66 mustang, tci, coyote, t56

[tigerracer]

Hi all, I finally got some time to start posting the build of this 1966 Mustang coupe. The car will have TCI suspension front and rear, Ford Motorsport Coyote crate motor and a T56 Magnum. I'm starting this post a little late in the build, so I'll bring you up to date. Body and all other sheet metal was chemically stripped, most of the bodywork is done, body is in primer, interior and trunk have been painted. The TCI front crossmember is welded in place and all the rear suspension parts that are bolted to the undercarriage have been fitted.Coyote engine was a recent customer change so we are going a little backwards.
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Dales Restorations
San Bernardino, Ca

[JBCO]

Looks awesome and sounds like a sweet build. Did you guys order the T-56 Magnum yet? I was thinking of possibly going that route also.

Good luck with the project :)

[jr4452]

Looks like a great foundation to start with! I'm working on a 65 coupe, wont be as extreme as your project, but I'm looking forward to watching yours progress and snagging ideas from you!

[tigerracer]

5580655807558095581055811Time to start fitting the Coyote motor and T56 Magnum which was purchased from American Powertrain. The plan for this install was to get the engine as far back and down as reasonably practical to help overcome the forward weight bias that all mustangs have. Upon initial fitment of the engine we had to notch the TCI crossmember for oil pan clearance and decided to take out the stock firewall. We also had to cut the top of the trans tunnel in order to get the correct driveline angle.

Dales Restorations
San Bernardino, Ca

[craigs73]

nice looking start gonna be a fun ride :machine:

[*ryno*]

did you use the coyote tci x member/kit or just a std one?

[Dalamar]

sub frame looks great, and I love the cyotee motor, it pulls at all RPM's
any plans for the boss IM"?

[tigerracer]

Hi Ryno, its the std TCI crossmember as the build was originally for a 302 engine. No plan for the boss IM, at the moment.
This build changes often.

Dale

[tigerracer]

The motor mounts are TCI, I believe they are for 4.6 and 5.4 engines, they move the motor back and down in comparison to the coyote mounts. Sal if your reading correct me if I'm wrong. As for the trans mount, I decided to make part of TCI frame connector/torque arm mount do double duty since the tubing TCI uses is stout enough and it was there. Since the cylinder heads on the coyote are huge, it was impossible to fit any std master cylinder and since I like my master cylinders and reservoirs in the engine compartment, not inside the car, I decided to use a wilwood pedal assy with the 75 series master cylinders which are about 3.5" long. Heres some pics of the motor and trans mounts, firewall and pedal assy.

Dales Restorations
San Bernardino, Ca

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[Chad-1stGen]

Looks great!! That thing is going to be a beast!

[csx4766]

Real nice project. I like your wilwood pedal assembly.

[dougnugent1]

Wow this project is very cool. You are doing a great job.

[85coupe50]

very nice!

[MichaelUser]

Very cool Dale. Nice to see you here. You bought my buddy's Tiger that was a one owner car, back 4-5 years ago. Mark P is his name.
Where did you get the car stripped?

Thanks

[tigerracer]

Hi MichaelUser, Hemming Sport and Exotic Car did a 6 page article on that Tiger, it will be in the April issue. Say hi to Mark

[Throttle]

Very Cool..

[tigerracer]

The car was chemically stripped at a company in Santa Ana, called Strip Clean

[tigerracer]

I fabricated a support structure for the Wilwood pedal assy, tying into the factory mounting under the dash. Next I located and installed the gas pedal assy supplied with the coyote motor. I started to fit the Ididit steering column and I learned I had an oh ****! When I first measured for the brake pedal assy, I had the pedals stradling the column, but then I started allowing bfor the gas pedal assy which is huge. I ended up moving the brake pedal assy over to accomodate the gas pedal and forgot about the steering column. Well I like to play with my mill, so I ended up machining a custom brake pedal
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[LowFast]

^ Sweet pedal, almost to nice to hide up under the dash.

[GrabberGT]

Im curious about your plans for exhaust. You haven't left any room for a crossover/x-pipe. I have the same problem with my TCI torque arm.

[tigerracer]

Hi Grabber, to be honest with you I haven't given the exhaust a thought. I'll have the engine and trans back in the car as soon as I get my car out of the way, doing some prep for RTTC. I'm not to worried about a x-pipe or crossover as the use of them is more for sound control than any kind of horsepower gain. There is a real science to locating a crossover for any power gain.

Dales Restoration
San Bernardino

[jr4452]

Beautiful work so far! I'm. Following this one, looks great!

[Crestronwizard]

Subscribed! Looking great!

[ochohill]

You might look into front torque boxes.

[65 Fastback]

Definitely want to follow along with this build. The brake pedal looks so good, have you considered milling your clutch and gas pedals to match? You could then ship me the Wilwoods!!

Looks great,
Tim

[MichaelUser]

Will do. Funny you say that because he called me about the story. Cool.

[MichaelUser]

The car was chemically stripped at a company in Santa Ana, called Strip Clean

Great thanks. I know that place and was wondering if they were still around. Thanks

[tigerracer]

I'm finally back on this project. I have two Shelbys in the shop, one of them wants to go to the MiniNats.
Heres a couple of pics showing the mod to the TCI crossmember I made for oil pan clearance. The piece I
cut out, I turned over and welded back in.
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[Sales-TCI-Eng]

I am glad to see this project moving forward and can't wait to see it meet the pavement.

-Jason

[Auto Rod Technologies]

You may want to consider making those pedals. I had a project that may have worked on. lol

[tigerracer]

I did make two of them as I have a 67 fastback of my own that someday I'll get a chance to work on.

[tigerracer]

Heres a couple of pics of the completed firewall and trans tunnel. I have a 66 Mustang that we have beencutting up for parts, so I used the tunnel to fit over the T56. Saved the customer some money over me fabricating one.

[joorloop]

I'm finally back on this project. I have two Shelbys in the shop, one of them wants to go to the MiniNats.
Heres a couple of pics showing the mod to the TCI crossmember I made for oil pan clearance. The piece I
cut out, I turned over and welded back in.
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Looks good!

I did what you did with your crossmember. Just curious, how much clearance did you have on the bottom part of the oil pan to the crossmember? I only have about 1/8 in.
I may have to grind some more on the crossmember.


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[ochohill]

You may look into bracing the firewall at the pedals. The 65/6 uses the stock column to brace the dash/firewall from flexing when pushing in the clutch. I have a modified column and a cable actuated clutch. The firewall flexes when the clutch is pushed in. Enough to give it some spongeness in my opinion.

[feeble]

Subscribed, I'm watching this one closely. Do you have any pictures of the bottom of the engine with the oil pan in place? I'm trying to make some rough guesstimates on what it would take to get a coyote into a Mustang II.

[fordsbyjay]

You may look into bracing the firewall at the pedals. The 65/6 uses the stock column to brace the dash/firewall from flexing when pushing in the clutch. I have a modified column and a cable actuated clutch. The firewall flexes when the clutch is pushed in. Enough to give it some spongeness in my opinion.

If you look back at post 18 the brake pedals are mounted to a 1" sq tubing brace from the dash to the firewall similar to the factory setup. This is very similar to how I built my brace as well but I have not put any miles on it yet.


I fabricated a support structure for the Wilwood pedal assy, tying into the factory mounting under the dash. Next I located and installed the gas pedal assy supplied with the coyote motor. I started to fit the Ididit steering column and I learned I had an oh ****! When I first measured for the brake pedal assy, I had the pedals stradling the column, but then I started allowing bfor the gas pedal assy which is huge. I ended up moving the brake pedal assy over to accomodate the gas pedal and forgot about the steering column. Well I like to play with my mill, so I ended up machining a custom brake pedal
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[tigerracer]

Joorloop and feeble, I'll take some pics of the bottom of the engine/ crossmember as soon as I get the engine/ trans assy back in the car.
Ochohill, I built a similar brace for a vintage race Mustang and had no firewall flex at all. With the support of the dash on the inside and the inner fender being so close to the pedal box on the outside it is well braced.

Dales Restorations
San Bernardino, Ca

[joorloop]

Joorloop and feeble, I'll take some pics of the bottom of the engine/ crossmember as soon as I get the engine/ trans assy back in the car.
Ochohill, I built a similar brace for a vintage race Mustang and had no firewall flex at all. With the support of the dash on the inside and the inner fender being so close to the pedal box on the outside it is well braced.

Dales Restorations
San Bernardino, Ca

No worries tigerracer, I went ahead and cut another 1/4 in. off the bottom. I have plenty of space now for the engine to sag or just float. I welded and grinded the piece of metal and a came out looking nice. I will try and post a picture tomorrow. Thanks for your help.

[tigerracer]

Installed the torque boxes.
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[ochohill]

I am building a similar car with a T56. My rubber tranny mount is toast and I can't find another one. Would you mind giving me some dimensions on your poly mount and or a part number?

Thank you.

Also, I have a 66 with the stock firewall and pedal assembly and mine flexes. The dash won't hold squat. If you look below the clutch you have the steering shaft hole. That is where it will flex.
Try pusing on it with your foot. If it moves with a gentle push what will it do with a lever on it?

[tigerracer]

Ochohill, the trans mount came from American Powertrain Product.
The only time I've seen some minor firewall flex was under extreme braking on a vintage Shelby with the stock pedal mounting brackets. I'm talking going into turn 11 at Infineon and oops I missed my brake marker.
Are you missing some bracing under your dash, i.e. has someone cut out the brace behind the gauge panel
for some aftermarket gauges?

Dales Restorations
San Bernardino

[fordsbyjay]

I am building a similar car with a T56. My rubber tranny mount is toast and I can't find another one. Would you mind giving me some dimensions on your poly mount and or a part number?

Thank you.

Also, I have a 66 with the stock firewall and pedal assembly and mine flexes. The dash won't hold squat. If you look below the clutch you have the steering shaft hole. That is where it will flex.
Try pusing on it with your foot. If it moves with a gentle push what will it do with a lever on it?

The wilwood pedals do not mount to the firewall. They mount to the sq tubing between the dash and the firewall so the whole dash would have to flex too.

[ochohill]

I had a car with a Unisteer manual rack, T5z and a cable actuated stock clutch. The stock pedal assembly was used. The firewall was stock.

When switching to the Unisteer rack, you remove the old box and cut the tube for a supplied shaft. The stock box/shaft assembly braces the dash to the front subframe. The pedal assembly braces the firewall to the dash. A passenger noticed my dash moving in and out everytime I pushed on the clutch. The dash has zero strength. The firewall doesn't have much more. It isn't moving a lot maybe 3/16". I was suprised when I found it. My only real concern is the flex getting worse from miles of driving.

My second build will use the same rack. I have smoothed the firewall like you did. Eventually, I plan on adding some bracing once the master and brake lines get sorted out.

[joorloop]

After much researching I found a mount that fits the 03-04 Cobras T-56. I purchased this at Amazon.com...Prothane 6-1605 Red Transmission Mount Kit

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[tigerracer]

Ochohill, the outer housing of the steering column does very little bracing as the end of the tube at the steering box is not really connected, there is a big rubber grommet to hold it in place and keep dirt out of the tube. You say the firewall flexes during clutch pedal movement, how about under braking? I have used cable actuated clutch assy (Modern Driveline) and the cables mount above the master cylinder, I'm baffled on how that could flex the firewall. Do you have any pics of your dash/firewall?

Dales Restorations
San Bernardino,Ca

[ochohill]

Joorloop,

I would greatly appreciate some bolt spacing and height dimensions of that mount. I found 2 T56 mounts. They are different. I need the one that matches what I have, since I made a custom tranny crossmember based off that mount. Thank you in advance.

Tigerracer,

The 66 was a test mule for my current build. I used it to test multiple steering, tranny, engine and rear end combos. Currently it sits with the stock steering. I don't think I have any pictures.
I never checked under braking. It only sported wilwood 4 wheel discs and pedal effort was nice. The clutch was a bit stiff. One thing to note was I used a mustangsteve cable clutch setup. This increases the lever on the pedal.

Isn't the column tied to the inner shaft via the bearing, steering wheel and nut?

The installation instructions are on this page in the blue link.
http://www.unisteer.com/search_by_product/hot_buys/4096_1965-66_mustang_manual_rack_pinion.html

[joorloop]

Joorloop,

I would greatly appreciate some bolt spacing and height dimensions of that mount. I found 2 T56 mounts. They are different. I need the one that matches what I have, since I made a custom tranny crossmember based off that mount. Thank you in advance.

Tigerracer,

The 66 was a test mule for my current build. I used it to test multiple steering, tranny, engine and rear end combos. Currently it sits with the stock steering. I don't think I have any pictures.
I never checked under braking. It only sported wilwood 4 wheel discs and pedal effort was nice. The clutch was a bit stiff. One thing to note was I used a mustangsteve cable clutch setup. This increases the lever on the pedal.

Isn't the column tied to the inner shaft via the bearing, steering wheel and nut?

The installation instructions are on this page in the blue link.
http://www.unisteer.com/search_by_product/hot_buys/4096_1965-66_mustang_manual_rack_pinion.html


I hate this Arizona Heat, I'm in the garage for 3 minutes and begin to sweat......

Ochohill,

The dimensions are rough estimates but pretty close.
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[ochohill]

Thank you Joorloop,

Is the tranny mount part about 5.5" wide(guessing from picture)? I am assuming all T56 have the same mounting dimension here, but I am not sure. I am not sure why you mentioned the AZ heat but I live in Queen Creek. I usually wait for the sun to go down and crank the cooler in the garage. A cold glass of water and a wet hat help too.

[tigerracer]

Ochohill, yes the bearing, etc, ties it together at the top, but ther is nothing on the bottom at the steering box. I wonder if your clutch cable was running out of travel and allowing the outer cable housing to pull on the firewall mount. Just a thought.

PS. Its pretty toasty in San Berdoo

Dale

[ace_xp2]

Walt Hane makes a firewall brace to help with flex. Don't know how much is there, but that at least points to it being a factor:
http://eps-hane.com/MasterCylinder.html

[Jetfixr320]

If that brace is the one I'm thinking of, it has support tubes that runs up to another plate that bolts to the shock tower.
And if Tigerracer is installing a TCI IFS, he wont have shocktowers anymore. I just made a doubler out of 1/8" plate I think? To pick up my Brake master and the Hyd clutch master. So far it's been good.

Steve

[tigerracer]

Hi Ace,
If you know Walt, tell him Dale said hello. He bought some 289 steel cranks from me a few years back. Also tell him Ron Dykes said hello. He will get a laugh out of that.
If you look at my mounting bracket the Wilwood pedal assy
mounts to an 1/8" plate which is then supported back to the dash. With using two master cylinders that have a much smaller bore size than using a single, the force is less and it is spred out across a larger area of the firewall.

Dales Restorations
San Bernardino, Ca

[ramlinman]

how is this coming?

[tigerracer]

This project is moving very slowly, as the owner needs to knock off a few 7/11 to continue. The car is assembled and sitting with borrowed wheels on its suspension. I will post some pics tomorrow.

Dales Restorations
San Berdoo, ca

[GhostKT]

Tigerracer, I'm working on the same build and I have concerns with the location of the motor. Are you going to run into hood clearance issues? If so, are you concerned with the location of the motor?

Other than the notching of the cross member, did you have to do any other modifications to the TCI setup?

[Crestronwizard]

I don't know about the TCi setup, but I would have been good with hood clearance if I didn't use a blower and that was with doing a body drop.

[tigerracer]

Sorry for not responding sooner. I have not been paying to much attention to this thread since the car has been sitting for a while. There is plenty of hood clearance, but I am using the motor mounts for the 4.6 and 5.4 engines, which move the engine back and down a little bit. I know TCI supplies motor mounts for the coyote front end kit which moves the engine forward and up, so you don't have to modify the firewall, but I understand it still fits under the hood. I'll try to post some updated pics, since I'm getting back on the car.

Dale
Dales Restorations
San Berdoo

[tigerracer]

7964179642Here are a couple pics showing the status of the car. It is sitting at ride height on a set of Panasports off my Tiger.
Engine, trans and ecu installed with wiring routed. AC unit is fitted under dash. I will be back on this project next week.

Dale
Dales Restorations
San Berdoo

[linkstar69]

Interesting project

[Z06killinSBF]

I like it, are those wheels staying on it or similar?

[tigerracer]

Hi Z06,
I am pretty sure they are going to stay on the car with a 50 or 55 series tire. The tires on it now are 45 series.
Personally, I think it is a good look, kinda 67 trans am on a 66.

[MichaelUser]

Looks good...

[Z06killinSBF]

Any updates?

[Burmaboy]

Wow !!! I saw everything !!! That's amazing !!! WOW !!! It's like my dream car. You certainly bought the best of the best parts for it. Wilwood brakes too !! WOW ! Leave it to the Americans to provide cheap horsepower. 420hp for $7K, amazing. Porsche would charge $50K.

[joorloop]

tigerracer, any updates?