Blake's 1965 Mustang Project

[digitalsolo]

I managed to make a little more progress...

Bent up the swaybar ends.   I put them in the 20 ton press with a piece of 1/4" steel used as a bending brake against the bars, then loaded them up and hit them with a torch for about 5 minutes.   Put 15* of bend in each side, which, combined with a bit of natural offset in the endlinks, puts me right where I should be on the control arms.  I need to pull my shocks off the front and get the tabs tacked to the arms, then run the swaybar/suspension through a full cycle and make sure everything is happy.   I think I have a layout determined for the swaybar itself, mounting wise.   Going to put it as far forward as possible to lower the rate via advantage in the arms.   I may need to clearance the bumper brackets, but that's not a huge deal if so.   The tube that the swaybar will be installed in will also add a touch more stiffness to the front as it will be a 1 3/4" .120 DOM tube running the width of the front end, and welded to the frame rails with braces as well as the front braces that I used to replace the original strut rod mounts.  Should be stiff.

I also welded up a broken bracket on my TR6060, where the shifter mounts.   It was cracked when I purchased the tranny, so I TIG'd it back together and ground it down.  Good as new.

Finally I'm 3D printing some little spacers in 1/8" and 1/4" to set my gaps on the car (1/4" is for hood -> cowl).    These have a big base so that I can stick them in the gaps then use a piece of tape to hold them in while I work on gapping things.  Should help prevent chips/marring once I paint and start putting it back together.   

I have an unrelated project that will take a few weeks starting this weekend, so probably not much progress for a bit.   I do plan to order up my rear gears and Daytona pinion support, then final assemble and paint the rear end so that I can install it and leave it in place (it's kinda heavy to lug around).   Plus once I finish the rear, the front swaybar and the brake lines, I should be 100% complete on braking/suspension and about 90% done on the steering system.   Then it's just tweaking for the new shifter and all vehicle control systems are completed, finally!

edit:  Oh!  I'm also looking at making a rear diffuser/air direction setup to get air out of the parachute that is the rear lower valance area.   Just something to scoop air around the bottom rear of the chassis, preferably without making it into a wing.

[freeskier7791]

Shifter looks super nice.  Any plans on bushings for the sway bar tube?

[digitalsolo]

I have some NASCAR spares coming.  Bronze Oilite pieces.  If they bug me I'll have some Delrin pieces machined.

[Cobranut]

Those body gap spacers are a great idea.
You could probably sell sets of those pretty easily. 

[freeskier7791]

I have some NASCAR spares coming.  Bronze Oilite pieces.  If they bug me I'll have some Delrin pieces machined.

Bronze should be fine

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[digitalsolo]

Bronze should be fine

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Good, I figure it should be quiet and work well.   I'm not sure about streetability, long term, but it's not like this car will get 15k miles a year on it or anything.

Those body gap spacers are a great idea.
You could probably sell sets of those pretty easily. 

Haha, yeah, that had occurred to me.  I might see if anyone wants to injection mold and sell them, them seem like a handy thing to have and better suited than using a paint stick or tile spacers.   Nylon would be a better material for them than the PLA I printed them in, for durability.   Someone might already have some they make though.

Since I need wider front wheels, I think I may move my current rear wheels (17x9 +35ET) up front and pick up some 18x9.5 +35ET wheels for the rear.   It's really about getting the rake just right on the car;  I can get 1/2" more tire height on the rear with the same sidewall profile if I put an 18" wheel on the rear.   My engine and turbos sit pretty low, so I'm planning to do 275/40/17s up front on a 9" wheel to pull some more height into the car without adding fender gap (that's a taller tire than my current front by about 1.5", so about the same amount of ride height increase with the same fender gap to the tire).   I'm probably being overly paranoid about all of it, but since I have to buy two wheels and 4 tires, I might as well dial it in exactly like I want it.   Need to find some sanely priced street tires for the sizes as well.   This won't be a drag radial car.

[SOB Racing]

I'm in no way a mustang guy, but this build is outstanding.    We just got a 3d printer at work and my mind is now turning.

[digitalsolo]

Thanks!   I like Mustangs, but only very specific ones...

64.5-66 coupes (not a big Fastback guy)
69-70 Fastbacks (not the coupes)
89-93 GTs
03-04 Terminators
2015+ look pretty good

Beyond that, meh.  There are tons of examples in other years that look GREAT, but on average I'm not a big fan.  Honestly not a Camaro guy either (but again, I like certain builds).  I'm more a Japanese/Euro car guy.   Part of the goal on this Mustang is to clean up a lot of the details to give it a bit of a euro flair with some modern racecar tweaks, without going too far away from OEM styling.

[freeskier7791]

Thanks!   I like Mustangs, but only very specific ones...

64.5-66 coupes (not a big Fastback guy)
69-70 Fastbacks (not the coupes)
89-93 GTs
03-04 Terminators
2015+ look pretty good

Beyond that, meh.  There are tons of examples in other years that look GREAT, but on average I'm not a big fan.  Honestly not a Camaro guy either (but again, I like certain builds).  I'm more a Japanese/Euro car guy.   Part of the goal on this Mustang is to clean up a lot of the details to give it a bit of a euro flair with some modern racecar tweaks, without going too far away from OEM styling.

So basically you like all the ones they made racecars...

[digitalsolo]

Yes, racecars.   I like racecars. 

[digitalsolo]

I did a little tiny bit of work....   need to take a picture, but the garage is all packed up so I can work on another car for a bit.

Anywho, I had previously mounted the radiator on two little tabs and then made a shroud and mounted the condenser to the shroud, air gapped between the front end and the radiator.  Fine and all, but it had little aluminum standoffs and you had to thread bolts in the front of the car, through the core support, through the shroud, through standoffs, through the condenser and through washers, then put nuts on them, with the radiator out.   That's a stupid design.   In fairness, that was pre-TIG machine...

So I bought some 3/4" 1/4-20 aluminum standoffs and welded them to the radiator.   Phenolic washers insulate the condenser from the standoffs.  Now you bolt the condenser to the radiator and then drop it in as a unit.   I also welded some hex shaped bungs to the top sides of the radiator.   These are also 1/4-20 threaded and will be used for two purposes (in theory):

1.  Running a stud into, which will sit in a rubber catch to support the top of the radiator.   This is better than my old design with the drop in braces that didn't lock it securely.  This will let it sit securely while allowing a rubber contact surface for vibration damping.   
2.  I can use them to bolt a new shroud to.

I need to put the engine back in to make sure my stuff all fits pushed toward the engine by 3.5" or so.  It -should- but I'd rather be safe than sorry.   Need to be able to snake intercooler charge pipes through as well.

Anywho, that's probably it for updates for a little bit.   Gotta rewire an FD.

[digitalsolo]

Ordered a few more parts, though nothing really fun.

3.70 gears for the rear
Daytona Pinion Support
Billet 1350 Yoke
Seals/gaskets/shims
Solid pinion spacer
Bungs to add fill/drain ports to 9" housing
Bearings for the Daytona Pinion (the case already has new bearings, though as I type this I can't recall if I have a good roller bearing for the pinion where it seats into the housing).   I also ordered new bearing retainer plates from Wilwood for the rear brakes.   I had mis-ordered my rear brakes thinking I had a small pattern big Ford end on the 9" and it turns out I have an early, large pattern one.   I milled the backing plates to fit the housing properly (and center properly) but I need the proper bearing retainer plates to assure everything lines up exactly where it should.

Oh, and a SWAG Offorad 20 Ton finger brake + steel arbor plates.    This means I can make my lower skid plates, diffuser, radiator surround and, well, other shit, basically.

[digitalsolo]

So 2 months in and still no head studs.   Apparently ARP doesn't have any (checking with Summit and elsewhere backs this theory up).   Not sure what the deal is with that.

Lightly considering selling the Coyote/TR6060 and putting an ITB'd LS1 in instead or going back to 2JZ.    Inability to get basic parts like this is awfully frustrating.

[wickedrx7]

Have you tried contacting ARP directly to see if they can give you eta?

[largeorangefont]

So 2 months in and still no head studs.   Apparently ARP doesn't have any (checking with Summit and elsewhere backs this theory up).   Not sure what the deal is with that.

Lightly considering selling the Coyote/TR6060 and putting an ITB'd LS1 in instead or going back to 2JZ.    Inability to get basic parts like this is awfully frustrating.

See why Ford circled the problem yet?

In all seriousness, that is weird.