svt 65 stang

[jonny51]

Welcome aboard Bob!That is one beautiful car

[Musclerodz]

Welcome. I have been following your build up for a long time over at Corner Carvers. Very impressed with the level of work being done.

Mike

[camcojb]

Yep, that is a very trick project. Amazing car!

Jody

[race-rodz]

well i been doing a bunch of measuring between the 2 cars.... and i think this project is a "go". well it will be a "go" just as soon as my "other" personal project is finished. there are a lot of "issues" with the 64 1/2 that could be solved by doing this. my biggest problem with the car is the lack of structural integrity, mainly in the front end. the car had a 416" windsor/5spd, 17x9's, all the trick shebly style suspension.

to give you an idea of how much an early mustang flexes, the first time i auto-xed the car, it twisted up so bad it cracked the windsheild. my fault for attempting to do it before building frame connectors. after the frame connectors... i noticed losts of "flexing" in the shocktowers, no problem, built a strut tower brace, triangulated to the firewall. the car was a million times better to drive. the next weak link, is where the firewall meets the inner fenders..... ripped loose, frame rails tweaked. this is the point where the car got parked and i started on my '34.

so this brings me to this option. yeah i do realize how much labor is involved. but when you compare that to the saftey issues that i would have everytime i bandaid the car back together... i think it is well worthwhile. the car has sentimental attachments... so i cant ever get rid of it. i would just like to be able to enjoy the car.... and i see this as being the best overall way to accomplish the goal.

anyway... thanks for the extra info.... if i run into any major hurdles, i just might give ya a call.

[SN65]

Originally Posted by race-rodz

well i been doing a bunch of measuring between the 2 cars.... and i think this project is a "go". well it will be a "go" just as soon as my "other" personal project is finished. there are a lot of "issues" with the 64 1/2 that could be solved by doing this. my biggest problem with the car is the lack of structural integrity, mainly in the front end. the car had a 416" windsor/5spd, 17x9's, all the trick shebly style suspension.

to give you an idea of how much an early mustang flexes, the first time i auto-xed the car, it twisted up so bad it cracked the windsheild. my fault for attempting to do it before building frame connectors. after the frame connectors... i noticed losts of "flexing" in the shocktowers, no problem, built a strut tower brace, triangulated to the firewall. the car was a million times better to drive. the next weak link, is where the firewall meets the inner fenders..... ripped loose, frame rails tweaked. this is the point where the car got parked and i started on my '34.

so this brings me to this option. yeah i do realize how much labor is involved. but when you compare that to the saftey issues that i would have everytime i bandaid the car back together... i think it is well worthwhile. the car has sentimental attachments... so i cant ever get rid of it. i would just like to be able to enjoy the car.... and i see this as being the best overall way to accomplish the goal.

anyway... thanks for the extra info.... if i run into any major hurdles, i just might give ya a call.

Hi RR,

Tip #1...

To get the cars to mate properly, you are going to have to fabricate a set of tapered "rails" that will fit between the 65 rocker panels and the SN95 chassis. If I remember correctly, we fabricated some 1 1/8" x 6" x 10gage rectangular tubes that tappered down from the 1 1/8" at one end to 15/16" at the other.

Measure and calculate this a few different times before you make any cuts. I say this because the tolerances on the 65 are quite a bit "looser" than that on the SN95. We had to run over these calculations a few times before we were sure we had it right.

Also, when you are ready to make the cuts, I will walk you through the procedure so you will not leave to much or remove to much material. We were so cautious when making these first cuts that we were always cutting and fitting over and over again. And even when we thought we were being extreamly cautious in what material we removed, we went and removed material that we had to add back in later.

So....

Good luck.

Bob

[SN65]

Hi All,

Thank you all for the kind words. It is gratifying for us to here such glowing comments from dedicated, hard core hobbiest as yourselves.

Below is a comment I made in regard to the current restomoding trend. You can read the whole article on the VERY nice project page set up by our host. I am a bit currious to see if you agree or disagree.

...Unlike the typical approach employed there days, we decided that there has to be a better way to achieve our goal than retrofitting today’s technology into a 40 year old chassis. We feel that the results are always a compromise of one kind or another. Also, the 40 year old chassis was constructed with much weaker materials than today’s designs. Add to that the inherent loss of structural material due to corrosion that occurs over the years (much of which is hidden between all the original factory spot welds and lap joints) and the result is a weak chassis. These older chassis (due to their age / design) more often than not deliver less than desirable ride quality. Even joints and panels that look perfectly acceptable after media blasting can hide rather extensive corrosion that will eventually find its way back to the surface, ruining an otherwise pristine classic ride. As they say “rust never sleeps”. You can hide it and slow it down, but you can never stop it....

So... What do you think? Am I right in making the above comment, or not???

Bob

[Ummgawa]

Awesome Car and inspiring Effort! Welcome to the best site on the net.

[SN65]

Hi All,

I noticed that there are a few artists that frequent this site. I dabble a little bit myself.

I have attached a few drawings just for giggles. They are all hand drawn using Prizmacolor colored pencils.

Not to bad for a hack.

Bob

[Hooligan]

Those rock.

[SN65]

Hi All,

All the items up for auction on e-bay closed last night.

The entire 03 interior went for $1,076. It looks like someone got a pretty good deal.

Someone bought the 65 rear bumper for $1.25 and after the auction declined the purchase because the bumper was sand blasted ready for paint or re-chroming. All of that was stated in the text, but I guess they did not read it until after the auction was over.

Other items of interest were....

The 03 doors went for about $65 each.

The used clutch, PP, FW and input shaft went for $90.

The Cobra oil cooler went for $125.

The Cobra front control arms and coil springs went for $165.

The Cobra mirrors went for $130.

The Cobra tail lights went for $115.

All in all I generated about $3,700 for the project. This will allow us to hire a full time helper to get this project moving over the next 3 weeks.

And, we still have a bunch of stuff to auction off.

We should get a LOT accomplished next week. Wish us luck.

Bob
Come see this WIP at
Julian's Collision Center
http://www.julianscollisioncenter.com/