68 GT500KR Vert

[GT500KR_Vert]

Project Overview

The Car:
Was working on another Mustang for 3 years - the shop I was working with turned the car into a abstract work of art. So with all the part I had I started over by picking up this car about 7 years ago from a horse barn outside Pittsburg, PA. Got it home, ended up being pretty much rusted everywhere. Hasn't been on the road since 1985. Had no motor or anything else, pretty much a shell.

The Work:
During the 10 years I've been working on it, I've had 3 different shops try to rip me off, take advantage of situations, deliver incredibly poor work, and take me to court because they wanted to get paid for work they didn't do and had closed the shop. Luckily, I haven't lost that much money, but it took a while to save back up again and find the right shop who really cares about their work, customer, and perfection. They finally started on my car last week after years in storage hell and battles with other shops. They just started redoing the rear end work to get all the panels and gaps aligned and will be working their way forward in the next few weeks.

Engine:
Never used 1970 429 SCJ engine with 4 bolt main and original oil cooler (The complete short block is original - Sat in my Dad's shop since it was new.
* Only replaced in the lower half were the bearings.
* Stock heads - D0OE-R Heads (Hardened seats, SS Valves, Bronze Valve Guides)
* Compcam Springs & Roller Rockers
* Compcam Roller Cam
* Compcam Roller Lifters
* APR Head Studs & Bolts
* Holley finned aluminum valve covers powered coated silver
* Edlebrock RPM Air-Gap manifold
* Edlebrock Water Pump - powder coated clear
* Concept One Serpentine Pulley Kit - Black
* ATI Balancer
* Canton Oil Pan
* Powermaster mini starter
* Ron Davis Crossflow Radiator & SPAL Fan system
* ICE Ignition System, Booster, & Distributor
* Classic Auto Air A/C System
* 565HP / 595TQ under 5,000RPM

Fuel System:
* Pro System 950 Carb
* Holley HP In-Line Billet Fuel Pump
* Fuel Safe Pro Cell 22 Gallon Tank
* Earl's Fittings and Lines

Electrical:
* Painless Wiring Harness - 1968 Mustang
* New accessories wiring harnesses (Convert, Fog Lights, Etc)
* Battery In Trunk

Exhaust:
* FPA Custom Ceramic Coated Headers
* Magnaflow 3" stainless steel exhaust system

Drivetrain:
* Performance Automatic C6 with Custom Torque Conv
* Steel driveshaft
* Strange 9" rear w/ 31 spline axles, Positrac 3.50

Chassis:
* Rod & Custom Motorsports Mustang II Front End with coil-overs modified for better steering and handling.
* Rod & Custom Motorsports Rear Coil-over system
* Forged 2" drop spindles
* Flaming River Steering Column & PowerRack.
* TCP Subframe Connectors & Cross Brace + Additional Custom Support.
* All new frame rails, torque boxes, inner rockers, and floor - all seam welded for strength.

Brakes:
* 4 X 12" Aerospace Components Pro-Street Disc Brakes - D/S/P & Billet Aluminum 4 Piston Calipers
* JMC dual master cylinder
* Hydratech Brake System
* SS brake lines

Body:
* Stangaholics 1968 Shelby Fiberglass kit
* All body panels replaced where needed[Ford tooling panels when available](rear qtrs, front fenders, complete floor pan, inner rockers, toe pans, seat riser, radiator support, rear valance, complete trunk, transition pan, taillight panel, and wheel housings)
* Engine bay custom constructed for MII front-end
* Red / White Paint Scheme
* Black Chassis paint in engine bay and underbody.
* Haartz Stayfast Black cloth convertible top.

Interior:
* Dakota Digital Dash with trans gear indicator and accessory gauges for the Shelby center console.
* Black Pro-Car Rally seats & matching rear upholstery.
* Lecarra Steering Moto-Lita wheel
* Saleen Light Bar
* Lokar gas pedal assembly, brake pedal cover, & foot rest pedal
* Lokar Shifter
* Electric Life Power Windows

Wheels:
* Shelby CS67 Wheel In Anthracite (18x8.5 front / 18x9.5 back)
* BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW (235/40ZR18 front / back 275/40/18)

Other:
* All brackets and accessories will be powder coated.

[GT500KR_Vert]

I had actually started out with a different car in 2004, but the 1st body shop butchered it so bad, I sold it off for someone to build a drag car.

The shop the was working on my engine had offered to handle all the sheet metal and frame work as they believed building race car chassis is the same as doing restorations. This was in 2006, the beginning of me learning about restoration and dealing with shops. While he did a decent job cleaning up my engine, his restoration, sheet metal, and frame skills were not up to par. I gave him new front frame rails, he cut off the front half of the old ones and added box tubing, wasn't happy about that. Had the car media blasted while I was away, he never primed it, then when he did he went right over the rust. I had bought him weld-thru primer, he didn't use it. By the way, he was doing all this work while I was away in Iraq. Came home to some fun, really wasn't happy, pulled the car right out. Went on the search for a new shop, talked to 3 different shops, felt good about them, 18 month backlog.

[GT500KR_Vert]

More:

[GT500KR_Vert]

[GT500KR_Vert]

So, I found out one of my neighbors had a shop in his back yard - he races cars - super perfectionist - you could eat off his engines and cars. He just clean them with Q-Tips. So I put the suspension, brakes, and wheels on the car and we towed it down the road. He fixed everything on the chassis, had great suggestions, fit the engine / transmission, rear end, steering, suspension, frame connectors, installed and custom fit the complete exhaust, aligned everything up, and order and installed my driveshaft. Plus, he didn't change me much - mostly beer money.

[GT500KR_Vert]

[tones2SS]

One heck of a build. Sorry to hear of your past experiences with the other shops. Good thing you didn't lose a lot of money. I hate when shops try to make you pay for garbage work.
Keep us posted.

[WSSix]

Really great ideas you have going on there. Love the rendering. Good luck!

[jarhead]

man you've had a heck of a time, glad you found a car lover.

nice project.