1969 Sportsroof Build

[mts23]

Not a lot going on this week; went to Carlisle to look for parts. Most people with Mustang parts said the '69 stuff went the first day. I missed out on a $5 hood from a '70 model and passed on what was labeled a Griggs torque arm (It didn't appear to be as robust as I would have expected). I also met with the guys who will most likely be building my back half, once I finish the design.

I'll be preparing for an upcoming work trip for the next couple of weeks and am collecting parts to continue the frame building and suspension install when I get back. I've picked up a couple of 11 inch wheels (cobra R knock-offs) and a set of 315s; I figure having them on hand will come in handy once I start measuring and designing the rear frame and suspension. I've got an 8.8 mocked up and a bunch of different suspension parts and hope to get back on this project in about 6 or 7 weeks when I return.

I've decided to rebuild the original 351W while I have downtime on the frame and suspension. I had a heck of a time getting the intake off. I unbolted it and hit it with a rubber mallet a couple of times with no luck. Tried to pry it off, didn't budge. Tried lifting it off with the engine hoist...no dice. I soaked the edges in WD-40, Marvel Mystery and some gasket solvent, left the engine lifted by the intake and repeated the aforementioned methods the next day and still had an engine with an intake attached. I finally used a chisel in the pneumatic hammer and it came free in a matter of seconds. The oil didn't appear to have any metal in it, the cylinder walls look good; I should have the rest of engine dissembled for inspection this weekend.





Got my Z06 front leaf spring this week, too. I'm too cheap for coil overs at this time.



I'm hoping to get the shocks soon to mock up and maybe finalize the upper control arm / shock mounts before I have to travel. If I can finish the front suspension, I can drop the engine in between the rails and work out the header and steering while I'm traveling. I'm going to need to use a stock C5 rack or start learning about Ackermann geometry...

Thanks for looking,
Michael