I present "The Project"

[Huskinhano]

Guess what's under the cover :-[



That's Soozie, my Aussie







Ebay it?





















Here's some pictures of my 66. I'll follow up later on my plan. A few issues back in HRD DF had the section on vintage stickers. I though you guys would get a kick out of these.

[NAS Backyard]

Re: I present "The Project"

Looks like a clean little project to start with. Are you going to get it on the road as is? What does it need to be a driver?

[Huskinhano]

Re: I present "The Project"

Pretty much get it on the road as is other then removing the C4 and install a 4 speed. The trans leaks oil like a sieve. Also there's a vibration at around 2000 RPM as well with it. The engine is a tired '71 Mustang 302. I removed the engine that came with the car because I thought the vibration was with the engine. The PO had taken the car to a quicky lube place...but they forgot to put oil in! When I bought the car it appeared that something had been done to the engine. I found a receipt in the car with a phone number. The guy's wife said her husband drove the car home with no oil and she asked him why the engine was so noisy. The quicky lube place made good on it. Not sure if it's the original motor. I would assume a shop like that would go the cheapest route and buy a cheap long block. Up to about the late 60's Ford denid not stamp a VIN# on the motor. No way of telling if it came with the car. My understanding is the best guess is to check casting dates and for them to be with in about 2 weeks of each part. This seems to indicate that the original motor was rebuilt as all the casting dates and date stamped on the block are all very close, with in this time frame. Any way I was beginning to suspect a real cheap rebuild with miss matched parts causing the vibration. That's why I yanked it. But it's still there. The C4 looks like it may be an Aamco unit, it's painted blue. I suspect the vibration is some thing to do with the trans.

The rear axle is a little noisy as well. The front end is tight as a drum. Shortly before I bought the car 15 years ago the whole front end was rebuilt with genuine Ford parts other then the drag link and tie rod ends. I've collected parts over the past years. The only thing I need to put the 4 speed in is a clutch kit and some freshening up of a few items...which I'm presently doing.

I've had so many people tell me I should take it apart and "restore" it. That would be the kiss of death. I've seen to many people jump in and take something apart then look at it for years in pieces. This has always been insured and registered and I've driven it time to time...after I've refilled the trans. I'll be posting more on my plans but this is a start!

[HoosierGTA]

Re: I present "The Project"

Nice project. I fought a vibration for two yrs. then I got serious and took the wheels off one at a time ( of course I put a different wheel on as I went ) till I found the culprit . thought the wheel was been but I put a dial indicator on it and it was fine. Turned out to be a perfectly good looking tire. In the two yrs I changed all the u-joints and tie rods .end links ball joint . panard bar, brakes ( hey I was getting desperate ) .

[Monster]

Re: I present "The Project"

I've had so many people tell me I should take it apart and "restore" it. That would be the kiss of death. I've seen to many people jump in and take something apart then look at it for years in pieces. This has always been insured and registered and I've driven it time to time...

I agree, keep it working and registered.
Certainly work on it, but with the objective of getting it back together quickly and keeping it drivable.
Drive that sweetheart ...
;)

[67prostreet]

Re: I present "The Project"

CUT IT UP!!!!! ;D Build a monster.
Sorry can't help myself :D

[JOES66FURY]

Re: I present "The Project"

Awww man...another Mustang... ;)
J/K J/K

Looks like a nice starting point, if those rims are 5 on 4.5 I will trade you some slightly used but never abused children for them...

They are like frigin gold..I dont understand it

[Huskinhano]

Re: I present "The Project"

Awww man...another Mustang... ;)
J/K J/K

Looks like a nice starting point, if those rims are 5 on 4.5 I will trade you some slightly used but never abused children for them...

They are like frigin gold..I dont understand it

The rims are mid 90's full size Merc 15x 6.5" I got at Carlisle a few years ago. I needed tires but I had 14 X 7 Magnum 500's that were from a mid 70's Granada or something. I wasn't going to buy 14" tires. Got these rims cheap so I could buy 15" tires.

[Huskinhano]

Re: I present "The Project"

Well got a little more done.





I had the flywheel resurfaced and a new ring gear installed. It got a little rusty when I forgot to take it out of my work van. About a day later it rained and when I opened the back door a little water got underneath the flywheel. Only cosmetic.



The stock flywheel for the 65-66 Mustang is a 10-10.5" disck. The standard 289 used a 10" while the "K" motor got a 10.5". Both shared the same flywheel. It has 157 teeth, has a specific bell housing and starter. I got this one from a 65 parts car along with several other pieces. The flywheel to the right came from a 71 Mustang that I parted out as well. It had a 302 3 speed combo. The 302 is presently in my 66. It's a 11" flywheel with 164 teeth and specific bell housing and starter as well.

Why am I not using the bigger fly wheel? Good question. I'm focusing on weight or lack of. The smaller fly wheel checks in at exactly 20 pounds. The 11" checks in at a porky 29.5 pounds! While it's true it stores more kinetic energy, it also takes more power to accelerate it along with the bigger heavier disk. I'm going to run a 10" disc. Should make for a little smoother shifting since the synchros will have it easier.



Side by side comparison oe should I say top to bottom?



Next up is the bell housing from the same 65 Mustang parts car. The parts car sat for 17 years in one spot in the dirt. The bell housing had some oxidation on it that was a little more then superficial. I used my HF blasting cabinet with some 70 grit aluminum oxide. then sprayed it with clear Rustoleum spray to keep it clean inside and out.



Cleaned up the pedals in the blasting cabinet as well. Boy is that cabinet handy!





Sharp eyes will notice some thing else besides being sand blasted. While the clutch/brake pedal pedal assembly seemed to be nice and tight, I was simply going to replace the nylon bushings for the pedals. On Mustangs these wear out and the shaft goes into the bracket itself when the bushings and pot metal hats wear out. Mine looked in pretty good shape as though they had been replaced.

The hot ticket in the Mustang camp is to replace the hats and nylon bushings with roller bearings. A look in Grainger quicky showed no pillow block beaaring with a 5/8" bore that was shallow enough to fit. www,mustangsteve.com sells a nice kit with sealed bearing that have retainer clips and needed parts for something like $40 or will install it at a modest cost. It was something like $100 which included parts, labor and retuned postage. I took that route. While I have a MIG welder and could have done it myself, my welder is buried in the garage and I thought time wise this would be the quickest way to go for me. www.mustangsteve.com will do this for other Fords besides Mustangs. Even if you don't own a Ford but a stick shift anything, this my be something to think about doing.

I've have the trans cross member sandblasted as well but nothing exciting to look at.

[milner351]

Re: I present "The Project"

nicely done - any progress beats none at all!

the 157 / 164
and the
28 oz / 50 oz thing is frustrating - but part of the game with these cars.

This thing should be a blast to drive with the manual trans. The bearings in the pivot should make the clutch pedal easier to push too.

[Huskinhano]

Re: I present "The Project"

nicely done - any progress beats none at all!

the 157 / 164
and the
28 oz / 50 oz thing is frustrating - but part of the game with these cars.

This thing should be a blast to drive with the manual trans. The bearings in the pivot should make the clutch pedal easier to push too.

I don't plan on stopping with just the roller bearings on the support. Maybe not right away but at some point I plan on making new clutch linkage with spherical ends. I'm also going with a diaphragm pressure plate and removing that big heavy spring on the pedal support.

I'm hoping it'll be fun to drive. I have a fresh 302 long block that has those crappy 69 CC heads and what looks like the most restrictive exhaust port created by man. I have a fresh set of GT40P heads, Performer 289 intake and a PAW house cam (exactly the same as the Performer cam but cheaper ). Looking for a good torquey motor up to about 5000 RPM and probably a set of 3.25's with the wide ratio TL.

[milner351]

Re: I present "The Project"

sweet - this thing is going to be a blast.... Aaron recently fought a long fight getting a zbar to work with the headers and 351 / top loader in his fairlane... clutch linkages can be a real bear - it sure is tempting to go hydraulic if the price wasn't too outrageous.

You know that those P heads require different headers right?

[Huskinhano]

Re: I present "The Project"

sweet - this thing is going to be a blast.... Aaron recently fought a long fight getting a zbar to work with the headers and 351 / top loader in his fairlane... clutch linkages can be a real bear - it sure is tempting to go hydraulic if the price wasn't too outrageous.

You know that those P heads require different headers right?

I'm hoping it'll be a blast too! Since money has been a little tight, I've had a lot of time to think what I want to do. I do not want to change stuff just to impress some one. The suspension is one place in particular. I know what I'd like to do but the reality of just how good a driver I am, money and intended use is something else. I'll get more into this later. Basically, my goal is if some one drove my car, they may notice something but nothing too drastic. Then, if pushed, to really impress. It must have good street manors.

I settled on the P heads a while ago because the price is right and IMO, a pretty decent factory head. There was a reason Ford had to make the P head. They didn't want to. I've seen a lot of articles in the past where on dyno, peak power was made with just 28* total ignition timing! And they seem to support close yo 400 HP in stock form as well.

Here's a link to some pix with notes. These are several years old. If I had to do it over, I'd buy a set of try-y headers from Stan's headers.

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/1619363

I've done a little more...mostly painting stuff.

[Junk Whisperer]

Re: I present "The Project"

Did ya get around to removing that Clock,yet. I'd be interested in it 8) . ~J/W-006.

[Huskinhano]

Re: I present "The Project"

Did ya get around to removing that Clock,yet. I'd be interested in it 8) . ~J/W-006.

Not yet but I'll keep you in mind.