Anvil Mustang
 

OK, some of you have known about this build and some may have seen some magazine blurbs about it......now, it's finally time to track the build here! Anvil Auto is breaking into the Mustang world in a very huge way! It all started when I heard that Steve Strope of Pure Vision (purevisiondesign.com) (Hammer, Z Nova, 515 Charger, Petrol Charger, etc., etc.) had a '66 Mustang project for sale. I told Steve that the early Mustangs just weren't my cup of tea, but if it were a '69 (my favorite) I may just be interested. Steve did a little homework and realized that some of the components from the '66 project could work on a '69. So, Steve and I decided to look for a good, clean original '69 sports roof that would make a good candidate to go under the knife. After looking everywhere on the west coast, I found one on e-bay right in Steve's back yard in Simi Valley, CA. He went over to the owner's house one night and called me to tell me it looked like it could be the one. Upon Steve's approval, I made a deal with the guy and we went over to the his house to pick it up. It had very little rust and only some driver's side rear damage which isn't an issue (you will see why later).

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...g/Dec09129.jpg

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...g/Dec09125.jpg

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...g/Dec09126.jpg

Yeah you have been holding out on us to say the least. :yes:

Yeah I was wondering why there wasn't a build thread.
I saw it when we came down to the El Toro event. It will be pretty cool.

Rendering
 

Here's a rendering that Tavis Highlander did early on showing the original concept Steve and I discussed late one evening. I also did a little work with some plastic model kits to try out some ideas before cutting apart our candidate. The final product should be pretty close to this rendering, but more agressive (despite the not so sinister off-white paint).

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...angLayout2.jpg

Funny Matt! You were sanding away like a mad man the last time I saw IT -- and YOU - at Steves shop. It was looking like a killer project even then! Glad you've got it going on now. :cheers:

This will be a fun build to watch.

Interesting how "white" right now is the current hip color. Lots of white projects right now

It's interesting you say that Mike. It was Steve's idea to go white. He wanted to do something different and looked at the new Ferarri pallet. When everyone is zigging, the best thing you can do is zag. I have to admit, white just wasn't on my radar and it was like a slap across my face when Steve suggested it. After I came to, and looked at the Ferarri web site at the color, I started to warm up to the idea. Plus no one would expect it, so I said, OK, let's do it. Now, it seems that maybe others are thinking anti-murdered out paint schemes too. The other thing that I sort of predicted, but only now am realizing is that the next big thing would be 69-70 Mustangs. I've always liked those years best as they are the most agressive looking before they got bloated (although those Mach 1s with the almost horizontal back glass are soooo cool) and before they went gas crisis on us (Mustang II). I think there might actually be more Mustangs at SEMA this year than '69 Camaros. Yeah, you heard it here first! That's my prediction.

Tail Lights
 

There are a lot of modifications on this car, but some are so subtle that you won't notice them right away. That's sort of Pure Vision's calling card, but I pushed for some things that probably make this a bit more outside of Steve's normal comfort zone. The hardest thing to do is to make changes that don't diverge too far from the factory sheet metal, or seem to anyway, but still enough to be worth the effort. There are Easter eggs all over this car, so I don't want to blatently just list them here as to spoil the fun of finding them. I will, however give some clues. Take a look at the tail panel. It's been modified in more ways than one.

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...Jan1910006.jpg

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...y5-2010008.jpg
Now, I know the screen is not that subtle, but there are some other things going on there. It will be more apparent when I post some more pics later.

The taillights are different the stock one mounts from the inside. These are like a 68 with the holes for the chrome which holds the light to the taillight panel.

Rear Bumper
 

I worked on some of the parts we will be producing in carbon fiber myself including the rear bumper. Originally Steve had the steel bumper de-chromed and I was going to have his guys weld and grind on it to make the mods I wanted, but we both agreed that there had to be a better way, so I went to town on some foam and fiberglass. Mick's guys from Mick's paint did the final touches on it as well as all the other panels that are being molded to make the carbon fiber parts.

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...y5-2010004.jpg

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...y5-2010010.jpg

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...y5-2010015.jpg

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...y5-2010029.jpg

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...y5-2010034.jpg

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...y5-2010052.jpg

The taillights are different the stock one mounts from the inside. These are like a 68 with the holes for the chrome which holds the light to the taillight panel.
__________________
Rusty Gillis
Gillis Performance Restorations
Port Richey Fl
www.gillisrestorations.com

BINGO! We have a winner! It was more work than it looks as the two tail panels are just different enough but similar enough to still make it possible.

I am waiting for someone to do away with the spoiler and come straight off the back for a "spoiler-less" look. I hope I don't have to build a 69 to see it done

I think thats the way the rendering is, but doesn't look like they did it.

Matt... hurry up and finish those proto-types... LOL.
I told you we have another 69 coming in December :unibrow:

Looks great !

We have a drawing like that on our gallery page on our web site, but I think most people prefer the flip up in the rear on the 69-70s since it's such a trademark of the car. We are making a custom 3 pc. spoiler extension that actually extends the flip up spoiler a little. So, I suppose in essence we are doing the opposite of what you would like to see. I figure if you like the look of the straight back trunk lid, one could start with a 65-68 or a 71-73. I believe if you knock down that built in flip up in the rear of a 69-70, it may wimpify it too much (sort of like castrating it). I also know that these Mustangs are a bit tail happy and light in the rear, so anything that will keep them more planted at speed is a good thing. And this car is built for speed!

Matt I agree 100 % about the spoilers not only on this body style Mustang (69 is my fav) but most muscle cars of this era especially ones that came with them from the factory.

This is going to be a kick ass build from the looks of it. Please keep us updated with lots of pics I can't wait to see the end result. :thumbsup:

Hood
 

Here are some pictures of the evolution of our hood design which shows how much work that goes into making a custom part to reproduce in carbon fiber. I never liked the stock 69-70 Mustang hoods with that 'beak' or "ironing board" in the middle. I wanted to modernize it while giving it a functional aspect to boot. I really like the vents in the Aston Martin DBS hood, so we had that as our inspiration.
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...stonHood-1.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...Feb5-10011.jpg
Here, we performed rinoplasty on the beak and started to build up the hump in foam
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...Feb5-10013.jpg
More foam, then bondo over the foam and lots of sanding and eyeballing with templates
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...Feb5-10014.jpg

You can see by the illustration below that the Aston hood's vents are too rounded at that corners for the more angular Mustang, so we tweaked them to be sharper. We also realized from these illustrations that the secondary vents off to the sides and further back on the Aston hood just made the Mustang hood too busy, so we decided to axe them.

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...hoodtopvew.jpg

Here's a screen shot of the computer model we did in Solidworks
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...oodventv21.jpg

Next we really needed to look at exactly where it made sense to position the vents on the hood. We looked at the underside and we didn't want to have to completely redo the underside bracing, and they needed to be functional, so we reallly only had one area where they made sense. The radiator sits so far back in the car that the more forward recess on the underside is actually where the core support is.

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...placement3.jpg

Here it is with one vent in place
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...Mustang/10.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...0Mustang/9.jpg

Here's the finished hood pattern which we are making molds from
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...Mustang/21.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...Mustang/20.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...Mustang/18.jpg

Hood
 

You've got your self a big seller. Great looking hood....

Matt... Incredible!!!! Just can't wait to see this car complete. Strope is one of my favorite builders. The guy is class all the way!!!!:lateral:

Glad to see you showing off this build Matt. It is going to be an incredible car!

Shaun-Evod Industries

Looking great Matt! Lots of tasteful design enhancements. Can't wait to see it!:thumbsup:

Matt Look's awesome :thumbsup: Cant wait to see more. I want a 69 fastback that's School bus yellow w/ carbon fiber pcs.Keep the photo's coming.Scott.

Looks good Matt :thumbsup: Can't wait to see it done..

Wow! awesome work! I love the Aston Martin DBS myself and I think that taking some inspiration from the hood and making your own version is just too cool! Keep up the good work!

Wheels
 

Here's the inspiration for the wheels. Some of you may recall seeing these wheels on some Indy cars from the early 60s. A girl I went to grade school with used to bring in 8X10 glossies of Indy cars her father took who was a pro photog. A lot of the cars wore these wheels. Bitchin'!



http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...AN31-09047.jpg

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...AN31-09045.jpg



Here's the computer model from Evod Industries who will be makng the wheels. They will be available for sale through Anvil Auto early next year.

[IMG]http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc95/anvil_auto/Anvil%

what an awesome project! One of my favorite cars of all time. Can't wait to see how great this will turn out? Will it be displayed at SEMA?

Thanks! Yeah, SEMA is our goal. It will be in the Anvil Auto booth.

Damn, you guys even have a booth this year. That is pretty official. The carbon fiber market for muscle cars must be booming. I remember in Costa Mesa there was someone that was surprised you didn't make parts for Ford Falcons. Are those next? :lol:

The car looks amazing even as it is coming together. Hope you guys make it to SEMA so I can see it in person. I'm a big fan of Strope's work, the direction, planning, and attention to detail are second to none on all of his projects.

Oh, and the wheels don't look too bad either. They remind me of the wheels on the GT40 MKII LeMans cars, which I think are some of the coolest cars ever made.

Matt

BTW, I know you guys make everything from carbon fiber parts to action figures, so when are you going to make a model of this car :unibrow:

Matt I would love to stand in your sema booth, polishing on your mustang w/speedo on, when it's finished.Scott.:lol:

Well, that could be a reality since there are die cast cars of some of Pure Vision's other cars and both Strope and I have contacts at Hot Wheels. You never know!

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, haaa, ha! :rofl: Scott, you are cracking me up! Now that's a mental picture I won't be able to get out of my head all day. Oh, the humanity!
Too funny!

Matt,

How far along is the project? Are we getting the daily updated pics?

This project started in December '09 and the first few posts show the car when we first got it and then I put up pictures in a general cronological order. There has been a lot more work done on the car in the last month and a half. I need to get newer pictures from Steve from Pure Vision and Mick from Mick's paint to post what the car looks like now. Mick is finishing all the body work and metal prep for primer and eventually paint. I got an e-mail from Mick saying that the interior and trunk are pretty much done and the body is really close. I hope to have the carbon fiber hood and fenders in about a week or so which Mick will need to finalize alignment on everything. I'll get some more recent pics up soon!

Matt; Just don't think about at lunch.Wouldn't want you losen it.:lol:

I'm not sure I have ever met or seen you in person, but that might not be good for business. I'm just saying.....


I like the wheels Matt. :thumbsup:

Matt;I think you would have all the female model's coming over & checking out the new guy on the floor.Might get thing's buzzing around your car.I'd have a polishing towel in one hand & a double cheese burger in the other. I will try not to drip on the fresh paint.:lol: :lol:

Matt...what seats are you running in the Mustang? Were they a bolt in deal or did they have to fab brackets etc?

Yeah......I'll call you Scott when I need your services. :_paranoid
Kinda reminds me of an episode of "Married with Children" when Al was talking to his neighbor about a perfect evening watching the game on TV with a slice in one hand and a greasy hooter in the other.

...and that reminds me of another episode where he was talking about some alien babes from space (not the ones from across the border) that had 3 breasts. The neighbor goes, "whats the third one for?". Al says... "on the back,..for dancing!

That's funny! It would definitely draw a crowd.
Just so everyone knows. Scott built the bitchin' '69 Camaro that looks like the blue Sunoco Trans Am Camaro. He's running some of our parts on it, and is one of the coolest Camaros out there and was featured in Hot Rod not too long ago. Scott is pretty humble, but he's a very good fabricator. (As are you, Rodger!) And Scott's a good lookin' guy, but as far as big guys go, Rodger, he puts you to shame.