64.5 Mustang resto-mod

[xsboost90]

Ok so let me start by saying this build has not been received well by some other forums. Im not restoring the car, im building it the way i want. Otherwise, here we go. I have to say, most of the good feedback ive had has been from people who also post on here, so i figured i would move over to a forum that welcomes custom mods etc....



In 2013 just before the birth of my second daughter i bought a 64 mustang from a friend of mine who needed to clean house. Up to this point i had been involved with old porsches (944's mostly) for about ten years and attending track events almost the whole time. I am a PCA instructor and i love driving at the track and teaching at the track. Even did a short stint with NASA as a 944spec racer. Anyway, the car was missing the motor and trans and despite looking pretty nice, really needed alot of work. I stripped the car down to a shell and had it sand blasted in my driveway at my old house and epoxy primered the whole thing. Not much rust issues, partial ds floor pan replacement and a ps quarter, some small holes here and there but not bad. I built a rotisserie to work on the car for awhile and welded in my frame ties, torque boxes and smoothed under the hood some. I'll skip some time by saying ive had about three of everything, rear ends, engines and transmission setups. I finally settled on biting the bullet and bought a new ford 9", 35 spline and mounted it in the car with an AJE rear susepension and ridetech coilovers. The front end is also AJE which uses late model mustang parts and a custom strut and K member. This allowed me to choose any motor, so i found an LY6 6.0 chev. truck motor(352hp stock) with 7000 miles on it and a t56(AstonMartin) trans to use as well. This more compact motor will be cheaper, take up less room so i dont have to cut out my struts, and i just like it. Also in the last year ive moved and taken on a garage project, fixing up an old pole barn into my shop, building a "body shop" area in the back, and just installed a new lift-which is awesome for a guy who has never had one at home.

Some hurtles ive had so far- the t56 i located was originally from an Aston Martin- which is different than say an Fbody trans. But it was very cheap and in great shape. I had to have a spacer for the slave cylinder made to space it forward about an inch, and a custom pilot bearing is in order, but using a camaro bellhousing it is otherwise usable. I will have to use a 30 spline dodge trans yolk but not worried about that. The trans tunnel was cut out completely around the trans to fit and welded back in around it since its quite a bit bigger. Im also using all late model sn95 94-04 mustang steering, brakes and wheels etc. - Front brakes are cobra 13" units, cobra master on a stock booster which fits amazingly well after very little work. Rear brakes are a kit from Right Stuff but is basically a GM metric caliper (88-92 camaro front) with custom mounts and 11" rotors. My clutch master is a wilwood mounted snugly between the booster and the ds apron with custom linkage- seems to work great but we'll see when the clutch is installed. The gas pedal is a corvette drive by wire unit with a custom mount welded to the firewall- should be great! My current wheel setup is mostly for fitment but they are 9-10" x 17" replica wheels called SC i believe that mimmic the Saleen wheels from the 80's and early 90's but with much more lip. They were cheap and i figured if i could get these to fit then any late model mustang wheel will fit as well. Plan on running 275's up front and 295's in the rear- not crazy wide but with a light enough car and only 400hp or so it should hook nicely. I have enough room out back for up to probably a 315 tire, but the front is yet to be determined. Just hoping the 9's are ok up there.

Not much in the way of body mods but i did flare the quarters 2" and if needed i may do the front as well. I did shave the drip rails off and im using fiberglass front and rear bumpers, prob color matched. Im hoping for a vintage trans am racer "basic" appearance with a modern driveline and suspension. No wings, scoops or other stuff. fuel injection will be handled by a Tanks INC pump setup in a new stainless tank. While the car was on the rotisserie i sprayed the entire bottom in bedliner spray. This stuff is great, very tough and should hold up to rocks, driving etc. Im also doing the inside with this stuff under the carpet and in the trunk- should insulate and seal everything nicely. Sorry if im jumping around, its hard to remember two years of welding and spending but otherwise i'll update as i go. Just sprayed under the hood matte black after doing some smoothing out, and the car is back on my lift waiting for me to finish a paint job on a buddys LS1 swapped 944 turbo. Yeah i cant get away from them. Anyway, heres some pics from the last two years and prob. another year or so to the finish, but i wanted to share with some people who may appreciate the effort. Never know maybe i can finally do a power tour when its done.