1969 Mach 1 S Code 390 Pro Touring Build - Going all the way!

[scode 13]

This is my current project. It is a 1969 Mach 1 S Code 390 Pro Touring Build.

 

My wife found her on Craigslist one day and called me and said there is a fastback mach 1 mustang just posted on the site for 5 grand and I was like you don't know what you are talking about and shrugged it off. She insisted that it was there and that I need to look into it.

 

So long story short I found the ad, called the seller and was there within the hour with my wife.

 

We were looking the car over and I was checking out the door tag when two other interested parties drove up.

 

I was online confirming it was a true s code mach 1 and stood up and told the seller that we will take it right as the other parties were starting to look over the car.

 

Lucky for us we moved quickly.

 

I think we paid $5500 and had her home within a few hours.

 

I hope to have all of your input and advise and I will be very happy to share what I learn along the way.

 

More to come.

[scode 13]

So the story was that we got was that the this was a one owner car. The person who bought it was killed in a wreck in another car in a drunk driving accident on a date in the early 1970's. It sat in his mother's carport under a cover for decades. The owners brother's son got ahold of it for a while and somehow he managed to get rid of the original engine and transmission and attempted to make a boss 302 clone out of it. So when we found it it had been spray painted white over the original aqua blue and had stenciled 302 in various places. It also had a 302 transplant in it with a c4. I managed to get it started before I pulled it and parked the engine for later use. The transmission was not working.

 

Here you can see where I spray painted over the 302 markings on the rear. Honestly this was a little to embarrassing to let stand any further.

 

More to follow.

Edited May 10, 2014 by scode

[scode 13]

After a full inspection there was a minor front end wreck at some point. Whoever tried to repair it did a really poor job. They welded the inner fenders on and the radiator frame was poorly welded on. I am missing a few photos at this stage. But you can see we pulled the dog house off and put a new hood and pulled the engine before going to the body work stage. The kid had fiberglassed a corvette summer hood scoop on and that was rotted away.

 

After that the car sat under cover in the carport for something like 25 years.

 

We found the frame to be perfectly straight. Other than the front end problems the body was absolutely perfect and had zero rust which was really a wonderful thing. All in all we found a great car for 1/3 of its value.

[scode 13]

So this build is a pro touring build. Since we did not have the original drive train we figured it would be a great opportunity to do something really fun. My goal is to have a car that I really want to own and drive and show so this is my personal project.

 

I hope you all participate and debate what to do along the way and enjoy the results.

 

Here we are in the body work stage after having stripped the car completely down to the body and sand blasted it a bit and then started replacing the inner fenders and radiator housing.

Edited May 10, 2014 by scode

[scode 13]

Some more photos early on.

[scode 13]

So from here we end up in the body work stage after stripping the car down completely.

 

Here we begin working the body over. No stone has been left unturned.

 

This phase has been extensive.

 

The first thing we did is install new inner fenders and a new radiator support. After that was done we started the mods and put her in the initial primer coat.

Edited May 10, 2014 by scode

[scode 13]

Here is a list of the work done so far with photos as best as I can recall:

 

1. new inner fenders

2. new radiator support

3. shaved door handles

4. shaved emblems

5. shaved gas cap

6. filled trunk lines under rear window

7. filled rear quarter lines

8. deleted mirrors

9. deleted drip rails

10. added sail panel gas door (rod style magnetic opener with self closing gas input)

11. flushed side scoops.

 

The next two weeks we will be doing the following:

 

12. deleted wipers

13. Flushed rear lights (smoked) to be determined. Need more input!

14. Flushed front and rear glass

15. flushed front headlight inserts

16. Flushed rear risers (not sure what to call these)

 

Basically we are deleting the seams everywhere.

 

17. Flushed rear bumper

18. Flushed front bumper

 

Still deciding how to handle exhaust output.

[scode 13]

We also dug out all the lead seams to redo them with metal filler. This will protect the final paint from problems later.

Edited May 10, 2014 by scode

[scode 13]

The shaved drip rails was an interesting experience. Our shop was not experienced doing this so we had to wing it a bit and make decisions along the way. What we found is that once you grind off the drip rail a few inches at a time that the natural lines of the mustang are really nice. They have a bit of a natural embellishment and fade in and out naturally so we just left them alone more or less and only had to clean them up with minor welding and grinding. The result is very clean.

[scode 13]

Deleted rear gas input. We replaced it with a sail panel rod style racing gas input.

 

We had a lot of debate about how to do this. Originally I wanted to put the gas input in the side scoop and make it flip open, but there was not enough downward angle to let the gas flow and the rear tire well was in the way.

 

Then I thought about just having in on top of the gas tank in the trunk with it flushed into the carpet.

 

In the end we found an after market gas insert with a natural curve meant for the rodder market.

 

The last photo shows the inside where we will connect the fuel pipe to the tank.

 

We found that it flows perfectly with the sail panel on the mach 1 and after some measurements were made on the arc we placed it and this is the result:

Edited May 10, 2014 by scode

[scode 13]

Deleted lines in the rear quarter just before the wheel wells:

[scode 13]

Deleted lines under the rear glass:

[scode 13]

Flushed side scoops. These will be functioning air inlets porting air to the rear brakes for no other reason than because its just a cool thing to create. I doubt it will make any difference in the car other than cause me to have to clean the rear wheels more often. I don't plan I driving it on the track.

Edited May 10, 2014 by scode

[scode 13]

These are photos of the front coil over suspension and rack being welded in. This will have disk brakes and 2in. drop spindles. This is a kit I found online on a budget. So far everything with it looks good. Shock tower plates are covering the deleted shock towers. So far I am unhappy with these. My goal here is to fabricate beauty covers for the engine bay. I am not yet sure how that will happen. I am still researching options.

Edited May 10, 2014 by scode

[scode 13]

We have a 4 link rear suspension going in. This will also be disk brakes and the side scoops will provide direct air cooling. Only the tabs have been welded to the frame so far. We will get to the rest of this after painting her.

[scode 13]

Prepping to delete the seams on the rear plastic tail surrounds. This will be done with epoxy and metal filler.

 

We are doing the same to the head light buckets this coming week.

[scode 13]

So that basically brings you up to speed on my work in progress. We have about 2 weeks of body work to go and from there we are doing a final block sand and primer to prep the car for paint.

 

If anyone has specific questions please feel free to ask. Also if you have any ideas on this build as we go along I would be more than happy to have some input.

 

At this stage I feel I basically went in head first and the further we go the more ideas arise. I am doing this on a budget and trying not to be upside down. I think with the initial purchase price and investment so far we are in good territory. So if you want to add any input no detail is too minor.

[scode 13]

Right now this will be the paint scheme:

 

The colors I think will be based off of the Mini and Camero customs.

 

Two tone blue below and black on top with a dividing white stripe under the ridge. I think it will have a painted on number on the doors done by airbrush and sealed by clear coat.

Edited May 10, 2014 by scode

[scode 13]

One thing I need some input on specifically is the wheels. What I want is black steelies like the type regularly found on 4x4 trucks and jeeps. But I want them to have a slight dish without going outside of the stock fenders. How in the world do we make these work? I am certain there is a way. We will probably be going 18s all around.

 

Can I take a truck wheel and fit 18" low profile car tires on them and still get the proper offset?

[Rip Rock 13]

One thing I need some input on specifically is the wheels. What I want is black steelies like the type regularly found on 4x4 trucks and jeeps. But I want them to have a slight dish without going outside of the stock fenders. How in the world do we make these work? I am certain there is a way. We will probably be going 18s all around.

 

Can I take a truck wheel and fit 18" low profile car tires on them and still get the proper offset?

 

There's a couple threads on here about back spacing and offsets. Good info on here to what other people have squeezed on the car and still maintain proper offset. There are seven members on here with 18's. I would get your wheel and measure the back spacing to determine the if it would fit. You can measure out your wheel wells to see what would fit and go from there.

[jandj1970 13]

Nice build mate.

[Footcutter 13]

These are photos of the front coil over suspension and rack being welded in. This will have disk brakes and 2in. drop spindles. This is a kit I found online on a budget. So far everything with it looks good. Shock tower plates are covering the deleted shock towers. So far I am unhappy with these. My goal here is to fabricate beauty covers for the engine bay. I am not yet sure how that will happen. I am still researching options.

 

Did you delete the "antidive?"

[stangnet33 88]

Great build so far !! Out of all the line delete's you've done, I really like the side scoop, I don't recall anyone ever doing that. Looks fantastic !

[scode 13]

How would you delete the anti-dive? lol Sit it flat on the ground? hahaha

[scode 13]

We are almost done with body work. A little touch up on the deleted drip rails and a few minor things and heading to block and paint.

 

Here is the latest work. Here we have deleted the lines in the headlight buckets and the rear tail light extensions.