Grell

Ok,
Here it goes. I expect this build to be a very long process and am not giving it a time restraint. This is a rather intense project for me, something I have planned for a lot of years and some details are not quite finalized.

A bit about the history of the car. This was my second car. I was a Junior in high School and as a birthday present, my parents bought me this car. At the time the car was 6 yrs old, bone stock white with blue trim hatch back with a 2.3 4 cylinder with 4 speed and blue interior. I did some mods on the car and painted it all white and didnt care for it in white. I did a few more mods, ones I could afford to either hire someone else to do or do my self in my own capabilities at the time or my financial abilities. I decided to have the car done in black and the end result was ok. I am not disclosing some of the modifications at this time because I want to show them later in this thread and address them then.
The 2.3 locked up and I did get it free again but it never was the same after that. After a few years I thought it was time to move on and basically gave the car away and moved onto other projects that I learned alot from doing. I stumbled onto the exact same car a number of years later and decided to bring it home out of the salvage yard it was sitting in with the title yet, so I put it in sotrage and thought about what I wanted to do with it. After alot of sketching, brain storming, chats with others I have now decided it is time to start on the build.

The Build main idea is this is not going to be a restoration but instead a very radical hopefully fresh approach to buidling. Definitley a fresh approach to the mustang II body which is not exactly the easiest or most desirable start of a project. I am intending the car to lean towards road racing style with a hint of street rod and tuner styling. I will post some pictures as time permits through this build and I apoligize ahead of time if the pictures maybe burry or bad quailty or bad sized as This is my first thread and picture posting. I also have a very oputdated digital cam that uses floppy disks and I dont really want to take money away from the project to buy a new camera.

I hope those who read this thread like the build. As I have said this build is a custom approach and the day it is done could look really cool or incredibly a waste of time. I wont know until the end I guess. Personally I am not one to take advice from others that much but you may still be free to suggest ideas if you wish too. I guess I am kind of a stubborn guy that way and with this build I want this car to be made from my ideas and my designs.

About me.
I am located in southwest Wisconsin and do this as a hobby and am in no way a professional car builder or a mechanic and I dont pretend to be.

future9er24

Thats gotta be awesome to find your exact car again.

I'm looking forward to reading the updates in this thread I can't wait for pictures too

Grell

It was awesome to find it. The sad thing is I got rid of it because I thought it was time to grow up, after I got it back I figured I dont want to grow up lol. I will post pictures real soon, as soon as I figure out how to and pick up the shop a bit.

StangMahn

this is definately going to be a good thread to watch. This II idea sounds great. I've been thinking of buying a II, and turning it into a drag car, but being a broke@$$ college student, I cant really affford it right now.

Grell

here is the center section for the independent rear suspension. It is based on a 1982 corvette C3 with a quick change cover. Also a rear shot to show the Pirelli asemtrico 345-35-15 rear tires. These tires have an outer tread and a different inner tread are are to my best knowledge Lamborghini Countach size.

Grell

here is the interior shot and rear frame rails that I bent out of 2 inch by 3 inch .120 wall stock with a 13 inch center line radius bend. Also the engine compartment. The front rubber is 225-50-15. This is how the car sits today.

Grell

one more of the frame rails

Grell

One thing I should add is if you noticed in the front end pictures you will see a 71 pinto bumper that is the intended front bumper. This will probably get shaved bolts and attached using 1 inch dom material .188 inches thick. The pinto bumper I happened across is a NOS piece and is excellent conditioned.

future9er24

Grell, this project is wicked cool!

I love the IRS, real ingenuity there keep up the awesome work!

StangMahn

looking good!

Grell

I will be sending the steering column off to Ididit to see if they can duplicate it in an polished alumnum column with turn signal, four ways, and dimmer in the very near future. I also will be ordering the wheels but I have to get the front suspension back on for mock up to order my back spacing and I am laid up for awhile due to health issues so progress will be slow.

Grell

Here is the idea for the engine and transmission. I am debating on either going to a 5.4 DOHC FR500 heads with stage III cams and porting with 8 to 1 compression and running 2 66 mm turbonetic turbochargers with .96 a/r and dual tial 45mm wastegates or doing a 351 aluminum block with trick flow 70 cc heads and stroking it to 427 inches again 8 to 1 cr for twin turbocharging. The 5.4 would be alot coooler and most smooth and possible more horsepower and about $3000.00 cheaper.

I am running a manual transmission. I am considering a richmond 6 speed. For intercooling I am deciding an air to air but may decide to go to an air to liquid intercooler. Like I said this is an intense project.

My real desire is the 5.4 base and then run Fuel Air Spark Technology ecm. Modular racing would build this engine and build the intake manifold.

A word on my suspension. I have dropped spindles for the front and will be ordering a set of adjustable carrera coilovers. I have not decided if I am machining out a set of control arms out of aluminum to match the rear or if I am buying off the shelf adjustable SPc or Heidt's stainless. I am going to wildwood polished drilled rotors, 11 inch. I have a polished rack for this car.

future9er24

When this is finished, it will be the God of IIs

Grell

the GOD of II's lol I just hope it turns out cool and not overdone. The GOD of II's is giving paint ideas though LOL

StangMahn

^+5! A Two Turbo Two, we'll call it: Project Triple T, lol

cntchds

That 5.4 is going to be beautiful in that engine bay. A 351 with TrickFlow goodies wouldn't be bad either, but I'm fairly sure if you are trying to build a *****-to-the-wall racecar, you should go with a more modern drivetrain.

Grell

The 5.4 is 32 inches wide and the 351 windsor is 27 inches wide. The inner fenderwells wont be a problem because they are getting removed. Things that are going to be the problem is exhaust, and the brake booster and master cylinder will have to be moved if I run the 5.4. These are all solveable issues. THe end result is intended to be a race car with a liscense plate. But I have a few other tricks up my sleeve on this build. This is just the basic layout at this point.

Too be honest I am really leaning towards the 5.4 but the 351 is alot less fabrication so I havent decided yet. The next step after I get back on my feet which I think will be august roughly is the front suspension and rims. I also am looking for a nice pair of doors, mine have seen better days.

I am looking for a set of older BBS 15 by 8 fronts with I think 4.5 inch backspacing but this is a guess at this point and 15 by 12 rear with 4.5 back space. The rear I know already for sure. If I dont find BBS then I am going with the ET III wheels with knock off and lug cover. It is a fake knock off but I think that Cobra styled wheel would look rightous on this car.

I did see on the mustang II organziation site a black II from denmark or sweden that is almost a clone of what my car looked like in 1985 with the same whale tail except I had shaved door handles and side marker lights etc and used a 71 pinto front bumper and also was black. I didnt post this picture because I didnt know if I would be able to do that without breaking any rules. If i can I will post it. Also the wheels are different then what I had, I hade kelsey hayes hurricane style similiar to the dukes charger but a variation of that theme. If I can get some help from a friend or 2 I will get this up on a rotisseree and start some welding underneath and show you my rear frame rails better that go all the way to the front sub frame rails instead of frame connectors.

future9er24

As long as a pic is PG, you can post it

Grell

Here is the picture of the car that is real similiar to what mine looked like back in 1985. I had shaved door handles and side markers and the same rear spoiler and kelsey hayes hurricane style wheels. This car is I beleive from Denmark or Sweden. The thing I like about the guys doing customs in these countries are they are truly creative.

future9er24

I'm not sure how I feel about that front valence, but that rear spoiler is the first non-cobra spoiler I've seen on a hatchback II that doesn't look bad. Int fact, it looks pretty cool

The wheels aren't bad either. Are you plannign to put that spoiler back on this time around?