Fairstang Project

[scott66stang]

Gday, thought it was about time i put up my build and introduced myself. ;{ I�m Scott 43yo same birth year as my Stang , ex Toyota Mechanic with a passion for Fords � Jack of all trades and Master of none�. My Beloved Mustang is a 66 Fastback T code.
I got it already landed in WA off Ken back in Oct 08 no motor or gbox fitted, shabby blue interior and 2-3 yo babyblue paint job. Well the colour almost turned me away immediately, i new it was going to have the blue interior and even though some might like these colours it just wasn�t me.
Ken was great, honest and friendly. He told me what he new about the car, how old the paint was and gave me a lead light to thoroughly inspect the body inside and out.
As i was disappointed about the interior, he rang his contact in the US and got a estimate price on a full interior kit and said whatever i wanted he would bring in for me on the next container free of charge.
Well after about an hour looking it over and seeing a good chassis with 2 rear floors replaced, signs of rust under the dash cowling area, and rh lower rear quarter, a possible cover up of rust in the boot area and obvious signs of BOG here and there, with a little bit of negotiation , i sealed the deal with a handshake and picked up the stang a few days later.
I had a few ideas about what I was going to do about the drive chain, I had a 351w in unknown condition that came with the stang and have many XK-XD cars that I�m playing with and have collected over time so I had a choice of using a 302w that had been seized and C4 gbox , a couple of 200ci & 250ci 6cyl and a 2v head , and some 5speeds. I also had a NC Fairlane with a good engine and auto 4 sp I used as a daily driver but originally got as a donor car for any one of my many projects.
I thought about keeping it a 6cyl , but because it wasn�t matching numbers , had partly been converted to v8 with engine mounts supplied , cougar V8 diff , front and rear drum brakes , the front steering was 6cyl style not the same as V8s , the geometry did not look right and it had a bent steering arm.
I finally decided to use the NC fairlane drive gear, little did I know at the time , because the wiring harness on the fastback was stiff , broken , overall just stuffed . I decided to use the full fairlane wiring harness including P/Windows , Cruise Control , Central Locking , Trip computer , climate control A/C , boot release all light wiring and relays. In the end this was a good move as everything would work as it was in the Fairlane and was only 15yo rather than 43yo and brittle.
My plan is painting it a custom black and dark silver stripes , 16x7 Speedy Malibu rims 225/50 tyres , RHD , Rack and pinion steering , I have fitted XD-Y frontdisc brakes , Fairlane rear discs and brake booster M/cyl and have driven the mustang around the block a few times with the 5.0l efi and 4speed auto all fitted in at a MOCKUP stage within a few weeks of deciding to go down this track. Summer was too hot to get much done along with other commitment�s, but now its cooler im going flat out and expect to be driving in about 3mths or less. ;}
Enough of the story here are the pics , I have sh�tloads of them and am going to try and sort them out as a progression build up to the stage I am at now , please be patient as I spend a lot more time in the shed than I do on this dang computer.

When i got her home










about a month ago

[scott66stang]

You will see through my build as i put up pics that the paint hides alot of surprises underneath . I was able to have a really good look at mine before the purchase as Ken already had a lead light set up for me when i got there , and although it looked good , i have seen enough in many of my old falcons to know it is too good to be true and took this on knowing that its a 43yo car with layers of paint and bog from previous repairs. Normally i would rather buy a unpainted rusty shell so i wouldnt have to take the paint off and i could see all the damage beforehand.
When i was looking at it , there was signs of rust i could see under the dash corners , very common , small amount in a inner rear quarter , small bubbles on the door corners , a scraped dent on the drivers side door and rear quarter , a mud guard welded on at the bottom to the sill panel and bogged up ( this was the point i knew there was more) and a boot area that looked very iffy. Later , bits i expected to be rusty , where not , and a bit of major damage to the rear pillar above the vent i did not expect at all and couldnt see untill i started sanding.
My advantage is that i am tackling the job myself and have done enough repairs on my old cars and also did a panel beating course at night school so am not afraid of rust anymore . LOL!


Here is a pic of the engine bay at the mockup stage Nov last year to keep you happy.

[scott66stang]

Time for the good stuff , Rust and repairs so far.

RH pillar under chrome trim




treated & painted iside and repaired

[scott66stang]

RH cowl under fender

[scott66stang]

27-4-09
Been a busy day today , aswell as starting this thread i did the cowl on the lh side . Not as bad as the right.
Before

[scott66stang]

Now check out this rear pillar, quarter panel and the pitting in the rear of the roof. Before shot you would never guess what was under the good paint.





at first i thought it was bogged up rust





I was actually happy that it was damaged instead , they must of backed into something and pushed the outer skin to the 2nd skin 1' below .



repaired! this was a pr#ck of a panel to make as it curved to the shape of the glass aswell as all the bends from the vent around to where the seal sits. Took many hours to get it right , puting the window in and out to check seal clearance and shape.



repaired lower quarter , didnt get picks of that forgot. Cut out large triangle shape about 8" up the wheel arch down to the back bottom of panel and remade a new section. The whole rear of the panel also needed alot of heating , shrinking and dollying to get out ripples and dents from a previous accident , i learnt this at the panel beating classes. Best $250 ever spent.



as it sits atm, just playing around with colours, coat of paint over primer and spray putty.

[scott66stang]

RH door repair , On inspection i didnt notice the rust in the front lower section of the door hinge side , it was well hidden with the seal something to look out for. I had to remake it in 3 sections. i also had to fill in the hole that was butchered into the inside of the door for a speaker which was half into the door trim. no pics of that. BTW i use 100% recycled ford steel from a roof and quarters on a smashed 1963 XL station wagon. Keep it all FORD i say. :w

[scott66stang]

28-4-09
Just finished the RH Fender ready for the final couple of top coats and clear which will be done once all the panels are done and bolted back in place on the car.



this is the underside with the blue paint marking rust repair on lower section , antennae hole filled at top and where 2 dents were 1 at the creases above the wheel arch section



This one during the final prep between coats

[scott66stang]

Originally posted by USA.P51
Awesome work mate! I love following this thread. I can't believe how good it looks from the before to after with the repairs! Your work is outstanding.

Cheers Kurt , im no expert trust me , what would take a panel beater a few hours to get a panel straight can take me 5 times that. I get it to what i think is straight and put some black primer on it , this shows up alot whereas the grey and the yellow primers hide alot. I again use spot putty or if really bad rub back again with a long board , spray putty again and repeat the process. Then again when i think its right put a coat of black top coat or any dark paint to show up more ripples. Continue the process untill satisfied. Of course i could get away with alot more if i went silver instead of black. :f

More top quality previous repairs on rh fender ;}This was the one welded to the side of the sill underneath the sill chrome moulding.

[scott66stang]

2-5-09
hey, how did you convert the rear end to disc brakes?


( EDIT: SHIM NO LONGER NEEDED AND INSTALLATION HAS CHANGED , PLS READ ON TO PGE 3 BEFORE DOING THIS MOD )

From the NC Fairlane , same as eb falcon . I wasnt gona put it up yet because its all finished except for a shim i was going to find or get made up when i change the wheel bearings. But what the hell!





First strip down



The mounting holes on the EBs are out 90 degrees , but if you turn the bracket as shown , two of the holes line up. Bolt it in and centre punch from the back through the flange the other 2 holes. Remove and drill. You will also notice that where that extra hole on the right is (ABS pickup location) will interfere with the drillng and the axle flange location. This needs to be ground and filed away.



finished mountig bracket

[scott66stang]

I have a bit of work to do as far as the handbrake goes , I am using the Fairlane cable and will be shortening and crimping it to the existing set up when i finish my gearbox mounting bracket.

[scott66stang]

The front are XY stubs , discs and XD calipers which are the same as XY calipers.
I have adapted the Fairlane booster and master cyl to fit the LHD before coverting to RHD , so i could drive around the block a couple of times to check the engine , gbox and brake conversion .
Oh! and for the pleasure of having a drive around the block a coulple of times to see if i liked LHD. :+
I will get pics of the booster/MCyl conversion up soon.
I cant really show all of the fitting of the Booster , because i didnt take enough pics as i fitted it. But i will get more when i pull it apart again for the Fire wall RHD mod.
I did make a 15mm aluminium spacer for between the firewall and booster rather than shorten the booster rod. This worked well otherwise the booster wouldnt of been able to clear the outside parimeter of the firewall rebated area , therefore not fitting flush against the fiewall mounting area.
The original rod hole through the firewall was widened and bolt holes redrilled aprox 1/2" lower on the left and 1"lower on the right , through to the pedal box as the 4 booster bolts are ofset lower on one side. I also installed 4 stud extensions from a local fastener supplier to the booster to get the extra distance. However i wont need the spacer and bolt extensions when i do the RH conversion because the firewall will be custom built to suit.




15mm Adapter plate i made alongside of the original spacer plate that was on the Fairlane .



I should also mention that the original mustang m/cyl will bolt straight up to this booster , aswell as another booster i got of a EA - EB 6cyl falcon / fairlane and also had bolted in place but not as good fit as the Fairlane V8 one # (VH532) and also slightly larger diameter as shown below

[scott66stang]

Shaunp wrote
The wiper conversion is easy for RHD just ask. Those rear brakes look the goods may do that myself.

[scott66stang]

posted on 3-5-09 at 11:49 AM



Any info on the conversion would be good , but the problem i have is that when i got the car the wipers were not mounted , just hanging under the dash and another full set in the boot. Both sets are not fit in the 66 hole in the cowl and have a keyway type shaft , also have a threaded bit for a nut and proberly a chrome fitting which are missing for on top of the cowl under the wipers . I have XL - XY wiper set ups but none are the same . Also one of the rebated bits on the top of the cowl is thrashed out , the XY is similar so i can use that , but the XM whole set up is better and stronger and i would like to use it but it would require me to use different sections top and bottom of cowl. This is my dilemma , whether to keep it original or not considering all the other mods i have done.

[scott66stang]

shaunp wrote
Personally I'd get some originals its really easy with the stock parts. I just cut the eye pieces out of the cowl using a hole saw, with a socket as a spigot rater than a drill so it fitts in the shaft hole while you cut. From memory I used a 56mm to cut them out and 53mm to cut the new holes so they are a pretty neat fit to weld in. You have to hammer the under side of the cowl up so the shafts a long enough. I droped some bolts in from the top and welded them in prior to fitting the eye piece back in the cowl. The linkages etc just reverse. To make them park correctly at the botom of the screen remove the crank from the motor and turn it 180* on the flatts. Mount the motor on the opersite side in the same spot and your done. If you want to use a VN comodore heater A/C unit so you can have intergated air. It's a bit harder. But you can do it with a cable wiper set up from a english car, Austin 1800, XJ Jag etc, this way you can mount the wiper motor over on the left side up high. The stock wipe arms need the tip bent back the other way so they sit flat at the base of the screen. You can just grip them in the vice and bend them the other way. There are some pictures of mine on here some where. It a 67 but they are pretty similar.