And the beat goes on November 2015

After some dust gathering at the body shop, activity on the bodywork has resumed.

Project Updates August 2015

The project is moving forward. This stage the radiator core support removed for modification. The undercarriage will get some clean up love. The 2" widening of the rear inner fender wells. The front valance gains a license plate delete with a custom metal mod to improve airflow to the larger aftermarket radiator. Shaved rockers and emblem holes.

The 8.8 rear rebuild was performed by Dixon Racing.  A complete late model 5 lug swap, jig welded axle tubes 3:73 gears & disc brake hardware. Ford Racing differential cover. 

Strip!

More "spy photos" from friends keeping me updated as they visit the body shop...

The new test rims

So the first test rims for the rear of the car have been acquired. 10.5 X17 FR500 style wheels are what will be used for the testing rear wheel spacing and install of the late model disc equipped 8.8 rear.

Nearly Naked

The crew over at the body shop has put the sanders to work! Nearly stripped of all the paint the raw body is in clear site now. The shape of the panels is surprisingly good.

Removal of the stock paint continues

The crew at Superior Customs continues in the process of removing the factory paint from the chassis. Once the paint is removed then the crew will focus on prepping the engine bay, door jams and trunk area for paint. * shot by Carlos Montoya.

To the body shop!

Phase two, the forgotten fastback makes it's way inside superior customs where Jeremy, Gary & crew with go a round on the chassis. In this phase the paint will be removed to bare metal, rear wheel-well mods will be finished, lips curled and trimmed, custom front gravel pan mods done, panel alignment, jams trunk and engine may painted, the rest of the fine body work will be done and the chassis will roll out in primer sealer for power-train and suspension build.

Forged 347 Stroker Long Block Ready for Duty

Todd over at Precision Motorworks sent me this photo and said it was ready for pick up! Woot Woot!

Assembly Pics of the 347 Stroker

A couple pics of the forged Eagle 347 stocker short block in Ford blue from engine builder and all around Mustang whisperer Todd Short. Can't wait to see the long block!

It's coming

Today I received a great text from Todd Case my Engine Builder...

"What color do you want the block"

Man I love txt messages like that!

Todd knows his way around stangs....

347 Stroker is nearly completed and soon a Body Shop visit

Have been communicating with our Engine Builder Todd.

A while back the decision was made to go ahead with the 347 Stroker in stead of the forged Crate GT40X motor. That motor will be held back for one of the other stang projects. It will probably not find it's way into the 66 4speed coupe but may end up in the 93 Coupe Race Car project. Time will tell.

The 347 stroker will soon be complete have a long pause. Just waiting on me to get a few things like lifters, oil pick up, pan and timing cover. We will need to modify the late model timing cover allowing relocation of the dip stick.to the front of the motor. These older stang chassis do not have room for a large rear sump oil pan. This Eagle froged rotating assembly will come together nicley with the Dart Pro1 Heads and the Motorsport B cam. Even though we do have an Edelbrock Victor Jr intake inventory the project is totally leaning to the fuel injected route with the 93 Cobra intake we have. The full March pulley & bracket kit will look darn pretty with all that too.

Jeremy and Gary over at Superior Customs are nearly ready to take delivery of the roller chassis so they can do their thing. The major body work is already complete and all rust has been removed. Superior will be cleaning up the engine bay, door jams, trunk and spraying them. Then they will be blocking the body and panels and applying a coat of primer sealer.

When that work is finished the chassis will return to the home shop for the mock build.

Should be fun to see her cleaned up and start coming together. thinking about having both hoods prepped, the original metal hood and the aftermarket cowl hood.

It's been a bit of a long road on this one, not everyone stops building a project so they can build a shop to finish the project in. lol!  It's has been a busy time above & beyond that as well. The launch of a new Cafe has the the tenancy to get in the way too. Now 12 months later the new Cafe is doing great and the fastback project can resume somewhat.

Stay tuned....

Howard's Cobra

My friend Howard purchased this car from Factory 5. The car was one of 2 built for touring the show circuit with Ford Racing. The car has many OEM parts on it. Truly an amazing car to own. Stopped in at the show today to chat with Howard he recently added the new upgraded intake system.

Color Coat on the shop today

The workshop progresses today with the final stucco color coat. One step closer to final occupancy inspection. Soon the Fastback will have a new area to call home.

Power plant choices

So the Ford Motorsport GT40X motor is here sitting on a stand. Over time I have acquired an Eagle forged 347 Stroker rotating assembly, nice pistons, rockers and some DART Pro 1 heads. Plenty of time to decide still but I have been thinking more and more about possibly building a nice little forged 347 for the fastback.

Waiting patiently for the new shop

The fastback waits for the completion of the new shop. A project like this deserves a decent location for the transformation.

Right at 1050sft this should be enough room once the certificate of occupancy is aquired.

More Metalwork completed

The project moves on as the dash stereo area gets repaired as well as the rear trunk area around the fuel tank.

The parts purchasing continues and much progress on the new shop! Concrete foundation for the 30'X35' workshop has been poured and the construction of the actual building is to follow. With the new space it allow ample room for the next steps of the build and the planned chassis rotisserie treatment in all weather conditions.

More goodies for the project

I have always been a fan of the polished American Racing Torque Thrust wheels so......I picked some up! We will see if we can fit a 17X9 on all 4 corners.

The 13" Cobra brakes look really good behind those wheels so I went ahead and grabbed some of those 10th anniversery bad boys.

The Cowl Hood makes it to the project

A 3" Fiberglass Cowl Hood came available locally so I grabbed it! Should look great!

One Step Closer

The rolling chassis was brought home on Sunday. Now a solid platform to work with! The damaged cowl section has been replaced. This was probably the largest step in the build of the project. The guy that did the work said "now all it needs is a bunch of money put into it" lol, if it was only that easy right?

The work goes on...

Prep continues, as the Mustang Surgeon obtains small parts needed for proper alignment and stage 2 of the repair. I dropped off a cleaner drivers door with hinges to him and with luck the prepping of the replacement piece will start today now that the snow is gone and dried up.

The Mustang Surgeon picked up a pitman arm and a drag link yesterday so when the rolling chassis is together we can actually steer the car.

Back home, I removed the center section of the dash out of the smashed cowl we will be restoring the radio area of the dash with factory ford metal. I will be removing small parts too like the Kelsey Hayes disc brake set up, coil spring tower covers, v-8 motor mount brackets and other odds and ends.

Trimming things up a bit...

The cowl damage on the car that deemed the car un-useful back in 1976 was removed today.

Weather pending the new section should be in place shortly. The new sub frame connectors will also be installed during this step of the project.

When finished here a complete 1965 Mustang fastback rolling chassis ready for media blasting and underside prep.

Now for some Bling! The March Performance Billet Pulleys

Ah yeah..

Planning the look

I located a sweet photo of a Ford Racing supercharged 4V motor from a SEMA show and decided to make makeover the GT40X Motor in this style. Starting with the purchase of these...

These should look great with a Silver painted block, March Billet Pullies and a Polished intake.

The Recaro SRIII Trail

Located a nice opportunity for a great RECARO seat so I said "Why Not?"

I researched it and then discovered that it is a rare Japan only version that retails for about 1200! Woah.

The GT40X

Today I found and purchased a great deal on a ford Racing GT40X crate engine with a 93 Cobra Intake and only 10k miles on it. The deal came with an additional used 5.0 long block and intake.

ENGINE ASSEMBLY 5.0L/302 340HP GT-40 HEADS (FRPP)

Ford Racing Engine Assembly, 5.0L/302 340HP w/ GT-40 Aluminum Heads.

-340 HP @ 5500 RPM
-9.0:1 compression
-Forged pistons
-Forged crank
-Forged rods
-Hydraulic roller cam #M6250E303,
-.498" lift intake/ exhaust, 220 duration @ .050"
-Double roller timing chain set #M6268A302
-Rear sump Fox body oil pan
-GT-40 aluminum heads #M6049X303 w/ 1.94" intake & 1.54" exhaust valves
-Roller rocker arms #M6564B351
-Billet steel SFI flywheel & SFI harmonic dampner
-Fuel pump eccentric #M6287B302

Today is a good day.

The 88 GT is sold

Today after a couple days on the market the 88 GT has a new owner. A nice Stang guy named Sean and his wife from Albuquerque will be taking the car home and fixing her up. Another Mustang saved. Rock on.

88GT goes up for sale

Worked on the 88GT and with Julian's help cleaning it decided to put it up for sale this weekend. it runs good and revs strong still. We will see how it goes.

Another Donor car finds it's way to the project

Ran across a complete 88 GT for a good price and picked it up. The car will make a perfect donor for the fuel injected 5.o, wiring harness and T-5 transmission all in one nice package. This car can be sold complete with some clean up or as just a rolling chassis to the benefit of the Fastback Build. Oh yeah check out those real 93 Cobra wheels on it Schweeet!

Another sweet deal was secured too. The new replacement folding back seat upholstery for the new color scheme and interior plan. I have decided to go with Gloss Black exterior and White Interior with Black accents and carpet (this week, lol). This 2+2 rear seat cover is valued at around 200+ I picked it up for around 31.00 delivered. I love a deal!