New guy with a lot of questions!

[Wild_pony 1]

Hi everyone!

My name is Josh, and I'm new here.  I recently got my hands on a 1969 mustang coupe.  I've always wanted a 69 mustang, so this forum already feels like home.  I am not really a novice in the mechanical world, but definitely a novice with this.  I have a whole fleet of international harvester trucks and scouts.  A few of them have been built from the ground up by me.  But my ford experience is limited. I have had several friends with fords through the years.  One had a 70 mustang with a 302, another a 67 mustang with a 302, and a real close friend with a 65 truck with a seriously built 390. I've got a buddy who currently has a high body with a 400 in it. Ive spent a lot of time working in those, since I was the guy with the tools....

But, as you may or may not know, there isnt a whole lot of aftermarket support for old internationals.  I've pretty much had to fabricate all my stuff. And IH was never known for thier performance engines...

So the world of Horsepower and performance is new, atleast first hand....down to the nitty gritty... my wish list.

As mentioned, I have a 69 coupe. This is a solid roller, but does not have an engine or transmission.  It was a 6 cyl car, but I have new inner fenders and mounts for a v8.

Ideally,  I would like to have a fun street cruiser. I like manual transmissions,  but would settle for an automatic. I'd love to have a 351, but would settle for a 302. I live in fayetteville Arkansas, in the ozarks, so there are a lot of hills here, torque is king..  I will probably end up running holley sniper efi and timing control, but would settle for a carb, as I am familiar with them.  Id like to run on regular gas, 87 would be awesome, but any pump gas is good. 

I'd like 400+ hp/torque.  Enough to show the college kids that old muscle is the best muscle. I would like to update the suspension for a daily driver on curvy back roads.

I've never been to a drag strip, and I dont see myself in that scene.  But I can see me taking my wife to KC or Dallas,  or Memphis.   All are 5 hours away.

I love music and I want to be able to hear it while driving.

I have a budget within reason. I'm thinking a 351 with 210 cfm speedmaster or promaxx heads with 58-62 cc combustion chambers.. For the amount I drive, I have a hard time forking out money for twisted, afr or edelbrock heads, even though they are better heads. I will probably run a wieland stealth or edelbrock air gap manifold.

I have no idea what cam to run, and I want to keep compression between 9.5 and 11.5...i think.

Suspension- I have no clue what's good, but I've read about the shelby drop. Outside of that, I dont know what's good, and what is snake oil.

Transmission- I dont really want to spend big money on tko And I feel like a t5 is just too small. So, I'll probably find a toploader. I'll run close to stock height tires(25-27 inches), but make them a little fat, for a more aggressive look.  

So given this information,  how would you build this mustang?

 I've read so much, I am overwhelmed and cross eyed. 

Fellow 69ers, show me the way!  Thanks for reading all of this, and for your help!!!

[Mach1 Driver 560]

Welcome, and we would love to help you spend your money. As you probably know, the suspension on our cars is from a Falcon, but with the right tweaks you can make it feel like a new car without breaking the bank.

Everyone will have their own opinions, but I would do the following:

1. Definitely do the Shelby/Arning drop- the most it can cost is the price of a drill template. It only drops the front about 5/8" but will really make a difference in handling.

2. Stock style upper and lower control arms, and if you can afford it go with a spherical bearing on the lower. Watch the Open Tracker Racing video, or check Street or Track- they are good people that won't try to over sell you. Just tell them what you want the car to do.

3. Roller spring perches will do wonders to free-up the front suspension. I would do the single, not the double roller perch- see the OTR video.

4. Adjustable strut rods. The video will show you how the stock struts behave with all that flexing and forward/back motion. I didn't include it but there is another video showing the improvement which eliminated all that. Multiple vendors make these, here is one: https://streetortrack.com/street-or-track-adjustable-strut-rods

5. Coil and leaf springs- see the Eaton video by Jeff Ford

6. I would go with QA1 or Viking hydraulic shocks (not gas shocks)- also discussed in the Eaton and OTR Videos.

 

 

You may want to get the Boss 302 Chassis Modification booklet. It talks about the Arning drop and lots of other mods that are just for racing (not my thing). The shock towers tend to bend inward, so you'll need an export brace, something like this: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sdk-c5zz16a052e#overview. Many people also put in a Monte Carlo bar that goes from side to side, just in front of the shock towers, but I don't think you need it with the export brace and weld-in kits mentioned below.

And the weld-in kit will keep your towers from stress cracking: https://opentrackerracing.com/product/shock-tower-repair-reinforcement-kit-1967-1970/

There are several videos by Eaton discussing springs and shocks- here is one:

 

[RPM 1,190]

Welcome Josh. Mach1 Driver gave you spot on info that you can't go wrong with. As far as motors go, I wouldn't go any higher compression than 9.5ish with iron heads or 10.2 with aluminum. 

Pics! We love to see pics. 

[Wild_pony 1]

4 hours ago, Mach1 Driver said:

Welcome, and we would love to help you spend your money. As you probably know, the suspension on our cars is from a Falcon, but with the right tweaks you can make it feel like a new car without breaking the bank.

Everyone will have their own opinions, but I would do the following:

1. Definitely do the Shelby/Arning drop- the most it can cost is the price of a drill template. It only drops the front about 5/8" but will really make a difference in handling.

2. Stock style upper and lower control arms, and if you can afford it go with a spherical bearing on the lower. Watch the Open Tracker Racing video, or check Street or Track- they are good people that won't try to over sell you. Just tell them what you want the car to do.

3. Roller spring perches will do wonders to free-up the front suspension. I would do the single, not the double roller perch- see the OTR video.

4. Adjustable strut rods. The video will show you how the stock struts behave with all that flexing and forward/back motion. I didn't include it but there is another video showing the improvement which eliminated all that. Multiple vendors make these, here is one: https://streetortrack.com/street-or-track-adjustable-strut-rods

5. Coil and leaf springs- see the Eaton video by Jeff Ford

6. I would go with QA1 or Viking hydraulic shocks (not gas shocks)- also discussed in the Eaton and OTR Videos.

 

 

You may want to get the Boss 302 Chassis Modification booklet. It talks about the Arning drop and lots of other mods that are just for racing (not my thing). The shock towers tend to bend inward, so you'll need an export brace, something like this: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sdk-c5zz16a052e#overview. Many people also put in a Monte Carlo bar that goes from side to side, just in front of the shock towers, but I don't think you need it with the export brace and weld-in kits mentioned below.

And the weld-in kit will keep your towers from stress cracking: https://opentrackerracing.com/product/shock-tower-repair-reinforcement-kit-1967-1970/

There are several videos by Eaton discussing springs and shocks- here is one:

 

This is some great info!!! Thank you for giving me some solid tips.  I'll order the book, and check out those videos.  Thanks!!!

[Wild_pony 1]

45 minutes ago, RPM said:

Welcome Josh. Mach1 Driver gave you spot on info that you can't go wrong with. As far as motors go, I wouldn't go any higher compression than 9.5ish with iron heads or 10.2 with aluminum. 

Pics! We love to see pics. 

Thanks, I'm happy to be here.  And thanks for the head info.  I'm really leaning towards aluminum heads.  It seems like it's a lot of work just to get the stock heads to even get close. I'd probably have as much in machine work as nee heads would cost.  If I'm wrong,  please set me straight. 

Pictures...well, while I was there, I didnt take any.  But I'm going to get it on Tuesday and when I get it back home, I will load some up. The car is straight, and the body us clean.  It needs new torque boxes up front, and frame rails. And in the rear. The passenger side rail is pretty far gone. It will need to be replaced.  It's also going to need a grille and chrome parts up front.  Who do you recommend for those type of parts?  I've checked out cj pony, and they seemed to have a lot.  Are the competitive with quality and price?

[Mach1 Driver 560]

You can't go wrong with National Part Depot, and Virginia Mustang gets a lot of kudos. CJ often gets negative comments. Summit  and Jegs can be ok.

[Mike65 475]

Josh, welcome, I am also building a 69 Coupe. I purchased all the front suspension parts from Opentracker Racing. I did the Shelby/Arning front UCA drop, & the Boss 302 chassis mods. I have the roller bearing spring perches, adjustable strut rods, 1" lowering front coil springs & rear leaf springs. I added front power disc brakes & replaced the upper & lower control arms with their blueprinted  control arms. I have a mild built 1987 5.0 engine w/aluminum heads & cam from a new Boss 302 crete motor & a 1987 T-5 5spd trans with a 9" Ford rear w/3.50 gears w/trac loc. I am in the process of re-wiring the car with a AAW wiring kit. Other parts have been purchased from NPD, CJ Pony Parts, & Virginia Mustang. As far as chrome trim try to get original Ford trim as it will fit better then the repo stuff. My wife & I just a few months ago moved from southern NJ to southern Virginia so the car is temp on hold. Here is a pic of it as it is today. 

 

 

 

 

[rwcstang 201]

nice, another coupe coming back to life! show us pictures! I attached a pic of mine, you can mods the coupe in different ways. from stock, old school muscle or the very popular protouring look.

Ideally,  I would like to have a fun street cruiser. I like manual transmissions,  but would settle for an automatic. I'd love to have a 351, but would settle for a 302. I live in fayetteville Arkansas, in the ozarks, so there are a lot of hills here, torque is king..  I will probably end up running holley sniper efi and timing control, but would settle for a carb, as I am familiar with them.  Id like to run on regular gas, 87 would be awesome, but any pump gas is good. 

any stock roller 302/351w with AOD would be best cruiser and to run 87 pump gas if your worried about the gas price.

I'd like 400+ hp/torque.  Enough to show the college kids that old muscle is the best muscle.

I recommend going the stroker route, 302 - 331/347 or 351w 393/408/427, on my old 393 stroker, I was pushing 365 rwhp/400rwtq after a dyno tune. Great street manners and idle however I had cheap heads which caused valve guides/rockers to fail, so Im now my old 393w is getting converted to a 408w with more power and have reliable street manners to run on pump 91 gas.

I would like to update the suspension for a daily driver on curvy back roads.

If you have some cash to burn, start with suspension/brakes/subframe connectors;

front suspension: you have tons of options to go with, but everyone here goes with open tracker or if you want to really upgrade, go with street or track coil over conversion,  I have their front sport coilover kit installed in my coupe and its awesome to drive.

Rear Suspension: I have 4.5 mid eye leafs, but may go with a rear coil over set up later...

Transmission - I dont really want to spend big money on tko And I feel like a t5 is just too small. So, I'll probably find a toploader. I'll run close to stock height tires(25-27 inches), but make them a little fat, for a more aggressive look.  

I have a TKO600, its a good transmission but still notchy when shifting. The new TKX resolves this as it uses some t56 parts. 

T5z would be fine, but Tq capacity is 330-400hp with a good clutch and if you are not using sticky tires. if you can find a cheap top loader, go that route, otherwise TKX is what I would go with, but fyi, there is a huge backlog to get these.

[Mike65 475]

Josh, I just came across a guy on facebook who has a 69 Coupe that he is selling parts off of. The chrome trim around the front & rear windshilds & the chrome trim around the side windows looks good if you need any of it.(20+) Marketplace - 1969 mustang coupe glass both door glass, quarter glass rear window and windshield 200.00 | Facebook

[Machspeed 219]

Welcome to the forum! I will tell you from first hand experience, you cannot go wrong with Open Tracker Racing. Their products and service are incredible. They have been very good to me.  

[Wild_pony 1]

3 hours ago, Mike65 said:

Josh, I just came across a guy on facebook who has a 69 Coupe that he is selling parts off of. The chrome trim around the front & rear windshilds & the chrome trim around the side windows looks good if you need any of it.(20+) Marketplace - 1969 mustang coupe glass both door glass, quarter glass rear window and windshield 200.00 | Facebook

Awesome.   Thanks!!!

[Wild_pony 1]

8 hours ago, rwcstang said:

nice, another coupe coming back to life! show us pictures! I attached a pic of mine, you can mods the coupe in different ways. from stock, old school muscle or the very popular protouring look.

Ideally,  I would like to have a fun street cruiser. I like manual transmissions,  but would settle for an automatic. I'd love to have a 351, but would settle for a 302. I live in fayetteville Arkansas, in the ozarks, so there are a lot of hills here, torque is king..  I will probably end up running holley sniper efi and timing control, but would settle for a carb, as I am familiar with them.  Id like to run on regular gas, 87 would be awesome, but any pump gas is good. 

any stock roller 302/351w with AOD would be best cruiser and to run 87 pump gas if your worried about the gas price.

I'd like 400+ hp/torque.  Enough to show the college kids that old muscle is the best muscle.

I recommend going the stroker route, 302 - 331/347 or 351w 393/408/427, on my old 393 stroker, I was pushing 365 rwhp/400rwtq after a dyno tune. Great street manners and idle however I had cheap heads which caused valve guides/rockers to fail, so Im now my old 393w is getting converted to a 408w with more power and have reliable street manners to run on pump 91 gas.

I would like to update the suspension for a daily driver on curvy back roads.

If you have some cash to burn, start with suspension/brakes/subframe connectors;

front suspension: you have tons of options to go with, but everyone here goes with open tracker or if you want to really upgrade, go with street or track coil over conversion,  I have their front sport coilover kit installed in my coupe and its awesome to drive.

Rear Suspension: I have 4.5 mid eye leafs, but may go with a rear coil over set up later...

Transmission - I dont really want to spend big money on tko And I feel like a t5 is just too small. So, I'll probably find a toploader. I'll run close to stock height tires(25-27 inches), but make them a little fat, for a more aggressive look.  

I have a TKO600, its a good transmission but still notchy when shifting. The new TKX resolves this as it uses some t56 parts. 

T5z would be fine, but Tq capacity is 330-400hp with a good clutch and if you are not using sticky tires. if you can find a cheap top loader, go that route, otherwise TKX is what I would go with, but fyi, there is a huge backlog to get these.

That is a beautiful car!!! Wow!!! And fantastic info. What mods did you have on your 393 to get that power ?

[TexasEd 188]

Another vote for Open Tracker Racing and Jon.

I did the 4.5 mid leaf rear springs plus the roller bearing spring perches on mine with the poly spring bushings and stiffer springs plus the Shelby/UCA drop. I love how my car handles and it is a reasonable prices way to go.

If I had the money I would go do a stroker with AOD in my automatic car. 400hp being the target.

[rwcstang 201]

1 hour ago, Wild_pony said:

That is a beautiful car!!! Wow!!! And fantastic info. What mods did you have on your 393 to get that power ?

it had a mild cam which produced enough vacuum at idle, not sure on the specs though, I bought this engine through FPS in LA 15 years ago, I say cam lift was probably around 512+ however, Im unsure on the lobe separation. Heads are 195 that was 58cc with 1.6 rockers, Weiand Stealth intake and 750cfm carb and ran 1 5/8 long tube headers I am also running a ford 9 with 3:50 gears, so engine hp was around 430hp 480-500tq = 365rwhp 400rwtq.

It had tremendous amount of torque, which I loved!  I couldn't shift from 1-2 from a dead stop as 1st gear was pretty much useless, TQ/hp would come in around 3k and drop power would drop around 5800rpm. most newer cars can spin up to 6500-7k. My engine could have done the same, but I suspected the rear end gears, stealth Intake and long tube headers size restricted this. Overall the it was a great engine!

what I like about my tko it has 64 OD, so on the freeway at 65 mph, I was at 2k rpm so highway driving was a breeze and more bearable. My car was also a 6cyl and auto car, so it took a lot blood/sweat and tears and I've been modding since I was 16. Im now 36 and still can't get enough of this car, lol.

Thanks to this forum and the guys here, they helped me alot.