Preston's 1967 Mustang

[preston]

Funny you should ask I do have some more material. As usual I was waiting until I had "some good photos" but that never happens. Hope you guys want to read all this crap -

Its the first winter I can remember when I didn't have overwhelming giant projects on the car, like "building a widebody" or "building a hood from scratch", and in fact it has been really fun to work on smaller bites that have a nice return on investment and don't put the car on jack stands for months on end.

First thing I did was disassemble ever Jonny Joint in the suspension. I bought these several years ago and they didn't have grease zerks and man did they need them, so I added zerks, rebuilt all ten of them and greased them with a poly specific grease. In addition I greased all the swaybar bushings and the poly side of the shocks, and oh man what a difference in ride quality. And for the first time the car doesn't squeak when it comes down off the jacks.

I also "just decided" to rebuild my LCA's for more turning clearance. Now, the truning radius wasn't bad, it was okay, not great. I think I calculated I gained about 6-8% per side of turning radius, but it was a HUGE improvement. The car actually turns tighter than my daily now, in fact it turns so tight you can feel the front wheels crabbing. I was driving the car around quite a bit in the early Fall and you know once you get over the novelty of driving your muscle car around and goosing the throttle these little driveability things make a big difference, and this update made me SO happy.

Do I have any pictures of my new LCA's ? No, no I don't
But its the same basic design, I just moved the strut side of the arm closer towards the car and then gusseted the ball joint for support. I thought about making part of it aluminum or this and that, but decided safety and no worries about aluminum fatigue was the better way to go rather than 1-2 lbs of weight on a 100+ lb corner assembly.

The next thing I added that I also dont' have any photos of was a Racelogic Traction Control system I have had sitting ont he shelf for 2+ years. If you look back through this thread I think I have some photos of the custom trigger wheels I had built through eMachine Shop again like 2 years ago. So for almost 2 years I've had this worry in the back of my head that the wheels or sensors wouldn't work. It was a very painful wiring job, but I finally got it hooked up and they work perfectly. I haven't had a chance to go nuts with the T/C yet but I did drive it around on rainy streets and it worked really, really well. I can't wait to put the hit on it and not have to worry about things coming around on me at 50+ mph. It also added a cool little control unit in the cabin, again no pics.

My biggest project was heat control. Because I lost some side vents in the fenders and opened up the distance between the firewall and the outer fender, the cabin was getting really hot if the air temp was > 75. Its kind of binary in a funny way, if its not too hot out you don't really notice, but once it gets "nice" it would get really hot in the cabin, worse than before. So I built some 18awg SS heat shields that cover the entire firewall on each sideand then extend to the outer fenders where they mate up with a large flange. Then behind the SS is a 5/16 thick blanket of aerogel insulation (supposedly the best). To finish off the inner fender I also sandwiched the aerogel with a .063 sheet of aluminum. In addition, while I didn't make it air tight I really made an effort to just block any heat path so I boxed in any open spaced between the rocker and the heat shield with more SS and aerogel. I also slapped some DEI heat shield on top of the SS for extra credit

The aerogel I have is a very thick blanket and its chalky, thick, and difficult to use. But I said F' it and cut it into strips and used safety wire to wrap both of my down pipes with it, and then used header wrap to encapsulate everything. The down pipes look about 5" in diameter now. I did this a year ago on one of my side pipes and here is my scientific test - after driving during a hot idle, you can just barely slap the wrapped only passenger side with your hand. The dirver side with the aerogel and wrap, you can actually rest your hand on the pipe for a quarter to half second. By the way a little trick I learned was whenever I wrap a pipe, I then put on the rubber gloves and smear the whole assembly with clear silicone (make sure to use low odor Silicone II). It really helps to encapsulate and protect the wrap which otherwise makes fiberglass dust everytime you brush up against it.


So finally here is a picture:






That air hose is fresh air from the cowl, and for some reason there is absolutely no positive pressure at the cowl I get no air flow whatsoever through that. Oh that's right I also built air ducts into the removeable cowl panel for the heater box and fresh air.

I also built some louvers for the he sides of the fenders to release heat. I could have welded them in directly but the method I used disturbed the bodywork much less, and I like how it came out and let me use aluminum for the louvers. I copied the design from a thread I saw on Lat-g, some pro in Australia who was posting up some cool things at one point.







You can see I also opted to build some hood louvers to cover the big vent. I kind of like the "open vent" look but because I had 2 ducts I had a divider in there anyway, so once I started I just louvered teh whole thing. It actually looks a bit too aggressive for what I'm going for but it came out well and it has been growing on me. As usual I don't have any pictures of fabrication or assembly !

I didn't want to post this photo because it makes the louvers look totally obnoxious. In real life they are much flatter like 50 degrees and not vertical looking at all, something with the light this photo does NOT do them justice at all but since I had it I will post it, they flow much much better in real life.



Since these photos were taken, I have added running horse emblems on the side of the fenders and FINALLY got windshield and backglass chrome trim on the car which has been a 5-10 year goal for me, and it is absolutely AMAZING how much it improves the look. That was the real reason I was waiting to have a decent photo session. I wanted to put the stock chrome rocker strips on the side of the car but because the rocker is extended and some other reasons they just didn't look right.

Check out these photos and I have a styling question at the bottom -





I love this view, but note the rear behind the wheels. I've learned recently about how much car designers try to angle the rear side view upwards and "bob" the back of the car to create a better profile, and I do notice sometimes how the rear has a bit of a full diaper look to it. My goal at the time was to have the sheet metal match the actual angle of the diffuser. I care less about that now but I have also read that while on paper diffuser angles > 7 deg don't work and stall the air, actual race car experimentaion has shown that steeper angles are actually quite effective due to vortices or something, especially on higher ride heigh vehciles. if you look at a stock Mustang, the rear quater actually starts 1-2" higher than mine and then angles much more sharply at the valence. So I am thinking of rebuilding the lower quarter with an OEM style angle and using a stock valence as my starting point (obviouslh has to be widened and massaged).

What do you guys think ? leave it alone or what ? Starting back with a stock valence would also allow me to continue pursuing the "looks stock" vintage theme, and it would actually look more badass revealing more of the big tires.
Here is a pic of a killer widebody mustang from Aussie I just love the rear end on this car.



Here is my crappy photo of my car:



And some paint shop alterations:





I did take one walk around idle video but it sucked so bad I'm not posting it.

Currently I'm building some custom grill trim for the front (1/8 aluminum trim, gonan have it chromed). It will emulate the stock '68 Shelby grille trim and it will look SO killer to outline the incoming snout in chrome.

After that I think its time to get back to the interior and finally put a stereo in it. I am big into mobile audio in my other rigs, so I am trying to walk a fine line between my desire to put in a "real" system vs just some good speakers and good power, as its a waste to do any more than that. (seriously I'm like thinking "well the sound stage wont' image very well because of bla bla bla).

So anyways, I haven't really been up to too much on the car.

[DBasher]

I love the car and think it looks really, really good. I may not have noticed it....but since you brought it up and used some mad photo editing skills to show the change, I do think it would look better with the changes on the back.

The hood and fender vents turned out nice and I agree, once you get some chrome for the front surround it'll pull it all together.

[MSTSFabbed]

Sweet! Its looking good! That hood turned out really nice.

Huh. I agree with DBasher, I might not have noticed it as much before, but the last picture with quarters matching back up to the bumper looks much more trim and a little more lean. I like it!

The chrome around the grill will look nice and help show that Shelby front end better too. Thanks for sharing!

[markaaron80]

how do you like the aerolatches?

[rustomatic]

The concept of driveability is such an underrated concept with our hotrods. It's why I ripped my Falcon apart again last summer, and it sounds like why you're analyzing components of this car that most would never even consider, given the monumental quantity of engineering and re-engineering you've put into the Mustang over the years. As ridiculous as it sounds, while great track performance is a real thing, a quick trip to Safeway can be the greatest judge of all the sweat and blood you've poured into the thing . . .

That said, consider this another vote for (the need for) some sound and video of the legendary "Preston's Mustang."

[preston]

the aero latches are great. I've left the pins out on old style hood pins more than once and almost had a disaster, these are much more obviousl from the driver's seat when they are unlatched. They can also be locked with a key, and are easy to adjust. YOu seem them used all the time on big time race cars they are the real deal.

Its funny, the more I look at the first photo (ie the current car) the more it has grown on me actually. It gives visual weight to the back of the car and gives it more "rake", like a pointed missile. I will still probably tweak it though because that's what I do.

The rear wheelhouses were designed to accept a 20" 335/345/355 size wheel and the chassis can be adjusted to keep the same ride height and I think it would be absolutely boss to have even bigger meats on the back.. I desperately need new tires in the Spring but I just can't see springing for new rear wheels and gears for the sake of vanity. I'd like to say I"m growing up but really I just would rather spend that money on mountain bikes.

[preston]

Originally Posted by rustomatic

The concept of driveability is such an underrated concept with our hotrods. It's why I ripped my Falcon apart again last summer, and it sounds like why you're analyzing components of this car that most would never even consider, given the monumental quantity of engineering and re-engineering you've put into the Mustang over the years. As ridiculous as it sounds, while great track performance is a real thing, a quick trip to Safeway can be the greatest judge of all the sweat and blood you've poured into the thing . . .

That said, consider this another vote for (the need for) some sound and video of the legendary "Preston's Mustang."

IMO streetability is harder to engineer than performance. I'm still not there. I have never ridden in any other pro tour cars nor really ridden in any other classics or even modern sports car in 15 years. In fact I haven't driven anything but rentals and our 2004 and 1992 Cadillacs (my daily). My car has never been more streetable and yet its still a total beast. When I see these super high dollar pro tour cars I sometimes wonder how they really feel after 2 hours of driving and a little traffic etc. I've got poly/rubber bushings on at least one end of every link, rubber engine and trans mounts, enough dynamat and pad to choke a horse, quiet mufflers and its still not remotely comparable to a factory car. Not to say I can't sit in traffic or creep around a parking lot or drive down the road for 2 hours (with cruise control no less !) but I sure as hell wouldn't want to drive it daily like when I first bought it. Oh yeah I was 18 years younger then too.

[GregWeld]

I've driven or ridden in dozens of these PT cars --- and NONE of them are anywhere near what Stielow builds. His builds are truly streetable while also more than track capable.

I only wish more people could drive one of his builds because then they'd truly understand what the best of PT can be.

[Flash68]

Originally Posted by DBasher

I love the car and think it looks really, really good. I may not have noticed it....but since you brought it up and used some mad photo editing skills to show the change, I do think it would look better with the changes on the back.

The hood and fender vents turned out nice and I agree, once you get some chrome for the front surround it'll pull it all together.

Totally agree with the Basher.... especially on the photochop skillz.

But seriously I like the look of the tapered up rear too. Really would bring that part of the car all together. So start cutting.

[57hemicuda]

I added to the bottom of quarters on my Mustang also, I do think it helps the lines on the car. We are just plastic surgeons on the original lines that Ford came up with.