alittle time, had to go back over some minor metal work but im pretty happy with it now. Got the body 90% and decided to get some primer on there to protect it, get some inspiration and so that when i block it next time i will be able to see what i have left. Now on to the rest of the body....

[xsboost90]

so ive been picking away at my car while working on numerous other peoples projects but just finally got back to mine for real. We got the sound deadener installed in the back half of the car and i ended up doing some tweeking to my linkage under the dash to make the clutch and gas pedal travels correct. Now my clutch goes to the floor and releases lower as it should, and the gas is set lower than the brake static to correct some of its travel shortcoming. Feels like a new car now from the floor.

I also got out the doors and started working on fixing rust. These have been blasted which uncovered some pin holes and patches at the front as usual, but the extent was more than what i had hoped. Ended up cutting about four by four piece out of the front of each door to remove the rusty patch panels someone else brazed in many years ago. THEN i had to remove all the brass and make things solid again. On top of that, in the door jam it also had some rust so ive been making little patches and cutting those out and weld thru coating, metal etching, POR15ing, etc to keep this stuff away for good. The drivers door flared out at the front for some reason about a half inch and the bottom of the door was no longer straight. After much hammering and dolly'ing its finally back closer to good.

Next will be the fenders which look just as nice but have even more wobbles uncovered that i'll have to hammer out and lots of trim holes to weld up. BUT the good thing is, once this is done i can primer and install everything to set gaps and get final bodywork finished up.140939 140940

[xsboost90]

more boring metal work before i put the car together and start fitting panels....

[xsboost90]

so between projects on my cousins 67 i managed to put my fenders and doors back on to set the gaps and get things ready for more body work. Going pretty well, some more tweeking on the front fenders then hood, valances etc...but hopefully my cousins car will be gone this week and back to mine full time. If i can get the car in primer and windows in by Sept it may go to LS fest just for the hell of it....

[HotRod47]

Looking good!

[xsboost90]

finally shes back on the lift. Time to start bolting body panels back together and making some progress

[xsboost90]

bought a full kit the other day with all the glass- front rear and side glass. Meanwhile i'll be still trying to get the fenders to fit correctly. Hood is on and close, but so much to do.

[chiva]

Wow!! Great build.

[Z06killinSBF]

Looking good man!

[xsboost90]

Finally got all the glass here in one piece and the right sizes. Figured if i could get the glass mostly in i would take it to LS fest in a couple weeks. Meanwhile the powdercoater has some brackets from my engine giving them a gloss black coat so hopefully he gets those done in time as well. Since in order to put the glass in you have to first do the headliner, i figured i would do that. Since before the headliner you need the window channel painted, i also needed to do that.. And since before the headliner can go in i need roof insulation and rubber for the glass etc, a few purchases have been made. Time lines are a good way to get motivated and spend money!

First thing i bought a spray can of eurethane single stage Caspian Blue and scuffed and sprayed the window channels. This didnt need to be perfect just enough to seal the metal and make it the same color as the body under the rubber seals. A few coats of the blue and for the first time im seeing the color of my car in person, pretty cool! Cant wait to do the whole car..

I repaired a couple of the bows the other night and put them in the headliner. Finally my insulation arrived and i glued that in and dropped the headliner in loosely on the bows. After watching a couple headliner installation vids on line, i went out to the garage, opened my new can of headliner glue and went to town. Worked rear to front stretching and gluing as i went and clipping it on temporarily with some cut up windlace i had in the garage. Looks pretty good, the rear has some weird things going on because the rollbar is up against it and someone welded some large metal brackets in the roof awhile back to install three point seatbelts. Most the wrinkles are gone but i have a few that i need to get the hair dryer in there and try to work out but im pretty happy with my first headliner install of this kind.

Next on the list is -install the passenger seat- clean the car top to bottom- install powder coated alternator bracket, power steering bracket, resevoir bracket, and strut brace - i may hang the tail lights in there and headlights just to get a full mock up, and it prob. needs the trunk and hood latch installed, and the doors dont have latches so that could be a problem....

[xsboost90]

last night i finally got the front and rear windows in. Not nearly as bad as i anticipated. I also got my engine brackets back from the powdercoater and installed all those. You cant see 90 percent of them but they are super shiney black. Thanks to Slick N' Mighty for the great job. Started re-engineering my seat mounting, i tried my helmet on in the car and im touching the headliner so we are going to channel the seat tracks to drop them down an inch.

[xsboost90]

trying to mock up some pieces while preparing to take the car to LSFest and also clean things up abit. Put the hood springs and latch back on and trunk latch as well. Cleaned up alot under the hood and inside, but decided to go ahead and modify my seat brackets to get some more head room in the car. I ended up slicing the mounts i had installed and dropping the track channels down about an inch, then sliding some heavy gauge steel into the slot and welding them all around. Worked out pretty well and very sturdy. Now i can sit in the car with a helmet and not be pinned to the roof! I may do the passenger side as well to improve the seat angles abit. Sure does clean up well under the hood. Soon i'll be sending all the hood hinges and latches etc to the powder coater- its like an addiction once you do some stuff everything must be done!!

[andrewb70]

I'll be at LSFest. If you see me, say "Hello!"

Andrew

[xsboost90]

I'll try to find you - last year i didnt see the car or you and i walked around everywhere! I'll be there all day Saturday though....should be easy to spot the Mustang

ok so tonite i finished up lowering my passenger seat bracket and mounted both seats in the car for the first time ever! Looks great and cant wait to drive it. Got a week to get ready so now its on to cleaning and double checking things.

[xsboost90]

Decided to throw the taillights in for show and ended up wiring them and installing my led kit that's been in a box for three years. Put the shift boot in too!!

[Shortacus]

Hell yeah looks awesome

[xsboost90]

And on to the front.

[xsboost90]

put the fuel filler and raydot mirrors on today- Ordered the filler neck. Slow wins....

[MSTSFabbed]

Alright so I just sprayed my window frames, ordered sealant, and have been drowning in Youtube videos of window installs. What method of sealant in what places did you go with?
Any advice or tips would be so well appreciated!!

I'm pumped for you watching this come together!

[xsboost90]

i put the rubber on the windows- carefully- takes awhile- i used a bondo spreader and some slightly soapy water in a spray bottle and it made it easier to work the seal onto the window...

put a rope around the channel in the rubber that the metal will reside in- prob. need about a 1/4" - 3/8" rope i used a small one and it made it harder. Put the window in place, i kinda put the bottom in the channel and then dropped the window down. Had my buddy push on the window gently and i pulled the rope out slowly- he pushed right where the rope was coming out of. Worked my way around- with generous soapy water! - and got them both in no problem. Vids i watched said to run the sealer stuff around the outside and under the rubber to the window as well. My front window seal is very tight to the glass- no way im getting it in there. I will seal around the outside after the car is painted and the trim is ready to go on- dont want that stuff gumming up the clips... Rear window seal is a FORD seal and its more loose fitting to the glass so i may need to go around the inside of that one.


----- drove the car down the road tonite and back. Wow. Violently fast, steering, brakes and suspension all feel great. Im surprised how stiff the springs feel since its on 200/ 150lb springs im used to running 400+ in the porsches and they feel light. I guess thats all im going to get done before the show but she looks good and it needed mock up and shake down so this is perfect.

[MSTSFabbed]

Awesome, thanks. Hadn't thought of the soapy water, sounds like a good call. I've got repro gaskets so we'll see how they fit. I'm planning on following the Mustangs to Fear video and doing the 3M bedding and glazing between (and around for extra) window and then using urethane between the window and the gasket once its in.

Good on ya for moving under its own power! Wish I could make it to LS Fest, but its not in the cards. Have fun!!

[xsboost90]

I'll be at LSFest. If you see me, say "Hello!"

Andrew

saw your car- took some pics- then my phone died. Service there sucked. Not sure where you were but we were cruising around and people watching by the car on the other side.

[andrewb70]

saw your car- took some pics- then my phone died. Service there sucked. Not sure where you were but we were cruising around and people watching by the car on the other side.

Hey Man...Really sorry we didn't get a chance to connect or that I did not see your car. I basically parked my car in the Holley booth and then walked around the facility. I was at my car for very short periods of time to get water out of my cooler, etc...

Phone reception at Beech Bend is terrible. On Saturday it was basically gone because of all the people at the venue trying to connect to the same tower.

I will definitely be there next year and let's make it a point to connect.

Andrew

[xsboost90]

Got the harnesses in today. Going to the DMV tomorrow to get the title finished up, antique plates and maybe drive her a little

[xsboost90]

So the car is now titled in KY and i have insurance and historical plates on. Drove it to a couple events and though its rough, the car is awesome. Handling seems good even though my rear springs are way too stiff... lots of rattles from half the car not being installed, no side windows, but a blast to drive. Excelleration is out of this world. Put 107 miles on the new Speedhut gauges already. Now working on getting rid of interior drone and a belt squeek that is driving me nuts.

[xsboost90]

got my LSFest2017 "Best Under-construction" plaque in the mail the other day! pretty cool... been putting some miles on the car and working out bugs like, the right rear axle apparently never got an inner seal and started leaking really bad. Fixed that up then immediately the wilwood clutch master puked its guts on the floor while going to dinner. Put a rebuild kit in there and did some provision to keep the linkage from binding when moving side to side, so far so good. Went out to a couple cruise in's and picked up my strut bar from the powder coater finally and installed that- must make a huge difference because the fender was moving around some without it- i thought the fender was flimsy but no it was just the whole strut tower with no triangulated support. Now have over 240 miles on the car, still need to get some 100lb 10" 2.5 diameter springs- anyone have these laying around? I'll get some soon, the rear with 150lb springs is very stiff and the car jumps over small bumps in the road- sounds dumb but the car prob. weighs in about 2400lbs or less currently. Sounds killer though and up in the rpm's its awesome! How does this sound for gearing? 6th gear on the highway, 2500rpm at 80mph....Seems like every 500 rpm is 10mph so if thats right it would hit 155mph at redline 6500.....




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[ryeguy2006a]

I must have missed your last few updates, Nicely done! I'm so jealous that you have been able to drive your car. It's actually pretty crazy how similar we are approaching our builds. I am planning in the next month or so to paint my dash and window channels in preparation to have the glass set. Then I plan to epoxy any bare metal and plasti-dip and cruise like that for a while. Have you given that any thought? You can dip your car for around $400 bucks including the sprayer.

[xsboost90]

no im going to try to finish up the body work once it gets cold and get it ready so in the spring i can spray the car. Im too OCD about the body work and its driving me nuts...besides i think if i did that i would prob. just drive it and never get around to finishing it! Its already hard enough to do anything now that its running, and then stripping off the plastidip would suck over primer...been there.

[langleylad]

Body work can be an never ending procedure if you're OCD , ask me how I know ! .

[xsboost90]

wow its not even a garage night and i managed to figure out why my turn signals wont cancel- my momo adapter not playing nice with the flaming river column- fix it and set the fuel gauge to read correctly. Speedhut gauges easier to set up than i thought! Look up my sender ohm range, program with button attached to gauge- boom! done.

[xsboost90]

theeen my trans decided second gear is too much trouble to go into, and while taking the exhaust off to remove the trans i arc'd my wedding ring to the starter and burnt my finger up pretty good. Got the trans out but the repair bill is going to set me back on the body work and paint stuff. Ordered some new door skins though since the doors are just too rough to mess with.

[langleylad]

Ouch ! I hope you heal up quickly . If it's not one thing it's another when building hot rods . Very rarely does a new part fit without a little fine tuning and just when you think your heading in one direction , **** happens and your going in another . I think that's why it feels so good when something works out perfect .

[xsboost90]

true that!

got both my door skins off and fit the new ones- very nice! Good mark panels seem to fit perfect so far. Sanded the insides of both and epoxy coated them so the inside will stay nice and rust free for awhile. Once the doors are all put back together the fenders are getting some stretch treatment like the rear quarters did, about an inch is what im planning to fit a 275 in there no problem. Trans is going off to RPM transmission soon so i can focus on panel work..OH and i ordered a repro vin tag for the drivers door from MARTI so that will be sweet...i know i get excited about dumb stuff....

[JayinMI]

How does this sound for gearing? 6th gear on the highway, 2500rpm at 80mph....Seems like every 500 rpm is 10mph so if thats right it would hit 155mph at redline 6500.....

My nearly stock '97 Neon ACR (close ratio 5 speed, 7200 RPM Redline) by my best estimate (and if I had about 10 miles to get there) should have been good for a top speed of 145 or so. I had it to 120 at 4900ish in 5th. It was about 10mph per 1000 RPM. Obviously, yours will get there A LOT quicker than mine, but I'd expect your top end to be higher. What's your estimated HP and final drive?

Jay

[xsboost90]

I would have to dig out my paperwork on final drive but it put 390 rwhp on a mustang dyno.

Got the doors epoxied on the inside and crimped the drivers door together tonight and dropped it on the car to fit it. Still working on it but looks like it fits well.

[xsboost90]

ok so since i put the doors on ive been through alot with these front fenders. Decided to "flare" them then pretty much screwed that up and now im leaning towards another set of fenders all together. I did manage to get my doors hung and did some cutting on the front of the quarters to get the lines just right- which really wasnt too bad! Also took my trans up to RPM to get some work done and its now finished waiting for me to pick it up....quite a pricey rebuild but should be awesome now. So i'll be starting on the body work at the back of the car and working my way forwards till i get the fenders and valance to hang on there. Oh and when i drove the car under hard braking the rears tended to lock up alittle too much, so i installed a prop. valve in the rear line by the master cylinder. Baby steps

[JRANGER]

Very nice build!!! Im building a 65 and you have given me a few more ideas. What wiring kit did you use? Wondering if my AAW would give me enough room to put it in the glove box like you did. Are you using spray can epoxy in the earlier stages?

[xsboost90]

my harness is an american auto wire unit. Fit well over there all but had to extend a few wires for some of the far left stuff- like six wires i think. I could have done a cleaner install but not bad to do overall. The car was epoxy primered with a gun but i have touched up alot of spots as i go with rattle can epoxy, weld thru primer and self etching stuff depending on where and when.

[Z06killinSBF]

I think you chose a flare that didn't suit the body lines. Most that flare these fenders cut the wheel opening away from the body, space it out and fill in the gap.

[rhurley]

Lots done! looks great!

[xsboost90]

well the rear was stretched out 2" on each side without "flaring" them so most people that see them think its stock till you stand back and see how much they come out. I wanted to do that in front also but slightly less. I know it can be done just not easy to do without the proper equipment/training without some serious body work. It could always happen later and i have a couple fenders to practice on in the mean time but really i didnt need more room now it was a plan for future wider tires. If i need wider than a 255/275 i could prob. just do a Meier flare fender but maybe some custom button on flares some day......

[xsboost90]

oh and my trans was all finished up at RPM transmissions. Took a day off work and drove out to IN to pick it up. Nice place! Looks like they did a killer job on the old hybrid t56 and learned alittle bout my own setup. Seems as though its an Aston Martin Vanquish trans- which i knew- but originally it had shift solenoids on there for paddle shifters and someone changed out the rear housing for a Viper rear. With the larger input and output shafts and the new shift forks, carbon blockers, a couple new gears etc its a brand new trans and they said prob good for 700hp! Dont think i'll touch that but if i go bigger later im ready! Looks pretty too! Got the fluids in there and put it back in the car that day. Havent driven it but ran it through the gears on the lift and seems very tight. Also struck up a deal with a buddy who needs work done to his Porsche so he's buying my shelby valance and new fenders!! This thing may get done after all....

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[ryeguy2006a]

Looking great! I really like the clean routing of the exhaust. Did you paint that with something?

[JRANGER]

Here how Rich from Mustang to Fear is doing his custom flares on his own 65. A couple pages of work but might give you a little idea how he does it
http://forum.mustangstofear.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2552&start=75