March/November wedding 60's tribute

CarMichael Angelo

my rearend will smell so minty fresh,
15 Year Member
Nov 29, 1999
10,641
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Birmingham, al
After jumping around on this forum it becomes apparent that it is clicky as any high school. Each group tends to stay in the model section of the car they own, w/ exception of those that happen to own several different model years.

If I had my drothers, I'd haunt this section as opposed to the fox section I currently inhabit but that would require I OWN a classic, which sad to say I don't.

Despite the fact that I currently don't own a classic doesn't change the fact that I have OWNED several over the years....65 GT coupe; (3) 69 mach1's (351w cars); 1 428CJ mach1; 68 302 F/B; and a 68 390 GTA coupe.

Currently I own a 89 coupe. BUT if I could have what I wanted I would acquire (in descending order) a 69 F/B; 68/67 FB; 65 F/B (who wouldn't)?

So despite my wants, and coming back to earth living in the here and now, I decide to take what I got, and marry the old w/ the new.

If the thought of blending old mustang w/new(er) mustang turns your "purist" stomach, my advice is to STOP reading, and move on to a different thread. If you are receptive to something a little different, I'll go over what I've decided to do.

(We'll now have a moments' pause for the sneering and jeering to move quietly to the top of the page, and select another thread................)

floating in the sea of fox mustang, one becomes quickly aware that having this particular body is about as "individual" as a belly button. There are only so many things you can do to make the car "yours" but the caveat is that, anything you do do (no excrement reference intended) can be duplicated by anybody else w/ money.
And the monotony only gets worse as the body gets newer.

So, determined to make the fox in my garage different, I came up w/ a design, themed to pay tribute to a late 60's mustang:
  1. Re-upholster the interior in Mach1 comfortweave.
  2. Build a new tail section, using 1968 taillight panel and lights
  3. Rebuild the front end, using 1968 headlight buckets and a custom grille to match
  4. Replace the anemic 4 cylinder w/ a SOHC V8, and badge it as a CJ
  5. Paint the body in white w/ flat black hood and tail panel w/ 69 mach 1 stripes on the sides and Cobra jet
    Badges on the hood scoop.
After some more consideration, I thought that additional changes needed to be made to finish the theme:
  1. I'd install an exhaust system to make it sound less like a late model, and more like an early model mustang
  2. I'd put it on taller rubber, (tires w/ actual sidewalls) give it a rake, and hide the weenie four lugs behind wheels w/ centercaps.

Now I had a plan, Now all I needed was a sawzall, a cut-off wheel on a grinder, a 68 taillight panel and a welder:
(actually, I already have all of that stuff)

So It Begins:
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After all of the hacking and grinding, I was able put Chinese taillight panel in place for a mock up......Two inches too wide.

No problem,...I sectioned out an inch on each side, re-aligned everything w/ these little "hold-em" doo dads and welded that puppy up.

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Then...after about another hour of fussing and fighting I put the panel in place permanently.

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I have the majority of this build already done, so I wont cover you up w/ photos. For now I'll breathe.
 
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I'm interested in seeing what you do with the rear quarters where they hang over the sides of the panel and what you are going to do with the fuel filler hole. Are you going to adapt a 69' rear bumper to it? I have to say I'm liking it.
 
He's got the front worked out already too.

This man has some awesome skills. I've been following the thread closely in 5.0.

As you said in the o.p., I have 3 models therefore I visit all 3 forums.
 
The dilema

I'll have to admit That "how I was gonna blend it all in" was consuming my thoughts, and depriving me of sleep. I knew that I couldn't pull off a true 68 coupe rear fascia w/ any level of confidence. Besides, I didn't want a coupe rear end, I wanted it to have more of a mach 1 vibe ( since that is my favorite car).
But, regardless of how much squinting I did when I looked at it, I couldn't picture how it was gonna look. Then when I least expected it, it hit me.
A proverbial EPIPHANY.

And it revealed itself to me in the form of a GT/CS.

A coupe w/ a big-assed spoiler, and a different rear end.

So I set out w/ that plan. No sooner do I settle on "the plan" and the first hurdle leaps up at me.

All fox mustangs have body side molding hereafter known in its' abbreviated form as BSM. Underneath that BSM is a formed channel that runs from the front bumper to the rear bumper. I don't have to tell you that classic mustangs don't have that channel.

So,....I cut it out. You can see the remnant of that damn thing hanging at the back of the quarter

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Then I beat the piss out of the channel to flatten it.

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Then I grinded the remnant down to a "gentle radius", and welded it back in place along w/the beginnings of the GT/CS spoiler.

MMutt, Your answer to the gas filler thing is welded shut.

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The other side

Once completed, I cloned over the other side:

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OK, So now both sides are mocked up. There is a trunk spoiler tacked across the deck that ties both side together, I'm in it for over 40 hours now.
What to do....Hmmmmmmmm. Oh yeah a pic!
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The exhaust

The last pics gave up a progress jump that was actually already completed,.(well all of this stuff is already completed, I am just replaying some part of my life that I had DVR'd)

If I'd kept the stock Urethane rear bumper, I'd have nothing to be talking about here, but since I didn't, I can share it w/ you guys.

Another bout of insomnia, another wierd-assed little tidbit.

At 3AM, I'm Thinking about the F117 stealth fighter. Thinking about how they went so far in making the thing invisible they actually "disguised" the heat coming out of the exhaust.
They did that by designing exhaust outlets into the trailing edge of the wing so that the air rushing over the wing would diffuse the exhaust more efficiently.
Stealth, right down to the exhaust.

So I decided to incorporate a little bit from the skunkworks into my exhaust. While not concerned w/ disguising my "heat signature",ala 117, I did try to disguise the exhaust tips.
Stealth, right down to the exhaust.

Stealth exhaust tip:
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Stealth exhaust tip(s)
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What makes them stealthy you ask? Well if you'll can that line chatter and deploy a little rekon, you'll notice that the horizontal slats are welded at a 45 degree angle.

And when incorporated into the rear valance, being lower than the angle of your vision,....

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STEALTH!
 
He's got the front worked out already too.

This man has some awesome skills. I've been following the thread closely in 5.0.

As you said in the o.p., I have 3 models therefore I visit all 3 forums.

Aww you snuck in on me. This is gonna be all reruns for you.

Thanks for the pat on the head though. I decided that I should post up my halfbreed on here as well.

You look in on three different forums because you have three different cars. I can look in on two with only one.:D
 
Why yes, Yes I do have a solution for the front end.

So I'm sitting in the wife's car, riding shotgun as we head off on another exciting, fun filled, all expenses NOT paid mini-vacation at her mothers' house in PC FLA. I get this idea for the grille and start "air-drawing" in front of me.
My wife asks me what the hell I'm doing, to which I reply "Quiet Woman! fetch me some paper!" (after which she has to pull over to keep from crashing as a result of the "you must be kidding" laughter).

After we're rolling again, and w/ paper in hand, I proceed to sketch out three grille options so that I may include my family of 4 in the decision of which grille I go with.

I become the "Monty Hall" in my game of "let's make a deal" and offer up the choices to the crazily dressed contestants in the car. (actually, they were wearing their regular clothes, but, you can dress them as you like. I mean, It's your head)

Door#1. Classic 68 Bullitt grille. No frills, No pony, No corral, just black grille mesh in the opening. Just as Mcqueen would have it.

Door #2. Same as above but more of a GT, w/ all of the stuff that's on a GT. The pony in his corral. Horizontal bars and foglights.

Door#3. Retro styled version of the current Eleanor billet grille. Fog lights below the grille in their own lower opening.

Tension is in the air,...... what should we do? OoooooooHHHH! I think we should turn around and look out into the cyberspace audience for advice......(are you shouting out your pick?)

It's unanimous. They all choose door #3 grille.
Wah-Waaaah-Waaaaaaaahhhhh.

I thank them for helping me make the choice, and proceed w/ plans to build Grille #1.

Once back from 3 days in hell, I set out fabbing up the transition to hold the 68 headlight buckets I ordered on the way down to FLA that arrive on Monday. They are remarkably close, and will only require minimal body work.

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Then through the miracle of modern chemistry, I mix a plastic based substrate w/ a catalyst, and VIOLA! get BONDO!

After several applications, (since I'm no bodyman) most of which ends up on the floor as Sanding dust, I get something a little closer to the finished product.
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Then I start all over on the other side.
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And then set about tying the front lower valance to the two hanging buckets.

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Then the other side:
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The actual front end is about 2" taller than a 68. So it required I fab up a filler panel between the bucket, and the valance.

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All said and done, The lower valance cut and rolled for the driving lights to live in:

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It, like the rear valance is also 2" too wide (imagine that! the front of the car is just as wide as the rear of the car.......sheeeesh) so it's cut and sectioned as well.
 
Body work! Did I mention how bad I HATE bodywork?

Man, I don't know how the bodymen do it. My arms ache. I got dust in cracks I didn't even know I had. It's all over the damn garage, and has settled in every opening (which unfortuately happens to be alot of my tool drawers).
It's in my eyes and nose Man I hate body work!

But, I got no money. I barely get enough work to make the house payment. The bottom line is: If it's to be, it's up to me. ( Catchy little phrase, I think some famous guy first said it)

The front end is a challenge. The hood is cut and fabbed to fit the headlight buckets. There are radius and crown conflicts all over the place. I only hope that once in paint It don't look like bloody hell.

The grille surround had to be hand fabbed. I have no where near the depth that a 68 has between the grille and radiator saddle, and then there's that 2" narrower thing I have to deal with.

I learned the hard way that bondo has to be completely re-applied to the entire surface you're working or a nasty "Toggle" phenomenon starts to happen. (toggle phenom is B/S speak for ON/OFF;UP/DN; IN/OUT;...in this case its HIGH/LOW!)
Only applying bondo to the offending area, means that by the time that low area is sanded smooth, another high spot appears. Once revealed, the high spot means that everything else is now low. So if you're doing bodywork, just remember to apply more than enough to the entire area the first time, sand your ass off, and if you even begin to see a high spot begin to form STOP,..re-apply another coat to bring the entire project up a few mils, and sand your ass off again. Hopefully, the project begins to shape up before the toggle phenom rears it's head again.

Enough said about the process, The final results: well, not final, it's still along way from primer even. * note* notice the proximity of grille to radiator saddle.

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Another thing I'm not is a photographer. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know not to take pics of 68 front ends in 12:00 noon sun. But you get the idea.

I didn't choose the baby blue color on the E-NORM-O hood scoop. It's the gel coat. Hopefully, when the hood and scoop get their final flat black top coat, the "hangar on my hood" will somewhat blend in.

I haven't written this in the same order as the car was built, so the quarters are unfinished in these pics. Since then, They have a couple of coats of filler and are close to being the final renditions.

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If you look close, you can see another one of those zit-like high spots. And on the lower rocker there is still a low area. So, I will have to skim another coat to make it go away.

Interior is next!
 
You really pulled that off nicely. :nice:

Thank you Mr.Mutt.

I gotta admit though, It's like climbing a rock wall and going like hell to get to the top. Only then realizing that if you want to rest you gotta go back down first.

Congratulations on being 1 of 3 out of 100 views that commented.

I guess when I told the purists to move on to another thread I didn't know that everybody on here (well 97 so far) were purists. :rolleyes:

I don't know why anybody should be offended, It's not like I'm cutting up a classic and sticking on Fox parts, I'm sticking classic parts (no wait, chinese classic ) parts on a fox.:D
 
I like it, but i think it would look better with a slightly smaller scoop.

It looks way better than that GB mustang body kit that was out a while back
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Thanks, Yeah the Hood scoop is a little "big".
If I had not thrown away all of the pants that had the pants pocket extensions sewn in them back when I had money pouring out of them I'd probably sell it and get a lower profile version. But there is a reason for the one that's on there. It'll become apparent when I post pics of the engine.......
Aww hell, I'll post one now

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Behold the lowly SOHC.:hail2:

As it is, it sits high in this car despite having already been lowered as far as hacking up a K-member will allow. Now carbureted w/ an edelbrock victor JR intake, I intend to raise the carb up another inch, and stick that air cleaner into the wind so that it'll half-ass live up to the ram-air decal that I stuck on the air cleaner. I need the extra height that the "Blue Box" affords so I can do that.

BTW, is that a fox under all of that fiberglass?
 
It looks a little odd at first, but I like it!

Again, thanks, I'll admit to the odd perspective, It is obviously shorter than a 68 coupe and the front and rear treatments bring the "shortness" into full view. The front end suffers the most from that , as I had to keep the headlight extensions close enough to the fenders to use the stock hood.

If I had it to do over, I'd push the front headlights out another 2" and use a filler strip in front of the hood ala 68 Shelby to get some length. The trunk could be done the same way. I just wanted to minimize having to create long wide strips that spanned the width of the body.

Besides, it's not the shortness of your stang that counts, it's how you use it.:D
 
The Interior

I know the body isn't anywhere NEAR finished, but I'm sick of it.

I'll blather on a little while about the interior instead.

As a 16 year old kid, I remember carrying around a 5 year old 1969 motor trend until it was ragged that had an article called "5 car stud". I stole it from my school library.

The article was a side by side comparison of the 5 pony cars you could buy during that summer:
The 1969 Camaro RS w/ 350;
The 1969 Pontiac Firebird formula 350;
The 1969 Mercury cougar w/ 351w;
The AMC Javelin SST w/ 343;
and (of course) The 1969 Mustang Mach1 w/ 351w.

It was this article that started my love affair w/ that car. The writers all favored the Mustang as the clear winner in every category that year but were particularly in love w/ the interior. They loved the Teak accents, They loved the easy to read instrument cluster, they loved the contrasting floor mats sewn into the carpet, but mostly they loved the seats w/ the "new for 69" comfortweave fabric.

(excuse me i just :drool:drooled on my keyboard, I need to get a paper towel and wipe it up ):drool:

I had to have the car for all of the reasons they liked it.
I got one the next year, 1969 meadowlark yellow 351 4v w/ an FMX auto trans. But I loved that interior the most. Black w/ red floor mats.
( Just thinking about it has me doing the Muttley: "yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah")

I loved it. AND I was the second, fourth, and sixth owner of this car.
(did I mention how I loved this car)?


When I saw that you could buy comfortweave re-upholstery kits for the fox, there was no doubt that that was what i was going to recover the seats in. The kit was a little over 500.00 w/ shipping and HOG rings and I set out that day to put a little "retro" into the seats of that car.

The interior was baby blue, and filthy as three pigs. (I always seemed to end up getting a bunch of baby blue interiors that always had the leftover discust from the street urchins that previously occupied the space)

I needed new carpet, new moldings, new headliner and a color-matched vinyl dye that would match the red band in the seat upholstery.

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Of course I had to have the commensurate wood rimmed wheel w/ the mustang horn button:
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But I strayed when it came to the gauges. I know in keeping w/ the retro theme, there should be two 5" autometer gauges for tach and speedo, w/ the supporting smaller ones orbiting around the two. The digital panel was something I already had from a previous project I never finished, so I used it. Notice the tach and the speedo. The car is Idling in neutral w/o a driveshaft and the tailshaft is just going like mad w/o the resistance of a driveshaft.

The requisite dash name badge to remind myself what I was trying to do
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The "gotta have it" pistol grip shifter handle (Can't wait till I grab this thing in August after it has been sitting in direct Alabama sunlight for a couple of hours)
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And the pie'ce de re'sistance.. A custom door panel built using a blank backer w/ a 1965 pony door panel insert occupying center stage. I had to relocate the handle down and back several inches, and I moved the pwr window switches to the console.

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This completes our tour of the interior. Now will you kindly follow me as you exit the thread.......we're walking, we're walking.....
 
floating in the sea of fox mustang, one becomes quickly aware that having this particular body is about as "individual" as a belly button.
As I earnestly try to catch up on this thread I see this guy has a vision, a detailed plan, serious metal working skills, and most important a great sense of humor. Scoot over everyone I'm getting on the band wagon!

... ah ***** he's from Alabama, lol, jk