65 Mustang Fastback pro-touring build
 

Well I have finally decided to bite the bullet and go ahead and put together a build thread, somewhat for my own sanity so I can keep track of this money pit and see how much it has changed over the past 4 years, from me learning to tinker with it at 17 years old, to me now building it as a pro-touring car at the age of 21.

Little back story on the car, it was my cousins first car back in 2000 or 2001 that he drove during high school, and because it was my big cousin's car, that made a 65 Fastback my dream car, and that very vintage burgundy metallic that my cousin had, was THE car I wanted when I got older. So fast forward to spring of 2010, when I was 17, which was also my junior year in high school, and the car came up for sale, mostly because my cousin had lost interest in the car, it was just sitting out in front of their house just wasting away, and they could use the money. So on April 25th of 2010 my uncle, dad, and myself went and looked at the car and bought it with the intentions of it being a father/son project.

Had the car towed home on a tow truck from Hayward CA to Alamo because the right front brake caliper was seized up. Got it home and had tons of friends and neighbors over all day to come check it out while we cleaned it and then shoved it in the garage. That entire day of bringing it home was like being on cloud 9, I was so excited and that is a day that I will never forget!

Hope you all like my story!!

Nik Becker


Going to pic her up
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After getting home
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After getting the car back, my dad and I did little things here and there on it over the summer of 2010 going into my senior year at San Ramon Valley High, and we got it to a point where I could drive it to school and around town with all my friends safely and man did we all have a blast in it.
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putting a new sending unit into my lovely dented fuel tank....
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So after driving it a few months my dad and I decided it was time to swap the motor, convert to disc brakes, new front suspension, and put a rack and pinion set up in it, which I regret so so so much! The rack and pinion that is, which I am still in the process of converting back to a gear box set up.

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after the motor and suspension conversion
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Drove the car for about a year or so like this and then decided it was time to tackle the back half of the car and do all the popular tricks like a 9 inch and disc brake swap, which has now turned into a swap that has a C&R third, with a Detroit locker and 3.50:1 gears (third member is currently on its way to the Maier Racing shop for me to go pick up) So what started out as simple upgrades turned into getting the Maier Racing 165 race leaf springs, along with Mike's panhard rod, adjustable rear sway bar, bilstein shocks, moser 31 spline custom axles, a powder coated 9 in. axle housing, wildwood 4 piston brakes, and to top it all off, I undercoated the entire underside of the car...... which took me months to degrease, sand, scuff, prep, and then spray, all of which was by hand and I swear I will never do that again!!

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Here is how it sat after finishing up the rear suspension!
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Looking great! As someone working entirely on their back under their car too, I feel your pain. Oh man is it dirty and I'm not working on cleaning the car. I'm just installing parts.

Good luck with the build!

I want to know the story behind the rack and pinion??

How do you like the rear 165lb springs? I need to get mine ordered and I'm unsure which rate to go with.

Car looks great.:thumbsup:

Dan

Here's the problem with a question like that Dan..... This is most likely his one and only Mustang.... so what would he base a response on? If a guy hasn't had too stiff and then gone too soft -- it's like the three bears. It depends.

He might like Grandma's Buick ride and you might be looking for "sport" ride.

Sorry - as this sounds like I'm ripping you and him - but I'm not - I'm just posting this because others read this and it should be food for thought. It's the old bull talking to the young bulls. LOL

Nik,

What don't you like about the rack. It looks like you have a Randall's unit? I thought they were one of the better ones?

Thx

GW do you know your rear spring rate? 165lb is one of the lowest advertised rates out there. Mike sells these and the 200lb., most seem to be 175-185lb. I'm not sure 10-15lbs difference I would even notice, maybe. Mike said that the 220lb he's ran are too stiff for everyday use.

I don't think you're ripping on me, its all good conversation and like you said, food for thought. Besides, I don't have many feelings left and I left my two chits in the van! :thumbsup:

The rack and pinion was an entire fiasco by itself. It was a kit from unisteer that went in very easily and had no clearance problems but the performance aspect of the rack was just not even close. It was nice to just cruise down the road with, but if you wanted to start taking corners.....good luck. Very unresponsive, sluggish and I lost a LOT of my turning radius. Not sure if I just had a bad ratio set up or what but I had a couple of car buddies drive it and they all did not like it one bit. Now I'm not here to say rack and pinions are bad or to rip on unisteer because this is kind of one of those things that you have to try to see whether or not it is for you. But what did make me a little ticked and that is why I'm sharing this, but when we were at SEMA 2013, I just thought I'd ask one of their guys about some of the problems I was having and his only answer was, "well you must have installed it wrong"........there's only one way to do the install. So I decided to get my responsive steering back (which I am currently doing and I will update soon) and better yet make the car safe to go around corners with cause let we tell you it sure was sketchy! So that's it in a nutshell. Sorry to have it so long and hope that answered some questions!

Sorry forgot to quote you in my response to that! Just posted the entire diary of it above!

So far I really like the 165 springs. I got those instead of the 200's for that very reason, and that being because they would be too stiff for everyday use. These 165's are even a little stiff, but I like them like that. Not sloppy and bouncy. They just compress, then return and that's it. And paired with the bilstein's that mike likes to put in the rear, it just gives the car a much more updated feel!

Nik

Can't go wrong with what he sells, he's been around for a bit and tends to know what he's doing! Im just back and forth on what I'm reading and trying to understand it all.

I've just installed his coil over front kit and couldn't be happier, worth every penny. :G-Dub: How was the install on the rear set up, looks pretty straight forward.
Looking forward to seeing what you've done with the front end and steering.

:cheers:
Dan

Dan I've got nothing but good things to say about Mike and his products. The rear suspension install was pretty straight forward. Just make sure the panhard bracket is in the correct place when you weld it in and base everything off that. Then it's all bolt in!

Hopefully tonight I'll add the update about the front suspension, and I'm thinking his coilover kit will be my next thing too. Reassuring to hear that you like it! I'd like to know how it performs on your car!

Nik

Haha! The kit performs, the rest of the car...not so much! I'm starting with a beater and I'm still running the six.:underchair: The plan is to upgrade the suspension and chassis and than do the V8 over the winter. I've learned my lesson of pulling a running car off the road!

I pulled the original equipment off one night after work and wire wheeled and undercoated the next. Started the drivers side Friday after work and finished the passenger side and had it off the jack stands Sarurday morning. Mike and I texted back and forth the first night and he ended up calling a few days later to see how everything went. I would suggest once you have the kit and are looking at it to either give him a call or PM me and I can tell you a few things that will make it easier.

The best part about it, the more the wife drives it the more she gets why I did it. Like you said about the rear, it just absorbs every little thing on the road. The front end is firm without being jarring what so ever. Maier knows how to set these cars up and I'm glad i decided to spend a lil more to get this set up.

Now let's see some more pictures! Are you still running the daisy mags?

:thumbsup:
Dan

Right on! And ya I've pulled this thing off the road and torn it down in running condition quite a few times haha. I've talked with mike a lot about set ups and the way his suspensions are suppose to work. Must say I really enjoy bouncing ideas off him and just shooting the breeze. But I will definitely talk to you more about the coilover kit when I get around to it.

As for the daisy mags, I junked them cause the chrome was soooo beat on them, one wheel was bent, they had oblong stud holes in them to fit multiple lug patterns and they were just cheap knockoffs of the American Racing 200 S wheels. I got a free set of Crown Vic 16x7 rims and I had a bunch of tires laying around for that size so I thought why not run them for free!

I'll get more pics up tomorrow to get this thread up too current date!

Nik

You're not wrong about the Unisteer's performance. I have a manual Uni-rack on my Falcon, and I found that the following minor changes were necessary to make it tolerable (and pretty good):

1. A 1.5:1 ratio quickener (this makes the rack too hard to steer; see #2)

2. The Unisteer Electro-Steer (check spelling) setup: This is awesome, and is the best power steering I've ever experienced on an old car. It's pretty much the same as my 2012 Honda's steering, actually. It can also allow for me to use a 2:1 quickener, if I like.

3. Thanks to the above, my car is now way safer (I have no actual steering column, as all parts can collapse at a number of points), and way more fun to drive. I don't have to take my hands off the wheel for most turns, and I can react to crap way more quickly and effectively.

I should have just used a Flaming River box, but I still would have wanted to quicken up the 16:1 they come with, which would make the steering super-hard. That's car crap for you--it never ends, but you're young...:bang:

Just sold the power unisteer rack i had on my car, was def not for me either!LOL. sounds like you had a lot less issues then I did.

Great to see another for on the board, looks they are popping up daily around here. let me rephrase, nice to see another Local ford here!

Glad to hear yalls input on the Uni-Steer! I was heading quickly in that direction. I'll re evaluate now. Thanks!

dont want to thread jack but if you have any questions feel free to pm me. In my opinion the best bet if you arent looking to spend tons of money on lets say a TCP rack is to look into the power assist boxes. Boxes now offered have some fairly quick ratios available and install is easy and the price is easy on the wallet compared to other power steering options. I only caution you if using super comp headers with an aftermarket box.

Definitely good to see some Ford guys on here! Nothing wrong with Chevys or Mopars whatsoever! In fact I'll probably do a camaro or a challenger next! But yes us Ford guys are few and far between I am seeing.

I would like to see a picture of those too, did you have to use spacers?

Love the car and modifications you have done.

Thanks man, really appreciate it! And to answer your question, no I am not running any spacers at all. I am running them as a direct bolt on. I will hopefully be getting up some more pictures tonight to get the thread up to date and ill include one of it on the steelies

Nik

So as I have been saying over these past few days, I am now going to get this thread up to current date. So to explain where I am at and why, I pulled my car apart again mainly to do my steering and fix my rear end. My third member and housing set up, which I have a lot of $$$$ into, spun the bearing races while I was just cruising down the road. I had never abused this piece or anything of the sort. I have about 300 miles on the axle and third member. I yanked the third member, the rack and pinion I had under the front, the front brakes/suspension and power booster for the brakes.

I figured that since I am going to have to install an entire steering system and run some new custom brake lines, that it would just be easier to pull the motor out, considering that it only takes about an hour to pull with another set of hands. Besides I was planning on messing with the motor a little so this just made it that much more appealing to pull it......which I am glad I did!!

Motor came out and I found that the front and rear main seals were leaking, along with the pan gasket, cam freeze plug and the head gaskets!!! Mind you that I did NOT build this motor! I bought this motor completed from a guy who I guess didn't do the best job lol. So I swapped the cam for a new one from comp, along with new springs, retainers, keepers, and pushrods, pulled the heads off and ported and polished the intake and exhaust runners and I also removed the smog injection lumps that are located in the exhaust ports. I will never port a set of iron heads again!!! Aluminum heads from here on out. After doing the cam and head work, I finished it off with an edelbrock RPM performer intake manifold.

Here's the motor waiting to be dropped back in. Hopefully in the next few days she'll be put back!
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Brakes are all ready to go. Just need to bleed the system
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Entire gear box set up back in the car, along with all of the linkage to go with it. Box is 4 turns lock to lock and with the Shelby quick steer arms, it's at about 3-1/4 to 3-1/2 turns now
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Need to get some interior back in it as well! Tired of being rattled to death in there.
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**** wish I would have known you were looking for a motor, im local and have a nice low mile 302 i would have let go for cheap since my stroker motor is being built.

I have a soft spot in my heart for fast backs. Love the car Nik!

David

Thanks my man!


In the same spot as you right now. I'm currently getting ready to start building a 408 or 427 stroker from a 351 Windsor. I really do love my 289 though, just thought I'd give her a little massaging! Hopefully I'll get considerably more thump out of it now.

Well time to get this thread back and rolling! Over the past few months I have finally gotten the car back and running and driving on the road. So far just trying to get everything dialed in as far as tuning the engine, and messing with my brake prop valve. The steering is much better and quicker thanks to the Shelby quick steer set up and especially since I ditched my rack and pinion and went back to the gear box style steering set up. Also very happy with my 6 piston Wilwoods up front! I haven't gotten the chance to really jump on the brakes, considering I haven't gotten my harnesses yet and only have lap belts at the moment so I just get folded like a taco in the seat under hard braking. Also finally got my C&R third member with 3.50:1 gears and a Detroit Locker, and I must say it is beautiful. Pictures do not do this thing justice. The guys at C&R in North Carolina do some awesome work! Also a big thank you to Mike Maier and his guys for helping me out on this one! I'll get some more pictures of the car up and running soon!

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Nik,
Your doing great! You have been an awesome customer. Keep digging.

Mike

Bout time you joined us Mike. Happy to have you here....(unless you've been lurking under an alias Camaro fan lol)...

Keep the updates coming along from a fellow east bayer....:relax:

Hey Mike! Not to jack Nik's thread.... but sorry I was getting suited up when you came by at Sonoma buddy! Would have loved to show you the car and spent some time BS'n.


OKay --- Looking good Nik! Keep pounding away!

Thanks Mike! Good to hear from you the other day. Wishing you luck! Talk to you soon.

Nik

And also a big thank you too everyone for all your positive comments and interest in the car. Keeps me motivated to keep at it and makes my efforts worth it! Whenever I get frustrated with this thing I come on here to get my batteries recharged. More pics and stuff to come!

Good to see the thread pop back up Nik! Looking forward to seeing what you've been up to.

:thumbsup:
Dan

Lucky Guy
 

Neat back story on the car. Can't imagine how cool it was to have the car in high school in this time frame. For the older members of the site we remember guys who had Mustangs in high school but they were only a few years old, so just a used car. Yours has history that makes it valuable to you and you know it's a classic car.

Agree on working on iron heads. I always felt when I did mine that the gain wasn't entirely worth the time I spent (about two weeks) to get them done. Will be following this build in part because:

1. It's a Mustang (sometimes there are too many Chevy threads - and I'm a Chevy guy - LOL)
2. You are doing the work yourself
3. Your passion for the car
4. It's a Mustang fastback

Rod

Well it's been awhile since I've updated the thread so I thought today I will finally get back too it. Just been spending the last three weeks or so getting the car dialed in and tuning the motor and just fixing/finishing like details. Getting some interior back in the car! Soooo nice to get some paneling back inside and not be riding around in a tin can! Hopefully the panels and rear seat will help muffle the clicking of the Detroit haha. I'll get some update pictures up tonight.

Nik

As I have been promising, here are some pics of how far we are along. Been really happy with how everything has worked out on the car performance wise. It now runs, stops, and handles much better than before.

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Good for you Nik!!


Turned out great and you have to be proud of what you'd done and how it works.

Going to bring this thread back to life a little bit with some update pics of the car. Last week, I came across a wheel and tire set on CL and I just so happened to luck out, which rarely happens to me especially on CL lol. Snagged this set of American Racing 427 Cobra style wheels, wrapped in a set of BFG G-force KDW 2's! These are such a huge improvement over my 16x7 steelies, with 225's in all 4 corners! I'm super excited with these things, what do y'all think??

Fronts are a 17x8 with a 245 and rears are a 17x9.5 with a 275!
(I know I know, I need a new set on the front. I guess the guy had a bad alignment or something)
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A nice little shot of my buddy and I after cars and coffee this morning
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It looks great Nick - and you've done a great job!

Nice C-list score. Wheels look great!