A 65 fastback for me

horse sence

15 Year Member
Nov 29, 1999
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Wile Coyote's stunt double
After selling my car collection two years ago ,i finally decided it was time for me to have a Mustang once again . This poor old 65 fast back had the front end knocked off several years ago when it was ran into a bridge pillar . The impact ripped the frame rails right through the floor taking out the cowl and the dash . Amazingly it didnt damage or twist anything else . I have already removed all the damaged areas,including the floor ,leveled it to check for twist and started buying parts .
It is a 289 2v 4 speed ,silver blue with blue and white pony interior ,had factory disk brakes San Jose car .
The plan is Saphire blue with white shelby stripes ,347 stroker and new 4 speed .
The parts have finally started coming in after about a month of waiting but i cant find a radiator support anywhere !
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You could always improve your cooling by using a 68' or so radiator support. Being a big Windsor guy I did it over a decade ago on my 65 to get the 24" width. Same height and the same width between the top of the aprons. Would need to wack off some of the support on the driver's side and do something else for the hood bumper locations. I cut the raised sections out of the 65 and then added them to the same location on the 68. I should have used the later apron to turn the battery sideways but there was enough room for a smaller battery tray. I also re used the 65's oval vents on the passenger side as a fill in piece was needed there when using the 65 apron.

There is a little more to it but it was a fun 1 day project.
 
Most of my parts came in yesterday ,took a long time to get them but that seems to be normal everytime i order somthing . Torque boxes have been welded together ,the floor supports can be welded to the front frame rails now and the front clip will will be complete with torque boxes and fire wall welded in place ,it will slide in as a complete clip .
The cowl is really nice ,not a mark on it ,i will sand the inside and epoxy prime before the top and bottom is welded together ,it will be welded in place completed.
I had one very nice 65 front fender but i had to buy a Dynacorn passenger side .
Does any one notice something wrong with the new end caps i bought ? And by the way the fit on these is just about perfect !
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You could always improve your cooling by using a 68' or so radiator support. Being a big Windsor guy I did it over a decade ago on my 65 to get the 24" width. Same height and the same width between the top of the aprons. Would need to wack off some of the support on the driver's side and do something else for the hood bumper locations. I cut the raised sections out of the 65 and then added them to the same location on the 68. I should have used the later apron to turn the battery sideways but there was enough room for a smaller battery tray. I also re used the 65's oval vents on the passenger side as a fill in piece was needed there when using the 65 apron.

There is a little more to it but it was a fun 1 day project.
I have an old junk 64 1/2 here ,the radiator support looks to be good ,only problem is the 64 1/2 has louvers in front of the battery but i may wind up going that way . The other piece i can not get is the transmission brace under the floor ,but a may just cut that from the 64 1/2 as well .
 
I already have the dash welded in place ,it is helping keep the rockers the proper width . The only thing i didnt like about the new dash is the notch below the gauge cluster ,it shows when the cluster is in place ,the original dash does not have this and will have to be filled in .
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I used the doors off my nephew Nicks 65 fast back to make sure everything lined up ,bought new Dynacorn doors and they just about bolted in perfect right out of the box . I think i got Nick ready to get back into his now ,i keep sending him pics of mine everytime i get a part haha!
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Picture bridge with pillars on the sides ,mustang head on into pillar BOOM!
It must have been perfectly head on with perhaps some preexisting damage or some factory spot welds to the firewall that didn't take? It's hard to believe that a car could survive that without damaging something all the way through.
 
Sanded the inside of the cowl top and bottom ,seam sealed the air vents or water would have ran right through them . I used 3M tan seam sealer ,it looks just like the factory sealer . I primed the inside of both halves with epoxy and now they can be welded together . I also primed the inside of my floor supports
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Ripped all the spot welds out and just peeled it away ,this is the second one i have seen do this ,this is why they need torque boxes
So, besides using more spot welds and not running into something solid, do you have plans for reinforcing your own car with a 347?
This looks interesting, but a pita to work around. How much help are subframe connectors on a 65?
Edit, this is still amazing work.
 
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A long hard day drilling plug weld holes and the cowl is in . Welded great until i got to the front lip and pop and spatter started acting up ,made some ugly looking welds but it welded. The welds will be ground down any way and holes will be drilled between them to weld the cowl to the fire wall . Now all i need is the radiator support and the tranny tunnel brace and i can put in the front clip . I tried an original windshield and it fits perfectly .
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