Half-Breed

[JRANGER]

man this is awesome. As a guy building 2 mustangs (Well trying too) i love this thread. Granted ones a cheap build (73 Coupe) and the other is a street/pro-touring ish 65 fb conversion build. Keep up the good work. Def subscribing

[Zachalanche]

Well I just spent the entire morning reading this build! Killer build, subscribing for sure. You were way ahead of your time when you started this build.

I appreciate your comment. People constantly ask why I didn't put a coyote in it, and I have to explain that the coyote wasn't even available when I purchased the engine for this car. And back then ls swaps were common for some cars, but they weren't in absolutely everything. Thought I was going to have something unique. I'm almost surprised there isn't a vintage mustang ls swap kit out now.

[Zachalanche]

man this is awesome. As a guy building 2 mustangs (Well trying too) i love this thread. Granted ones a cheap build (73 Coupe) and the other is a street/pro-touring ish 65 fb conversion build. Keep up the good work. Def subscribing

Like you I am also juggling multiple car projects. My 67 fairlane is my cheap project. I enjoy the challenge of not spending any money on that car while finding ways to improve it. But I often get carried away and waste valuable time that could have been spent on the mustang.

[1968Mustang]

Do you happen to have a status update? I curious what you think of griggs suspension. I have a 68 coupe that I'm thinking about Griggs or Mike Maier Inc for suspension jaut would like to hear from someone that has installed and used.
Thanks

[Zachalanche]

Not much progress in the past year sadly. Although I did do some work this evening redesigning my master cylinder reservoir mount. But rework slows a project down faster than no work. Ugh.

Honestly, I haven't done more than drive this car up and down the street by my house, so I cant speak to its performance. Although I'm happy to report no binding creaking banging or other drivability issues. This car is very powerful and easily spins the aged to perfection worn out track tires that are on it, and when doing so, the car behaves predictably has no wheel hop, and has quite a bit of forward bite.

What I like:
You can run a massive front tire without flares, and if you are willing to give up a little turning radius, you can go even wider.

Bruce griggs is very intelligent, and if you can get a hold of him will talk your ear off.

I think the product is robust and well designed.

It has already proven to be 10x better than the only mustang II kit that was on the car in droveabilty alone.

What I dont like:
I purchased a brake kit from griggs right before their buy out of Sierra fell through. So now I have calipers that are hard to find parts or replacements for. Not necessarily their fault, just kind of a bummer deal.

Not much ground clearance under the rear shocks and torque arm. So far I haven't contacted the ground, speed bumps or anything else. And I've put the car on a couple u haul trailers with no issue. So this might not really even be a problem.

Griggs frequently seems like they are having financial trouble which worries me in regard to future support. So please for my sake buy from them lol. I think Bruce is a good guy and means well but his ship times were long (10 years ago now), an it appears coretex is out pacing him in sales with a very similar product. There is speculation that some of the cortex designs came from griggs, but who knows. Point here is Bruce seems to be a nice guy finishing last. I hope for my sake things go better, but that is concerning for a new buyer.


I think if I were to do it again I'd still buy griggs over maier. But the tougher choices would be griggs vs coretex. I think agent 47 is also building some awesome stuff, but not sure you can buy it separate from the car they sell.

Hope this helps, wish I could give you a better review. Hopefully I can make some progress this summer and finally have a chance to really see what this thing can do.

[1968Mustang]

Thanks for your input and hopefully you finish your project up soon. The more I do research on different Systems the more confused i get. GRIGGS Maier Cortex or Street and Track. All have pros and cons.
Thanks again.

[Zachalanche]

What are your plans/goals for the car? I think its human nature to talk yourself into the best most expensive solution. Its certainly what I did in every aspect of my build. The car should be great when it's done, but I have missed out on years of driving enjoyment trying to make it "the best", or "perfect". Plus it's been such a long project that everything is now outdated.

I did have it easier than you though, griggs was pretty much the only choice in its class of suspension when I purchased it. And they only had 1 or 2 options at the time.

[1968Mustang]

The plan for the car is to have a fun car I can enjoy with my 10yr son and create memories in. I plan getting into Autocross maybe some open track stuff at some point. I have also enjoyed cars that handle well rather than going fast in a straight line. What I have is a 68 Coupe. All the bad metal has been replaced while adding Detroit Speed Mini-tub kit over last few yrs. I understand the long project 6yrs already. The car was just media blasted last Friday and is sitting on a rotisserie.

Really what I'm ready to do is drive have fun and create memories with a car that is different than your normal mustang. Going with 331, 5spd because its cheap and affordable. Would like to have running end of spring next year.
I'll try to post pick of status later tonight.
Thanks again.

[Zachalanche]

Sounds like a good combo. Sky is the limit on spending money, but a simple a arm drop, and some good springs and sway bar goes a long way for dirt cheap. If you want adjustable ride height and more tuneabillity, that's where you should start looking at the pricier kits. One final recommendation is to only go with rack and pinion if it's a system truly designed to have rack and pinion (griggs is). For other systems that only relocate the upper a arm, but are mostly similar to the original design, stick with the steering box. The aftermarket rack and pinion kits tha mount behind the front crossmember are fundamentally flawed.

[CSG]

Not much progress in the past year sadly. Although I did do some work this evening redesigning my master cylinder reservoir mount. But rework slows a project down faster than no work. Ugh.

Honestly, I haven't done more than drive this car up and down the street by my house, so I cant speak to its performance. Although I'm happy to report no binding creaking banging or other drivability issues. This car is very powerful and easily spins the aged to perfection worn out track tires that are on it, and when doing so, the car behaves predictably has no wheel hop, and has quite a bit of forward bite.

What I like:
You can run a massive front tire without flares, and if you are willing to give up a little turning radius, you can go even wider.

Bruce griggs is very intelligent, and if you can get a hold of him will talk your ear off.

I think the product is robust and well designed.

It has already proven to be 10x better than the only mustang II kit that was on the car in droveabilty alone.

What I dont like:
I purchased a brake kit from griggs right before their buy out of Sierra fell through. So now I have calipers that are hard to find parts or replacements for. Not necessarily their fault, just kind of a bummer deal.

Not much ground clearance under the rear shocks and torque arm. So far I haven't contacted the ground, speed bumps or anything else. And I've put the car on a couple u haul trailers with no issue. So this might not really even be a problem.

Griggs frequently seems like they are having financial trouble which worries me in regard to future support. So please for my sake buy from them lol. I think Bruce is a good guy and means well but his ship times were long (10 years ago now), an it appears coretex is out pacing him in sales with a very similar product. There is speculation that some of the cortex designs came from griggs, but who knows. Point here is Bruce seems to be a nice guy finishing last. I hope for my sake things go better, but that is concerning for a new buyer.


I think if I were to do it again I'd still buy griggs over maier. But the tougher choices would be griggs vs coretex. I think agent 47 is also building some awesome stuff, but not sure you can buy it separate from the car they sell.

Hope this helps, wish I could give you a better review. Hopefully I can make some progress this summer and finally have a chance to really see what this thing can do.

Zach,

I know when cortex first started he came in with his modular spindle. Most of the other parts he had were actual griggs parts or at least exact duplicates. I always kind of thought that he used griggs stuff except where he felt he wanted an updated part. Those always seemed like just a newer version of what griggs had. I am curious if you know anything about what if any relationship there is/was between the two.

[andrewb70]

I would also consider bolt in full chassis options.

Andrew

[Zachalanche]

Zach,

I know when cortex first started he came in with his modular spindle. Most of the other parts he had were actual griggs parts or at least exact duplicates. I always kind of thought that he used griggs stuff except where he felt he wanted an updated part. Those always seemed like just a newer version of what griggs had. I am curious if you know anything about what if any relationship there is/was between the two.

I honestly dont know. Anything I could tell you would be nothing more than spreading a rumor I heard. I've probably said too much already.

[builttodrive]

Not much progress in the past year sadly. Although I did do some work this evening redesigning my master cylinder reservoir mount. But rework slows a project down faster than no work. Ugh.

Honestly, I haven't done more than drive this car up and down the street by my house, so I cant speak to its performance. Although I'm happy to report no binding creaking banging or other drivability issues. This car is very powerful and easily spins the aged to perfection worn out track tires that are on it, and when doing so, the car behaves predictably has no wheel hop, and has quite a bit of forward bite.

What I like:
You can run a massive front tire without flares, and if you are willing to give up a little turning radius, you can go even wider.

Bruce griggs is very intelligent, and if you can get a hold of him will talk your ear off.

I think the product is robust and well designed.

It has already proven to be 10x better than the only mustang II kit that was on the car in droveabilty alone.

What I dont like:
I purchased a brake kit from griggs right before their buy out of Sierra fell through. So now I have calipers that are hard to find parts or replacements for. Not necessarily their fault, just kind of a bummer deal.

Not much ground clearance under the rear shocks and torque arm. So far I haven't contacted the ground, speed bumps or anything else. And I've put the car on a couple u haul trailers with no issue. So this might not really even be a problem.

Griggs frequently seems like they are having financial trouble which worries me in regard to future support. So please for my sake buy from them lol. I think Bruce is a good guy and means well but his ship times were long (10 years ago now), an it appears coretex is out pacing him in sales with a very similar product. There is speculation that some of the cortex designs came from griggs, but who knows. Point here is Bruce seems to be a nice guy finishing last. I hope for my sake things go better, but that is concerning for a new buyer.


I think if I were to do it again I'd still buy griggs over maier. But the tougher choices would be griggs vs coretex. I think agent 47 is also building some awesome stuff, but not sure you can buy it separate from the car they sell.

Hope this helps, wish I could give you a better review. Hopefully I can make some progress this summer and finally have a chance to really see what this thing can do.

Love the build! I can't speak for Griggs in a vintage stang but I have it in my 07 Shelby Gt500 and the car handles amazing and is very predictable which is good with a car making a little north of 700 RWHP on a 295 Michelin street tire. I think I can say the tires offer a lot of grip but the suspension is definitely working well to help get the power down. I was a little leery of using a suspension system for my 70 Mach 1 project that altered the car much and also trying to keep cost down so I elected to go with a bolt in kit so that if one day the company up and folded and I lost support/parts, it wouldn't be too tough to purchase another and install it or even revert to a stock system if need be.

[69Phoenix]

Awesome build. I miss my 70’ Mach so bad. Wish I had the foresight to hold onto it. Good to see some Ford iron being treated right. Keep the posts coming.

[Zachalanche]

Its been more than a year since my last post. but I have been slowly trying to break out of paint jail. I'm a bit of a novice at bodywork, so I think I burned a lot of time putting filler on just to sand it back off. Also, I lack proper tools other than a few sanding blocks. So, doing absolutely everything by hand has also added a bit of time.






Here's a shot after a bit of wet sanding. things are starting to look pretty good at this point.

[1968Mustang]

Glad to see that your still working on it. Hopefully you will get to drive it pretty soon.

[Zachalanche]

Here, everything is blocked with 400 grit, and masked for paint

[jaybee]

The car looks SO mean with all that tire tucked under it.

[chunger]

Nice job! It's really coming along!



Whats the story on the Fairlane in the garage?

[Zachalanche]

Nice job! It's really coming along!

Whats the story on the Fairlane in the garage?

Thanks.

The Fairlane was my first car. Over time it has inherited many of the old parts that came off my Mach 1, some of which the Mach 1 stole from the Fairlane years ago. suspension arms and sway bars, springs, disc brakes, 9 in rear, t5 trans. It has 5.0 HO efi on the original 289. I also did the Shelby drop to the upper control arms which surprisingly made a massive improvement in handling. She's a bit rough around the edges, but a fun car to cruise around in.