Hi,
Posting mainly to say 'Hi!', and introduce myself. Here's the car's known (by me) history, and what I'm doing/planning to do with it. All advice, observations, comments/concerns, rants, and beat-downs welcome. ...cost of being a rank noob!
Got a couple questions I'll put in subsequent posts (this one is getting plenty long enough).
The car was originally sold in Dearborn, MI (I have most of the original Owner's Manual), but I came to own it in southern California. It was manufactured in Jan '65, in Dearborn.
The '65 notchback's been my dream car since I was a kid, and I've had this one since '92. It's been dead and stored (outside) for me by gracious friends and in-laws since Fall '97, when I burned down the motor (I had the no-win choice of 'pray the motor makes it' or 'fail the final exam').
So, as you can imagine, the only good parts left are basically the body metal. I've got it stripped down to the steering and suspension, and leveled on jackstands (under the rockers). It's got the normal 'mustang flex', but the body's still relatively stiff.
There's about a 2" strip of rust in the driver & passenger floor boards at the kick panel (leaking cowl) - with some (hopefully) mild surface rust running next to the rocker on the passenger side - and some cancer in the trunk floor, wheel houses, and in the bottom corners of the rear window frame. One of the front fenders was curled under at the front of the wheel well, the hood had a bit of kink from a stuck hinge, and there was some front chassis damage from an some kind of accident in the car's distant past...
The L side LCA would travel at about a 30-degree angle (instead of perpendicular) to the frame rail, as it rose during suspension travel. Took it to a Mustang shop in Bakersfield, CA, and got that fixed (same place that did the body work from being rear-ended), but the car would never hold an alignment (lots of negative caster kept developing on the L side, until the UCA studs were topped out...). Despite the toe-out that resulted, the suspension started locking at top of travel on hard acceleration (anyone else thinking WTF??).
I got rear-ended once (it was gratifying to drive away from the '95 Ultima, admiring its newly engine-shaped front fascia, while the other guy was waiting for a tow!), so I need to replace the rear cross-member, valance, and prolly the tail light panel. There was some body cancer in the right quarter panel, but it was supposedly repaired (I have to take off primer and factory undercoat to get a better idea), so that's up in the air.
Otherwise the car was great!
My objective for the car is to have a really sweet daily driver, that corners like it's on rails.
So, I'm looking at the Griggs base IFS, for the Coyote; the new Art Morrison Multilink IRS, OEM parts version; 5.0 Coyote, mild 420 hp model; and, 6-speed T-56 or Magnum for the running gear (I'm saving up the ~$17k that I'm short). I'd like to run a 3.7 v6, but chasing all the rabbits down all the holes of swapping one out of a donor car is above my skill-level. I'm also going with a Detroit Speed mini-tub and frame notch kit, and a '71-'73 trunk pan (improved safety). Gonna go with Cragar S/S rims.
I have the original seats, front and rear, and most of an early RallyPac (used to have all of it, but over 15 years of storage + some apparent 5-finger, late night, Mustang parts specials have left me short a few parts!). So, I'm looking at the TMI Sport-R foam and re-upholstery; the TMI 1-piece headliner; the AutoMeter American Muscle 5-guage cluster; and I'm toying seriously with adding a '67 overhead console, and split fold-down rear seat from a modern car. Otherwise stock, black, Mustang interior, including replacing my 'with A/C' center console (stolen) with a 'non-A/C' console.
Thanks for reading, and any feedback!
Jake
Posting mainly to say 'Hi!', and introduce myself. Here's the car's known (by me) history, and what I'm doing/planning to do with it. All advice, observations, comments/concerns, rants, and beat-downs welcome. ...cost of being a rank noob!
Got a couple questions I'll put in subsequent posts (this one is getting plenty long enough).
The car was originally sold in Dearborn, MI (I have most of the original Owner's Manual), but I came to own it in southern California. It was manufactured in Jan '65, in Dearborn.
The '65 notchback's been my dream car since I was a kid, and I've had this one since '92. It's been dead and stored (outside) for me by gracious friends and in-laws since Fall '97, when I burned down the motor (I had the no-win choice of 'pray the motor makes it' or 'fail the final exam').
So, as you can imagine, the only good parts left are basically the body metal. I've got it stripped down to the steering and suspension, and leveled on jackstands (under the rockers). It's got the normal 'mustang flex', but the body's still relatively stiff.
There's about a 2" strip of rust in the driver & passenger floor boards at the kick panel (leaking cowl) - with some (hopefully) mild surface rust running next to the rocker on the passenger side - and some cancer in the trunk floor, wheel houses, and in the bottom corners of the rear window frame. One of the front fenders was curled under at the front of the wheel well, the hood had a bit of kink from a stuck hinge, and there was some front chassis damage from an some kind of accident in the car's distant past...
The L side LCA would travel at about a 30-degree angle (instead of perpendicular) to the frame rail, as it rose during suspension travel. Took it to a Mustang shop in Bakersfield, CA, and got that fixed (same place that did the body work from being rear-ended), but the car would never hold an alignment (lots of negative caster kept developing on the L side, until the UCA studs were topped out...). Despite the toe-out that resulted, the suspension started locking at top of travel on hard acceleration (anyone else thinking WTF??).
I got rear-ended once (it was gratifying to drive away from the '95 Ultima, admiring its newly engine-shaped front fascia, while the other guy was waiting for a tow!), so I need to replace the rear cross-member, valance, and prolly the tail light panel. There was some body cancer in the right quarter panel, but it was supposedly repaired (I have to take off primer and factory undercoat to get a better idea), so that's up in the air.
Otherwise the car was great!
My objective for the car is to have a really sweet daily driver, that corners like it's on rails.
So, I'm looking at the Griggs base IFS, for the Coyote; the new Art Morrison Multilink IRS, OEM parts version; 5.0 Coyote, mild 420 hp model; and, 6-speed T-56 or Magnum for the running gear (I'm saving up the ~$17k that I'm short). I'd like to run a 3.7 v6, but chasing all the rabbits down all the holes of swapping one out of a donor car is above my skill-level. I'm also going with a Detroit Speed mini-tub and frame notch kit, and a '71-'73 trunk pan (improved safety). Gonna go with Cragar S/S rims.
I have the original seats, front and rear, and most of an early RallyPac (used to have all of it, but over 15 years of storage + some apparent 5-finger, late night, Mustang parts specials have left me short a few parts!). So, I'm looking at the TMI Sport-R foam and re-upholstery; the TMI 1-piece headliner; the AutoMeter American Muscle 5-guage cluster; and I'm toying seriously with adding a '67 overhead console, and split fold-down rear seat from a modern car. Otherwise stock, black, Mustang interior, including replacing my 'with A/C' center console (stolen) with a 'non-A/C' console.
Thanks for reading, and any feedback!
Jake