Engine Started for First Time

Check out the water pump pulley....I forgot to tighten the bolts, oops! Don't worry, they are all tight now.

Build as of 2/25/09

This is where the build sits right now. I think that the stance is very nice....I will have several more updates in the near future. They will include the serpentine pulley system, engine build up, fuel injection installation, wiring harness install, start button install, and much more....

Rear Axle goes in the Mustang

The completed rear axle assembly complete to the disc brakes has been installed in the mustang. As you look at these pictures, you can see how the Heidt's 4-link fits in the mustang. The last picture is of the car sitting on the final wheel and tire package with one exhaust tip mounted. The stance is very "mean" looking I dare say!

Rack and Pinion Steering

The mustang is going to be getting a rack and pinion system. I purchased about half the kit from Steeroids, and fabricated the rest myself. I also aquired the rack itself from a different source. The Steeroids kit, like most for classic mustangs, is a j-car rack made by GM. This particular rack is a 1992 Chevrolet Cavalier rack. These picks are of the mock-up, with the rack just sitting in jack stands. I will have more pics on this in the future...

Front Suspension

The front suspension of the mustang is going to be completely custom. The first component is Global West tubular upper control arms. These have a negative wedge already built in, which lets you lower the arms like Shelby did in the 60's. I lowered my arms a full 1-3/4". I welded the factory holes up during engine compartment metal work. This makes the installation look very clean. I have also used QA1 coilover shocks and spring in the front. Custom outer shock tower braces were built to show off the new suspension. They were finished with a rally silver powder coat finish. This makes the front suspension completely adjustable. The lower control arms are a stock arm that has had the Open Tracker spherical bearings installed to replace factory bushings, and boxed with sheetmetal. The sway bar is a full 1-1/8" diameter. The combination of these components is going to make the mustang handle like a moden race car. You can see in the pictures that the lowers were powder coated after completion and look very nice. The spindle was also powder coated. This just makes for a very durable build.

Finished Engine Compartment

These pictures show the engine compartment finished in chassis black, and you can see how good the shaving looks on all the panels. It is just enough, without going overboard like I see on some hotrods. In a couple of the pictures, you can see the subframe connectors that are welded in. A bolted connection just can't mimic a proper welded connection in this application. The mustang will also have an "x-frame" that goes between subframes.

Back on Rotisserie/Undercoating

When the mustang came back from the body shop, she was put back onto the rotisserie. The entire car was covered and taped off. The frame rails were also taped off, and would be later painted chassis black. I then had truck bedliner sprayed onto the entire underside of the car. As you can see in the pictures, this turned out very nicely. This will deaden sound and protect the bottom of the car from corrosion. It also just looks great, and is much more durable than a painted underside.

Body back from Paint

At this point in the build, it was time to send the car out for paint. Amost everything that needed to be, had been mocked-up. We built a simple wooded cart with casters to transport the car to the body shop. The paint color is shadowy granite mica, and looks great with the lines of the mustang. The doors on the mustang are very tight, and are going to close nicely. I want to re-iterate that everything on this car is either new, or rebuilt. Also, everything on the car that can be is powder coated. Paint was only used in situations where parts could not be disassembled to level needed for the powder coating process. Wow, look at that paint!

Front End Modifications

I did extensive work to improve the front end of the mustang. I "boxed" the front radiator support. This is a flimsy area that typically gets bent on mustangs. This particular mustang didn't have any cracking or pulling on the shock towers, which was good news. I made sure it stayed this way by welding the shock towers solid, and then smoothed them before paint. Big block cars had shock towers that were spot welded from the factory, I just took it a step farther. While I was doing metal work in the engine compartment, I also shaved and smoothed the firewall, and several other places on the inner fender walls. This will make for a nice clean look, but not take away from what this car is...a classic mustang.

Rear Axle Build-up

The first part of the drivetrain that I addressed was the rear axle. The platfrom I started with was 1998 8.8 inch rearend. I chose this rearend for several reasons, this first being that it is Ford's rearend of choice for modern performance vehicles and trucks, which means that is durable. I also liked the "buildability" of the axle. This rearend was a 3.73:1 ratio limited slip with factory disc brakes with internal emergency brakes. I wanted all this technology for the build. I stripped the rearend down to the housing, and removed all existing brackets. I tig welded the axle tubes solid to the center casting. This is a weakness in 8.8 rear axles. I also tig welded the new 4-link brackets from Heidt's onto the housing, and powdercoated the entire housing. I then istalled new axle bearings in the housing, and rebuilt the existing limited slip center section with carbon fiber clutch discs from FMS. I also installed a new forged yoke for 1350 u-joints. The finishing touch was a main girdle. The enitre assembly turned out very nicely, and should be perfect for this build.

Getting Started

The car was stripped and went onto the rotisserie. This really helped with the inspection of all the sheetmetal and frame rails. I thought that my car was in really good shape, being that it was gargage kept it's entire life, but the bottom of the car was dealership undercoated by the original owner. This all had to come off. Once the undercoating was removed, I decided to put new floorpans in the car. I could have put a couple patch panels in the originals, but I wanted to build a car that was as close to perfect as I could from the ground up. Being garage kept, I wondered why the floorpans were pitted, and found the answer in the cowl panel. As with almost all early mustangs, the cowl panel needed repaired. You can buy patches for this problem, but that isn't really restoration, so I decided to replace the entire inner panel. Here are some pics...

The project's beginnings...

I have owned this mustang for 7 years. I am the 3rd owner of this particular fastback, and she has 54,000 original miles on her. When I got the car, I built up the original 289 and did a basic restoration just to get the car back to a little better than a daily driver. The current project is going to take the car much farther. To start with, the car is getting stripped down to the bones and going on a rotisserie. For this build, there are several upgrades planned for the unibody, suspension, drivetrain, interior, and wiring system. Here is a photo of the car before I got started.