1966 Mustang Convertible update

[Provertstang]

Pics of the dash smoothed without a pad
Cowl treated and louvers welded shut
Quarters removed,treated with POR15 and replaced

The interior will be white "pony" with billet gauge pod,modern gauges, center console, 5 pt harness, dash painted car color.
Leaning toward Dupont Vitamin C, white stripes, 3 stage.
The car will have a forward tilt hood with a windshield length cowl scoop.









Thanks a lot,
Brent

[MZ 500]

Are you removing the inner cowl vents all together or are you going to draw air from some ware different? I am asking because I am thinking of capping mine off my lower cowl has lots of rust damage.

71 Torino HT

[Provertstang]

MZ,

I am removing them totally. They stink!!
I am going to run a Vintage Air heater unit to get rid of the factory blower fan sticking through the firewall. I want to tuck it up as high as I can and also run the heater lines through the fenders and not through the firewall. The vents were pretty much useless anyway and the new cowl scoop would cover the louvers too.

Thanks,
Brent

[Provertstang]

The new factory wheel houses are widened and tacked in place. The factory wheel house lip remains and everything fits tight.
The rear valance will be welded in and smoothed to the quarter panels so everything behind it is treated with POR 15.
Next is the fuel cell and finish the trunk floor.





Thanks,
Brent

[Z06killinSBF]

Nice. What all is needed to smooth out the dash? I know I will have to remove the braces above the gauges and glove bax, but what else? How hard was it?

[Provertstang]

Yes, you need to remove the support braces for the dash pad. About 15 spot welds. Then you need to fill 1- 1/4" hole on each end of the dash, 1-1/4 hole on each side of the radio, and two 1/2" oval holes above the radio. The top of the dash will require some filler to straighten it out. I am going to paint the dash, inside of the doors, and the front of the interior quarter trim body color. I am also going to sand all of the fake vinyl texture off of the inner door skins and quarter trim panels.

Brent

[Z06killinSBF]

Cool. If I remember correct, the grain is the actual metal. Just FYI

[Provertstang]

you are correct. it is all metal but looks like vinyl.
It will be gone.

Brent

[jiminy14]

car looks great!!! did you spray the por15 or brush it...... looks like you msut've sprayed it. i wish i had....its hard to make look that good brushing it.

james

[Provertstang]

thanks, but I did brush it on. I put 2 coats on with about an hour in between. The second coat really changes the texture of the material. It is extra thick on spot welds and seams.

Brent

[Provertstang]

The billet battery mount is in and the new aluminum fuel cell is mounted.


Mocked up the convertible top to see how much the new wheel tubs would need to me modified for the top to lower all the way.

Cut the necessary ammount out of the wheel houses and fabricated a new top for them that matched the angle of the top when lowered

The new piece looks much better than the factory "sledge hammer" job that was on the car originally.


Now to the new floorpans

Thanks,
Brent

[HsvToolFool]

Looks awesome Brent! Thanks for the photos.

How badly did the top stick up without the cutouts?
Was it even close to laying down?

[Provertstang]

hsv, The top stuck up almost 10" in the down position.

The tubs are cut 1.875" deep and the cut out is at 22 degree angle.

We are lucky to keep the ride height we waned.

Brent

[HsvToolFool]

hsv, The top stuck up almost 10" in the down position.

Yep, that's too much. No alternative but to sacrifice a
little tub-clearance or tire-height.

Your wheel/tire combo is exactly the look I want.
You have 18/10 rear wheels, and I'm assuming a
30-series x 275-295 tire, so you should have a total
tire-height of about 25-inches give or take.

Just two last questions and I'll stop bugging you...

#1) What is the ground clearance at the back?
I would want at least 6-inches back there.

#2) How much clearance for rubber at the top of the tub?
I'm hoping for at least 2 1/2 to 3 inches to avoid
rubbing. I bet it's close.

Thanks again for trail-blazing and sharing. This tub/top
issue was my biggest fear on rodding my '66 'vert.
When I finally save enough money, I promise I won't
be copying you. Too much. ;)

[Provertstang]

Ask all you want.
This was going to be a project from the start. When you do not see a car done this way there is a reason But where there is a will there is a way and I wanted this car, this way.

The tires are 26.5" tall in the rear and 25.5" tall in the front.
The width sidewall to sidewall on the rear is 11.75"

The rocker to ground in the rear in front of the tire is 6"
The frame at it's lowest point in the front (almost even with the bellhousing) is 4". With the body lines of the car and especially the recessed area through the doors and into the front of the quarters being wider in the back than the front I thought the car needed some rake. With the car level it looked like it sagged in the rear. The car has 1.5" of rake between the front of the rear tire and the back of the front tire.

At ride height, with 300lbs in the back seat, the rear tire has 2.25" to the top of the tub. The lower shock mounts have 4 adjustment holes 1/2" apart (the lower mount is in the lowest position) and the shocks are externally adjustable with the click of a knob.

Thanks,
Brent

[LMDGUY]

looking good!

[HsvToolFool]

The tires are 26.5" tall in the rear and 25.5" tall in the front.
The width sidewall to sidewall on the rear is 11.75"

I'm guessing that's a 295/35/18? Cool beans.

The rocker to ground in the rear in front of the tire is 6"

Excellent! I had hoped that would be the case.

At ride height, with 300lbs in the back seat, the rear tire has 2.25" to the top of the tub.

Which is about 1/4" more than you need, I 'spose.

I cannot wait to see this baby finished.

[Crestronwizard]

Did this ever get finished?