Another $5,000 Mustang Build

[dagregor]

Unfortunately for you guys it's not Ron doing the build. Fortunately for me it's mine! The actual budget is $5,500, but Ron's shot for $5k so I thought it would make the title more interesting. Mine is a 67 coupe, originally a straight 6, vinyl top, but plans include the following:

Coil over front suspension
13" discs up front, 12" in the rear
Rack and Pinion
Mini-tubs
Full roll cage
Subtle fender flares (all metal)
Subtle body mods hand fabbed by me (no fiberglass or plastic kits here)


The Undecideds:
Motor: possibly a modular, possibly an older 5.0, ??? Suggestions?
Tranny: 5 speed, but it will depend on the donor. possibly a beefed up T5 or a T45, no T56 (too expensive, long and heavy)
Rear Suspension: 4 Link, possibly IRS if I find a good Mark VIII donor car

I'm following a few similar build threads, although none of them have the budget constraints that I do. Either motor I go with can be built up relatively cheaply if you shop around. Craigslist and Ebay have tons of used stuff.

I'd like to be able to push 300-325 hp within the $5,500 budget and then of course more horses later on.

Any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks in advance for all of your help.

[dagregor]

By the way, is this in the wrong message board?

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

nope, but...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[Nessumsar]

^^^^ What he said.

I would think an older 5.0 would be the best bet for an engine. Should be pretty easy to meet you HP goal with some swapmeet parts.

[dagregor]

Got it. I'll post some pics tonight or tomorrow.

[srh3trinity]

Maybe a 5.8 from a Ford truck of the same era as the 5.0 Fox bodies.

[dagregor]

Here's a shot of what my "workshop" looks like right now. It's my biggest handicap. We're still looking for a house so right now we're living in an apartment without a garage so I'm having to rent a storage unit to store the car and do my work in.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/05/DSCF80751-1.jpg

Here's what I'm starting with. Somehow I lost my pictures of what it looked like bringing it home on the trailer. The only pictures I have are after the whole front end was removed.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/05/DSCF80761-1.jpg

The floors had already been replaced, but they did a pretty crappy job so there will a lot of clean up on sloppy welds and some other laziness. Other than that it's in pretty good shape. There's a little rust on the inner wheel wells, but I'm planning to minitub and a little rust at the bottom of the driver's side door.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/05/DSCF80771-1.jpg

I finally got all of the front suspension removed yesterday (no new pics). I'll start tearing down the sheet metal tonight and hopefully get must of the front suspension supports fabbed up this weekend.

[Norm Peterson]

Miscellaneous thoughts . . . what do you envision for this car?

If it's street-driven and autocrossed only, you won't need the cage, which represents a hazard to unhelmeted heads anyway.


The Undecideds:
Motor: possibly a modular, possibly an older 5.0, ??? Suggestions?
Whether newer or older, hydraulic roller cam. If finances permit (or engine condition unexpectedly dictates), maybe consider a 331 stroker kit. I'm less enthusiastic about the 347's.



Tranny: 5 speed, but it will depend on the donor. possibly a beefed up T5 or a T45, no T56 (too expensive, long and heavy)
Might try to find a Tremec TR3550. It's a bit stronger than the T5's and should be enough for any stroker version of that 5.0.



Rear Suspension: 4 Link, possibly IRS if I find a good Mark VIII donor car
IRS sounds difficult given the cost constraint (not to mention the difficulty). I'm guessing that drag racing is not expected to be the car's main purpose, so perhaps consider a 3-link (similar to what all of the S197 Mustangs run) or a torque arm. Triangulated 4-links can be made to work reasonably well, but starting with the pivot point locations on a Fox 8.8" rear isn't the way to go about it.


On edit - as your build progresses, you might ask for this thread to be moved over into 'Project Updates'.


Norm

[dagregor]

Thanks, Norm. I'll definitely keep all of your suggestions in consideration.

I found a TR3550 for sale for $650 that I'm keeping my eye on. It's already got a bellhousing that'll fit a 4.6 so that's a plus.

IRS is something I'd like to have, but don't NEED.

I'm up for as much advice as anyone's willing to give. That's really the main reason that I want to post my project in the forum. Most of you guys probably have more experience than I do so I'm always open to suggestions.

...also, how do you get a thread moved?

[Norm Peterson]

Find a moderator or an administrator and ask nicely?


Norm

[19,69camaro]

I would say your best bet for the rearend would be a complete dropout from a 05 and up mustang gt. That way you get a 3-link, panhard bar, brakes and lines all included. From what I remeber they were going for about $800. You cant build a rear for that

[Dobster]

Nice start. Keep up the great work.