Morgan's 67 Project Trans Am Coupe

[csx4766]

Well I picked up my next project this afternoon. It's a 67 Mustang hard top that I found on Craig?s List. The car was located in Mariposa, a small town in the Sierra?s near Yosemite. The Mustang is a roller that needs total restoration. It has no motor, transmission, hood, right front fender, grill or interior.
On the plus side it's an A code car with standard transmission. The factory red is still there and has not been painted over. It's a nice solid car with no rust and all of the body parts fit real nice.
I plan to go with the Jerry Titus Trans Am Mustang theme and replace out the front and rear suspension with 9" leafs and coil overs up front. For the motor I am thinking a stroked 331 small block and a TKO for the transmission.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/11/67mustanghardtopdriverside-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/11/67reararea-1.jpg
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[csx4766]

I decided to go with a 9" rear end that my friend Pork beefed up for me along with some Moser axles and a N case 31 spline setup. I took the rear end over to Fearless Gear where they welded on torino bearing ends. Then dropped the rear housing at the powder coater.

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https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/11/67Mustangpumpkin-1.jpg

[csx4766]

The underneath is basically rust free. So I decided to clean it and repaint it the original color. I had some spray paint mixed up years ago that matches the original under coating.

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[csx4766]

Next I installed five leaf reverse eye springs and heavy duty shackles.

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Then in goes the rear end assembly

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[csx4766]

Next I installed the Fays2 Watts Link setup.

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[csx4766]

Brakes for the rear are Ford explorer Disc set up. Moser 31 Spline axles are bullet proof.

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[csx4766]

I also welded in a panel of stainless between the trunk and interior for safety and added stiffness. The stainless came from a damaged wine tank. Recycle right!

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[csx4766]

Here is a little more information on the Watts link set up. The Fays2 system is well designed however falls short in one area; mounting of the frame to the car. The shoulder bolts need to be change to have less shoulder and more threads. The bolt shoulder causes the bolt to stick out and he states to fill that gap with washers. The prices is very reasonable and he is a very nice guy.

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Original Trans Am car watts link set up.

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[csx4766]

I am going with Ron Morris front coil over set up. Super nice guy who is based right up 99 in Modesto CA. This should work real well.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/11/street_force_demo-1.jpg

[csx4766]

Cleaned up the backing plates on the Explorer disc brakes.
Drilled and tapped the rear end housing for line clamps for the brake line.
Installed Moser axles along with new brake rotors and brakes with new brake pads

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The wheels are just used to move the car around. I will be going with 17" wheels.

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[csx4766]

More often than not I have a list of to do items that I hope to get done in a given time. Well it did not happen over Thanksgiving. Seamed like that is two steps forward and one step back every day.

On Wed. I did get by my friends Marks shop "The Mustang Ranch of Fresno" :) and picked up a few items.

Here pinion snubber that came on the Shelby's and Mustang GT's that I picked up.

Before
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After
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[csx4766]

I also managed to get the sub frame connectors installed. It was one of those job where it would been cool to have some extra hands but then again I found a way to get it done on my own.

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[csx4766]

My friend who is a welder came over to help. After buying some steel, we went work further reinforcing the body's floor pan and underneath. Welded up the subframes and added some 1.5"X1" retangular tubing and attached it to the sub frame connectors using steel plate.

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[csx4766]

Removed the front suspension.

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[csx4766]

Well I pulled the steering assembly out, removed wiring and everything else that was under the dash.

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Need to figure out which holes to weld up on the fire wall. Plan to run vintage air.

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I have the roll bar positioned where it needs to be and plan to get it bolted in tomorrow.

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[csx4766]

It was a fun filled day and a lot of work on the body of the 1967 Mustang. My good friend Dave drove over from Salinas just to help me with the body work on the Mustang. We got quite a bit accomplished. I focused on the Radiator care support while dave focused on everything else. :)

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[csx4766]

More progress; We finished bracing the underside of the Mustang and moved to the front to finish the radiator core support and front apron. Certainly got a little help from a few friends. :) Tom is a retired auto body tech and well Pork is a certified welder who has been helping since the project started.

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We had the hood and fenders on numerous times. The right fender is a repop is not up to the quality i want for this build so it will be replaced. The hood will also be replaced with a poly fiber 67 Shelby style hood.

[csx4766]

Well about a little update on Project 67:

Still in the fabrication and fender straightening stage.

Lets go to the Boss 302 Modifications.

First I cleaned and primed the shock tower pockets then made a template out of card board.

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Then trasferred the cardboard template to metal.
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Then welded the plate in the pocket at a 45 degree angle.
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[csx4766]

Moved to the inside of the engine bay and welded the shock tower seams.
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[csx4766]

I also welded the roll bar backing plated to the inner fender wells and bottom of floor.

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After the backing plates were welded I coated the rear interior fender area.

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[csx4766]

Spent a few hours this week with the welder and a friend.

Filled in all the emblem and trim holes.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/11/HPIM0503-1.jpg

The fenders were 1968 model fenders so I made a patch for the side marker lights.

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Also took care of the hole for the antenna

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[csx4766]

Took the 67 down to Caps Powder Coating last Monday to get the front end and fenders soda blasted.

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[csx4766]

More work on the 67. Man what a mess when doing body work in the home garage.

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Fitting the headlight buckets

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[CruizinKev]

nice project! good work so far!

[Bryce]

sweet project. I cant wait to see this car done!

[WS6]

Good work so far. Keep it up. I love seeing these old cars turned into TA racers from back in the day.

[csx4766]

Well I have been working on the Mustang but it’s still going slow with other projects and work keeping me busy. Yesterday and today I am working on the front sub members. Using 3/16 steel plate to wrap the sub frame members in an effort to had strength and stiffness.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/11/HPIM0612-1.jpg


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[69X22]

looking good!

[705.0Merc]

Very nice.

[GHOSTDANCER]

Subscribed :twothumbs

[chunger]

Looking great! Be sure to check the cowl area for rust, this era Mustang are notorious for it.

What are the plans for the driveline?

[vprace]

nice work and cool project. I am curious whats the point of the watts linkage on a leaf spring car?

[csx4766]

Chunger, The only rust was a 6" X 6" spot in the drivers floor pan I replaced already and a 3'X#3" spot in the driver side rear quarter in the lower corner. I have a patch panel, but right now trying to decide how much of the patch panel I want to use.

Vprace,

Connect or replaces the left lower leaf spring shock plate. The other arm connects to a bracket mounted on the 9" dif.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/11/watts20front20view20500-1.jpg

Morgan

[csx4766]

I am starting to jump around to different areas on this project just because I have run across deals that were hard to pass on. First came a deal on a Boss 302 R block still in the box with the windage tray out of Landcaster. So I met the guy in bakersfield to make the exchange to save on shipping.

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Phoenix protecting valuable cargo.
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[csx4766]

Then the rods, don't tell the Boss block but we are going to shove Nissan H beam small journal rods. All in an effort to reduce rotational weight.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/12/HPIM0676-1.jpg

Now the kicker, here is the Bryant crankshaft which will give us a stroke of around 331 cubic inches. This is being shipped out of a Nascar shop from Mooresville NC.

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[csx4766]

Diamond Flat Top custom pistons are ordered and three weeks out. Much more to come, we should have a short block assembly pulled together by the end of January.

[csx4766]

So more parts arriving, I am now addicted to Nascar shop cast offs. Here we have four brake cooling duct that I will try to adapt to my brakes somehow. One of the ducts is marked as Mark Martin. Figure for the $5 dollars it cost me it's worth a shot. :D

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/brakeducts154-1.jpg

Then the is the MSD ignition box I also picked up from the same shop for 115 dollars it was a bargain.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/MSDIgn155-1.jpg


The wire are from Roush Yates shop.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/spakplugwires157-1.jpg

[csx4766]

The Boss 302 Block has been dropped off at Daves Performance and Engineering for final machining.

[racedaddy]

so how do you get in the know on the nascar parts?

[Bjkadron]

Awesome project! I really like these trans-am themes! do you by any chance have any more pictures of the old trans am car that you showed the Watts set-up on?

[csx4766]

Benjamin Here you go:

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[csx4766]

Race Daddy,

The best way to find them is to do a search for Nascar race parts or racing parts in both google and ebay. then do a search for team shops like roush yate racing.

[csx4766]

We considered several cam manufacturers including Comp and Cam Research but during my search for a cam I heard some really great things about Anderson Ford Motorsports and the cams they produce.

They are well known among the Fox bodied and newer Mustang guys and they have their own chassis dyno that they use to test their cams. If you go to their site they give real examples of different profiles and the chassis dyno results mapped out. Also customers cars with specs and 1/4 mile times.

http://www.andersonfordmotorsport.com/

I went with a Hyd. Roller that will be good over 7000 RPM’s. A guy I know has a similar Anderson grind in his fox bodied Mustang with a rotating assembly not near as good as mine, he said that he is making close to 600 HP at the flywheel and has revved it up to 8300RPM's with no damage to a Stock 5.0 Block.

http://www.andersonfordmotorsport.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=548&category_id=659&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1.

Heads will be custom order from AFR with Titanium retainers and keepers as well as larger intake valves and springs to match the cam profile 195/525 Spring Pressure.

Even with the Hydraulic Roller cam they said I should expect that there will be a lumpy idle and a motor that will really start to take off after 2800 RPM’s. Crossing my fingers on this one. All for wild and long and its manageable on the street.

The Hyd Roller Cam:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/1292011014-1.jpg

[csx4766]

Did some cleanup on the Parker Funnel web it will get bead blasted again. Then we will port match it to the AFR Heads.

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[FRENCHBLUE72]

Not much of a ford guy but nice work how long have you been working on this ride?

[csx4766]

A couple of years, it has been moving slow but picking up steam with the motor build starting to move a fast pace.

[csx4766]

We continues to move forward on the motor.
The AFR heads arrived with the ti retainers and keepers and LSX springs.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/03/March2011021-1.jpg

We mocked up the heads and intake on a 347 that belonged to one of the guys that worked at the shop.
It was determined that the head ports would need to be enlarged to match the intake ports on the funnel web.

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[csx4766]

I removed the valves and springs so Doug could port match the heads.

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[csx4766]

We are using a larger gasket which is a Fel Pro 1262R so there is no interference with air flow.
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Finished head

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[csx4766]

We picked the block up from Daves Performance
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Here is the block before I pulled it apart to wash and paint it.
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I scrubbed the block clean before coating the internal area with glyptal. I spray the outside of the block glosss black.

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[csx4766]

Last thing to do on todays agenda is install that Bryant crank.
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[Bryce]

Great progress

[kmdracer]

Very Nice! Should be a screamer!

[RicerwannaB]

Looks great!

[craigs73]

sweet car!! where you gonna mount the brake ducts on front

[csx4766]

Thanks guys.

The Bryant crank will certainly will make the motor heart beat fast.

Every corner will have some form of brake duct to provide ventilation to the brakes. I have four that I can play with. Just trying to figure out where to grab the air in the rear.

[Bullockracing]

Can you make the side vents functional? I personally just don't like non-functional scoops/vents, but there's two in front of each rear tire...

[csx4766]

Yeah I am with you but I do not want to go with the traditional 67 Shelby scoops. I am thinking about it, sure I will come up with something but its not at the top of the list right now.

[craigs73]

Can you make the side vents functional? I personally just don't like non-functional scoops/vents, but there's two in front of each rear tire...

thats my first choice or if your really serious about the race theme/look you can use the quarter windows like in nascar

[gjs14]

what brand is you roll bar? and will the stock side panels fit w/the roll bar?