65' Mustang Fastback Project "Racesteed"

[bikefreak600]

that yellow &black looks great ! you & z06killinsbf both have beautiful coupes !

[kencobra]

Surprisingly, I didn't take many pictures as I've been building it. I've posted it over at VMF a few times. It was a completed car that i decided to put a T5 in that turned into new floors, torque boxes, convertible inner rockers, interior and engine compartment redo, etc... It's turned into a five year plus project. I'm actually working on a coil over setup myself that I hope to have completed soon. Maybe I'll remember to take some pix...... I included a pic of my other toy.

What torque boxes did you use? I am about to add some to mine and from what I am hearing using '67/68 2 piece boxes work better than '65-66 very boxes for '66 coupe though either one would have to be reworked to fit.

[Yellow66]

I used 65/6 coupe torque boxes from Mustangs Unlimited, the one piece type. I split them apart before I put them in. Really not that hard, but when I do it again (have another coupe I'm playing with) I'll buy the separated set.

[Yellow66]

that yellow &black looks great ! you & z06killinsbf both have beautiful coupes !

Thanks. Wish I had the balls to do mini tubs like z06, but I can't bring myself to cut into it any more. I really just want to finish it and drive.

[ochohill]

well the lower arm uses the same design ball joint ring & mopar style screw in ball joint as the other brands that use lower arm mounted coil over. i do not see why it would not work. the lower ball joint is under less stress compared to the upper. that is one reason kits change the design to lower mount, amongst other benefits lol

The CPP suspension lower ball joint is there for the ride. It does little more than hold the lower part of the spindle in place. Moving the spring to the lower control arm places the lower ball joint in tension. The mass of the car is now trying to pull the joint apart. Not all threaded in ball joints are designed to withstand this force.

My previous post was a question out of courtesy in the hopes you would do some investigating. Assuming that balljoint can handle it, is a mistake.

[Bonehead]

Love it! I'm a sucker for 65, 66, 67 Mustangs.

[bikefreak600]

The CPP suspension lower ball joint is there for the ride. It does little more than hold the lower part of the spindle in place. Moving the spring to the lower control arm places the lower ball joint in tension. The mass of the car is now trying to pull the joint apart. Not all threaded in ball joints are designed to withstand this force.

My previous post was a question out of courtesy in the hopes you would do some investigating. Assuming that balljoint can handle it, is a mistake.

very good advise ! i guess i should have been more specific what i am doing. my response to you was mainly concerning the design of the control arm using a threaded sleeve & screw in ball joint etc. the actual cpp ball joint itself i have no clue on the quality, the instructions have the part #'s. i have questioned the ability of the ball joints and thought i should call afco and see what they recommend using.

in all honesty, i will probably end up changing several small details in my design as others see room for improvements hahaha. i made a build thread on this site in hopes that i will get the best advise and feedback from a performance standpoint, brakes, suspension & steering are my focal points that i know the least about. i have learned a lot form this website, enough to where i felt comfortable with advise from others i could make a working suspension.

[bikefreak600]

so after a call to CPP and a little research, for anyone interested CPP uses McQuay-Norris ball joints lower part # FA395, upper joint #FA4186. the tech guy at cpp said they are a quality part and using a shock on the lower arm should not affect the ball joint at all. they interchange with moog k772 threaded ball joint. good news seems the k772 ball joint is the universally used in most aftermarket lower control arms. i also get a set of tapered cone spacers that were not included.

[riles]

I'll be watching this build. Subscribed.

[riles]

What torque boxes did you use? I am about to add some to mine and from what I am hearing using '67/68 2 piece boxes work better than '65-66 very boxes for '66 coupe though either one would have to be reworked to fit.

If you haven't done your boxes yet , I bought and installed the CJ Pony 2pc 67/68 torque boxes and am extremely happy with them.
You can see them on my build under "Chi-town 65 fb build"

[protasone]

Gotta love the 65's! Subscribed!

[bikefreak600]

today was a good day, i drove down to my buddy shop https://www.facebook.com/TOPNOTCHAUTO2012 and i bought a Alston racing 8 pt. roll cage. will be modifying it to my liking with help from my buddy owen. he has helped Alston racing with their red, white & blue 2012 camaro race car. he is the best fabricator i know. i have known him for years and luckily he has offered to help me out. in his lobby there is a picture of the alston camaro with writing "thanking him for all the hard work on the race car ", i had no clue he had a hand in that..how cool is that ! one of the coolest looking race cars on the planet too ! owen said Alston cages are the best cage you can buy, only roll cages he installs in customers cars.
http://www.alstonracing.com/rollbars.html

[bikefreak600]

here are the wheels Coys C67 17x8 front 17x9 rear. these are the gunmetal centers w/ machined finish. federal tires 235/45-17 & 275/40-17 tread wear 240, traction A. not the greatest tire out there, but one step closer ! when i started building this car i thought 275's were huge on these cars until i seen guys stuffing 305-315's under there! my tires look too small now hahaha


a quick mock up, plenty of room !

[bikefreak600]

i finally had a little shop time last night. i did suspension mock-up. i made cardboard mockup coil-over mounts. these mounts set the coil-over at a 75 deg angle ( or angled 15 deg in towards the shock tower). i set ride height at 12'' spindle -to- fenderlip. this will set the tire slightly up in the wheel well for a nice look. at this height i need a 16'' long shock. specs ended up at 4 deg neg. camber, 1 deg pos. caster. lower control arm is 0 deg (parallel to ground) upper arm is 3 deg up towards shock tower. dropping the upper arm .5''-.75'' will align it parallel with the lower & ground...

[bikefreak600]

fully compressed ride height is 9''spindle to fenderlip, 14'' shock length ( for a total of 3'' up @ spindle, 2'' up @ shock length). 5 deg neg camber, 3 deg pos. caster. note the angle relationship to upper & lower arm looks good. also i want to add at this compression height is nearly the furthest the ball joint will allow before binding.

[bikefreak600]

fully extended shock length (for a 5'' stroke shock) would be 19.'', ride height of 15'' spindle to fenderlip ( for a total of 6'' of suspension travel). i end up with 6 deg neg. camber, note the angle relationship between the upper & lower arm is pretty bad imo. (lowering the upper arm will help here). there is a 10 deg difference between the two arms.

[bikefreak600]

i feel this set up should work well.. atleast i think lol.. i am no expert and working on the fly based on several years of reading how suspensions work. any suspension gurus please give any input good or bad. i would like to find any issues before i go much further. i am open to improve on this any way possible....

btw i will cut out the original spring perch mounts on the upper arms for coilover clearance. *edit* after looking at shock lengths, i am going to have to lengthen the coilover mounts from my current design slightly to make up for shock travel... easy fix there !

i am looking at the qa1 proma star double adj. 15.25-15.75'' shock. has a stroke of 12.5''-18.75''. i should easily be able to make those work with slightly longer mounts.
http://www.qa1.net/qa1_motorsports/d...djustable.html
will also consider other brands with similar lengths

[85coupe50]

Good looking project. I was wondering about the CPP mini kit for my PT 66 Mustang coupe. I will watch to see what you come up with.

[bikefreak600]

Good looking project. I was wondering about the CPP mini kit for my PT 66 Mustang coupe. I will watch to see what you come up with.

i think it is a good investment, cost friendly compared to other kits. today i started fabricating the coil-over brackets. all that is left is to decide what brand of coil-over to use and order them. i need the shocks to mock up the brackets & tack weld them together so everything lines up correctly. now i just need to decide what shocks i will be using. i am kind of leaning towards QA1 proma-stars double adj or ride tech HQ series......

i am kind of clueless to what brands are a quality piece for the money. i hope people with experience with different brands will give me some insight on making a good choice.......

[bikefreak600]

been a long time since i have updated this thread. i got the front suspension done, i am very happy the way it turned out. went with viking double adjustable coilovers. Also picked up cobra brake calipers, 13'' slotted rotors & mustang steve caliper brackets. doing the suspension was a very long process & a lot of research to get it right.
control arms & coilover brackets

another mock up pic.

one side mocked up