70 Mach Retomod help needed

TX Yesdog

New Member
Feb 27, 2007
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To give you an idea of what I’m doing…

Surprisingly enough a little over a year ago I found, sitting is a back woods junkyard, a ‘70 351C factory 4 speed Mach 1. I stole the car for $100.00 and have been working on it since. The entire front clip needed replaced and has been updated with a “Rod & Customs” Mustang II coil over IFS. I love the sound and feel of a FE motor so I decided to go that route and have had a hand carved 390 built. My builder and I let the FE got out of control I now have a 390 that has more custom parts then I care to list. Needless to say the beast tops out at 760 HP & 680 TQ before the 250 shot of NOS and stops producing power at about 9200 RPM. I don’t see much point in having a sports car if your going to put an automatic in it, so wanting to stick with the “Stick” I’m having a T56 6 speed with Viper gears built. I also picked up an IRS out of a ’03 Cobra and have upgraded the half shafts to LVL 5’s that are supposed to be able to take 900+ HP without snapping. The IRS and IFS are in place. I am waiting for the T56 to arrive in about a month then I will mount the motor to the tranny and attempt to install them.

My question is this: Has anyone installed a T56 with this much juice in front of it in a 70 Mach? I have intentionally held off tying the sub frames together because I am unsure of how after market connectors will fit around a T56 and if they will provide enough rigidity. I really don’t want to cage the car if I can keep from it but I fear that is what I will have to do. The two out of the box setups I have been looking at are from Global West and Total Control. If anyone has any ideas I am all ears.

Thanks! :shrug:
 
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Well I think a stock Viper T56 is rated for like 550 ft-lb of torque, though have been used in much higher horsepower applications. I dont believe you will have any clearance issues with the TCP Crossbrace. The Transmission barely reaches to a point where clearance would be and issue. I am not sure if you will "need" a roll cage, its helps greatly to strengthing the car but brings about a whole seperate bunch of issues.

http://www.automedia.com/article/images/pht/pht20020101su/pht20020101su_s01.jpg
 
Sounds like an amazing project. Similar along the lines where I wanna go with my Mach... time and money... I too am practically sold on a T56 in the future and though I don't think I am ever gonna put the power down as you will. A Viper spec is rated at 650ft lbs. which is generally accepted as being a bit conservative. Still you should be careful if you get some good traction. You should seriously consider a cage and some additional support in the front. The mustang II conversion does take away some of the needed structure in the front, especially with that FE on the front tires. The 69 and 70 FE powered mustangs had additional shock tower reinforcement from the factory which says a lot if Ford spent the extra time and money to put those in. Now with your kind of power and good traction to lift the front end, you stand a very good chance to tweak the frame. Good luck and keep us updated.
Kevin
 
Thanks y’all I really do appreciate any input and any ideas. Some of the “Professional restorers” insist that I will have to put a cage and others say that I won’t need it. I can see both sides of the argument and would like to find a common ground. If I could find an aftermarket slimed down cage I think that is what I will go with. So if anyone knows of any I would like to take a look at them. Otherwise it’s back to the custom shop.

Dam this daily driver is getting expensive!
 
Well what doesn't sound appealing about a roll cage to you? Do you want back seats? Or not looking forward to crawling over bars? Frankly a good fabricator should be able to build at least something to suit your needs.
 
Daly Driver?!?!!?!?! People that know what the structural integrity of the mustang will suggest a cage with that sort of power. It isn't all that great and on top of it you got an FE and a MII front suspension which doesn't help the situation. You will definately need something under the car. One of the strongest ways to do that is to cut up the floor pans and install steel square to mate the two subframes together. It will cost a bunch compared to TCP(which I really like) or other brand but it will be the closest to a full frame than tieing the two together. Seeing you spared no cost elseware... it might be a good option.
Kevin
 
Daly Driver?!?!!?!?! People that know what the structural integrity of the mustang will suggest a cage with that sort of power. It isn't all that great and on top of it you got an FE and a MII front suspension which doesn't help the situation. You will definately need something under the car. One of the strongest ways to do that is to cut up the floor pans and install steel square to mate the two subframes together. It will cost a bunch compared to TCP(which I really like) or other brand but it will be the closest to a full frame than tieing the two together. Seeing you spared no cost elseware... it might be a good option.
Kevin

Actually, if you weld the rectangular steel subframe connectors in through the floor yourself it will be a lot cheaper than TCP or other aftermarket subframe connectors. The cost of the steel is only about $3.00 to $4.00 a foot. So figure around $30.00 to $45.00 plus your own time....(much cheaper than the shops time). As far as a roll cage goes, I would definitely recommend one for that much power. If you're not worried about the safety aspect of a roll cage (ie. your crazy), you have to at least think about how much the body will flex when the power goes to the wheels. That much flexing will mess up your brand new paint job in no time flat.
 
I already have the 2x3 tubing but was unsure if the aftermarket solutions would be similar in strength and rigidity. I was just hoping to find a way around the cage. But it sounds like I have no choice. I was planning on installing a 4 point roll bar but it sounds like I should be looking at a 6 or even an 8 point.
 
If you already have the 2 x 3 tubing I would definitely go that route. The only reason to go with an aftermarket solution would be if you were afraid to hack into the car, and I think you are over that. Going into the floor pan with the subframe connectors will make it much stronger and also give you more clearance. I have a high horsepower engine with a Mustang II front end as well and I plan to add forward tubes that go down through the front crossmember in order to brace the front of the car. I wanted to avoid a cage when I first started my project because I didn't want to hit a big tube everytime I got in the car, but it's just not worth it to have the chassis flex so bad, plus it's not safe. To avoid hitting a tube upon entry I'm fabricating my own roll cage.
 
Thanks Y'all I really appreciate the input. I started the process of tying the two ends together tonight. I guess that I will have to think of a way to hide the bars inside for a cage.

Thanks again. I tried to post some pics of the way I found her and how work has progressed to this point but the pics are too big. So as soon as I find the time to srink them down I'll post them.