1967 Mustang Convertible Pro-Touring project
 

I haven't posted any of the cars I've built here, mostly because I don't have time and partly because some of them have their own build threads (Mike!). Since I work alone, I thought I would show you guys so I can actually have some conversation around the stuff I'm building instead of just chipping away at it everyday.

Here's goes:
This is the Mustang, virtually untouched. I had pulled the driveshaft and radiator and fuel tank already, but it's not like it added enough weight to lower the car or anything. I wanted to get a video of it running before I tore it down or at least a picture.. but I don't think people really care about what a car looked or ran like BEFORE it went into the shop.. do they? :tv_happy:

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Phew. This is a lot of work. Lat-G doesn't like uploading direct from my external drive, so I'm having to upload them to photobucket first. Oh, and this laptop doesn't like my iPhone, so I had to plug into the work laptop and transfer the photos to my external drive so I could plug into this laptop. (who else is putting two hours into a post? Anyone else as silly as I am?!)

Moving on. I specialize in wiring which happens to go hand in hand with EFI conversions. So that's what this car came in for.. he wanted it to start and drive and have more power. Believe me, I tried and tried to talk this guy out of converting a 6 cylinder Mustang.. but you can only lead a horse..

So I bought a donor car so I could get all the wiring and extra goodies that don't come from a junkyard or crate purchase. I thought I had a pretty good deal when I went to check it out. 113k miles, body was messed up so I was hoping the engine was good. After I removed it and tore it down, I found this.

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This stuff happens, right? Right. I guess, I'll just fork it over for another engine. :G-Dub:

That thing isn't worth saving. It was going to cost more to bore it the .040" over and put a new rotating assembly that it was to get a known good block.

So here it is. I've bought another engine from these guys before and they have been good to me. This particular engine has been sitting on their shelf since 2001!!! I've had good luck using used engines to keep the price down, and this is another one of those cases. If you shop around enough, you can find a good deal on something that was crashed early in it's life for a good price.

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So I tore this one down to the bare shortblock, too.
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I had already sourced an E303 camshaft and some GT40 heads that I had rebuilt at the local machine shop.
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Redline lube to make sure the camshaft and lifters remain friends when it's started
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lots of scuffing and washing and a coat of painter's tape on the good parts
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now we've got an engine we can bear to look at..:confused59:
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The other 5.0L is destined for a 1963 Ford Falcon. I figured if you have to wait 10 minutes between coats and you're running the shop heater anyway, you might as well make use of the time and the heat to get two done at once.

Here's where I got this week:
I got the engine bay taped off.. I hate this. I really prefer to take it all down and remove the wiring and the brakes/brake lines and the suspension and the bracing and heater core hoses.. but I have a master and his name is Customer. Customer said he didn't want to spend that much, but wanted it "nicer". Right. Here's my try at nicer.
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Houston, we have landed. I somehow managed to give away my pickup tube and oil pan gasket, so I had to wait over the weekend while Summit delivered. Got the stuff, got the engine assembled the last little bits and finally stuffed it in there. Oh, and I had to change the timing cover since I couldn't get a standard rotation water pump for a 94-95 5.0L engine. *sigh* :bang:
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One last photo before I get to bed. I thought you guys might think this was funny. When you're running to Orchard and you have to make a few quick notes on bolt quantities..

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I actually got the transmission installed tonight, but I haven't made a crossmember for it yet.. so it's being held in the car with a few layers of bailing wire.. and no one needs photographic evidence of that tidbit..


opinions and comments welcome! g'night y'all

Today's work on the Mustang. I didn't get much done since the owner and another good customer came by and chatted me up. It's hard to hear them when you're running the rack up and down, and I was pretty tired by the end of the day.. so I didn't get much a second shift in today. But here's some photographic eveidence..

Apparently the evidence doesn't show the hood. I got the hood mounted today when a friend came over this afternoon to help me mount it. I really didn't think the intake was going to fit, but after moving the strut tower brace out of the way I got it mounted. The hood does shut. I haven't clay barred it, but I think I'm in the safe zone. I don't think the motor mounts are going to flex enough to make the intake hit the hood.
This is the intake before I removed the strut brace. I figure I'm going to have to make a strut brace in order to get the car assembled in time.

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I also got the tank dropped in. I didn't snap a photo of the fuel pump, fuel sending unit and filler neck installed. I had to call Summit, since I couldn't find the tank side of the filler neck stub, the gasket for the stub, or the gasket for the fuel pump module. It's a little frustrating, but I won't have a bunch of parts until Tuesday anyway, since I didn't make the 7:00pm Thursday cut-off.

This here is a hole in the floor.
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and here she be, test fit. Does anyone know what they used to seal the tank to the lip it sits on?

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After being frustrated with the back of the car, I moved back to the front to put a few more parts on. I got the radiator mounted and realized I still have a few more parts to paint. I missed reinstalling the little air block-off plates that are to the left and right of the radiator when I painted the engine bay. That's okay. I still need to paint the master cylinder, distributor hold down, timing pointer, and the strut mount that has yet to be made.

Radiator in, I decided I couldn't live with the timing cover gasket sticking out all over the place, so I lowered the pan a little bit and pulled the cover. Replaced the gasket with another I had here and cut a tiny bit of the excess gasket off with a razor. I mounted the water pump and measured some bolts so I can get bolts to mount the pump and the alternator brackets. I also got the stainless steel headers mounted.

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You can see the timing cover removed here.

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I knew I was going to have to weld bungs onto the headers because I need to run oxygen sensors in order for the computer to have fuel control, but after installing the headers, it appears I have a little more welding to do than initially intended.

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I'm guessing the headers fit a T5 car just fine. They do not fit a car running an AODE. I guess I'll make a little cut and redirect a little bit. Hopefully I don't have to course correct too much, since I do have the rest of the exhaust system that is stainless and is meant for these headers and for this car. That's okay. Work is work. It must be done.

Then I tried fitting the alternator bracket and realized it's not designed for my timing cover/water pump. And the bracket kit is missing the necessary spacers for correct alignment/mounting. And there's no place for a dipstick tube in this timing cover either.

At this point, I had had enough frustration for one night. I already had a huge scare this morning thinking the intake wouldn't fit. I would have had to change the computer I'm using, get a different tuning device, and strip/blast/reassemble the donor intake. And the tuner wasn't necessarily readily available. So I turned in. I'll deal with the headers and the fuel tank later.

Here's where I left off for tonight. The purchase and to-do list got a little longer than shorter I think, but I still feel like I'm making progress.
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so much for stirring up some conversation around work..

opinions on tune-up parts? They have red caps/wires and blue distributor cap/wires? I ordered an air intake with a blue filter.. thinking of continuing a blue theme under there. Thoughts?

I assembled the brakes last night but fell asleep on the computer before I could upload the photos. I'll bring those in tonight.

Anyone here know what they use to seal the fuel tank to the body?

Its called rope caulk, used to attache window frames to metal trailers. Check with Jason, he'll know for sure. Rope caulk is getting hard to find however, its basically a 3/16 to 1/4 diameter "squishable" type of sealent. I'm pretty sure i can still get it from CRL.

But u have to finish my wiring first lol

strip caulk 3M 08578

Coming along nicely! It's amazing what some cleaning and painting will do for the looks of a car. Keep up the good work!

Thanks Trey!! Yeah. Despite the fact that it wont be getting any kind of height adjustment or wheel housing adjustments or suspension upgrade, I still think it's going to turn out cool. He seems really excited about it.

Dangit, Donny. I pushed another big order through Summit last night, and the caulk didn't make it on there.

Mike did come to the rescue, though. He's the glassman because he did auto glass for YEARS. His company still does residential and commercial glass of all kinds, but sadly.. no more auto glass.
Mike, I did end up calling Jason yesterday. They actually recommended butyl, which is why I sent you a text. Thanks for saving the day. After I finish my production work, I'll get back on the fuel tank mounting.

Mike, I haven't forgotten about your wiring, either. I have a few phone calls to place about a MIL SPEC connector and some flame-proof sheathing. You know Jeff with the Datsun 240z? He had some stuff to add to my order. I guess his dad's place was in the Sonora fires and he lost everything. couple LS engines, wiring stuff, etc, etc. He said if it was aluminum, it was a puddle. Insurance only credited his dad 50k. What a racket. Someone on here start an insurance company.. we need some more good people in that industry.


In other news, I did get the front brakes on the car.. but posting pictures is a long task. They have to go up on Photobucket before they can come over here, and I fell asleep trying to put them up. So a day late or more, but here you go! Progress!

I started out with this:
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No one wants to stop on drums brakes anymore.. and they're made for the 6 cylinder, so that's probably not going to work, either.

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Pulled the drum and here we are. What's cool about a 1966 and up Mustang is that they wear the same spindles for V8 and 6 cylinder.

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So tear all the brakes off, including the lines and you're left with a bare spindle. Ewww. Naked.

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This is the attachment for the new 4 piston calipers. It slips on behind the backing plate.

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I bought Summit brakes, because I know that they're really just rebranded SSBC.

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If you haven't bought one of these tools, it will change your life. Not really, but you wont have to pack bearings against your palms and end up looking like a toddler after a bad spaghetti episode.

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Tap the wheel seal in and install the front bearing, washer, spindle nut and cotter pin after setting bearing lash.
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Okay. Rotors on, backing plates on.. calipers.

These Mustangs have weird (to me) caliper attachments. Instead of a banjo bolt, they thread directly into the caliper. One washer.
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Toss them on there with a little bit of blue Loctite, slip the pads in and install the pad retainers.

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Pretty good, methinks.

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Merry Christmas everyone!
 

This was supposed to be an easy car..

I got involved with this car because I thought it would be a mostly bolt-on deal. I didn't really need another full-tilt project.. I needed to straighten out some stuff with work and I had just enough time to compile a list of parts and install them and send it on it's way. Not my luck, I guess.

The headers didn't fit the late model AOD-E. The transmission mount I ordered hit the transmission case, and is way too low still. The bolt-on exhaust for a 1967 Mustang hits the driveshaft tunnel.. so it needed to be cut down. The aftermarket wiring didn't accomodate any kind of electronic shifting.. and didn't use a MAF sensor. I couldn't find someone who made an alternator only accessory drive that had a water pump pulley with ribs..

etc., etc.
Nature of the game, right? If I can figure out photobucket links, I'll show you some of what has kept me busy and how this Mustang has been coming along..

Here's a shot of welding stainless bungs into the headers. These are headers for a 1967 Mustang with a 302, but they're obviously not purposed for fuel injection. I needed a spot to put the oxygen sensors. http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...8807F0154E.jpg

Bam. Photo works.

Okay. Let's post up some more. (This way I don't have to upload them to lateral-g AND photobucket.)

I took a pie slice out of each header, to move it away from the block.
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This is after the final pie cut, they fit pretty good.
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It clears the shifter linkage now.
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and here's where it clears the passenger side
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the view from underneath after my friend and I welded the pie slices together..
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This is the transmission mount post welding. If you notice the tube is welded all the way to one side of the mount bracket. I installed it after I shot some black epoxy paint on it.. but I'm going to need to raise it. The driveshaft angle looks much better and the transmission pan is much more level to the car if I raise the transmission another inch. I hate when parts don't fit.

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This is where I made a quick slice in the x-pipe. This was necessary because the tunnel that the exhaust and driveshaft run through wasn't wide enough to fit the "bolt-in" exhaust.
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This is how much I had to take out of it to make it fit in there.
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I have never TIG welded before, so I had to grind down the welds on the headers. After globbing on the stuff there, I think I actually got the idea behind it. Vince, maybe you can input here (or anyone else who does it and can hand out some pointers). I'll take some photos when I weld up the x-pipe, and we'll see how much improvement I make. I think the torch part of the welder is more to "push" the weld along. The stick is just to feed enough in to keep the puddle going.
It's not like MIG. MIG welding I usually push the puddle along with the wire that's being fed through the gun.. since the fed wire has the voltage passing through it. I guess it makes sense then, now that I type it out, that the TORCH pushes the puddles along since the torch on a TIG has the voltage running through it.

It's not fair to lump this in with setbacks, but it's just one more thing that got tacked on to a build that creeped. The V8 obviously speaks "roar" and the inline 6 does not. The rear end needed to be replaced, so I used the rear end out of the donor car -- a 1994 Mustang GT. In 1994, the differential was four linked. There's not enough money in the budget to make it that way in the '67 Mustang, so I cut all the brackets off it and smoothed it out for leaf spring mount plates.
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The original rear end needed to come out to make room for a V8 axle so I took off the drums and disconnected the parking brake cables. I also undid the u-bolts that were holding it onto the springs.
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So I'm left with the leafs and shocks sitting back here. You can see the '68 'Stang in the next bay over through the wheel well openings.
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After I set the weld in plates on the springs, I hoisted the shaved '94 rear end up there.
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And, lastly.. the driveshaft is going to need to be lengthened just a little bit. And after I raise the transmission mount a tiny bit, the driveshaft won't scrape the tunnel bottom at full droop.
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Those 6cyl leaf springs may not like you with the new power plant....cars looking good!
:cheers:

I have a feeling you're correct. The same number are present on this one as are on the 68 Mustang GT in the next bay.. but the 6 cylinder springs are thinner. Not by a lot, but I'm sure it matters. There's a whole list of things that need upgrading really..

I'm hoping to put all the parts on the workorder tonight and see what's left to order (tranny cooler lines, brake lines, fuel filter/possibly fuel line fittings) and see if there's anything left over on the budget. If not, I'll have to call him in for a quick chat about what will still need to be done and how big of a priority it is..

DBasher,
I forgot to add, this thing still has 6 cylinder front springs and original sway bars in it, too!!! Ugh!!!

I look forward to seeing this one finished!