wikdsvt
Club Member
I always skipped this forum, but previously:
I had a '69 mustang and tore it apart in '91, replaced pretty much any panel that had rust and then it sat in primer. Bought a '70 for a parts car to reassemble the '69. Life happened, and I never finished the '69. Sold it as a rolling chassis last weekend. :-( It was the first project vehicle I ever worked on, but with school, then work, then marriage, and now a 8 month old, I simply didn't have time.
So now I have a '66 mustang. Bought it off here in the classifieds. Test drove it and ran okay. The rims looked like crap and were 14" 80's style rust and dented to hell. The spare tire was a 15".
The car looked great from 20' away. Beautiful Blue with white racing stripes, shelby hood and fiberglass front end with HUGE splitter. Shaved door handles and trunk release. It looked nice. Once you got close, the body needed work, but was very solid. (more about body later)
Had it towed home and it wouldn't start. My neighbors kinda laughed before he helped my push it into the garage. The wiring was like a bowl of spaghetti. Having worked in a car stereo shop in high school, i figured if i could install a 80-90's car alarm, i could rewire a '66 car. I tackled the wiring and pulled out literally pounds of wiring under the dash. It filled a 5 gallon bucket.
Previous owner had the coil hooked up to the power going to the headlights. I have no idea how that worked, but it did, in a shitty way. once I rewired that, the car would at least start. He screwed up the carb and replaced springs, jets etc... He gave me a box of parts that included a ton of carb parts. Once i got it running, i took it out for a spin. Trans was slipping (great) and the car either stalled when it stopped, or the idle was too high and I was fighting the RPM's to stop the damn car.
Out came the C4 and in went a built AOD with a 2800 stall. Trans shifts great and fit right in. I have a nice trans cooler with fan, but i haven't installed it yet.
I couldn't get the carb to work well for the life of me. So I bought a new Holley dbl pumper 650, borrowed a timing light and Brian (trbobuick) came over and tuned the carb. Car runs fantastic! no stalling or hesitation off the line.
I tore out the interior and put a dynamat material down. I'm about 2/3 of the way done. Need to finish that up. The floor boards were replaced (patches) otherwise the car is solid!
I put some nice modern mustang bullet rims on it. Had to massage the rear inner rocker panel a little to get it to fit. Also has to use spacers. With the new rear end (see below), I can get rid of the spacers as the rear end is a little over 2" wider than the stock rear end.
About two months ago, i scored a complete Air conditioning unit, i believe it is made by ARA. It was an aftermarket unit installed at dealerships down south. It fits along the bottom of the dash perfectly. It needs a little fiberglassing, but should be real nice once finished. (this will be the biggest project I have left)
Over the winter, I'll post up pics as it progresses.
TO DO:
Drivetrain:
slap in new 8.8" 3.73 locker rear end with disk brakes.
run new brake and fuel lines.
install new master cylinder for brakes
sandblast the headers, coat them, and run full exhaust, exiting out of the rear valance.
Interior:
finish up the wiring and get all the gauges working.
install an A-pillar pod for a couple gauges.
install stereo system (have a ton left over, only need head unit)
new carpet, reupholster seats, install seat belts.
weld small "U" shaped piece in the rear so the babyseat can securely fit in there.
new dash pad
install A/C unit.
Run new trunk release cable.
re-tint the windows.
Exterior:
trim the front splitter down about 3" and fiberglass it for reinforcement, sand it smooth.
Decide whether to keep the front bumper or not.
New doors probably pick up this weekend, decide whether to have handles shaved or not.
convert everything from current doors over to new doors.
fiberglass the hood edge, missing a chunk, (fiberglass hood)
sand the hood.
send it over to the KANDY SHOP in Ypsilanti so Chad can paint it.
next summer:
enjoy cruising the car. It will have a nice exhaust note, a fairly large cam lobe and most important, A/C for those humid days.
I have to post pics from my phone as it currently sits.
I had a '69 mustang and tore it apart in '91, replaced pretty much any panel that had rust and then it sat in primer. Bought a '70 for a parts car to reassemble the '69. Life happened, and I never finished the '69. Sold it as a rolling chassis last weekend. :-( It was the first project vehicle I ever worked on, but with school, then work, then marriage, and now a 8 month old, I simply didn't have time.
So now I have a '66 mustang. Bought it off here in the classifieds. Test drove it and ran okay. The rims looked like crap and were 14" 80's style rust and dented to hell. The spare tire was a 15".
The car looked great from 20' away. Beautiful Blue with white racing stripes, shelby hood and fiberglass front end with HUGE splitter. Shaved door handles and trunk release. It looked nice. Once you got close, the body needed work, but was very solid. (more about body later)
Had it towed home and it wouldn't start. My neighbors kinda laughed before he helped my push it into the garage. The wiring was like a bowl of spaghetti. Having worked in a car stereo shop in high school, i figured if i could install a 80-90's car alarm, i could rewire a '66 car. I tackled the wiring and pulled out literally pounds of wiring under the dash. It filled a 5 gallon bucket.
Previous owner had the coil hooked up to the power going to the headlights. I have no idea how that worked, but it did, in a shitty way. once I rewired that, the car would at least start. He screwed up the carb and replaced springs, jets etc... He gave me a box of parts that included a ton of carb parts. Once i got it running, i took it out for a spin. Trans was slipping (great) and the car either stalled when it stopped, or the idle was too high and I was fighting the RPM's to stop the damn car.
Out came the C4 and in went a built AOD with a 2800 stall. Trans shifts great and fit right in. I have a nice trans cooler with fan, but i haven't installed it yet.
I couldn't get the carb to work well for the life of me. So I bought a new Holley dbl pumper 650, borrowed a timing light and Brian (trbobuick) came over and tuned the carb. Car runs fantastic! no stalling or hesitation off the line.
I tore out the interior and put a dynamat material down. I'm about 2/3 of the way done. Need to finish that up. The floor boards were replaced (patches) otherwise the car is solid!
I put some nice modern mustang bullet rims on it. Had to massage the rear inner rocker panel a little to get it to fit. Also has to use spacers. With the new rear end (see below), I can get rid of the spacers as the rear end is a little over 2" wider than the stock rear end.
About two months ago, i scored a complete Air conditioning unit, i believe it is made by ARA. It was an aftermarket unit installed at dealerships down south. It fits along the bottom of the dash perfectly. It needs a little fiberglassing, but should be real nice once finished. (this will be the biggest project I have left)
Over the winter, I'll post up pics as it progresses.
TO DO:
Drivetrain:
slap in new 8.8" 3.73 locker rear end with disk brakes.
run new brake and fuel lines.
install new master cylinder for brakes
sandblast the headers, coat them, and run full exhaust, exiting out of the rear valance.
Interior:
finish up the wiring and get all the gauges working.
install an A-pillar pod for a couple gauges.
install stereo system (have a ton left over, only need head unit)
new carpet, reupholster seats, install seat belts.
weld small "U" shaped piece in the rear so the babyseat can securely fit in there.
new dash pad
install A/C unit.
Run new trunk release cable.
re-tint the windows.
Exterior:
trim the front splitter down about 3" and fiberglass it for reinforcement, sand it smooth.
Decide whether to keep the front bumper or not.
New doors probably pick up this weekend, decide whether to have handles shaved or not.
convert everything from current doors over to new doors.
fiberglass the hood edge, missing a chunk, (fiberglass hood)
sand the hood.
send it over to the KANDY SHOP in Ypsilanti so Chad can paint it.
next summer:
enjoy cruising the car. It will have a nice exhaust note, a fairly large cam lobe and most important, A/C for those humid days.
I have to post pics from my phone as it currently sits.
