Project 69 mustang "Sally"

[MattWash08]

Long Term Plans/Goal.........
-completely change the suspension to something modern
-big brakes
-bodywork(theres a TON to be done, and minitubs)
-cage(if door bars are low enough for dd duty(I dont like swing out bars) or 4 point roll bar
-some nice wheels with good tires
-built modern ford motor of some sort(supercharged or turbo'd)
-6 speed
-9 inch rearend
-updated interior with racing style seats and i really like the racepack dash monitor
AND I DO MEAN LONG TERM!!!!! haha

I wasnt sure if I was even going to make a prject thread because I am nowhere near being able to turn this car into what I actually want it to be. Long story short, I bought this car off of ebay three months after I turned 15. I had a deal with my father that whatever I saved up until i wanted a car he would match. Ended up being able to get this car and have it shipped down from Pennsylvania..(It DEFINATELY has plenty of rust from being up there)..

This is the oldest picture I have of the car



At the time I had only had the car for 15 months But I had my eye on the 2005 mustang... glad I never had the heart to actually sell it. Oh and by the way this was the car I drove to Highschool starting my Sophomore year since it was my only car.

The car went through some pretty basic driveability/creature comfort mods over the next 2 years.
-power breaks w/front discs to replace the old manual drums
-had a/c put on the car(broke the fitting to the condensor, so the compressor isn't even mounted right now)
-loud stereo, which I have since taken out the subwoofers/amp
-ditched the open 2.79 gears and got 3.80's and an auburn posi(yes still an 8 inch though /: )

And that is how the car stayed from about summer 2007 until January of 2010.

Heres where I actually started doing some of my own work. A friend of my fathers who is a very active car enthusiast was gracious enough to let me use his shop for free(lift/tools/ anything I could have imagined was in there)...His way of teaching me was telling me to figure it out or ask and he would tell me but he refused to help because he said it was good for me. I am soo thankful for that, it made me so much more confident in my ability to work on this car. I was 20 at the time that I did this.

-replaced both shock towers/patched part of the front passenger frame rail

First time I had taken a hood off lol



Definately the first time I have taken a motor/trans out



Now I know I should have taken the fenders off and everything to replace the shock towers but we were afraid of what we might find since this car has rust
issues and its a BEATER, The only reason I have it is to drive the crap out of it. Which I do regularly



new ones in


took it for a drive around the block to check out my handy work haha

[MattWash08]

I completed that task In about may I think because I could only get up there part time... Thats right my car sat on that lift for about two months without moving at one point and the owner only fussed at me a few times!!! I really do owe his SOOO much!

Then I just randomly drove the car when I got the chance.

Mid july i blew the stock c4 transmission, hated it anyway because I couldnt really get on the highway with it since I had 3.80's(8 inch rear end lol)
So the car sat from then until about halloween because I was sourcing parts for my t5 swap trying to get things as cheap as I could. Sent it to a shop where the guy restores mustangs on the side and he had it until Christmas eve doing that swap since he was working on it in his spare time.

SOME CHRISTMAS PRESENT TO MYSELF!!

got new exhaust the first week of january: 2.5" all the way back to flowmaster 40's that are dumped

Just drove it like that for a little bit. Then we had some major snow here in the DFW area for the first time ever that Ive seen here...(that picture is on my old phone and I am having trouble getting it to the internet /: Its sitting out in the parking lot of my apt under a car cover lol)

About a month ago my rear started sagging to the driver side very badly so I ordered:
-new reverse eye 5-leaf leaf springs to get rid of whatever was on there before
-monte carlo bar
-subframe connectors
-shackles
-new rear shocks
-1" lowering blocks

Now if i remember correctly the front coils were 1" lower and then i cut them some...
Got those parts installed last weekend.
With the reverse eye springs and blocks out back it sits almost level and the rear will most likely settle another inch or so and then it will sit just how i want it to. The subframe connectors are bolted in but Im going up to the exhaust shop this weekend to have him weld them real quick.

Im also possibly picking up some "temporary" 17's this weekend. I say temporary because knowing me they will probably stay on the car for quite a while haha. 17x8's 245/45/17 tires. going to replace my 205/70/14 & 235/60/15's that are on there now.


should I leave them silver like they are or do one of these two paint schemes or does anyone else have any other ideas fro them??

[CamaroAJ]

i like the gray myself.

[MattWash08]

Originally Posted by CamaroAJ

i like the gray myself.

Yea thats the original paint job I found a while back that made me not mind getting a set of these if I found a steal. Im just wondering if it would look good on my car and also which looks better: the grey wheels only have the spokes painted, while the black one have all the area inside the wheels painted black only leaving the outer lip silver..

[CamaroAJ]

i like the silver spokes only more than the black with the lip. i had black wheels on my red c5z and it looked awesome but i also think the silver would look good on older mustangs since i've seen it before.

[MattWash08]

Originally Posted by CamaroAJ

i like the silver spokes only more than the black with the lip. i had black wheels on my red c5z and it looked awesome but i also think the silver would look good on older mustangs since i've seen it before.

Im going to pick the wheels up today I think and then I just need to measure to see what size spacers I have to use. Hopefully I can get these mounted up in a week or two. Then Ill see what you think

[mrgm]

I like where this is headed.

[MattWash08]

I picked up some bullitts for a good deal this morning before work. Factory Anthracite 17x8's up front on some 235/50rz17 meats and some 17x10.5 repro's with nitto 315/35 drag radials out back. The color of the repro's arent spot on, theyre lighter, more of an actual silver color. But im not worried about it. all tires have good tread and it they look that bad, Ill paint the centers black on all of them. cant wait to try and stuff them. Need to pick up new lugs, and dig out the BFH in the garage haha

[MattWash08]

Old tires on outside/new on inside..

test fit one front with the 1" spacers and I think theyll work great even after I get the front end down some. Also test fit the drivers side rear using the other 1" spacer I have and it pokes out just past the fender. Have some ARP studs ordered so i can swap those out and run about 7/16". Probably going to have to run about a 5/8" spacer on the passenger side as my rear is offset a little. here are some cellphone pics of the mock-up.

[MattWash08]

Got a lot done last night and today. got the studs swapped out. Pulled out the stock length front springs and put my cut springs back in. I had put on the 1" rear lowering blocks last week. I also changed the oil and went and got it inspected today. NOWW Im just trying to deal with a squealing belt issue that I am going to try and remidy with a new alternator belt in the morning. used two 5/16" spacers on drivers side(5/8" total) and three of them on the passengers side(15/16" total) until i order single spacers foreach side. On to the pics!(all cell pics tho..)

stock spring next to one of my cut ones


and just some of how the car sits now