Blake's 1965 Mustang Project

[digitalsolo]

Oh, I did finish up one of the fuel hard line (feed).   It looks pretty nice contrasting against the undercoating underneath, too.   I'm going to pick up some aluminum to build a heat shield/bracket for it up around the exhaust area.    If I get a chance tonight I'll get started on the passenger side (which should mirror the driver side, because OCD).

[Cobranut]

Haha, nah.   If I had one a long time back it'd have been great, but at this point I'm done underneath minus some fuel/brake lines and a few small tweaks.   And I swear on everything holy I will never do a restoration of this depth ever, ever again.

Oh, while I was at it I removed the driveshaft loop that was built into my 3 link/bracing kit.   It was going to be too close the driveshaft, too far forward and was in the way.   I'll build a new one at some point once everything else is fitted into place.

I know where you're coming from Blake.  I've had several cars that are so nice I'm afraid to drive them often. 
From now on, all my builds will be very nice drivers, but not detailed to the point that they can't just be washed off if they get a bit dirty. 

[digitalsolo]

Yeah, this one isn't going to be THAT nice, I think.   My skills aren't good enough to build a show car, I just want a better '65 Mustang than the one next to me if I go to a car show, haha.

[al0389]

Once you're done with all the work, the only difference between your car and a show car would be the quality of the paint job and completion of the interior. The attention to detail IS there. Aside from that, it's original vs restomod.

[digitalsolo]

Well thanks, I appreciate that.

Here's a potato phone picture of the undercarriage so far:



And a less potato-y shot of the fuel lines where they come in from the trunk:

[BLKMGK]

DipYouCar just released a new line of DYC "pro" paints that might interest you, HVLP application and supposed to be removable obviously. Might make for a good temp paint job? Some of the colors look nice but it's all matte and semigloss type stuff.

https://www.dipyourcar.com/

[digitalsolo]

Yeah, I was looking at that stuff for quite a while, but I think at this point, I'm just going to go forward with regular paint.   My epoxy has had 6+ months to setup and hasn't shrunk and looks good so I'm optimistic about the metal/bodywork underneath it now. 

[freeskier7791]

Hard lines look great, I bet its a million times easier to do the underbody plumbing with a lift.

[wickedrx7]

I agree that the hard lines look great. If I get ambitious, I will redo my system in hardlines.

[ChuckLee]

Blake, love the attention to detail. 
The digi printed gauge mount is super sweet!  What does it cost in material/printer abuse to print that on your printer?  If it didn't take so much time, you could sell that easily I would think

I like the E-brake setup too.

[digitalsolo]

Thanks guys, I'm really pleased with the hardlines so far.

The gauge holder costs about 4-5 bucks to build. 

[digitalsolo]

Ordered up a new intercooler with 3" inlet/outlet and an MGW shifter.  If my head studs EVER get here I'll final assemble the engine and put it back in, so that I can measure for fuel line bulkhead locations, finish work for the new, new shifter and redo the intercooler bits for the new design and then redo the shrouding for that.

Then it's just the last of the front suspension work and some body work in the engine bay and on the bumpers and I should be about ready for paint!   Woohoo!

[babillaracing]

This is soo bad ass man. You make me want to do a fast bck when i get done with the fd

[digitalsolo]

Ordered my front swaybar stuff and the and rest of the intercooler version 2.0 piping/pieces and a BOV.

I... have no idea how any of this stuff is going to fit, but hey, I'm, uh, sure it will, eventually.   I have a hammer.

FWIW, some of the reason for the intercooler relocation is to let me put my oil cooler up front where the intercooler was previously.    Partially because it's a good spot for it and partially because Shelby Trans Am cars put it there and it looks cool. 

I'm not 100% sure where the swaybar is going to end up, so I took a SWAG at the rates, but the beauty of building around a 37.5" wide 1 1/4" OD 49 spline sway bar is that they grow on trees in a million rates, so I can always tune it later.   Once I get it in place and hook up the arms I can find the lever ratios which will tell me the rates.   Right now I have like 6" of fore/aft space the sway bar might live in, so the rate has a huge swing depending on that lever arm ratio.    Anywho I went for bigger is better and bought a 1 1/16 solid (with 1 1/14 ends).

[digitalsolo]

How do you know you're a car guy (and possibly an idiot)?   You buy nice brand new parts, open the box, hack them up with a bandsaw and weld them back together.

In related news I put the new elbows on my new intercooler.    It should fit fantastic.    I figured out how to lay out my cooling system (I think) for version 2.0.   Basically the new, much larger, intercooler will sit on the engine bay side of the front core support (vs. the old forward of core support area) and will sit high up, bolted to the factory crossbar that I previously setup to be removable and boxed.   I'll modify the crossbar with some tubing dropped in to support the intercooler bolts/dress it up a bit, then build some lower bracing.

The factory crossbar between the frame rails (which isn't super needed with my other work I've done) will get notched for the oil cooler, which will sit low in the front, to keep it from pre-heating the intercooler.   It will sit in the Shelby lower valance opening like they did the Trans Am cars back in the 60s:



Behind the intercooler/oil cooler area will be the radiator/condenser.   I'm going to weld some bungs to the radiator and then bolt the condenser directly to it (with phenolic washers for heat separation).   The whole shebang will then get shrouds made out of aluminum to duct everything through properly.   I might grab a dimple die kit for some of the bracing, just to dress things up a bit. 

The new IC is the same one I ran on my FC to good results, so I think it should work well (CXRacing 24x12x3 core).   Plus having 3" inlet/outlet will look much better than the 2.5" on the old one, that just really, really, really bothered me, appearance wise.   I do have to redo most of my charge pipes but that's not a big deal.    I also picked up a JGS 50mm BOV (same one I had on the FC) that I'll get added in shortly as well:



Here's my Speedway swaybar.   I'm still waiting on the bushings to come in so that I can order a tube to mount it with (sleeves + bar will slide into a thick wall tube, which will get welded to the frame and braced):



And the new, new shifter for the TR6060.   This is an MGW and it is NICE.    Wow is it nice.   Comes with a boot and all kinds of stuff.   Very impressive, though it really should be for 400+ dollars, so.