• Hello there guest and Welcome to The #1 Classic Mustang forum!
    To gain full access you must Register. Registration is free and it takes only a few moments to complete.
    Already a member? Login here then!

"Phoenix" 65 Coupe to FB

Split the bumper and fitted it after makin a fiberglass backing plate. As you can see it needed to be widen a decent amount. I then used my glass plate to fit it together and 3m 8115. Once it cures ill glass the middle
glass.jpg cut.jpg 8115.jpg
clamp.jpg
 
Talked to buddy Matt pretty much all day and well im either buying a 302 from him or buying a 302 from a guy in hendersonville. My engine guy Joey is actually going to go check it out for me this weekend. The 302 in hendo is pretty much ready to drop in, 330HP, and comes with hooker headers but you know how that goes. We will see what happens. Then ill see if i can drop in my first engine....Then see if i can figure out how to attach a transmission for the first time...Ive been reading most of the day and jesus...So many parts and info...One hand im looking at a nice AOD for 1600 with conversion parts minus the needed cross member then im looking at a c4 by tci but it needs the bell housing and god knows what else but comes with the cooler and fluids....ugh UGH!!!!!!!!!!!



Oh and i glassed my bumper back together earlier in the week and sanded that out smooth. Now it just needs a thin bit of filler in the middle and screw holes
bumper.jpg
 
Some advice. IF...and that is a very big IF...you buy an engine "from a guy" you'd be foolish not to take it apart and check everything. A full set of engine gaskets is a small price to pay for piece of mind. I have yet to go inspect an engine that was "done right" that was anything short of junk. Without the oil pan, valve covers, intake and other stuff coming off no way to be sure what you're getting. Be VERY careful. Small block Fords are not hard to do right and don't have to cost a fortune to build.

Same goes for transmissions. Anything you buy used plan on rebuilding unless you really do know the guy and the history of it. Nothing worse than yanking it out right away. AOD can get expensive and if you are not really going to do a ton of highway cruising are not worth it. C4 are awesome trans that can be had cheap and you can rebuild yourself if necessary.

The easy part of all this is putting it in the car. You can yank or drop a SBF with trans attached by yourself without breaking a sweat. And in your garage by yourself that is exactly the way you should do it. Just be certain you fully seat that converter before you try cinching the trans up to the engine. They need to go together easy. It doesn't take using the bolts to draw them together.
 
Horseplay said:
Some advice. IF...and that is a very big IF...you buy an engine "from a guy" you'd be foolish not to take it apart and check everything. A full set of engine gaskets is a small price to pay for piece of mind. I have yet to go inspect an engine that was "done right" that was anything short of junk. Without the oil pan, valve covers, intake and other stuff coming off no way to be sure what you're getting. Be VERY careful. Small block Fords are not hard to do right and don't have to cost a fortune to build.

Same goes for transmissions. Anything you buy used plan on rebuilding unless you really do know the guy and the history of it. Nothing worse than yanking it out right away. AOD can get expensive and if you are not really going to do a ton of highway cruising are not worth it. C4 are awesome trans that can be had cheap and you can rebuild yourself if necessary.

The easy part of all this is putting it in the car. You can yank or drop a SBF with trans attached by yourself without breaking a sweat. And in your garage by yourself that is exactly the way you should do it. Just be certain you fully seat that converter before you try cinching the trans up to the engine. They need to go together easy. It doesn't take using the bolts to draw them together.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. That is exactly why im having my buddy check it.
 
I did more fitting on my VUE Epas. I had to cut off an ear on it and grind the casing smooth. After i had to grind a little of the edge of the Brake return area. The other thing is securing it. I had a heavy duty L bracket from my last 3 point seat belt install and bent it to fit the angle of the Wiper bracket. Drilled a hole then made a bracket out of angle to fit. Its all fit and works great. I ran a long wire from my truck to test out the difference.

now i just have to relocate the ecu
grinsd.jpg angel.jpg bracket.jpg fit.jpg
 
Ah, ok. I was hoping you were going to move that. I was like damn, thats as inconvenient as Ricky Bobby having a sponsor sticker on the windshield.

landscape-1460732998-wonder-car.jpg
 
Sadly i sold my 55 f100 but i also bought a 73 mustang which i hope to have driveable in short order. It runs and drives now but its got bad gas and a fuel tank leak. So im going to replace the tank and run some seafoam through it. I also have a boat load of parts to install with it. New intake, valve covers, Petronix,

It came with an OEM 69 scoop on it which partially hid the hole from a shaker scoop. I removed it and put a 2014 Roush scoop on it to cover the hole completely. It looks ok but certainly not ideal

headers, shocks, and suchwheels.jpg
scoop.jpg 34211591_10160372169375521_4522140868043341824_n.jpg
 
Find a new hood or patch the one you have. The triple scoop thing doesn't work unless its paired with a triple stacked rear wing. :rolleyes: I'm sure it does look better than it would with a shaker scoop like some previous owner (abuser) must have had. People have strange tastes. And I use the word taste very loosely here!

Why'd you let loose on the '55? Last we'd heard it was having a modern front suspension of some sort installed. Lose interest?
 
My buddy who was working on it took a job at a performance shop about a year ago and hasnt been able to touch it sense. So instead of letting it sit untouched or paying a boat load to have a shop finish it i sold it. One perk is i now have a fresh built 302 and 4r70w for the stang with complete MSD setup :)

ANd yes, the plan will be to eventially replace the hood. I have a stock flat hood but i like the Ram air style too much to do that.
 
Hope to paint my 73 in a week. Its going to be my "Test" paintjob to see if i can paint my 65 how i want. Have a few places i need to patch but all and all the 73 is pretty solid35522785_10160429608530521_6581379160202018816_n.jpg
 
So what are your painting plans? Have you got the whole thing block sanded? I would suggest you spend the extra time on this car practicing your prep work because I can tell you from experience you haven't gotten to the point you think you do. What I mean is, there are surely low spots, etc. that will show with paint. Use the longest blocks you can on every panel and when you think you're there...sand some more.

When it comes to time to spray what equipment will you be using? Make sure you have a compressor up to the task. That means at minimum a BIG tank and decent size twin stage compressor, optimally. If your pressures vary or you starve your gun for adequate air volume it will not be a good day of spraying. If you have a spare panel or hood I really suggest practicing on that first. Get the feel for the gun and material you will be spraying. Aside from gun air pressure and adjustments your hand motion, speed etc. all play significant roles in how things go. Practice, practice, practice. Buy some cheap paint and start with it and once you develop good gun control switch up to the paint you will be using and spray out a test panel once more before hitting the car. It's cheaper and better to learn this way. It can get expensive and frustrating correcting problems on the real project.
 
Horseplay said:
So what are your painting plans? Have you got the whole thing block sanded? I would suggest you spend the extra time on this car practicing your prep work because I can tell you from experience you haven't gotten to the point you think you do. What I mean is, there are surely low spots, etc. that will show with paint. Use the longest blocks you can on every panel and when you think you're there...sand some more.

When it comes to time to spray what equipment will you be using? Make sure you have a compressor up to the task. That means at minimum a BIG tank and decent size twin stage compressor, optimally. If your pressures vary or you starve your gun for adequate air volume it will not be a good day of spraying. If you have a spare panel or hood I really suggest practicing on that first. Get the feel for the gun and material you will be spraying. Aside from gun air pressure and adjustments your hand motion, speed etc. all play significant roles in how things go. Practice, practice, practice. Buy some cheap paint and start with it and once you develop good gun control switch up to the paint you will be using and spray out a test panel once more before hitting the car. It's cheaper and better to learn this way. It can get expensive and frustrating correcting problems on the real project.
Click to expand...


I have all of next week off and i intend to do the prep work. The 73 doesnt need to be as true. I will do a little work getting things straight but more just reasonable. The 65 is a different story.

I have a cheap gun that require low CFM rating as it was rated for a much smaller compressor i used to pain my 67. One that was majorly inadequate when i painted with Blitz black paint.

I have a much bigger compressor. 30 Gallon 155-PSI Maximum Pressure with a Rate of 7.7-CFM at 40-PSI or 6.0-CFM at 90-PS

Paint gun that has the proper tip, I have a water seperator, I have mixing cups, i have much primering to do etc etc. I have plenty of test panels as well..

I have ordered UreKem Single stage urethane with slow activator due to the what here. It cheap and with do for what im trying to accomplish.

Thanks for all the tips this should be a fun practice round. Im not expecting anything great and the 73 is well the 73. Its also low gloss because im not going to cut and buff.
 
30 gallon is small. HVLP gun or not spray guns are an open line from the tank and will empty it fast. You can make it work but I suggest practicing with it. Understand how long you can spray (panel size/distance traveled) before the volume loss requires the pump to kick back on. Running the length of the car with the trigger pulled is a LONG path. Observe the pressure gauge (get one at the gun along with a water/trap filter as well) and note if it fluctuates with the trigger etc. Variance in air can cause all kinds of issues including changes in paint thickness at application that can cause wetter or dryer areas which will cause all kinds of problems in the job.

I like your attitude about the 73 and the quality you're after. I just think its a great opportunity to test your bodywork skills. That's why I say block that thing (or a panel) as if you are going for a show finish. Then see how you did when you paint it shiny. You WILL learn something. I know I did. I wish I would have spent another week on mine. I have a spot or two that I will be fixing at some point.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top