Progress Thread Beating A Dead Horse.... My $500 66 Mustang Coupe Build.

Blue70

Active Member
Nov 1, 2004
160
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Wilmington NC
A little back story.. (or you can skip ahead to the photos)

Back in June I went to look at a 57 Chevy. The car was not what it appeared to be in photos, and at the cost of 57 Chevy parts, required more than I was willing to deal with at the time.

The guy had a few other vehicles in the yard and mentioned that he just listed a Mustang on Craigslist that morning. A 66 coupe, that ran (6cyl) with title for $500
My wife FORCED me to drive to the ATM right then and there before I could really look it over, but I figured for that price, why not.

We trailered it home, but I ended up picking up an old Chevy truck 2 weeks later.. it was pretty much a cab and bed sitting on a 95 S10 frame, held on with ratchet straps.
Anyway, that took priority.. I finally got that running/driving and on the road, and decided to pull the Mustang into the worlds smallest garage and get a good look at it.

Here it is at the previous owners house.

M1_zps6e7e3f9c.jpg


M2_zps2253061b.jpg


While working on the truck, My 7yr old came and asked if he could help, so I put him to work on the Mustang (that he has previously claimed as his)
He removed all the top fender bolts for me

T2_zps2c0c7b54.jpg


I was able to find a pair of brand new fenders, backs still as delivered black electro primer stuff, front in regular primer for $125 for the pair.
Then out of the blue one day, I decided to see how much I spend on a set of wheels in the past, and they had the same wheels I had used for sale.. they are 18x9s and usually $179 each, on sale for $69 each with free delivery!! That made my choice in wheels for me, so I ordered up a set of 4.

Wheel2_zps0a95e7bd.jpg


I went and stripped out the engine, transmission and removed the front end sheetmetal that was there and sent it all to the scrap yard.

FrontStart_zps18d85a80.jpg
 
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This is what I found under the front fender..

LeftStart_zps60352297.jpg


little rough, but once I scraped away all the undercoating, it was actually not too horrible..

LeftClean_zpsb3dcd0cb.jpg


The whole time I had been trying to decide what to do for brakes.. I thought about just rebuilding the stock front end and adding a disk kit,
but the problem was most kits required the use of 65-66 V8 spindles, they seemed a bit hard to find, and expensive.. then I would still have the 6cyl tiny steering components etc.. and to top it all off, with the stock front end, it looked like most people said a 7" wide wheel was all that would fit, so I bit the bullet and went with a Mustang II style front end. I am on a tight budget, but I figured this was the cheapest way to get new suspension, rack and pinion steering, disk brakes, and hopefully make room for the wheels..

I went ahead and started piecing together the parts to get the front end in.. In the mean time, there was a few rust spots on the frame, big spot was where the bumper brackets bolted to the front of the frame rail, so I cut those sections out and replaced, then mounted the Mustang II cross member.. the cross member came with boxing plates for the frame, and I may have went overboard, but I decided to continue on with that theme and boxed the whole front "frame" in.
I also rough cut some shock tower fillers.. (I am working with basic hand tools here) and shot it all with fresh black undercoating.

Trial fit the new brakes, spindles, springs and arms

LeftSide_zps3f701297.jpg


then couldn't help but stick a wheel on

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and then rest the fender in place

LeftWheel1_zpsbe5916cd.jpg


LeftWheel2_zps990a7e6d.jpg


And this brings us up to date..

I need to finish up a few things on the right side to get it to this point. Then I can mount the rack, and measure for tie rod ends.
I also need to get some tires and get them mounted to check for clearance.

Then I think it's on to the back end so I can get this thing on the ground..
In the back I think I am going with a cut down Explorer 8.8, with links instead of leafs, and a mini tub. I think based on cost, I will probably run a 275 in the rear.

No clue on engine or transmission yet, that is a long way off.
 
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Ok,

Got some tires delivered and mounted
So today I narrowed my rack, mounted up the front tires, and pushed her out of the garage, and spun her around so that I can start work hanging the new rear end.

Once the rear is hung, I will work on firewall and cowl.. then I can do floors and start assembling this thing..

Hard to see without the proper stance, but should look good

TiresSide_zps3yxpodmg.jpg


TiresFt_zps33qiszhp.jpg
 
OK.

Only had 3 hours today to work on the car.

I was able to rip out the old 6cyl rear end, and wheel the new 8.8 under it.

Looks like I might have lucked out. I was expecting to be a hair too wide, and was planning on slitting the rear quarter flare and pulling it out an inch. Looks like I might get away with rolling the lips (after installing the new quarters of course)

Anyway, I know a thread is worthless without pics, so here we go.

Old rear coming out. Right side front leaf spring eye snapped off when removing the bolt through it.

Rear%20Old_zpslvqnya35.jpg


Old and New (new will be painted before I am done of course)

Rear%20Old%20N%20New_zpsjvlcctkh.jpg


Trial fit

Rear%20New_zpskqw9ygff.jpg


Apparently a full width Explorer 8.8, 18x9 wheels with 6.18" Back space (30mm offset) and 275/35/18's is almost a perfect fit on a 66 Mustang

Rear%20Side_zpse9lpc0gh.jpg
 
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Thanks guys

Love it. I have an Explorer 8.8 to put in my 69 also. I couldn't tell from the pics but did you already weld new spring perches on? If so, where did you get them?

I have not welded new perches on yet, but I did buy some from Summit.
Right now I have the springs on the stock perches, and the front spring eye bolts in, just so I could rotate the rear up and check for tire clearance issues.
Now I need to weld on the new perches, clean up the rear end, paint it, etc
 
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Man.. A sane person would have scrapped this thing..

Tonight I started cutting out some rusty frame rails.
Last foot and a half or so were bad, so I took it all the way back to about the axle centerline.
That way I can also tie the new rail into the crossmember that the shocks mount to.
Figure it can't hurt to try to strengthen it up a bit..

Long way to go, but hopefully this weekend it will have a solid foundation, and back on the ground...
Then its onto floors, quarters, cowl, doors... after that I think the rust will FINALLY be gone!

Rusty rail

Rusty%20Rail_zpsm5l2atbw.jpg


made a new rail

Rail%20New_zps19yvw1gk.jpg
 
Thanks

Wheel specs

Manufacturer: AmericanMuscle
Wheels Style: AMR
Size: 18x9
Finish: Matte Charcoal
Placement: Front or Rear
Centercap Size: Large (2-1/2")
Back Spacing: 6.18" (157mm)
Offset: +30mm (1.2")
Bolt Pattern: 5x4.5" (5x114.3mm)
Weight: 24.7 lbs
Material: Aluminum
Lip Size : N/A
Best Tire : 255/45-18
Year/Model: 2005-2014 All, Excluding 2013-2014 GT500