69 Mach 1 Build

RPM Mach One · Mar 27, 2017

In early 1989 I decided I would buy my favorite car, a 69 Mustang. So I did what was common back then, drive around town till I found one. So I spot one sitting in apartment parking lot, knock on the door and a cute young blonde answers. I asked if she thought she'd sell her car. $2,500 later I drove it home.

This San Jose car only a little rust in the 1/4 panels. Had it painted and drove it for a while. Did some pretty good right quarter, deck lid and rear body panel damage one day when the car was parked idling. Added some auto tranny fluid to it when it took off in reverse. Oy!

Tore it down and had it soda blasted,

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20131203_175056_zps5353f279.jpg.html]

[/URL]

body work and painted Porsche Indian red in January 2000.

Then life got in the way. Got divorced, built an attached shop for the Mustang, remarried in 2004, moved in with the new wife, built a house with a shop in 2006, divorced in 2009, moved back to my old house, went on a two year drunk pitty party. Came real close to selling the 69 till my brother talked me out of it and bailed me out. Sobered up at the end of 2011 and started back on the Mustang.

Decided I'd fab my own coil over suspension using 1-1/8" o.d. x .120 wall 4130 for the front upper control arms and strut rods, 1-1/4 x .156 for the lower arms and 1-1/4 x .156 for the rear upper and lower arms. The front arm measurements are taken from the stock arms, with the exception of the upper ball joint being moved back 1/2" for more caster. Bent the tubing with a JD2 Bender. After designing the front suspension I was flipping thru a car magazine at the store and was pleasantly surprised to see my design was nearly identical to the Ron Morris suspension featured in the mag.

lca%20coping%20on%20mill_zpscud2fpzc.jpg

For the rear suspension I thought the triangulated four bar would work best for the room available and street use of the car. I bought the cradle from Ride Tech and built my own arms. It's not the best design, but it should work for this guy.

Coil overs are QA1 single adjustable.
More to come...

Bob

RPM Mach One · Mar 28, 2017

This build has been so long in the making until I was looking thru my pics did I realize I forgot about the first mod I did. I added Competition Engineering subframe connectors in the summer of 2000 I believe.

One of the negatives of early Mustangs is the flexible chassis. I didn't know about the trick of adding convertible inner rockers until I saw Shaun at Street or Track do a how to on his 66. Figured I might as well add them to mine. This mod would have been easier if I'd have done it before adding undercoating. However with no interior it was pretty simple skill wise. The labor hours with all the plug welds was the kicker.

I started by leveling the chassis on jack stands using shims to get it level. Then I trimmed the seat riser, drilled plug welds holes and slotted the floor plan to fit the inner rockers.

Then I decided I should add the one piece convertible seat riser for more strength. Be careful of those while you're at its.

So I removed the seat risers, then bought the one piece riser. Wrong order. The one piece risers are taller than the individual risers. At 6'2" I need all the head room I can get. So I sectioned the center hump and spliced it into my reattached risers.

When I first jacked up the car after adding the inner rockers I couldn't believe the difference in how stiff the chassis was now. But after seeing a buddy install a roll cage in his 70, I figured now we as good a time as any to put a roll bar in mine. Another while I'm at it.

Started with four 1/8" plates for the hoop and rear down bars.

I already decided I would use a one piece Mustangs to Fear headliner, so I needed to leave room at the roof for it. It took several trips in and out of the car to get the hoop trimmed right. Little did I know that would be the easiest part of the install.

The rear down bars look simple enough but took quite a while to get them to fit right.

Once I had the down bars tacked I fit and tacked the cross bar. While I doubt I'll ever track this car, I did check SCCA and NHRA rules for placement of the shoulder bar. The Audi A4 seat seemed to fit ok.

[/URL

While the Audi seat bottom is the right size for the seat riser area, the frame is really wide. Making the new mounting rails was a royal pita, as each seat has nothing in common with the other. So two one off seat rails are needed.

Another while I'm at it. I figured if I ever did take the car to a track I'd want some door bars, and now would be the time to add them. I also knew I didn't want them permanent. I looked into the hinges that allow the bar to swing out and be removed. Found one I liked, but didn't like the price. So I made some.

L=http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20140412_214410_zpsa554eb04.jpg.html]

URL=http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20140423_190137_zpsb0edd499.jpg.html]

[/URL]

This was the first tig welding I had done in many years. Thought I had Parkinson's disease with my hands shaking so much.

More to come...

horse sence · Mar 29, 2017

Shaky or not ,those welds look pretty good to me

dennis112 · Mar 29, 2017

WOW!!! Great Job. Thanks for sharing your build.

RPM Mach One · Mar 29, 2017

Thanks guys. Unfortunately Jim, my standards and finished work usually don't meet.

RPM Mach One · Mar 29, 2017

In order to get my $25 shaker to sit properly thru the hole of my $25 shaker hood, I needed to lower the engine. The shaker is a 428 CJ model which helps with a lower base, but my Weiand Stealth intake raises the carb a bit. With stock motor mounts the 351W oil pan and engine crossmember don't have room to lower the engine even half an inch. So I designed a pretty simple x member. As with all of my fabbed parts on this car, I made a few before settling on one I liked. The material is 1-1/2" x .188 wall 4130. I'm no engineer, but by only using two bends instead of four like the stock x member I figured it would be stronger. I do know I like the looks of mine better than the OEM unit.

I started by doing a full size drawing and bending the tube to match the bends. The trick is knowing how much spring back the tube will have in the bender. It varies by material, size and wall thickness.

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20130905_065115_zps2be879c1.jpg.html]

[/URL]

I stole this mill jig idea from a bike builder. It is very rigid with no chatter during the cut.

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20150601_213314_zpskbnsn4vk.jpg.html]

[/URL]

A minute of clean up and you get a perfect fit up.

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20150601_213941_zpspdwlqmxd.jpg.html]

[/URL]

The short vertical tube piece is bolted to the jig and the cross piece is put in place for welding.

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20150603_172756_zpsclxyfpzo.jpg.html]

[/URL]

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20150609_213120_zpsvt6ykkbo.jpg.html]

[/URL]

Pretty simple.

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20130907_120039_zpsdbd22d14.jpg.html]

[/URL

OEM x member went above the LCA bolt.

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20130910_120346_zpsc55ed092.jpg.html]

[/URL]

Mine goes below the LCA bolt.

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20130909_113127_zps6ebffaae.jpg.html]

[/URL]

Bolted in.

I did a Shelby mod which ties the LCA bolt into a bracket welded to the crossmember.

cross%20member_zpsko7enadg.jpg

[/URL

Up next, building the adjustable motor mounts.

horse sence · Mar 29, 2017

And that is the way you do it

That should ad a lot of strength to the lower control arm bracket ,no flexing there .Should help with tower flexing

horse sence · Mar 29, 2017

And that is the way you do it

That should ad a lot of strength to the lower control arm bracket ,no flexing there .Should help with stopping tower flexing

horse sence · Mar 29, 2017

You need to make up a few of those under braces for sale

RPM Mach One · Mar 30, 2017

Build them to sell? Damn Jim, you sound just like my brother.

I built some Ron Morris semi knock off adjustable motor mounts which lowered the motor ~3/4". I also modified the tranny mount to keep the engine and at ~2-1/2°. I don't seem to have too many pics of the motor mount fab work, maybe I was busy working. I printed the plans off a pdf file a bloke on another site drew up.

The mill came in mighty handy.

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20130821_124331_zps70bd12d7.jpg.html]

[/URL]

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20130821_194058_zps0d920ecf.jpg.html]

[/URL]

Years ago I bought a three foot piece of 1-1/2" round polypropylene. I used it to make the motor mount bushings by turning them on the lathe.

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20130826_181202_zps5848d36d.jpg.html]

[/URL]

Determining rubber cushion height with aluminum blocks.

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20130907_123737_zps712d170f.jpg.html]

[/URL]

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20130917_192133_zps92d2391a.jpg.html]

[/URL]

Ya, I know, not very exciting. Forgot about the 2001 Cobra four wheel disc conversion. They'll be next.

RPM Mach One · Mar 30, 2017

The 2001 Mustang Cobra 13" disc brake conversion was popular back when I started this build, so I figured I might as well jump on the wagon. Picked up the front and rear calipers and rotors for under $400, and made the front caliper brackets.

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20131205_222105_zps980e07d8.jpg.html]

[/URL]

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20131203_174559_zps5233ab95.jpg.html]

[/URL]

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20131201_153326_zpsf91d73b4.jpg.html]

[/URL]

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20131201_160357_zpsb43d9411.jpg.html]

[/URL]

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20131201_164215_zpsde6a5fc3.jpg.html]

[/URL]

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_20131201_162616_zps247420dc.jpg.html]

[/URL]

While researching the Cobra brakes and learning that drum spindles are used, I read where the 70 drum brake spindle was the way to go as it has the larger bearing area which is preferred. So after making brackets for my 69 disc spindles I figured I might as well fab a set for the 70 drum spindles I picked up. I swear I've done every mod 2 or more times on this car. But imho the clean look of the drum spindle is mucho better.

Along with doing two sets of front brakes, I did the same with the rears

Way back I found that 1980 El Dorado rear discs were an easy swap and had a parking brake. My brother drew up the mod to use the stock Eldo caliper bracket which bolted to the rear axle flange and positioned the caliper properly. However I later found that the design of the caliper sucked for rebuilds, and keeping it adjusted with the parking brake was troublesome. So after I picked up a Cobra rear disc conversion for a song, mounting them was a breeze. I did have to modify the bracket arms to allow for the larger 11-1/2" Cobra rotors, as the kit I bought had smaller rotors.

For both front and rear I had to turn spacers to center the rotor onto the hub. Luckily the Eldo and Cobra had the same rotor I.D.

RPM Mach One · Mar 31, 2017

With all the issues guys have posted about issues with the oem gauges, I had another bright idea to use an aftermarket gauge bezel and gauges. I really wanted a tach along with oil pressure and volt meter and thought they'd look cool in a six gauge bezel. So I picked up the Year One bezel on sale and painted it in black and silver two stage.

Wiring courtesy of Randy at MidLife.

http://s782.photobucket.com/user/robertpmcdougal/media/IMG_0562_zpszouay94e.jpg.html]