1969 Sportsroof Build

[mts23]

First off, let me say how much I appreciate all the knowledge and support that is available on this site and how freely it is given. I am starting this build thread in the hopes of not only getting ideas for the build, but also to get advice or suggestions from other people who have done this before. I am fairly mechanically inclined and not afraid to tackle a large project like this; hopefully I can get it to a drivable stage within my deadline. I will be working within a budget, so somethings may be done differently then I would prefer,but I will try and not cut corners with the important stuff. I am working in a small garage, with limited tools and have limited fabrication and welding abilities and this is my first attempt at working on a car that is in completely unusable condition.


My goal is to save a‘69 Sportsroof from the crusher, while turning it into a nice,modernized driver with a full frame and couple of hair driers. I searched for a while to find one that was far gone enough that I wouldn't feel bad about hacking it up. The car was the cheapest ‘69 Mach 1, with a title(more on the title later) that I could find. It was a complete car,all interior, trim,engine rear and trans were there, but in the shape one would expect from a car left sitting outside in Missouri for 30 years. The floor pans and frame rails were in the final state of ruination and completely unusable for anything. The front suspension components were mostly usable, but not what I wanted to go with.


I commenced the partial tear-down, while coming up with a front suspension solution. After reading the Ron S. $5K Mustang build thread, I decided to use a C5/C6 Corvette front suspension, as it seemed to be the best bang for the buck. I set about scouring ebay for parts and ended up getting the entire front, including brakes (minus shocks and transverse spring) for less than 300 dollars shipped. I'd like to run a coil over, but this IS a budget build.

Car being delivered
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The moving company was informed the car needed to be delivered to a small cul-de-sac. They showed up with a 10 car transport and called from the nearest Target parking lot. I didn't think we would get the car unloaded due to the passers-by wanting to buy the car and generally ask questions about it.

Car in driveway (Quick, get in the garage before the HOA shows up!)
138845


While the pictures above don't look too bad, as we all know, malignancy can lurk beneath even the cleanest of project cars, and this thing was far from clean looking. I bought the car sight unseen and a ridiculously low price, and was actually surprised that it was delivered in one piece, I knew what to expect and got exactly that (a portion potentially larger then I can masticate) but I intend on saving this car and have already learned a lot and had fun along the way. I knew there would be lots of rust to eliminate once the car was stripped, but little did I realize the mess that three decades of squirrel, rodent and snake families would leave behind.

I'm certain my microbiology classes warned me about things like this. Hantavirus anyone? This is one place where dust masks and rubber gloves are a must.
138846

Squirrels had been defecating in this car longer than humans used it for transportation and it was now my job to clean it.

Thanks,
Michael

[JohnJ@RideTech]

At least you've got one and the motivation to do something with it. Regardless of its condition, its YOUR car and you can build it how you want. Good luck with your build, you are in good hands here!

[minendrews68]

This will be interesting. These cars can look pretty awesome when finished.. Good luck and I'm going to watch.

[mts23]

Thanks for good wishes! Sometimes when I looked at this car, I thought I would never get as far as I am now (this post is a bit behind where I am, but I should be caught up soon).

After getting the car towed home from the car carrier, I started taking stock of the car. I noticed the rear end was low and figured the leaf springs had de-arched and were sagging, I liked it at that height, so I made measurements for later use. The doors, hood and trunk would not open (N.B. Its pretty difficult for a 6 ft tall 210 lbs. person to get in and out of a 1969 Mustang Dukes of Hazzard style). After some research on google, I pulled up a diagram of the door mechanism and was able to get the doors open.
Despite the damage on the passenger door, the doors are in surprisingly good shape and will only require a skin on this passenger door.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/7ZvWQaD-1.jpg

With the doors opened, I commenced project Yersinia Pestis (Plague) Eradication. It took several days to get the car cleaned out and eliminate all the potential health hazards.

After a couple hours with a shop vac, I still had plenty of filth in the interior.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/1xTNOJu-1.jpg

Finally got around to the dash...I don't even know how this much stuff got in there.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/UW9bbFJ-1.jpg


Eventually the console came out, revealing even more disease infested stuff.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/KSGD6aT-1.jpg

After removing the carpet and enough rodent droppings, decayed nuts and desiccated animal parts, I'm, ready to start on the important stuff: Getting the hood open and off, so I can pull the engine and inspect the front fame rails.

[mts23]

Before I got to the hood, I decided to pick the trunk lock and see if anything was in it.

Nope, nothing, not even a trunk pan!
I did find out why it sat so low in the rear, though. Some sort of floating leaf spring relocation modification had been done on the car in the past. I'm envisioning a 8.8 with a torque arm set up taking the place of the 9 inch and leaf springs.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/MOzUacW-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/9ZhyhTW-1.jpg

[bwarren]

Great read!! Appreciate the entertainment on a Tuesday nite! Rock on!! Wish you all the best and already looking forward to your next post. I'm in!

[andrewb70]

Looking forward to more updates!

Andrew

[glr0212]

prayers sent your way! good luck

[mts23]

Got the hood latch undone and the hood raised.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/o9wC9Vu-1.jpg

This is what was under the hood...I don't know if it is as engine or just a pile of hoses and rust.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/4ZhmiOJ-1.jpg

The inner fender/aprons were crumbling apart and held in place with some stuff that looked like asphalt roofing material.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/RKjmUx3-1.jpg


Surprisingly enough the engine would turn over with a breaker bar, so it may be usable. Now if it would just come out easily!

[HotRod47]

Good read, looks like a fun project.

[minendrews68]

Man, you've got your work cut out! I can't believe all the critters that have set up home in that car!

[Tincup]

You're a brave man, best of luck on the build....

[blade]

Sad to say it but this looks like one of those cars where you have the A pillars and the vin tag left to build from. I hope it just looks that way and you have more than that, best of luck.

[mts23]

Got around to getting the engine out. Started by removing the front clip. One of the fenders was green and had evidence of more animal life taking up residence in the car.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/IeIvIIs-1.jpg

Getting ready to pull the engine, hoping the front subframe doesn't rip away from the car just yet.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/6Nos4rF-1.jpg

The transmission crossmember was rusted in place and I couldn't get the bolts to turn. I was bent on pulling the engine and transmission in one piece. Enter the Sawzall!

5 Minutes later and it's FREE!
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/8jOOh7l-1.jpg

Two things I learned: #1 the engine turns over easily. I may have a rebuildable block (If I don't go with a 4V 5.4 or a newer 351W) and second, while I found these style of wheel dollies to be almost totally useless for moving the car car around, they do make a great FMX transmission dolly.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/UOBKMK6-1.jpg

[mts23]

$149 for this:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/PsOOonX-1.jpg

and 60 bucks for a cradle.

I can't be the only person mocking up a C5 front suspension in their living room...https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/IQNaNoc-1.jpg

I'll mock the front up based on normal C5 specs and design the front frame rails from the cradle mount points and my desired ride height. I am guessing that if GM can bolt these things on, then I should be able to as well.

[xsboost90]

if you havent, you need to look up the $5000 wide body mustang on here. Was the first post i ever read on this forum and looks much like where you are (or need to be) headed. Good luck.

[mts23]

xsboost90, that $5k Mustang is what originally got me interested in using the c5/c6 front suspension and going the route I am with a rusted out shell instead of a much nicer starting point. I am not quite the fabricator that Ron is, but I can get by. Hopefully, I'll have the car full-framed and turned into a roller with floor pans with steering and brakes by the end of the year.

With the engine out, I figured the next course of action was to remove the front suspension...
I came up with several methods to remove everything, but the sawzall seemed to be the quickest method.

There is no turning back now!
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/w4cSAHn-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/8xIn1xt-1.jpg

The firewall will come out, I'll need to set the engine back a few inches. Almost all of the cowl is in surprisingly good shape; I was worried I'd have to drill out all those spot welds and replace everything, but the only serious spot of rust will get removed for the engine setback.

The firewall will eventually get hacked up and replaced, but I'll try to leave most of it intact until the front frame rails are ready.

[mts23]

After a lot of measuring, calculating, more measuring and re-calculating, I ordered a set of front frame rails.
I called a bunch of places and got lots of great advice, but in the end, Art Morrison was the company who was able to deliver what I was looking for.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/H3QwJbk-1.jpg

More measuring, adjusting, leveling, squaring up and remeasuring, leveling and adjusting repeated over and over and I finally I have something that is beginning to look like a project instead of a pile of scrap and animal remnants.https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/DDeh654-1.jpg

Once I had the C5 cradle and front suspension squared up, I was able to set the wheelbase. I tossed on one of the fenders to get an idea of how much hacking will be required to clear the front wheels. The front wheels are a set of oem vette 18 inch rims w/ 295 40s that I picked up for $200.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/JdP8eNE-1.jpg

I ordered some rectangular tubing and some plate to start building the outriggers to install the front frame rails. I foresee a lot of measuring and adjusting followed by a lot of re-measuring and re-adjusting.


Thanks for looking,
Michael

[HotRod47]

Hard to tell by that picture, but the wheel looks close to the fender as it is tucked up in there. Is there much room for turning radius?

[mts23]

Glenn, plenty of room in regards to the suspension and frame to turn, not so much with the fender. The fender is certainly going to require some cutting and rework to fit properly. I kept the C5 track width, so it's about 4.25 inches or so wider than the original Mustang track width of 59 and something inches not including the difference in wheel / tire size. I'll need to flare the fronts about 2.5 inches each. Anvil makes some sweet carbon fiber fenders, but they would more than likely blow the budget.

[mts23]

Not a lot going on this week; went to Carlisle to look for parts. Most people with Mustang parts said the '69 stuff went the first day. I missed out on a $5 hood from a '70 model and passed on what was labeled a Griggs torque arm (It didn't appear to be as robust as I would have expected). I also met with the guys who will most likely be building my back half, once I finish the design.

I'll be preparing for an upcoming work trip for the next couple of weeks and am collecting parts to continue the frame building and suspension install when I get back. I've picked up a couple of 11 inch wheels (cobra R knock-offs) and a set of 315s; I figure having them on hand will come in handy once I start measuring and designing the rear frame and suspension. I've got an 8.8 mocked up and a bunch of different suspension parts and hope to get back on this project in about 6 or 7 weeks when I return.

I've decided to rebuild the original 351W while I have downtime on the frame and suspension. I had a heck of a time getting the intake off. I unbolted it and hit it with a rubber mallet a couple of times with no luck. Tried to pry it off, didn't budge. Tried lifting it off with the engine hoist...no dice. I soaked the edges in WD-40, Marvel Mystery and some gasket solvent, left the engine lifted by the intake and repeated the aforementioned methods the next day and still had an engine with an intake attached. I finally used a chisel in the pneumatic hammer and it came free in a matter of seconds. The oil didn't appear to have any metal in it, the cylinder walls look good; I should have the rest of engine dissembled for inspection this weekend.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/20170425_194125_zpsmad8phju-1.jpg

Got my Z06 front leaf spring this week, too. I'm too cheap for coil overs at this time.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/04/e4023164d5f54a0498cabe81846e1e5c_zps7pks-1.jpg

I'm hoping to get the shocks soon to mock up and maybe finalize the upper control arm / shock mounts before I have to travel. If I can finish the front suspension, I can drop the engine in between the rails and work out the header and steering while I'm traveling. I'm going to need to use a stock C5 rack or start learning about Ackermann geometry...

Thanks for looking,
Michael

[DrFraZZy]

You will have a better luck collecting mustang parts on Ford Carlisle on June 2-4th weekend.

[Bossed]

Love your project, looking forward to seeing your progress.

[Zoomin]

I Coke spewed when I saw "some sort of floating leaf spring relocation modification". It's pretty cool the way your mods would have sent a lot of the stang in the dumpster anyway.

Very cool project.

[mts23]

DrFraZZy, thanks for the tip; unfortunately I'll be out of the area at the time. I was able to make a contact for some fenders and a doorskin at the meet last weekend. I really wanted to go to the Ford event, maybe next year.

Glad you like it Bossed, wont be much progress for the next couple of months while I'm traveling, but I will be back at it full steam ahead when I return and hope to get the frame and body connected before the end of summer.

Zoomin, when I got the car sight unseen I knew it was going to be a disaster. When I was taking stock of all the bad stuff, I realized that I wasn't going to need any of it, since all I wanted was a ratty body that I could build a chassis for, I could just laugh at all the stupid stuff that had happened to this poor car from sitting for years. In the end it's easier to cut out half a trunk pan than the entire pan. This car even had the Maytag special pop riveted in extra light weight passengers floor pan/ refrigerator door skin mod.

If it wasn't for this site and the grassroots motorsports site I would never think about tackling such an undertaking.

Thanks,

Michael

[nelzturingwagin]

Daunting task, but it looks like you are up to it. I am just getting back to a project I let stal for a few years. It's hard to keep the things rolling with a family and everything else going on.

[jaybee]

I love your project. I get the concept of starting with a project as complete as possible...times 10 when you're paying a shop to do the work.

When you're using your own time, however, and the journey is a big part of the fun for you home builders are the last chance to save cars destined for the crusher. I know more than one person whose main interest isn't in having cars, but in building them.

[mts23]

Scored a C5 steering rack and finally unpackaged a swaybar thats been sitting in a corner for a couple of months.
Mocking up the front suspension to determine the best way to mount the upper control arms.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/05/20170502_160917_zpsfc43exci-1.jpg


Mounting plates for the upper control arms
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/05/20170502_161657201_zpsm6k7f7ai-1.jpg

[mts23]

Back from deployment and I have a few weeks to get some work done to the car before I go back out again.

Got the inner rockers ground down to bare metal and covered in weld through primer, getting ready to weld on plates for the frame outriggers to attach to. There are a few holes in the driver side inner rocker that will get patched later (if I don't cut a full length panel to cover or replace the entire inner rocker).

I'm using the Eastwood weld-thru primer and have no experience with it, so I'll see how it goes.

The inside of the rockers have been sandblasted to clean metal clean and sprayed with
Eastwood internal frame coating. I'll be inspecting with a scope later on to check/verify full coverage.

I'm hoping to get the car rolling again (It had so much frame/floor/suspension damage) that is wasn't much of a roller when I received it) by October. I got rid of the front suspension/apron and upon inspection discovered the apron rails stamped with a different number from the VIN and the front radiator support stamped with yet a different number.

I still need to plan out the rear suspension; I haven't decided what I'm going to use yet. I was thinking a 8.8 w/torque arm, but I may go 4-link w/ Watts with either 8.8 or 9 inch or pull a Ford IRS from on of the local pick and pulls.

Thanks for looking,

Michael

141877

[Sebambam]

Real cool

[chafin]

If you need anything for your build, from brackets cut or parts, let me know. I own BC Chassis & Fabrication in Fredericksburg, Va. We also offer military and uniformed service discounts. Great build btw! We're finishing up a 67 Mustang right now and have a few more protouring builds going on

[tterbo]

I like how your project is going and enjoyed reading what you have written so far. I am getting ready to do a C5 front suspension on my build as well and was going to just fab the frame rails from 2" x 4" tube sectioned and welded. After seeing your rails from Art Morrison I might just go that route too. Good luck on your build, I will be following...

[JayinMI]

Soooo...what was the deal with the title that you said you'd tell us about later?

[mts23]

Being a resident of Virginia, getting a car with a clean title is an absolute necessity; a car can't be titled in VA without a title. I bought the car mainly because it was advertised as having a clean title and was the absolute cheapest 1969 Sportsroof Mustang I could find advertised with a clean title. The delivery happened in a Target parking lot because the delivery company would not attempt to deliver on my street. I had to get a tow dolly to get it to my house from the parking lot; it was dark by the time I got it home, so I didn't get to do much inspection.

The next morning, I received the title in the mail; it matched the VIN in the advertisement. I set about cleaning the car and low and behold the VIN on the dash (this was the first thing I went to check on after having title in hand) did not match.

It turned out the guy I got the car from had got it in a trade from some salvage yard guys who had a bunch of Mustangs and they gave the seller the wrong title. These guys didn't want to look for a title, and basically told the seller he was out of luck. Using an old registration I found in the car, I traced the car to it's last place of registration and found the person who had sold the car to salvage yard. The title was registered to his deceased father and there was nothing in his state that would allow the transfer of the title without it being in a will. This guy refused to look for a title, but claimed to have several white 1969 and '70 Sportsroof cars with titles if I wanted to buy one. After about 5 or 6 months the guy I bought the car from finally applied for a title in the state he was in; it took a couple of months to get the title after the application process. He did come through in the end and I was very relieved.

This entire time, I refused to work on the car, seeing as how I didn't have a title and it could have been reported by anyone of the people in the chain as stolen. I was not going to put any time or effort into the car without it legitimately/legally being my car. So unfortunately the car sat idle in my garage for 7 or 8 months without any work being performed. I don't have a lot of spare time to devote to the car at the time and was hoping to have the car setup as a full frame roller by now, but am at least half a year off my original schedule.

[JayinMI]

I've had that happen to me. I won a '67 VW Bug on eBay. Listed as "original paint, never wrecked, uncle who owned the car was a mechanic, clean title, etc." Won the auction. Rented a truck and borrowed a trailer (that I had to rewire the lights on before we could use it.) and drove from Michigan to Southwest Kentucky. The lady who was selling the car lived in VA. It was her aunt's car and she was handling the estate. She told me the lawyer would meet me with the keys and title. Arrive to find the car did in fact have original paint (under a very bad paint job that I could chip off with my thumbnail.), it had been asspacked hard in the rear (on '67 bugs, the rear bumper overriders and deck lid are one year only, as are several of the engine components) and someone had used a stick welder to put a '62 rear clip on it as well as engine. When I asked the lawyer for the title he looked perplexed. He didn't have it. Turned out it was her uncle's car, and it had never officially been transferred to her aunt when he died 10 years before. It was a small town and everyone just knew who the car belonged to and never worried about it. I should have left it there, but she already had my deposit, I'd paid for the truck and drove several hundred miles so I figure WTH. Took 3 months to get the title. smh...funny story after that, I ended up shortening the pan for a dune buggy body I was given. I sold it when I moved out of my old house and the guy I told it to got a copy of the title with it. He sold it later and had never transferred the title to his name and the people he sold it to finished their buggy and wanted to register it. I was a nice guy and got a quick title (Available in MI for $22 same day) and sent it to him. I told him $30 to cover my time.

Jay

[mts23]

No sooner did I get the inner rockers ground to bare metal and primed, I had to go away for work again. I'm back and at it once again.
I'll be tack welding the mounting plates, outriggers, and frame rails together making sure everything is square and level. I'm hoping to have the front frame section all tacked in before my next trip in a couple of weeks, so I'll be ready to start on installing the back half when I return.

This is an old picture, but I intend on attaching the frame to the body this way
142874

...I don't really have any clue what I am doing, but I figure mounting like this in three places along each of the rockers should be sufficient to install the front frame rails and then install the back half cross member at the area where the floor pan bent upward at the rear seat.

If anyone has any suggestions, I am open to them.

[chiva]

You're an inspiration!! Keep it up.

[813Demon340]

Very cool build, I look forward to seeing this one come along. Congrats on defunkafying that interior! Keep up the great work.

[lilian]

any updates on this one ? thanks