Johnny's 65 Mustang Resto Mod Pro-Touring Project

[19Mustang65]

First off I am a newb to this forum and I am begining my journey restoring restomodding my 65 mustang. Second I hope I have posted this in the right location. Now I will begin tear down. This car sat in a storage unit in the desert in Arizona for 4 Years and before that it sat in my garage for 2 years. I have finally gotten to a point in my career where I have time to do this and I can afford to do this. I also hope I can use this as a tool to make some new friends and network a little bit. I got some great ideas and maybe there someone on this forum that can help get this done. 76593762847625276253762547625076260762917628876285 76282762667626376292762617626276289762807627976278 76283762517626776264762937627776290762877626876269 76281762657628676256762587625976272762737627676255 762747627576271

[Spork82]

Looks great! keep up the good work. I just started on my 68 Fastback that's been hidden in the garage for 15 years. I know you feel now that you can finally put in some work and get it going.

[19Mustang65]

Thanks Spork82, I plan on it. I am glad that we have gotten to a place where we can start on our projects. I truly love old classic way more than the new cars. I am the fourth owner of the car it started life in California. Bought new by a young man who kept it his whole life. When he died he passed it down to his son who kept it through his life and then when he passed he gave it to his son who sold it to me for a 1000 dollars. It was rearended and slightly banged up in the rear but I gave the kid a 1K and drove the car home.

[19Mustang65]

The glass comes out next.

[dpruden]

Awesome. Congrats on the successful career. I am working on getting there too.

[Spork82]

I lost all motivation for old cars after high school, got in to imports for the past 11 years since it was a new thing where I live and now that Im older and have little more time and money its back to old cars and can appreciate them.

Whats the plan for the car? restoration with newer components or full blown P-T?

I just finished up a Rod & Customs 4-link and going to start on the MII front end once I get back from vacation.

More pics!

[19Mustang65]

76367763687636976370763667638576382763877638076386 763837638176384 Alll the glass was original glass and I was really looking forward to cleaning it up and reinstalling it. Unfortunately the windshield has some really severe delaminations in it and will have to be discarded. That bums me out a little. Also found out my cars original color was imperial green. Possibly the worst color they ever put on these beauties.

[19Mustang65]

Long weekend coming up looking forward to deconstruction time. TEAR-IT DOWN! That is supposed to be
really just two words kinda like the rednecks on my side of the family.

[19Mustang65]

I lost all motivation for old cars after high school, got in to imports for the past 11 years since it was a new thing where I live and now that Im older and have little more time and money its back to old cars and can appreciate them.

Whats the plan for the car? restoration with newer components or full blown P-T?

I just finished up a Rod & Customs 4-link and going to start on the MII front end once I get back from vacation.

More pics!

I too am using the Rod & Customs Suspension Components. I bought the Mustang II Front End Conversion with coil overs and I bought R&C's 4 Link as well. I am looking forward to seeing this stang in it's new stance after I am finsihed with it. I am for sure going to try and go all in on this project. I would really like a head turning P-T car.

[19Mustang65]

Awesome. Congrats on the successful career. I am working on getting there too.

Thanks, a lot of hard work and some determination with the great support of loving woman. She is really the back bone behind this whole family. dpruden make your career your obsession and strive every day to make that choice a reality and you will be there before you know it.

[19Mustang65]

Got a long week end coming up. Should be able to get a lot done. Time to take the car apart. I will post up a picture of what it looked like when I bought it.

[19Mustang65]

Moved picture to the top.

[dpruden]

For a grand, I am surprised it even ran!

[Spork82]

You will surprised how easy the 4-link goes in. Took me about 10 hours including removal.

I would weld it in, they give you the hardware I just used the extra plates to gusset the sway bar bracket and shimming.

What rear end did you go with?

[19Mustang65]

For a grand, I am surprised it even ran!
What, please not a non believer. Yup the kid I bought it from drove it to work where I worked in Reno Nevada pretty much every day. The cool thing is after 4.5 years being stored in a storage unit in the middle of no where Arizona the car started right up and I drove up on to my auto transporter.when I brought it home.

[19Mustang65]

dpruden I mean you no disrespect. It was a bit refreshing to find out that the 289 just had a fresh rebuild. I really feel that I got lucky.

[19Mustang65]

@ Spork82

I am planning on using the rod and custom triangulated 4 link rear coil over conversion kit

[Spork82]

Yep that's what I used, I put in a 8.8 rear end and about to shorten it by 2". That's the max you can shorten the rear end for this kit.

[19Mustang65]

Spork I have a 9" out of a 69 galaxie gt 500 that I have narrowed and shaved, added a a drain plug in the center of the housing with a Strange third member case powder coated Bubba Blue, Tru-Trac Posi, 3.55, Daytona Pinion Support, new big master bearing kit, 2 new 31 splinned hardened axles with axle seals, and a new diff gasket.

[19Mustang65]

Well After removing the tail light panel I discovered the damage goes a little deeper. The rear trunk brace and lower tail light panel support bracket is damaged and must nee replaced. Pictures posted soon. getting ready to take it to media blast

[19Mustang65]

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[Z06killinSBF]

This looks very familiar. Might as well mini tub it!

[19Mustang65]

thought about tubing it long and hard Decided not to because of the possibility of milleage and four tire rotation. It is still in the back of my noggin though. Thanks for the sugestion.

[19Mustang65]

Taking it apart is really easy. I know putting it back together is going to be the real chore. But in the mean time lets do some customizing.

[19Mustang65]

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We are blanking out the cowls next.

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Next up Media blast. Also paying to a have some primer shot on it.

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Were taking the engine and transmission out next.

[19Mustang65]

This post is obviously out of sequence. The engine and trans came out long before we got to the point of shaving the drip rails or blanking out the cowls. Finally got the engine and transmission out. Little 289 with 3 speed was easy to get out. I dont think the 429 ThunderJet is going to be as easy going in. LOL got to get the shock towers out first.

[19Mustang65]

I modified the radiator brace and front support so in the future I could install a larger radiator and electric fans. I did this before I took the engine out just forgot to put in the pictures.

[AusMarty]

What are your plans for the suspension mate?

[19Mustang65]

Got the Mustang II Front Coilover Conversion Kit for the rear and the Triangluated 4 bar Coilover Conversion for the Rear all from Rod and Customs Motorsports out of South Carolina.

[GT500KR_Vert]

I have the same Rod & Custom front and rear setup on my car with a 429SCJ engine.

[19Mustang65]

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[19Mustang65]

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I still have to install the mini tubs and flares. But the car is on the way home from Portland Oregon and should be here by Saturday 7/19/14

[Z06killinSBF]

Looks good

[lucky13firebird]

You plan on keeping the cowl closed or was that to keep media out of it? If it's staying closed I'm curious as to how you'll keep the windshield defrosted... what brakes you going with?

[agoristmike]

I gotta know who made your hood/decklid hinges.

[Auto Rod Technologies]

What kind of dirt bike is that in the back ground... lol.. Good luck on you're project too!!

[19Mustang65]

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Thanks for brining up the deal about the cowl. That's a good question. I am keeping it closed and I am installing a nice sleek side vent and plumbing it to the cowl drain area. I am also installing an A/C, heater, defroster in the car so I am not to worried about it.

[19Mustang65]

What kind of dirt bike is that in the back ground... lol.. Good luck on you're project too!!

It is a 2011 KTM 350 SXf.

[19Mustang65]

I gotta know who made your hood/decklid hinges.

My Hood and trunk hinges were made by Ring Brothers. They are really slick. The machining is really nice and tolerances are tight. The action in the hinge is also really smooth.

http://ringbrothers.com/1965-1968-mustang-coupe-billet-trunk-hinge-kit-solid-frame-541.html
http://ringbrothers.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/5/0/50658-8014n.jpg

http://ringbrothers.com/1965-1966-mustang-billet-hood-hinge-kit-air-frame-840.html
http://ringbrothers.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/5/0/50656-1012N_1.jpg

[19Mustang65]

I am going with the big 13" wildwood brake kits in red. All 4 corners 6 piston disc brakes with rear having the incorporated parking brake.

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This will give you an idea of just how big the rotors are on this thing! And no my wife does not have a tiny head and yes she is taken.... Not available. Lol

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[lucky13firebird]

That suckers gonna FLY. A big block ford and those brakes.... now it just needs insane amounts of rubber to keep it on the road during corners. And as much weight like the battery to be relocated to the trunk.

[19Mustang65]

The Battery is going in the trunk regardless. I got to make space for the turbos up front. I am trying to find ways to get the biggest tires on the front and the rear. Like I said before I am going to be doing the mini tub kit in the back with maier quarter flares. I should be able to get a 9 or 10 inch wheel in the back. I am trying to figure out ways of getting the largest tires I can up front. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[I_make_oil]

I installed the DSE mini tub kit. It also comes with the parts needed to narrow your frame rails. I have 315's on the rear of my car I run a 10.5" wheel. On the front I have 255's on a 8" wheel. How wide are you trying to go?

[19Mustang65]

I installed the DSE mini tub kit. It also comes with the parts needed to narrow your frame rails. I have 315's on the rear of my car I run a 10.5" wheel. On the front I have 255's on a 8" wheel. How wide are you trying to go?

Ultimately my goal was to run 9" in all 4 corners but I am starting to believe that is an unachievable goal for the front. I started out thinking I was going to build a daily driver with modern suspension and fuel injection but now I am trying to build something with a little more show appeal and drive on the weekends and when it is clear out on Fridays to work. The mini tubs I was going to use in the rear:

http://www.autoworksparts.com/wheel_tub_kit.htm

http://www.autoworksparts.com/wheel_tub_pic.jpg

That will give me the 18 x 10 I want to run in the rear. Now I want to at least run 17 x 8 upfront. I heard it is difficult to get 8" wide up front but I will have an advantage by installing the maier fender flares for the front. I already bought the flares and I am just waiting for the car to get here so I can get started cutting her up some more.

[I_make_oil]

Check Stangaholics. They just came out with new fiberglass front fenders that have a nice flare to them. With the R&C front suspension and those flares you should be able to run a 8" front wheel no problem.

[19Mustang65]

Check Stangaholics. They just came out with new fiberglass front fenders that have a nice flare to them. With the R&C front suspension and those flares you should be able to run a 8" front wheel no problem.

I will look into Stangaholics but I already welded on a Ronster all metal ground effects kit so I can modify but not loose the fenders to keep the lines correct. And I feel your right about that and I should be able to tuck 8" really nice into that fender with that setup.

[Camberdually]

Whose duck tail spoiler is that and how is the fit? Great looking project. Thanks.

[Z06killinSBF]

I'm running a 8" wheel on the front with stock fenders and no issue. I'm currently trying to squeeze some 17x9's on the front.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/07/image_zpsbf3aba9f-1.jpg (http://s9.photobucket.com/user/Z06killinSBF/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsbf3aba9f.jpg.html)

Hopefully I'll have my spacers this weekend and I'll bolt everything up and see where I'm at.

[19Mustang65]

@ZO6killinSBF - I am glad to see that the 17 x 9 will fit in there with a little help from the flares. Yours turned out real nice and flush with the fender flares. Looks great. What is the BS on your wheels in the front

[I_make_oil]

He has stock front suspension I think. Your R&C will fit different. I think you will be narrower hub to hub. I have a TCI IFS front and it's 1/2" narrower hub to hub I plan on running 255's on a 8" wheel.

[Z06killinSBF]

I have no flares and am on stock suspension. Spacers showed up today but I ordered hubcentric and the won't fit over my rotors, so a little machine work is called for.

[19Mustang65]

Whose duck tail spoiler is that and how is the fit? Great looking project. Thanks.

The Spoiler was from Mustangstofear.com It did not fit very well. I had a lot of massaging to get the quarter extensions to work with the OEM trunk lid. Made the opening a little to narrow. I wound up shaving down the quarter extensions and re-fiber glassing them to get them to fit the lid. Will post up some pictures.

[Spork82]

Car is coming along really good! Any idea what colour your gonna go for?

Also is that a MTF rear bumper? How was the fitment on it?

[19Mustang65]

Car is coming along really good! Any idea what colour your gonna go for?

Also is that a MTF rear bumper? How was the fitment on it?

Yeah it is a MTF rear bumper. It did not fit very well either. It came in missing a bolt. It had came loose and had fallen into the bracing. I will post up some pictures.

[19Mustang65]

Pictures are not uploading now for some reason. Trying to figure it out. Got bumper pictures and rear spoiler pictures that are not uploading will be back.

[19Mustang65]

I am torn when it comes to the paint. Was wanting to do a grabber blue with staggered rectangular varying colors of blue fading from midnight metallic blue to the grabber blue. I am also putting a white 72 on the side inside a midnight metallic blue circle. Hard to describe.

[19Mustang65]

The First picture show one of the pre-fab'd bolts missing. The bolt had gotten pushed into the part.

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We got the bumper test fit after getting the bolt issue straightened out and these are the results. It did not sit square to the Quarter Panels and Extensions.
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After some extensive work I was able to get the bumper lined up really nice.
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Still got some tweeking to do on it but it is going to look great when it is done.
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[19Mustang65]

I mentioned earlier that the Spoiler was from Mustangtofear when it was actually from Nevada Fiberglass Specialties.

https://www.fiberglassspecialtiesnv.com/

Below are some pictures on how it went together. I have the quarters molded on first. Which was a mistake. I should have checked the clearances with the fiberglass bolted to it before fitting the tail light panel to make sure there was proper clearances.

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[85coupe50]

How's your project coming along?

[Dalamar]

Great progress, she's looking good.
I have the same front end conversion on my car. like it.
The blue paint on your suspension looks great. looking forward to updates.

[19Mustang65]

I have got the Mini-Tubs in. We used steel wheel wells for a enclosed trailer. They take some modification obviously but worked out well.

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[19Mustang65]

Not sure why pictures got posted up out of sequence or some got skipped but that is the just of it. Anyways post is about using trailer wheel wells to make inner and outer wheel well housing for 1965 Mustang.

1 - My goal was to create as large of wheel well possible without cutting the frame rails. So a set of trailer wheel wells made out of heavy gauge sheet metal was used.
2 - Used one rolled factory edge of wheel well as inside corner and removed outside rolled lip towards quarter panel.
3 - Spliced in rolled sheet metal of equal gauge to complete tube all the way towards the quarter panels.
4 - Spliced in rolled sheet metal to complete lower parts of wheel wells completing the tub.
5 - Finish stitch welding all seams all around.

I hope this helps someone in the future make some room for larger wheels in tires on their classic cars.

[19Mustang65]

I really liked the 1968 Mustang Hood on the 1965 Mustang however I did not like the ridge down the center of the hood so I removed it.

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More pictures to come as hood gets finished.

[19Mustang65]

I also Have a 1998 Lincoln Mark 8 4.6 liter 32 valve engine with 40,000 miles getting ready for rebuild with all forged steel reciprocating parts as well as stroking it to 5.0. Looking to twin turbo this beast using a Sulivan's Intake on it.

I also bought a T56 out of a 2000 Chevy Camaro with a fresh rebuild on it. I got everything to install it to 4.6 to include an input shaft, bell housing, and hydraulic clutch kit.

Pictures to come later.

[19Mustang65]

It takes a long time to build a car. I had no idea it was this time consuming or this expensive. But I am going to keep plugging away.

[ragz]

It takes a long time to build a car. I had no idea it was this time consuming or this expensive. But I am going to keep plugging away.

LOL,that is a true statement if ever i heard one, i have learned to enjoy the process of the build as i go,or else you can get bogged down by the cash and time demands so much that the fun and enjoyment of the dream are lost, always got to look for the light at the end of the tunnel, good job and keep on going.

[Josh@Ridetech]

It takes a long time to build a car. I had no idea it was this time consuming or this expensive. But I am going to keep plugging away.

Great job!

Lol, I'm with you on that statement though!

[Z06killinSBF]

Awesome dude, looks great

[xsboost90]

my cars not much further along than that. Hard to keep working on it sometimes so i keep buying shiney parts and piling them there... looking good btw like the wheel tubs, mine are made from flat sheet metal seam welded together. Try to fit the rear side panels in yet? Mine dont fit any more.

[Crestronwizard]

Looking good!

[19Mustang65]

Finally got some time this weekend. I am going to try to get the throttle body and intake off of my mod motor today. Need to find a Cobra crank, heads, intake, and throttle body. Or run the Sullivan's intake with FAST fuel management. Not sure but need to decide. Going to have pictures up this weekend of the engine.

[19Mustang65]

Don't remember where I saw this mod but I deem it very necessary. The shock towers took the force from the suspension and redirected it back towards the firewall. So I applied it to my build. It is 2 triangular brackets that weld to the frame and then into the firewall. I have more bracing that I am going to be adding in later but I feel this is good.


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[Jetfixr320]

Looks great.

[I_make_oil]

Looks real good. I'm with you on the time. Don't understand how they can build a car in a week on TV. They just have 50 people working around the clock on them.

[Dave B]

Wow, those wheel tubs look awesome, that's a great idea! Thanks!

[PT9]

Great build. I had a question on reinforcing the frame rails to the firewall. Do you know is there a website I can look for? I eliminated my shock towers and weren't planning to reinforce the frame rails to the fire wall. My car will be a daily driver and I was wondering if the reinforcement is necessary?

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[1bad68cat]

Great build. I had a question on reinforcing the frame rails to the firewall. Do you know is there a website I can look for? I eliminated my shock towers and weren't planning to reinforce the frame rails to the fire wall. My car will be a daily driver and I was wondering if the reinforcement is necessary?

Below are a couple of forums regarding the discussion. There is a lot of opinion because a complete analysis needs to be done to see the affects of removing the shock towers. When you look at the first link, you'll notice even us engineers (myself included) don't quite agree. I did show a dumbed down analysis indicating how much strength/less deflection can be gained just by adding the down tubes from the firewall to the frame rail. My opinion is that the reinforcements are needed based on actual experience with daily driving my brother's 66 mustang. The whole front end of the car was in pristine condition before installing the mustang II suspension. Cracks started to show up in the cowl area as well as in front of the hood hinges after a few years of driving. The cracks showing however did not deter us from installing it on my brother's second mustang. Below is a photo of what we did the second go around. The pick-up points were not arbitrary. The tube intersected the frame rail as close to the front suspension as possible, but in front of it to decrease deflection. The firewall location insures the load path goes up the A-pillar into the roof. I would suggest researching more and draw your own conclusions.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/11/20151115_140034-1.jpg (http://s1096.photobucket.com/user/ricasas/media/20151115_140034.jpg.html)


http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/mod-custom-forum/907225-please-explain-loss-frame-strength-when-removing-shock-towers.html
http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/torsional-rigidity-test-67-coupe.723029/

[PT9]

Thanks. Appreciate you sharing your expertise.