70-DropTop's New Plan

[70-DropTop 12]

Let's see...where to begin and still keep this short. I bought my 1970 convertible in 2006 and started the thread below when I began working on the car in 2007.

 

Original Project Thread

 

Then, my company moves me from Ohio to Chandler Arizona, along with my car in pieces. New/additional work responsibilities, growing family, cruddy economy, and all of my help living back east meant that my Stang just sat in the garage.

 

Well, enough is enough!! I just needed to accept that I don't and won't have the time, and if I want to drive it before I die, I have to farm out much of the work I (with some help) planned on doing to the car back east. With a new approach, and a change of my restoration plans, why not a new thread to chronicle the build?

 

So, here it is after digging it out of my garage, getting it ready to haul off to the shop. My next post will outline the basic plan.

 

 

[70-DropTop 12]

Here's the basic plan:

 

1. Fix body and paint
   
2. Front tubular control arm coilover suspension
   
3. Power rack and pinion conversion
   
4. Power brake conversion
   
5. Four-wheel Cobra disc brakes
   
6. 2000 Cobra R Wheels (18"x9.5") on all four corners
   
7. 302 roller engine w/ serpentine belt setup
   
8. C4 to T5 swap
   
9. AC kit (needed in PHX!)
   
10. Refresh interior
    

There are a lot of details that'll be figured out as the build goes on.

[70-DropTop 12]

It arrived at the shop:

 

 

And a few weeks later, they get going on it. Somethings missing here:

 

 

And here too:

 

 

The frame is in very good shape, however, it still has some of the usual cancer spots that'll need cut out and replaced. There are some very odd holes, welds, and other things I'll share the next time I post.

[Grabber70Mach 107]

Congrats on getting started on it again, only question in your plan is the front wheels. Pretty sure you won't get a 9 let alone 9.5" rim on the front, most use an 8". One person

69gmachine on here has made the 9" work effectively, but he also designed his own front suspension.

[70-DropTop 12]

The wheels were actually a concern of mine, on if they'd fit. It's the primary reason why I'm going with a strut-coilover setup out of a SN95 mustang. Im using Cobra spindles with custom tubular lower control arms. The shop has a 67 hardtop they race with the same front suspension. We mounted the wheel on their '67 and it fits perfectly. The frame rail will have the flange clearanced (bent) to max out the turning radius, and then there'll be a set screw that'll provide insurance from the wheel getting into the frame rail.

 

The interesting thing about these wheels is that they stick out further than normal wheels for SN95 mustangs. If you ever see Ford made set (not replicas) on the late model car, you'll see it stick out a tad up front. It wasn't as obvious on the Cobra R because of the camber they were set at. It was a bit wide on the SN95 Stangs, but works great on my '70!

 

Here's a mock-up of the setup I'm planning to run:

 

Edited August 5, 2012 by 70-DropTop

[Grabber70Mach 107]

Cool, sounds like you've got a handle on it. Keep us updated on your progress.

[stangme428 33]

Is that the gateway classic mustang suspension? Looks good...:thumbup1:

[70-DropTop 12]

Is that the gateway classic mustang suspension? Looks good...:thumbup1:

 

Nope, but it looks a lot like it.

[stangme428 33]

Nope, but it looks a lot like it.

 

ah cool... let us know how it goes..!!

[70-DropTop 12]

Metal work is about to begin and here's a question I wanted to ask the crew here. Since the lower rear quarters need replaced on my car, I was asked if I wanted the Overhaulin' treatment where the fastback rear quarters and extension are put on, and then the trunk modified.

 

The funny thing about this is I've always like the rear quarters on the fastback, and that was my only real complaint about the convertibles not looking that way. I've grown to like (accept) the look of the rear quarters on my vert, so it isn't that big of a deal anymore. I used to contemplate doing this (before Overhaulin did it). So, I'm now in a position to do something about it on my ride, and I'm not sure I want to do that. The shop has original '69 quarters (with the vent) that I could get for just under half the price of new repops. Keep in mind, I have a '70.

 

If it matters or not to the look, I still haven't settled on a car color. I've been toying with painting it black, performance red (same as my old 2000 GT), or some shade of yellow (it was originally yellow). 18" chrome wheels, with a black convertible top.

 

Sorry to ramble...just wanted to see some opinions. Thanks!

 

 

Here's what I'm talking about:

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2012 by 70-DropTop

[70-DropTop 12]

Also we tore apart the original engine. Everything was in good shape inside, and it was the original bore. I have a 5.0 roller engine out of a 90/91 with about 40-50k miles on it that I was planning on using. It also has a Trick Flow stage 1 cam in it, and I also have the front accessories for a serpentine setup. I was thinking of converting it to a carb vs. digging up the rest of the efi parts.

 

Do you think there's any value in keeping the original engine with the car (bag it on a stand), or just sell it? It's just a base 302 2V.

[70mstang 11]

If I did it over again, I'd go with the "Overhaulin" treatment. It makes the rear look more muscular, IMO =) I still love how my shelby trunk & extensions came out but I think I'd do the swap. I had always thought about it but was out of my range back then and Chip was just too slow in finishing that 69 for me to copy.

[70-DropTop 12]

Here's an update. I made the decision on the quarters and decided to not put the fastback rear on it. I have a pretty good projet budget, but it still is a budget. The $$ not spent doing that will pay for the air conditioning system that one needs living in the Sonoran Desert (aka Phoenix area). I've also settled on Performance Red as a color. My last car was that color and I got compliments all the time.

 

Another potential opportunity presented itself to me...I was offered a complete engine/EFI setup (including fuel system). The engine was originally out of an '89 Mustang that someone was running in their vintage Mustang. So, the mods to make it work in my car have already been done. There have been a few minor mods done to it (cam, intake, MAF sensor)...and the price seems very reasonable. Decisions decisions, decsisions...Carb vs. EFI. I plan to drive this car a lot, not as a daily driver, but as often as I can and think the EFI might be really nice to have.

[70mstang 11]

I like the idea of EFI... but I tell ya .. from a visual perspective .. I can't stand the look of that engine in the early engine compartments.

[70Nightmare 20]

Cant go wrong with efi did it to my 70

[70-DropTop 12]

Here's an update. The car is off to paint and body. They started stripping it down last week to see just how bad things are..turns out, not nearly as bad as everyone thought! :thumbup1: So, even though there's rust to be repaired, it isn't as bad as anticipated. Probably the oddest thing found is the area around the driver side rear wheel. It looks as though someone with a hammer putt a beatin' to it. It was fill in with bondo, and we thought it was going to be rust. Nope...lots of good original metal to keep. Rockers are good. The taillight panel will be replaced, the trunk floor drop offs, lower rear quarters, some patch work in the bottom of the doors are the main areas.

[70-DropTop 12]

Here are some pics, walking around the car from passenger side, around the rear, and then the driver side. I know there's a lot of them here...but it tells the story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[stangme428 33]

great progress!!:thumbup1:

[70-DropTop 12]

Work came to a stop while waiting on new metal to arrive...it is now here, so things are moving again. The doors and a few rusted spots on top of the fender aprons were fixed. The major metal work will start on Tuesday. I can't wait! Paint is about a month off!

 

One door is fixed and is basically ready for primer.

 

Work underway repairing the other door.

 

Little patch work on a rusted fender apron top.

 

Panel needing replaced.

 

Same panel, different angle.

 

Car as it looks right now.

[Mike65 475]

They seem to be making some good progress. All the rust/rot spots you talk about on your car seem to be the normal spots on a 69/70 Mustang that I have or will be fixing on my 69 Coupe too. Please keep the updates comming.

[70-DropTop 12]

They seem to be making some good progress. All the rust/rot spots you talk about on your car seem to be the normal spots on a 69/70 Mustang that I have or will be fixing on my 69 Coupe too. Please keep the updates comming.

 

Yep, the rust spots are pretty typical, but aren't as severe as originally thought. Oh, and after looking at your build, it a lot of the repairs you've been through are the same that mine is dealing with. I'll keep the updates coming.

[70-DropTop 12]

Hard at work...major sheet metal repair should be done today/tomorrow. I can't wait!

 

 

[Pakrat 1,043]

Probably the oddest thing found is the area around the driver side rear wheel. It looks as though someone with a hammer putt a beatin' to it. It was fill in with bondo, and we thought it was going to be rust. Nope...lots of good original metal to keep.

 

I assume you are talking about the wheel well? If so the factory beat down on the top of these for all 69/70 verts so that when the top is down the frame can lay out completely flat. I assume they did this to avoid stamping a new part just for verts considering the low production numbers on them. When my car got hit we had bought a new one and then realized the situation and opted to just fix the wrinkle in the old one rather than trying to beat the new one down like factory, not that they had a finished or polished way about it at all but we intitially thought that was part of the damage.

[70-DropTop 12]

I assume you are talking about the wheel well? If so the factory beat down on the top of these for all 69/70 verts so that when the top is down the frame can lay out completely flat. I assume they did this to avoid stamping a new part just for verts considering the low production numbers on them. When my car got hit we had bought a new one and then realized the situation and opted to just fix the wrinkle in the old one rather than trying to beat the new one down like factory, not that they had a finished or polished way about it at all but we intitially thought that was part of the damage.

 

Nope...I meant the rear quarter panel on the driver side, just above the rear wheel. Looks like a child grabbed daddy's hammer and just started beating on the quarter...these dings all over that were filled and covered. Since the bottoms of the quarter panel needed a cut and a patch panel welded in, to avoid the labor time to fix each one of those dings, and since the wheel housing needed accessed and replaced, the quarter was just cut off and replaced with new metal.

[70-DropTop 12]

Little more progress today: