Progress Thread I Have A Problem

problemhouston

New Member
Mar 31, 2013
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I just wanted to start a thread that I could talk to you guys about my specific car and what I want for my car. If you are a member on other mustang sites you may see this exact post on those boards as well cause I need all the help I can get. Not trying to spam at all just want as much useful info as possible so I can make good choices.

I have a 1965 with a 2 barrel 289. I bought the car over 12 years ago and it has sat in the New Mexico desert until about a year ago. I will post pictures of her once I get into my photobucket account again. Goals for the car are: driven 100+ days out of the year, drag strip a couple times a year and maybe one road course event. Most of the suspension parts (upper and lower control arms) have road grime built up on them and I am not sure how much of a benefit it would be to completely replace them with new parts or just rebuild what I have.
So what are your thoughts on starting with the suspension and what are the first pieces I should get? My suspension budget is about $1,000.
 
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I would try C J Pony Parts: WWW.cjponyparts.com OR DALLAS Mustang:
http://www.dallasmustang.com/ AND start comparing prices they have most everything you will want or need to do a complete rebuild or part by part.

Rick

Thanks for the help Rick (which just happens to be my first name as well).

For the last year I have been looking at the different sites and comparing prices. Now that I have $1,000 I am looking for the best bang for my buck. I am looking at some of the kits out there and the Grab-a-track stuff caught my eye as well as what Opentracker has to offer. I often see folks come in to threads and suggest tubular uppers and lowers which I know are really nice and perform really well but my budget doesn't allow for a lot of that stuff. So that's why I am trying to figure out best bang for my buck.
 
Here she is...

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Spent some time on Opentracker last night and this is what I have some up with so far:

Upper control arms - $225
Shelby drop template and drilll bit - $50
Lower control arms - $160
Roller purches - $200
GT/GT 350 - 1" lower springs - $90
Spring pads - $10
1" front sway - $100
Front and rear KYB - $180
4.5 leaf mid eye rear spring - $200

That has me at 1,215.00

Am I missing anything.

The front disc conversion is a given, I will be going with the CSRP kit. I think they are going for $524.00.
 
Spent some time on Opentracker last night and this is what I have some up with so far:

Upper control arms - $225
Shelby drop template and drilll bit - $50
Lower control arms - $160
Roller purches - $200
GT/GT 350 - 1" lower springs - $90
Spring pads - $10
1" front sway - $100
Front and rear KYB - $180
4.5 leaf mid eye rear spring - $200

That has me at 1,215.00

Am I missing anything.

The front disc conversion is a given, I will be going with the CSRP kit. I think they are going for $524.00.

looks good to me. take your old parts and sell them at the swap meet or where ever to offset your costs of buying the new parts. chances are a restorer can use the parts.
 
looks good to me. take your old parts and sell them at the swap meet or where ever to offset your costs of buying the new parts. chances are a restorer can use the parts.

Yeah I will keep that in mind. I have a lot of parts from a donor car we used to get the rear quarter. Once it's all said and done I will have to put it all up on Craiglist or something. Thanks for the ideas.
 
This weekend I rolled her out of the garage and pressure washed some of the dirt and grime off of her. I see some surface rust on some suspension and steering parts but nothing major. Also removed the fuel tank and radiator and will be taking it to a radiator shop to have them both flushed. I am going to try and reuse as many things like the fuel tank and radiator as possible because I think I am going to need to replace the wiring on the car. I found a lot of splices and wires that go no where. Any ideas on what harness I should get and how much it might cost to have a classic car shop do the work?
Suspension wise I may end up going with one of the kits from Mustang Depot or Mustang Plus. I know their parts are just like factory but I have to find some savings for the wiring somewhere.
 
Do you care about keeping the strut rods ? If you don't care about keeping the strut rod front setup I'm a big fan of the CCP stuff. I have their stuff on my 67 and I gotta say, the car drove great with their kit on the front end.
http://www.classicperform.com/NewProducts/2006/NewFiles/NovaSubFrame.htm#mustang

A good set of subframe connectors would be an excellent upgrade for chassis stiffness.

As for the rear... well there are a lot of options there. A fresh set of bushings in your leaf springs and a good pair of shocks is where I would start.

Check the radiator and see how many cores it is. If it isn't a big enough radiator you might want to save your money and just replace it.

When they clean the gas tank, have them put a coating on the inside of it to prevent it from rusting in the future.
 
UPDATE!!!


Went with the grab a trak kit from mustangs plus. I have the suspension off and am about to do the Shelby drop. Can you all verify that my marks are in the correct place. I used the template from open tracker.

Pass side:
image-1.jpg
image-1.jpg

driver side:
 
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I'm surprised... I read the thread title and thought, "No way this is a progress thread".

Glad I was wrong. :)

Good luck with your project and I hope to see a LOT more of your progress. :nice:

Oh... By the way... Horse Sense is a First Gen Restoration Demi-God. Look at some of his threads when you have the chance.
 
the template you used, was it metal or paper? the marks look close, but then i am not quite sure of the scale in the pictures. double check your marks with a ruler or tape measure. as indicated they should be one inch down and 1/8 inch back.
 
Hey thanks everyone for responding. I will look into Horse Sense and learn as much as I can.

Noobz, My last name is Houston so I get the "Houston we have a problem" A LOT. So, I just ran with it. So I my named my baby "Problem". Not because I have had lots of problems with her but I am hoping she will be a problem for camaros to deal with on the street once she is done.

Rbohm it was a metal template. I bolted the template up and started to drill the marks you see. I just want to make sure everything is in the correct place before drilling through.
 
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I got the new holes drilled. I think the bit may have drifted a little on one the passenger side holes cause when I try to reinstall the old upper control arm it sticks and I have to tap it into place. When I reinstall the upper on the drivers side it slides right into place. They both go in but the passenger side needs just a bit of pursuasion.