Mberglo

You are joining a show already in progress..... I am attempting to keep a journal of my work. Comments and questions are encouraged, but let's keep this thread focused on the 65 convertible. If you have a project you'd like to show, please start a new thread.

Previously, on 65VJ....

Mberglo is tasked to restore 65 6cyl/3spd convertible for friend.
Plan is for V8 conversion/5spd, with improved brakes and steering.
Car is disassembled and sandblasted
Rusty areas are cut out and patch panels welded in.
Right front fender is replaced with better used one.
Rear valance is replaced with new reproduction.
Bodywork goes on forever.
8" Ford rear is purchased and completely rebuilt and detailed with new 3.55s and bearings.
Rear disc brake kit from Ultrastang is assembled on rear.
Roller302 is found and work begins to build fun little motor.

Full set of photos can be found here.

Mberglo

Once I was satisfied with the block sanding, it was time to apply the semigloss black. Since this is a Dearborn built car, the undercarriage primer would have been a blackish color. The engine compartment is of course black, as is the dash and interior doors, as well as several brackets and accessories. I could have ordered a "chassis black" that was ready to spray, but they are lacquer based and aren't very durable. This car is getting Acrylic Urethane throughout, so I had a semigloss black custom mixed.

I masked off portions of the body and sprayed the black.

Mberglo

The black turned out nice. Now it's time to apply some red. I want to use single stage urethane to paint the backsides of the fenders, hood, decklid, valances, inside trunk, portions of the interior, and all of the areas that might get missed when concentrating on the final bc/cc application. I can use single stage because Rangoon Red is a non-metallic color. You should NEVER try to apply metallic paint with single stage.

It's also time to say goodbye to the rotisserie. I'm finished with the undercarriage, and the main support posts are in the way of painting the body. Another good friend had fabricated a rolling cart that is made specifically for painting Mustang bodies. Man it's good to have friends!

Again, I masked off the areas that I don't want to paint, arranged the panels around the shop and started spraying. It was sleeting outside, but it was 70 degrees in the paint booth. Two wet coats did the trick. The overspray on the bottom and outside of the engine compartment is intentional to duplicate a factory appearance.

Greg G

Looking Good !

Mberglo

Friday, Jan 19.

Did some more sanding on the main body to remove overspray from the single stage, cleaned the booth one more time, and got ready to spray the bc/cc. It was going great. Everything was laying down beautifully and I was mixing my last cup of clear. It was 28 degrees outside and a nice 70 inside the booth. Went back in to apply the last coat and found a fat fly struggling in the sticky paint on the quarter panel! Where the f*&k did he come from? He had made 3 inches of mess in his struggle. I pulled him off, sent him to fly heaven, and applied the last coat. Anytime you know you're going to have to sand/buff, you try to apply a heavy coat to ensure you won't sand through. Well, that caused a run. No real problem, it can be sanded out too.

Saturday the paint cured while we had our car show.

Sunday, Jan 21
The paint turned out surprisingly good. I did spend 4 hours buffing and polishing the body, but I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

Mberglo

I spent the next week preparing the hood/trunk/fenders/valances and small parts for paint. Again, gave everything a final wash-sand and cleaned the booth. Let everything completely dry and applied the bc/cc to those pieces. No bugs this time, but I did have more issues with dust/dirt this time. I have no idea why. What happens is that a dustnib settles on the panel and the clearcoat forms a cone around it and you end up with something like this /\ and it has to be cut/buffed flat. Spent all Friday evening and half of Saturday working those panels.

Mberglo

My buddy Art is building the engine for this car. Andy got us a great roller 5.0 from a 94 Mustang GT that must have been low miles. We had originally decided to build a 331 stroker, which requires new crank, connecting rods and pistons. But this roller motor was so nice, it didn't even need boring. We saved a bunch of money by just honing the cylinders and rebuilding with existing rotating assembly. Clearances all came in very tight. Art is a master at building engines and knows all the little tricks. He installed an E303 cam, Edelbrock RPM heads, Harland Sharp 1.7 roller rockers, a Boss302 windage tray, Cloyes timing set, and a Milodon aluminum water pump. It's gonna be a sweet motor. Isn't it purty?

Mberglo

Time to start bolting new shiny parts onto the body. Here's the front suspension so far. New upper and lower control arms, new Grab-A-Shock 620 1" lowering springs, and V8 spindles. Originally, the ends of the upper and lower control arms were left unpainted. A common practice in concours restoration is to paint the ends with Cast Iron looking paint to simulate that and to avoid rust. This certainly isn't a concours restoration, but what the heck.



This car is also getting the Unisteer Rack & Pinion. Unisteer has been doing R&P in the streetrod industry for a long time, but is new to the Mustang crowd. All indications so far are that it will install and work great.

Mberglo

I've now got the front suspension installed for good and was able to assemble the rotor/braking assembly. These are stock 4 piston Kelsey-Hayes disc brakes from the 65-67 Mustang, and the same ones I have on my convertible. These brakes were used on Mustang GTs and Shelbys, and are still used on the vintage racing circuit, so I saw no reason to engineer a modified solution.





Next trick is to get the body off the cart and install the rear suspension.

Mberglo

Let's see David Copperfield do this:



Had to lift the body off of the cart and lower it down onto the rear suspension. Car is now finally sitting on it's own legs. Also installed new gas tank and the 1 inch front sway bar.

workmangc

Man, she's coming together. I'm back in town finally. We ended up staying an extra couple of nights at Disney World. Let me know if you plan on doing anything this weekend.

Greg G

It's looking real good, Mark. Your to the fun part now, bolting on all of the "ready" stuff.

Mberglo

Since this car is getting a T5 five speed and power brakes, I had to make some mods. The T5 uses a cable clutch, so the clutch pedal has to have a quadrant attached to the top. The stock brake booster on the old Mustangs won't allow a modern double bowl master cylinder, so we have to use a Foxbody booster. MustangSteve.com offers a really nice pedal setup that incorporates the quadrant, relocates the brake pivot pin for better brake performance, and replaces the sloppy pedal bushings with roller bearings. He also sells a firewall cable brace that has an integrated cable adjuster. I had to drill a few holes in the firewall, but it all went together smoothly.



The more interesting mod was the rack n pinion steering setup. The old steering utilized a recirculating ball type steering box, and is prone to excessive play. Flaming River makes a new box, but they're not cheap, and the Unisteer R&P is a lot cooler. The R&P installs right where the crossover brace used to go. The steering column and shaft are cut to length, and the new u-joints and shaft are integrated. It took a bit of fabrication work, but it's all in and working great. A few other R&P kits have problems with increased turning radius or bumpsteer. This one doesn't appear to suffer from either of those issues. There's no more play in the wheel, and despite the large angles for the u-joints, there is no binding feeling.

kennyg

You can also install the T-5 to the original 3 or 4 speed bellhousing using an adapter plate that's 5/8" thick to keep the original linkage. BTW I happen to have one of the adapters if anyone is considering such a swap. Your doing a great job Mark, how do you find the time? kennyg

Mberglo

Thanks Ken. Finding time is tough, and going to get tougher now that my daughter is starting softball. I try to do something each week (should be each day), and always plan ahead ordering parts so I have something to do when the time presents itself.

workmangc

Looking good Mark!!!!!!!

Greg G

I looked at my '93 4 cyl booster and it didn't have the relief where the master cyl attaches. Also the vacumn port is at the 11 O'clock position. Did you rotate the booster 180 degrees for a cleaner look ? and do you know what year Fox body it came off of ? Just curious.

Mberglo

It is rotated. There are two versions of the booster.

I'm hoping the master cylinder will fit nicely into that recessed area. The plans call for a 94 6cyl booster, but I don't want a plastic reservoir, so I'm getting an SVO MC.

Greg G

I may be mistaken but I think the '94 MC fittings are metric. The SVO MC would be standard "type" threads. I believe the lines come out on the passenger side. I think that is why a lot of people use the Maverick one that has the ports for the lines on the drivers side. Too bad it isn't made out of aluminum instead of cast.

Mberglo

The SVO MC does have ports on the passenger side. I'll route the lines under the MC just like they did with the SVO. The Maverick isn't a 4wheel disc MC, but is a great choice for front disc/rear drum.