69 Coupe - She Lives!!

[Angel 24]

looks good dude

[Jayru 17]

Thanks Angel!

 

Finally got around to buying/installing my new fuel pump this weekend. It's an Edelbrock 110 GPH mechanical pump.

 

I've suspected for quite some time now i was getting some fuel starvation in the higher rpm's (stock pump couldn't keep up). The gauge would quickly drop from 6 psi (under WOT) to 3 psi and slowly fall below 2 psi in the 5000+ rpm range.

 

I've got a 302 with Aluminum GT-40 turbo swirl heads, an e303 cam, and a Performer RPM Air Gap intake with a 600 cfm carb. The plugs looked good... But the car just felt like it was wheezing once you got above 5K (but still felt somewhat fast for the most part).

 

Boy was i surprised when i took the car for a ride after the new pump install! It pulls HARD now all the way up to about 5800 rpm (where the cam & my heads max out). I mean really hard! It feels like a completely different motor now above 5K!!

 

:biggrin:

[Jayru 17]

Here's some pics of the new wheels! :biggrin:

 

PS Engineering TA-II's 17x8 front (245 45's) - 17x9.5 rear (275 40's)

 

It's sitting a little high in the front. I'm going to cut about a half coil off each front spring. Hoping that get's the car level or a tad lower in the front.

[Angel 24]

They look good dude. You car reminds me of my coupe and makes me miss it even more than I already do :( Are you going to install center caps? Just my opinion, but I would lower it an inch all around. By the way, does the car sit lower on the rear driver side than on the rear passenger side?

[stangme428 33]

love the wheels! nice ride! :tongue_smilie:

[Jayru 17]

They look good dude. You car reminds me of my coupe and makes me miss it even more than I already do :( Are you going to install center caps? Just my opinion, but I would lower it an inch all around. By the way, does the car sit lower on the rear driver side than on the rear passenger side?

 

Yes! It sits lower on both the front and back drivers side by a 1/2"

 

I'm not sure what is causing this. It sat level when I first got it, I rebuilt the front suspension and shortly after I noticed the lean. My rear springs failed, so I just replaced the rear leafs and thought that would fix the rear lean, but it has the same lean as before.

 

I'm hoping I haven't been twisting the car with the new engine?!?

 

I've read online that the 1/2" DS lean is a common problem on all year mustangs.

 

I think I'm going to cut a 1/2 coil on the pass side, but maybe just a 1/4 coil from the DS, maybe that will level the car out. I can't do anything about the rear as I just bought the new leafs and don't want to use lowering blocks.

[rangerdoc 22]

A couple things:

 

1st-Thank you so much for the pictures with the wheels. Since I'm doing a coupe as well it is nice to see what they might look like vs the Vintage 48s. Do you know if the wheels come in another finish besides the black? I'm thinking a more natural finish. Do they have center caps?

 

2nd-My car also has the same lean. My entire suspension is rebuilt as well with 620 springs, 5 leaf mid-eye springs and all new other components and bushings. Though I have to admit I rebuilt it all about 15 years ago and I have rubber bushings in the rear that are a little worn. Maybe if I replace the bushings that would help. Are all your bushings new?

[Jayru 17]

A couple things:

 

1st-Thank you so much for the pictures with the wheels. Since I'm doing a coupe as well it is nice to see what they might look like vs the Vintage 48s. Do you know if the wheels come in another finish besides the black? I'm thinking a more natural finish. Do they have center caps?

 

2nd-My car also has the same lean. My entire suspension is rebuilt as well with 620 springs, 5 leaf mid-eye springs and all new other components and bushings. Though I have to admit I rebuilt it all about 15 years ago and I have rubber bushings in the rear that are a little worn. Maybe if I replace the bushings that would help. Are all your bushings new?

 

No problem! The centers are a cast aluminum, i had Peter over at PS Eng. powder coat them charcoal. So they could be the raw cast "silverish" aluminum if you wanted. The wheels are modeled off the original Trans Am wheels, they never had center caps, so he doesn't offer any (not machined for them). I like the racy look sans center caps. I plan to get new dust caps and paint the rotor centers/axles to match the wheels.

 

All my bushings are new in the car, my rear are even Del-A-Lum (aluminum), so the lean isn't coming from that.

 

I think it has to do with the unibody fatiguing/twisting over the years. Most people say to cut the front coil less on the leaning side to balance it out (they say evening the front usually brings the rear close). That's my plan. We'll see if it works. Once i get it leveled, I'm putting subframe connectors in the car.

[Jayru 17]

Finally had my Tin Man subframe connectors & driveshaft loop installed today! Been chasing down a buddy of mine with a fabrication shop to get the time to do'em for over 6 months now.

 

I couldn't be happier with the fitment of the connectors, they lined up perfectly and hug tight to the floor! The driveshaft loop is a little weird though. Since it's made of straight stock with a upside down U loop, it has to hang low and is very close to my exhaust. We made it work, but if i ever upgrade the exhaust to 2.5" i think i would have clearance issues (the loop bar would be in the path of the exhaust). The upside is that since it's straight rectangular stock it serves almost as a center brace between the connectors for some extra rigidity.

 

On initial drive the car feels much stiffer now, and turn in feels more solid too (the car actually turns as one unit in the direction you're steering, instead of that weird twisting feeling you feel front to rear as the chassis flexed without the connectors). Went over some railroad tracks on the way home and the car felt firmer/solid with minimal rattle. Before the connectors the car was a rattle box as the car/suspension was twisting every which way.

 

Also... Now that i had the connectors/loop, i was finally comfortable launching the car hard with the new 275 width tires, Maier Racing rear leafs, and aluminum driveshaft (as some may remember, i had the driveshaft break twice on me because of bad welds).

 

The car had little to no wheel hop! (before the Maier springs wheel hop was horrible). It was a split second of initial hop and then the car just squatted and felt solid as she slid sideways, gained traction, & took off!

 

Now all i need is a new helmet and it's finally back to the track! :biggrin:

 

I'll post some pics of the install once i clean and paint up the connectors all pretty! For now here's a teaser from when they were getting installed.

Edited July 12, 2011 by Jayru

[Angel 24]

Wow it's been half a year since an update! Haha well glad to hear progress is being made. What did you do about the car leaning on one side?

[unfrozen1969 11]

I would love to see some more photos...

[Jayru 17]

Wow it's been half a year since an update! Haha well glad to hear progress is being made. What did you do about the car leaning on one side?

 

I know! I've been working like crazy with no time, before you know it 6 months goes by. I've got some time off now, so I'm getting around to installing the pile of parts I've had for a year or two! LOL

 

I haven't addressed the lean yet. The DS frame connector did need to be pushed up about 3/4" as apposed to the PS that fit perfect. I suspect 42 years of use (motor torque stress no doubt) has lead to the frame being slightly tweaked creating the lean.

 

I plan to cut the coils in the front with a little more of the PS to compensate (and I need to lower the front about an inch or 2 anyway) but I haven't done it yet because I'm afraid my headers are going to bang off everything! They hang kinda low now, a 1-2" drop will definitely make them scrape.

 

It's always something!

[Daddisgrl 10]

What color is the paint? Looks awesome!

[Jayru 17]

Finally got a chance to take a few photo's of the installed subframe connectors and driveshaft loop. Sorry for the loooong delay, i decided to re-do/insulate my garage this summer and it ended up being a much longer project than expected!

 

Luckily my fiancé's parents were nice enough to let me keep the stang in their garage while i completed the work.

 

One pic i couldn't get to come out right was where you cut the rail open. The Tin Man directions said to just open up the rail to the top, which would have left a gap on the top and sides where trash could get in. We decided to measure exactly and make the opening flush to the connectors, so it's nice/tight, cleaner looking, and also allows you to weld up the connectors 3 sides around the rail instead of just the 2 holes on the sides.

 

You can also see how the driveshaft loop becomes a structural part of the connectors (although I'm worried it will interfere with my exhaust once i change my headers since it has to hang so low).

 

My floors are in excellent shape with just a little surface rust, so i decided to rough them up and use Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator paint on the whole floor since i had to paint the connectors anyway (and it can be painted over rust/non rust alike). Came out great i think!

 

Need to coat the internal bits with an internal frame coating, but temps dropped to cold to paint, so looks like i'll wait for spring to do that.

 

Not sure why the pics are coming up upside down, they're correct on my computer. Hopefully you get the idea!

Edited November 5, 2011 by Jayru

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

i also had a plan for something similar to yours. when i built the subframe connectors i welded large nuts on the inside (set near the front and a set near the back) where i could bolt on a set of fabricated driveshaft loops.

 

it's almost time to start working on those.

 

[Jayru 17]

Thought I'd bring my build thread back from the dead since it's the car in the video below.

 

 

She indeed lives! ;-)

[Burn 14]

Nice video work. How long did it take you to make?

 

Your car is looking good too.

[Jayru 17]

Nice video work. How long did it take you to make?

 

Your car is looking good too.

 

Thanks!

 

That's actually one of the first things we filmed for the doc almost 2 years ago (as you can see, trying to make a film takes a long time!)

 

We shot most of that footage and interview over the course of a weekend. It took me about a week to get a rough cut then a few more days to fine cut, color correct, and audio mix.