69 convertible restomod help/advice

[renewgeorgia 0]

Hi, I have a 69 convertible. I used to have one in college and loved it. I just got another one and want to make it into a daily reliable driver. I am considering various options and I am looking for resources and advice.

Mine is basic, manual drum brakes manual steering. I want power disk and power steering and an engine that just works. ( my college mustang was  aazing fun, but constant repairs)

One option is getting a donor car, maybe a 2012 or 2019 and taking what I can out of it and placing it in my car.... if possible.

What can be swapped? 

I am guessing the coyote engine and auto transmission... But what else? Can you swap over brakes? steering? AC? Any threads on this? It would be great it possible tjust swap it all over. But what works? and what year modern mustang works best  to swap?

 

 

Alternatively, I am considering just getting kits for everything. 

I see there is an ididit electric power steering kit, anyone know of this? any good? Any other suggestions?

I see ther heidts mustang II superride system with brakes and it looks like power steering... any good? any cheaper suggestings? 

 I have seen people use a 8.8 rear end out of an explorer and use the power brakes on that... any suggestions on this?

If I keep the 302 in it, what suggestions to make it reliable? fuel injection? MSD ignition? or? 

It would be great if there was a thread that outlined all the options for various goals, like all the power steering options, pros and cons. all the power brake options with pros and cons. Any threads like that? I did a search and did not come up with it yet...

So basically, I know nothing, any help is appreciated.

 Thanks in advance

[Vicfreg 786]

Renew, welcome to the forum.

I have a '70 convertible, nearly complete, but have tons of pictures and lessons learned.    I have done the power disc brakes, power steering, suspension, rear, tires, A/C, etc, etc, etc.

The limiting factor will be how much money you want to spend.  I would not suggest a Coyote swap, that is an extensive amount of work.

Check out my restoration thread on this forum, and go through it.  That might help you decide what to do.  It is "1970 Convertible Restoration"

Vic

 

 

[Mach1 Driver 584]

These kits you are contemplating are from aftermarket manufacturers. Much of it will not fit without problems. The further you venture from a stock 69, they more problems you will encounter. Also, Ford build parts from newer models will not just drop-in and operate trouble free- they weren't designed for your car. You see a number of Coyote Mustangs for sale, and I believe it is because they are not satisfied with the end result. You end up with odd combinations that just don't work well together. 

These cars gave hundreds of thousands of trouble free miles. The technology is 50+ years old, but it still works fine. If you want to add an EFI, fine- but stick with an engine that was originally offered in the car; a six or SBF, or BB of the era. Adding aluminum heads is an easy way to increase horsepower. A Coyote just doesn't fit well in there in either width or height. You would need to get rid of the shock towers and revamp the entire front suspension.

You can upgrade to an AOD or 4R70W trans from newer Fords because they will bolt right up to a SBF, but even then it will need an aftermarket trans support and shortened drive shaft. This is a fairly easy upgrade and well worth it. The 4R70W will require an electronic transmission control, but the 4R70W is the last of the AOD line, and has all the problems fixed. Expect a custom exhaust, since the overdrive transmissions are wider than their predecessors. The linkage is different but can be modified to work well.

There are a huge number of carburetors available but be cautious what you stick on top of the engine as the 69 does not have a lot of clearance to the hood. These new carbs are the same height as the old Ford carbs, but aftermarket intake manifolds are all taller. Same goes with EFI, it isn't any taller but watch the manifold. For EFI you need a new fuel delivery system: tank, pump, fuel and return lines, and regulator to make it work. Don't expect anything electronic to last forever (like an EFI). Electronics aren't warrantied for longer than 10 years and equivalent parts are no longer made or supported in as few as 5 years. Heck, we hear all the time that brand new parts don't work.

To do all these things you need to be mechanically inclined. It will take determination and perseverance to get it all to work together reliably. You become the engineer. I'm not trying to discourage you, but you need to proceed with your eyes wide open. Advice is available, but you are about to go down a path that most people can not and should not travel. In the end it will be worth it.

Are you from Georgia? I'm northwest of Atlanta.

[rwcstang 207]

6 hours ago, Mach1 Driver said:

These kits you are contemplating are from aftermarket manufacturers. Much of it will not fit without problems. The further you venture from a stock 69, they more problems you will encounter. Also, Ford build parts from newer models will not just drop-in and operate trouble free- they weren't designed for your car. You see a number of Coyote Mustangs for sale, and I believe it is because they are not satisfied with the end result. You end up with odd combinations that just don't work well together.

Per Mac1Driver comment this is very true to an extent, I never did engine swaps using the newer motors but I have use their brakes.

I had vintage venoms brake kit (much like mustangsteve.com) it utilizes brakes from new mustangs (i.e Cobra's, GT), the only difference is I had to use modern wheels with spacers included in the brake kit. Unfortunately you'll need to use 17" or larger wheel and change some braking hardware.

But once everything is sorted out, you could buy replacement parts from the local autopart stores (i.e brake pads, caliper replacements or hose replacements) if you decide to go back to OE  this will be costly, as you have to revert everything back to OE setup.

if you want a true daily with good brakes and retain your current wheel tire setup, go with Chockostangclassicmustang.com or opentracker.net Kelsey hayes front disk brake swap, its more than enough that older race cars that used this setup combined with large lincoln drums in the rear.

Shocks and suspension parts will also play in regards to comfort and driveability, Id stay away from Mustang II crap as they are not great, if you find one that uses corvette suspension then thats even better but thats alot of modifying and money I can use to put in somewhere.

I use Street or Track's Coilover front suspension which use the stock shock towers but changes the whole dynamic of the front suspension which is a night a day difference, I have their front and rear coilover kit, but just the front kit alone is worth the money.

I say with a SOT front coilover conversion with some Kelsey Hayes brake set up will do wonders for you car.

 

[Mike65 493]

I have a 69 Coupe restomod I have been building on & off for about 20 years as time & money allow. I built it up from a rolling chassis to where it is now, almost ready to run. I stayed with a period correct engine 302/5.0, T-5 5spd trans, 9" Ford rear, & rewired the car using a AAW wiring harness kit, Pertronix dist, Pertronix ignition box, & dual Ford Contour cooling fans. I added a period look aftermarket gauges, AM/FM radio converted to play a MP-3 player, & added 1970 Mustang high back bucket seats. Added Mach-1 front spoiler, rear spoiler, & hood scoop. Roller clutch pedal, roller spring perches, & roller manual steering idler arm,  Opentracker Racing adjustable strut rods, drop front & rear springs, & power disc brakes w/the Kelsey-Hayes style calipers. All that was added I could easily source repair parts if needed & not so radical that I can do most of the work myself.

[RPM 1,232]

On 12/7/2023 at 10:32 PM, renewgeorgia said:

. I just got another one and want to make it into a daily reliable driver. I am considering various options and I am looking for resources and advice.

I drive my 69 daily and would recommend stock factory parts. Preferably from 1969. I put many Mustang parts on my 69 from newer Mustangs, but it's a lot of work and sometimes affects a few other parts and modifications. If you want front discs I'd use some from a 69. I have manual discs, which make it easy to stop. My brother has manual drums on his 69 SCJ which work as well as mine. Adding power brakes sounds simple enough, but is a lot of work and involves different parts, pedal, pedal hanger, booster etc.

[det0326 187]

I have built 2 cars so far, a 1969 mach 1 and another I won't describe here, I fought a low vacuum condition on both because of high performance engine. I am with Bob, if I built another  one I would do manual disk on front drums on back. If you build a performance SBF with vacuum assist brakes you may wind up doing a lot of this