65' Mustang Fastback Project "Racesteed"

[bikefreak600]

Introduction to my project named racesteed, my race inspired little pony. Car was originally a "DSO" (dealer special order) "A code 289" Fastback, built in SanJose CA. 4 barrel, C4 auto, 4.11 w/ locker 8'' rear end. Unfortunately the car did not come with the original drivetrain. ( car came with a 2 barrel 289, auto trans & 8'' rear 2.80, out of a 67' c-code.), i will not be using any of the drivetrain parts that came in the car.... My main goal with this car is to end up with a great handling, fast & lightweight musclecar but still maintain the classic soul and looks of the car. I will primarily use the car as a hotrod, low mile driven street car, with plans to do some road racing & autocross ( no class or rule specific stuff). I will be using as much race inspired and or designing / fabricating parts myself as much as possible. Car will be stripped down, minimal or no creature comforts. I am a muscle car guy at heart, i love the raw power sound so i will be using a 9.5 Windsor based stroker. Car was a total rusted out when i bought it. i have already replaced most of the sheet metal. new rear frames, rockers, quarters, fabricated sheetmetal wheel tubs, trunk, tail panel, floors, cowl, firewall, doors, front aprons, core support, subframe connectors, torque boxes, shock towers, hood etc.
engine: est. 630 hp@7300rpm. 540 tq@6100rpm. goal target weight 2600-2700lbs
393 c.i / 11.2:1 cr
AFR205 cnc heads
solid roller cam 259/[email protected], .683/.672 lift, 108 LSA
Edelbrock Super Victor intake lightly ported, 2'' tapered plastic spacer
Demon chokeless carb ( eventually will use FAST EZ-EFI, or MSD Atomic EFI system when financially able)
Header evacuation, or vacuum pump system will be determined later
Manual steering, stock or quick ratio steering box.
removable core support, Custom fit aluminum radiator
top loader 4 speed,
fabricated solid trans & engine mounts w/ front engine plate.
Rear end either 8'' or 9'' housing with 3.80 or 3.90 gears, locker ( housing to be determined later)

Exhaust will be minimal for radical sound.
1-7/8 primary hand fabricated headers
3'' mandrel tubes w/ long glass packs, side exit in front of rear tire both sides, no gimicky "X or H pipe" simple, straight forward, high flow exhaust


brakes
front 13'' rotors with mustang steve brackets
cobra calipers
rear
cobra calipers & rotors w/ mustang steve brackets.

Wheels coys c67 gunmetal painted centers
17x9, 275/40/17 rear
17x8, 235/45/17 front

suspension:
front tubular control arms
adjustable coilover on the lower arm design
retaining the shock towers modified for header clearance
sway bar size to be determined
Rear suspension
fabricated 3 link
adjustable coilovers
panhard bar or watts link.
sway bar to be determined

Exterior
paint : black w/ gunmetal stripes.
4'' cowl hood,
shelby R front valance,
stock modified quarter vents,
filled in cowl vents
Trim painted body color
Chrome stock replacement mirrors & door handles




Interior will be black, using mostly original replacement parts
aftermarket front bucket seats & custom cluster
roll cage some sort of aftermarket seat belts

I will be updating this thread adding many pics as progress continues, and many small details will probably change as the car progresses. thanks for reading & stay tuned !
Mike G,

[bikefreak600]

here is the car when i got it. total rust bucket turd. lol

[bikefreak600]

some parts. fitted long block to take measurements for hood clearance, shock tower width for headers etc. this will barely clear under a 4'' cowl hood. at the time the garage was too dirty for mock up and the dinning room floor was the cleanest place we had ( the wife only allowed it to stay there long enough to take measurement & my son wanted his picture taken lol) she is a good sport !

[bikefreak600]

few older pics of new sheet metal

[bikefreak600]

[bikefreak600]

i built subframe connectors and front torque boxes. the torque boxes are 2''x2'' .250 wall square tubing, i reinforced the frame & rocker with .125 plate where the tubing connects them to help distribute the load. the frame connectors are .125 wall rectangle tubing. they extend all the way up to the torque box and box in the frame & torque box. this ended up being very rigid. i am also making triangulated jacking rails out of 1'' square tubing they run the length of the rockers, connecting them to the subframes the entire length. the seat brackets and driveshaft loop will also be mounted on the subframe connectors helping box everything together.

[bikefreak600]

this is the most recent pics i have of the rust repair, i have gotten much further in the progress. i need to get out there and clean off the car and take more pics. the shell is almost done waiting for a roll cage. this spring i plan on sanding down the entire shell and epoxy prime. i have 2 gallons of eastwood black epoxy waiting. i put the car on hold for 2013 and built myself a 1975' harley davidson custom long chopper.

[bikefreak600]

this is the start of my front suspension. originally i had plans drew up to make my own control arms and adjustable strut rods. after reading reviews i decided to use the CPP mini subframe arms. the price for this kit was around the same as all the components required to fab my own. also i favor the single lower arm design over a strut rod. the 2 lower arm mounting points rotate on the same axis, so there is not geometry change as the lower arm cycles. this kit is stout, very nice quality. i am going to cut out the spring mount on the upper arms (they have 6'' space in the center) and make mounts to run a coil over shock on the lower arm to the shock tower. the brake calipers are pbr cobra's pieces, i need to disassemble and powercoat. the control arms, brackets and brake calipers will be powercoated gunmetal or dark grey to match the exterior color scheme.

[kencobra]

Finally some more Mustangs in here! Keep up the good work.

[dragonfly jones]

Looking good

[69stang]

Nice project. I'm always checking out the mustang builds on here. BTW, you might want to rotate those concrete blocks up on edge. They have a tendency to break when loaded on the side like that.

[bikefreak600]

Nice project. I'm always checking out the mustang builds on here. BTW, you might want to rotate those concrete blocks up on edge. They have a tendency to break when loaded on the side like that.

yes sir it is on my list. my floor jack took a crap, and i have been waiting for a new one to do so. first thing on the to do list next time i work on it. it has been up on the blocks like that for 3 years now before i knew that was a weak point lol. ! guess i am lucky haha

[bikefreak600]

In good faith of trying to keep the interior looking somewhat original appearing, i had this old steering wheel that has seen its better days. the wood was complete and in fair shape, appeared to be walnut. I decided to take a stab at re-finishing it. i sanded down the wood, cleaned off the corrosion on the rivets, and brushed the stainless for a flatter look. lastly i stained the wood and bought new horn button kit. It cost me a total of around $30 to restore, i am happy with how it turned out, i think i will keep it ! it is a 14'' diameter wheel, i hope it will be ok to use with manual steering ? any opinions ?


more stuff ! new door handles, window cranks, mirrors, & shelby gt350 gas cap

[kencobra]

Let us know how the 17 x 8 fronts work out. Do they clear or rub when turning?

[bikefreak600]

Let us know how the 17 x 8 fronts work out. Do they clear or rub when turning?

i have not mounted them yet, soon i will do the front suspension and set the car on the ground. if there is clearance problems, i will just modify whatever needs to make them work. i wanted to go bigger than a 235 up front, but was cautious having manual steering lol. i will post lots of pics of the process

[bikefreak600]

more metal replacement. i made a cage structure out of 1'' square tubing, 1 tube runs full length along the top edge of the firewall, goes down the edge of the cowl connecting to the torque box. another tube goes from the door pillar to the firewall brace. then extended it to the shock towers using 1" round tubing. it attached to the firewall brace in 2 spots and the front & rear of shock tower, i boxed it together with a gusset tube for extra strength. the firewall tubing also provides a very strong mounting point for the export brace !





patched the lower cowl, eliminating the air vents

[bikefreak600]

beginning stage of bolt in core support. made of 18 ga sheet metal. copies the same shape as the original support. threaded inserts are welded to the back side of the aprons & cross rail. after i get the radiator i will cut the vent hole where it needs to be, and add in support brace & radiator mounts etc. 21 bolts hold it in place along the aprons & core frame brace. i like the this smooth look over the ratty looking stock support.

[bikefreak600]

cut out and filled in cowl vents, hand made patches for the cowl ends. feels like endless dirty work that will never be seen lol

[bikefreak600]

Up next i decided to make mini tubs. i have 275 tires, but i wanted enough room to step up to a larger tire if needed. it sucks cutting out brand new stock replacement wheel wells ( i had previously installed) lol ... it was for a good cause ! with a ton of sheet metal laying around i decided to make my own. sticking to a race fabricated car theme, i really did not want to use the stock appearing mini tub kits. so this is what i came up with. i also rough fitted the interior fiberglass & fold down seat during fabricating to ensure everything will fit properly !

[bikefreak600]

my plans for the front end. i have two "Shelby R" aprons. the black one is in excellent shape, i will keep that one as is for street use. the grey valance had some accident damage that i previously repaired. this one is getting a chin spoiler/ air diffuser molded in for race use. these fiberglass pieces are only held on by a few bolts & bracket. it will be easy to swap them when needed. i need to start planning how the air dam is going to look ? any suggestions ideas will be appreciated....