1969 Mustang Fastback Pro Grand Touring Build

[69_Sportsroof]

In addition to the observations by Tsaints1115, this is a huge problem to me. It wouldn't take much of a side impact at all here to split the fuel lines and spray fuel all over your new accident scene, at a point where metal might be scraping and sparking on the ground right where the fuel lines are spraying. A minor low speed T-boning into the driver side door now has an excellent chance of becoming a screaming burned-to-death-painfully scenario. That pinch weld even looks quite a bit like a knife poised to slice right through them. Those lines really should be moved further inboard on the car. I'd move that inside that frame rail your jack stand is sitting on even if it means moving the exhaust or putting a heat shield in. If an accident was bad enough to break the fuel line inboard of that frame rail, everyone in the car will be beyond the need to worry about fire.

I followed the OEM fuel line routing. It's been fine for 50 years and thousands of cars. This braided line is also more flexible than a hard line so even if it gets bent it's not likely to crack.

NHRA rules don't allow any fuel lines in the driveshaft tunnel area either.

[Vimes]

The OEM doesn't necessarily make the best decisions. Remember, it was also Ford's decision to install the fuel tank in the Pinto with pointy screws, it was their decision to use the top of the fuel tank as the floor of the hatchback area which was open to the passenger compartment, and it was their decision to not install $7.14 dollars worth of bracing that would have prevented the Pinto from exploding on a rear impact. Modern cars, where the OEMs have learned better places to install fuel lines, now put them inside the frame rail. You don't have to put them in the trans tunnel, but inside the frame rail would be a much safer place to be. And while flex line is not going to be cracked, it can be cut in a side impact. But, it's your car.

[Rod]

yep....OE decision is driven by time and money, how fast can we build it and how cheap can it be made

[DCx]

Why did you go with tanks inc. over an aeromotive stealth efi tank? i have a first design aeromotive stealth tank in my 67 mustang with a 320lph pump. It actually uses the tanks inc tank but has a totally different fuel basket inside. I ran my fuel lines exactly like yours. My dads 67 mustang has a new gen II aeromotive stealth tank and its just like a stock tank, sender and feed are on the bottom. Much easier to plumb.

like the build! keep up the progress!

[69_Sportsroof]

Since I read the aeromotive was made by tanks inc I just went through them, didn't realize the outlets were different. I'll probably end up changing the fuel line routing to the inner frame rail up past the front subframe connector.

I got my second super victor and the fit is much better. Still a little high overall and more so on the passenger side. Going to run with it for now and just make progress.

Next issue is with the throttle linkage on the throttle body contacting the air cleaner. I had a big drop base on to clear the hood with the old carburetor, I'll have to measure to see how much I can move it up to clear the arm.

[69_Sportsroof]

Got my new 9" axle housing from strange engineering. Sprayed it with some self etching primer and satin black paint.

Next issue... The leaf spring plate holes are 2 5/8" between them and my housing has 3" tubes. So I need new bolts and plate. Oh well. Luckily I have so many things to do I can switch to something else while I wait on parts.

[Tsaints1115]

In factoring in your base for your air cleaner I noticed you don't have your distributor in. That was the biggest issue for me.

[69_Sportsroof]

In factoring in your base for your air cleaner I noticed you don't have your distributor in. That was the biggest issue for me.

Thanks for the heads up, it cleared with the carburetor and the same base but I do need to double check with this. I ordered a 1/2" riser and I already have two different drop bases. Hopefully one of the combos fit, I have 1.35" clearance to the hood currently so I have some wiggle room.

[69_Sportsroof]

Well I've done a very poor job keeping my build thread updated but a pretty good job on the car. I'll blast a series of updates here, bottom line I managed to do several successful test drives with the EFI setup! I ended up working marathon days for several weekends to finally get it over the hump. Plenty of little things cropped up that required waiting and ordering more parts.

After the last post, I continued mounting the rear axle. I used an existing center section I got when I bought the car, it's a factory 9" section with a detroit locker and 3.55:1 gears. I bought a wilwood 4 piston setup with drum style parking brakes. I have cables but haven't hooked them up yet, eventually I plan to build a center console and use a hand operated lever instead of the foot operated one that the cars came with.

[69_Sportsroof]

While running brake lines, I had a series of bad flares formed with the tool i had rented/bought from the parts store. I read good things about the eastwood on car brake flaring tool and decided to give it a shot. I have to say it works great, and makes the flaring process pretty foolproof. The big drawback is it only works for a single size line.

I ran new brake lines for the entire car, since I wasn't sure of the age of the existing hard lines. Instead of trying to reuse the factory plastic clips for the brake lines, I bought aluminum rivnuts that are threaded. They are very handy, and I have quite a few all over the car now. The one complaint people have with them is they tend to spin in the hole if overtightened and/or partially installed. I found some that have a series of serations that help lock them in place, and also found that with the rivnut tool I bought (harbor freight) I had to fully squeeze the handle, release it, and then thread the tool further down and squeeze the handle again. You can go by feel to determine when the rivnut is compressed. I did end up overtightening a couple, which warps the threads and requires drilling out/resintalling.

I contacted wilwood and they recommended either a 7/8 or 15/16 bore master cylinder, but said the 7/8 would have longer pedal travel. I went with the 15/16, and a proportioning valve kit they sell that fits the classic mustang firewall mount.






Attachment 189329

[69_Sportsroof]

I decided to re-route my fuel lines further inboard. I don't love the proximity to the exhaust, but they are tucked up above the subframe rails and away from the pinch welds. I also had to redo the fuel pump output line, turns out I nicked the liner when I inserted the fitting. While doing this I also decided to just run both lines to one side, it looks a little better I think.

I used a somewhat expensive fuel line setup, but it should be the least susceptible to starving one bank of injectors. After melting 2 pistons in my cobra from that issue, I was a little sensitive. I ran a single 8an fuel line to the back of the engine, then a Y fitting to two 6an lines, one for each fuel rail. Since the engine tilts up in the front, feeding it from the back helps purge any air pockets. Then both 6an fuel lines from the rails go to separate feeds on an aeromotive fuel pressure regulator. This means there is no loop from one rail to the other like on a typical late model mustang. I ran the feed and return lines from the fender well through the shock tower. I was a little worried about clearance to the control arms, but the lip on the bottom of the frame rails prevents the tire from hitting the lines, and there is enough slack that the control arm can move without contacting the lines.

[69_Sportsroof]

One of the most important parts of the EFI conversion was figuring out a crank position sensor and mount. I bought a 36-1 wheel from diyautotune, as well as a hall effect sensor. I have a cheap k40 laser cutter, so I decided to make two separate templates using free CAD software called Autodesk fusion 360. One template let me trace the pulley spacer pattern onto the 36-1 wheel, and I cut it out using a dremel. The next template allowed me to precisely drill 4 bolt holes into the crank pulley, and make sure the 36-1 wheel was centered with minimal runout.

[69_Sportsroof]

After getting the 36-1 wheel mounted, I had to make a mount for the crank position sensor. This was much less precise, but I managed to make a mount using a piece of flat steel stock. I used the mechanical fuel pump plate and holes, then eyeballed the length. I cut the stock mostly through which let me bend it down to the angle needed to align the sensor with the trigger wheel. Luckily the distance happened to work very well with the sensor length, if I mounted it on the bottom side. I welded a couple tabs to the bracket to maintain the sensor orientation, and welded a nut to the bracket.

[chunger]

Looking good. Did you ever solve the issue you were having with the throttle linkage hitting the air cleaner?

[69_Sportsroof]

Looking good. Did you ever solve the issue you were having with the throttle linkage hitting the air cleaner?

Yes and no, the throttle linkage ended up being a bigger pain than I thought. Initially I modified a universal throttle cable bracket so that it fit under the cleaner, but then the linkage pulled from an angle and the cable would hang. After many revisions I went to an 11" diameter air filter with a 3/4" raised base. It pops through the hole in my hood now that it's smaller diameter. Initially I had a 2" tall filter but doing a WOT pull my MAP signal went from 101kpa to 97kpa, so I think it was a restriction. I now have a a 3.5" tall filter on but haven't had any test drives since I put it on. I have some more pics and updates I still need to post.

[Vimes]

Yes and no, the throttle linkage ended up being a bigger pain than I thought. Initially I modified a universal throttle cable bracket so that it fit under the cleaner, but then the linkage pulled from an angle and the cable would hang. After many revisions I went to an 11" diameter air filter with a 3/4" raised base. It pops through the hole in my hood now that it's smaller diameter. Initially I had a 2" tall filter but doing a WOT pull my MAP signal went from 101kpa to 97kpa, so I think it was a restriction. I now have a a 3.5" tall filter on but haven't had any test drives since I put it on. I have some more pics and updates I still need to post.

I don't like recommending K&N stuff, mainly because on Chevy Vortec engines using their air cleaners would fill the air intake with white powdery stuff. But, I was watching a show on Power Nation where they'd run engine dyno pulls on different aftermarket junk and the K&N X-Stream air cleaner lid added a significant amount of power to the engine. They also said that you'd only see a noticeable difference on high horse engines, so not to bother with a stock sub-200HP engine. Their test engine was a 427 in the 600-700HP range, if I remember correctly. If your current plan doesn't work but the 11 inch diameter filter setup did work for the linkage, one of these might solve your problem.

[69_Sportsroof]

I don't like recommending K&N stuff, mainly because on Chevy Vortec engines using their air cleaners would fill the air intake with white powdery stuff. But, I was watching a show on Power Nation where they'd run engine dyno pulls on different aftermarket junk and the K&N X-Stream air cleaner lid added a significant amount of power to the engine. They also said that you'd only see a noticeable difference on high horse engines, so not to bother with a stock sub-200HP engine. Their test engine was a 427 in the 600-700HP range, if I remember correctly. If your current plan doesn't work but the 11 inch diameter filter setup did work for the linkage, one of these might solve your problem.

That first run I posted actually had one of those filter top lids. The 2 inch tall filter is just really not much area, especially when you look at how much is support rubber. I'm hopeful the giant 3.5" will fix the issue.