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    1. #1
      Join Date
      Oct 2011
      Location
      Columbus, GA
      Posts
      111
      Country Flag: United States

      Project OCD (I bought a car to build tools???) - '67 Mustang Coupe

      So I've spent a fair amount of time over the past several months looking at various posts on this site and can say nothing less than - Awesome! There are some extremely talented gear-heads out there!

      And I must apologize for my previous lack of contributing to these posts, time is always a hard to find resource. I've taken away some really good ideas of directions to go and ways to achieve what's in my head. Thanks to all!!! Anyway, no more excuses; I'm sitting down and starting this thread...

      My journey started with my first car a 1967 Chevelle. Man that was a fun car as a late teen! Actually, my journey first started with my Dad. He was the kind of guy that would always resort to fixing something himself because he couldn't fathom paying someone else for what he himself could do. I owe a lot to him for nurturing my mechanical inclination and curiosity and allowing me to "assist" him in working on cars. I learned quite a bit from him (and even learned a few choice words along the way – LOL). I restored that entire car just short of painting it by 19. Fast forward a number of cars, a few bottles of nitrous, a supercharger and years later I decided to build an actual shop behind my house. That itself became a yearlong project. I ended up building a 30' x 40' steel frame building with a 14' eave on a 6" concrete slab and spent a solid year wiring, building and tooling this thing. Once it was complete enough (because it's never really "complete"!) I found my first project for the new shop, a 1967 Mustang coupe. It seems a lot of early Mustang projects are with fastbacks and although I had actually lost a bid on one by $100 I'm glad I ended up going the coupe direction.

      At this point I'm still not really sure which direction I'm trying to take this car other than it has to perform! Street-rod? Pro-Touring? It has to be fast and it has to handle!!!

      My major plans so far are the following:

      • TCI IFS front suspension – installed
      • 2003 Cobra IRS rearend – currently in progress
      • Either a Coyote crate motor (the forged 9:1 version) or a 408ci stroker with either a twin-screw (love the whine) or a turbo, looking for 15+ lbs.
      • Tremec TKO 600 5-speed


      I’ve been working on this car on and off, as time allows, for about 3 years now. I have three beautiful daughters (and pounds of powder, primers, bullets and brass) and they keep us pretty busy between school, sports and music. Anyway, I’ll post a few pic’s to show the progress and bring it to current state.

      Ok…on to the pic’s


      Here’s the day I picked up the coupe.
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      I built some supports to hold, what would be left of, the car square.
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      After firing up the plasma cutter here is what was left
      :-) That plasma cutter is way too easy to use!
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      The front clip back together. However, I wish I would have been looking at this forum prior to replacing all of this sheet metal! I tubular front end would have been the way to go.
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      The TCI front suspension installed.
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      On to the rear suspension and what has taken longer than I had hoped. I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out exactly how I wanted the Cobra IRS to fit. Maximum Motorsports ultimately provided the most technical information that helped me position the rear end with respect to anti-squat, etc. I also decided that a hard-tail approach would be the best to eliminate those ****y stock rubber mounts. My design is to basically build brackets that will be welded to the four mount points of a modified IRS cradle. I cut all four of the stock rubber bushing mounts off and will weld these brackets to the IRS cradle itself. Those brackets will then slip over the existing Mustang rear frame rails and I’ll bolt through them. I also plan on modifying some rectangular tube steel to insert into the existing frame rails to provide additional support for the brackets. This whole process is allowing me to set the entire IRS up higher into the car, about 1.5 - 2 inches, and achieve a lower overall stance for the car without changing the suspension geometry of the control arms themselves with respect to the IRS cradle.

      I fabbed up some cardboard templates for the brackets and began cutting out my bracket pieces from ¼” plate steel (probably overkill but wanted something very rigid). The brackets will be made up of 90 degree bends wherever possible (thanks to Swag Offroad’s metal bender) and the rest of the pieces will be TIG welded together.

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      20 ton press I built to use with Swag Offroad's metal bender
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      Rear driver side bracket mocked up
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      Mock up of the front bracket. I still have to cut the rubber mount off of the remaining cradle piece and TIG weld it back to the cradle. The cradle will then be welded to the bracket shown in the pic.
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      so...that's it for now.


    2. #2
      Join Date
      Jul 2011
      Location
      Atlanta, Ga
      Posts
      30
      Country Flag: United States
      Looking good, I will be following this one for sure!
      1967 Mustang Coupe
      2011 Mustang GT/CS
      1971 C-10 SWB Shop Truck
      1970 GMC Suburban (Betty) Tow Rig

    3. #3
      Join Date
      Aug 2006
      Location
      Vinland Kansas,66006
      Posts
      647
      Country Flag: United States
      Very Nice.I love making thing's so I can make thing's.Will be watching this one come togather.

    4. #4
      Join Date
      Oct 2011
      Location
      Columbus, GA
      Posts
      111
      Country Flag: United States
      Thanks number98! I noticed you sig lists a '67 coupe also. How's that project\car coming along? A full chassis would be sweet! I still haven't decided on the Coyote yet. I still find myself wanting that old hot-rod big camshaft, shake the doors off, cam lobe though???

    5. #5
      Join Date
      Oct 2011
      Location
      Columbus, GA
      Posts
      111
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by coolwelder62 View Post
      Very Nice.I love making thing's so I can make thing's.Will be watching this one come togather.
      Thanks Coolwelder62. It is definitely nice once the tools are built and you have them going forward. Each project also helps build on the fabrication skills and techniques!

    6. #6
      Join Date
      Feb 2010
      Location
      CO (orig. NY)
      Posts
      140
      Country Flag: United States
      Welcome. Nice project. On the next build I do the Cobra IRS is definitely on the list Good luck.
      ~JB
      68 Mustang Build | 3rd Time's the Charm

      Used to be known as BlackFlame

    7. #7
      Join Date
      Apr 2012
      Location
      New Hampshire/603
      Posts
      7
      Country Flag: United States
      Looking good

    8. #8
      Join Date
      Oct 2011
      Location
      Columbus, GA
      Posts
      111
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by BlackFlame View Post
      Welcome. Nice project. On the next build I do the Cobra IRS is definitely on the list Good luck.
      Thanks BlackFlame! Love the rear frame mods and those huge wheels!!!

      I'm still wondering how large of a tire\wheel combo I'll be able to fit. I'm prepared to mini-tub but won't know until I actually get the IRS mounted. My challenge is the IRS will only allow so much wheel (offset and backspacing are going to be insane - I also don't want to flare the quarters) not too many options in regards to narrowing (don't want to alter the length and arch of the control arms\geometry). Also the shocks will get in the way at some point unless I fab my own lower control arms which would be cool, just takes more time. Hopefully I'll get my brackets finished soon and get to measuring the max tire that will fit.

    9. #9
      Join Date
      Jun 2011
      Location
      Uk
      Posts
      51
      Country Flag: UK
      Wow your car looks worse than mine makes me feel better about my project lol

      Amit

      Build thread -NightHawk build
      Facebook -Like ProjectNighthawk
      Twitter -@ProjNighthawk

    10. #10
      Join Date
      Jan 2010
      Location
      Calgary, Alberta, Canada
      Posts
      620
      I love the direction of the car!

      I'm going to offer what is, in my opinion, constructive criticism. I hope you agree and take it that way.

      We see it a lot here where people massively overbuild parts and then attach them to sheetmetal. The rear cradle mounts that you built from what looks to be 1/4" will be welded to sheetmetal frame rails. Here are the problems I see with that:

      Welding - you'll end up with very little penetration into the 1/4" due to the fact that it has a very high thermal mass compared to the frame rails. Add to it that they're galvanized and it makes it even worse.
      Stresses - the drastic difference in rigidity b/w the 2 material thicknesses with result in a stress concentration at the welds where the frame rail material has already been weakened due to likely a lot of heat being put into it trying to connect it to the thick material.

      My recommendation is to spread the forces over a larger area with a similar thickness of material. I'd box the frame rail over a larger area with 1/8" and then build the structure out of the same. By spreading the forces over a larger area, you'll be decreasing the load and will end up with less deflection and greater strength and do it all for half (or less) of the weight. Structure is much more effective at maximizing strength and rigidity while minimizing weight.

      I hope this this is useful information. And again, I'm not saying what you're doing is wrong, I'm giving you my opinion on what I feel is a better way.

      Cheers,

      Wes

    11. #11
      Join Date
      Oct 2011
      Location
      Columbus, GA
      Posts
      111
      Country Flag: United States
      Wes, I truly appreciate the information! It was one of my main reasons for deciding to post my thread on this forum; there's a lot of constructive feedback. Oh yeah, and after working on this car for some time and spending hours upon hours pondering whether my designs will work or not, I have a whole new respect for engineers!!!

      Anyway, You read my mind. So hopefully I can explain what's in the "chaos of space" I call my mind...I don't plan to weld the 1/4" brackets to the existing frame rails but will bolt the brackets (the mock ups don't have any holes drilled yet) with 9/16" Grade 5 or 8 bolts to the frame rails. To make the existing frame rail area stronger I was going to cut and weld from 2" x 4" rectangular 1/8" wall tube steel to fit exactly inside the frame rails, maybe several inches beyond the width of the brackets. I'll plug weld (penetrating the tube steel first and drag the weld puddle to the frame rail material) in a number of spots to secure the frame rail inserts. I was also thinking of welding in some round bushings to keep from crushing the frame rails with the brackets\bolts. And I'm quickly realizing as I type this response...I should have just replaced the dang frame rails with tubular ones!!! Argh!!!!!! What are your thoughts?


      Danny,

    12. #12
      Join Date
      Jan 2010
      Location
      starkville ms
      Posts
      218
      Country Flag: United States
      Modmoter I really like your build. I'll be watching the thread i'm curious to see how the irs install turns out. wesley had some good advice but ford had it mounted to the side of the frame Where the quad shocks mounted on the solid axle cars, That doesn't mean that it was the best way to do it.

    13. #13
      Join Date
      Jan 2010
      Location
      Calgary, Alberta, Canada
      Posts
      620
      Hey Danny,

      Good to hear you appreciate the feedback. I've learned on my build that the further down the rabbit hole you go, the further you want to go, if you know what I mean. I look back at what I've done and wish I would've just cut the entire floor out and built the frame/floor/firewall from scratch. I can build new sheetmetal in no time, it actually takes me less time to build a pretty panel and fit it that is does to connect it to the existing stuff... Anyway, I'm not answering your question.



      If you haven't welded it all up, I'd be tempted to change out the material that mates to the frame with 1/8", make it a bit longer, and weld your existing pieces to it. The other thing to consider is just doing what you have planned as you have 4 mount points.

      Wes


    14. #14
      Join Date
      Oct 2011
      Location
      Columbus, GA
      Posts
      111
      Country Flag: United States
      Hey Wes,

      Yeah, certainly agree on the rabbit hole! The challenge is changing direction; you go down one path with a design in mind, spending valuable time and money, and then half way through it you think/see/hear about a different one...part of it I guess!

      I'm now thinking about changing the majority of the design, same premise (with the brackets) but different material thickness and structure. The whole time I really wasn't sure how well the IRS cradle would weld to the 1/4" plate. The IRS cradle is roughly 1/8" thick tube. I had started cutting out the bracket pieces and was going to, at some point, test welding one of the cradle pieces I cut off to the 1/4" plate. However, the cart came before the horse in the spirit of trying to make some progress :-(

      My plan now is to build the brackets out of 1/8” plate steel and create more of a boxed\gusseted structure. Basically I’ll utilize the original bracket design (based on the pic’s in my original post) and maybe place additional gussets where stress\flex points might be. Do you think boxing in the gussets will add any strength\rigidity or are they even needed? I’ll stick with then bolting this to the inner-reinforced frame rails. I’m not really convinced on welding the IRS to the 67’s frame rails as down the road it may end up with a straight axle???

    15. #15
      Join Date
      Oct 2011
      Location
      Columbus, GA
      Posts
      111
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by 69lsxamx View Post
      Modmoter I really like your build. I'll be watching the thread i'm curious to see how the irs install turns out. wesley had some good advice but ford had it mounted to the side of the frame Where the quad shocks mounted on the solid axle cars, That doesn't mean that it was the best way to do it.
      Thanks 69lsxamx! Once I get past mounting the IRS I'll hopefully start making more progress with the car. I have to say, so far the IRS has been the most challenge with this car! Still fun though!!!

      Danny,

    16. #16
      Join Date
      Oct 2011
      Location
      Columbus, GA
      Posts
      111
      Country Flag: United States
      I've finally made some progress on the IRS. Thanks to Wesley J, I redesigned the rear brackets and they're really coming together now. I ended up using some 10GA sheet (.135") and with a few 90 degree bends and a whole lot of TIG welding they're almost complete (oh yeah, forgot to mention all the plumb-bobs, tape measures and rules I had to use to make sure this thing was square with the front suspension and the rest of the car - by far the most tedious work of it all). I have a few more welds to finish, sandblast and paint and it'll be ready to mount in the car. I still have to come up with a plan to reinforce the frame rails and put some crush sleeves in them as I will be bolting the IRS cradle brackets to the frame rails --- that should be the easy part though! Ultimately the cradle will be rigidly mounted to the frame rails and is about 1 1/2" higher up in the frame for a lower overall stance.

      Here's the pic's

      The front tubes of the cradle had to be shortened and brought inward 2" to clear the frame rails and give enough room to weld to the new brackets.
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      Side view of the cradle with front and rear brackets. I took 1 1/2" off of the rear tubes before welding the rear brackets in place. The front was just positioned in place before welding.
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      Bottom view of the front brackets.
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      Backside of the front bracket (upside down for welding purposes) where the cradle tubes are welded to the bracket.
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      Almost complete cradle! A few more welds, sandblasting and some paint and she'll be ready!
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      Thanks and enjoy!

    17. #17
      Join Date
      Feb 2011
      Location
      Indpls, IN
      Posts
      613
      Country Flag: United States
      Looks good to me. Like you said, put some crush sleeves in the frame rails and you will be good to bolt it in. Awesome job.

    18. #18
      Join Date
      Dec 2010
      Location
      Kinston, NC
      Posts
      118
      Great build! Thanks for the insperation.
      1957 Chevy Bel Air sold
      1972 Chevy Chevelle sold
      1974 Porsche 911 Carrera sold
      1968 Ford Mustang coupe

      "That's a hell of a cam for the street son."
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhBtRMtpgzE

      http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3873446/1968-ford-mustang

    19. #19
      Join Date
      Feb 2011
      Location
      Indpls, IN
      Posts
      613
      Country Flag: United States
      Any updates to your build?

    20. #20
      Join Date
      Oct 2011
      Location
      Columbus, GA
      Posts
      111
      Country Flag: United States
      Hey Jetfixr320, thanks for the inquiry. I've made some decent progress since then.

      I finally finished the framerail inserts; probably overkill but I know it'll be solid. They took some time to make as they're fab'd to fit flush inside the frame rails so the floor pans can be welding to them. I basically cut sections out of a 2"x4" rectangle tube steel and TIG'd them back together and then drilled 3/4" holes to hold the DOM tubing for the actual anti-crush sleeves. Once the sleeves were TIG'd in, they were sprayed with some weld-through primer (the UPOL stuff works great!) and set in the frame rails. I put a couple of welds around the inserts to hold them in place so they wouldn't move as I began to weld in the trunk flooring. The flooring itself will also be welded to the inserts to further secure them.

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      ...and after drilling a million holes, I did manage to get the trunk flooring welded in.
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      I also had to create some relief in the trunk floor for the IRS cradle upper control arm mounts (facilitated by my recent Harbor Freight planishing hammer purchase - pretty good tool for small jobs and relatively inexpensive). I had raised the entire cradle about 1 1/2" higher up in the frame to get a lower ride height without changing the suspension geometry and travel of the components themselves. A positive by-product, it also changed the anti-squat geometry to a slightly higher percentage as desired. The stock 2003 Cobra IRS has arguably too low of an anti-squat percentage, roughly 36%. I'm shooting for a high 40's percentage. The trick here is...it's all napkin math. Since I'm building the car with most of the drive train and suspension components modified I won't really know the center of gravity or weight distribution until the car is finished.
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      Currently I'm working on getting the wheelhouses put it (Dynacorn one piece wheelhouses ROCK! as does all Dynacorn pieces I've used so far - well worth the extra $.)
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      Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. And a special thanks to all those in the military making it possible for us to continue to enjoy these Holidays - God Bless

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