SFMIKEY 2 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 Hey guys, my name's Mike. Been lurking around here the past few weeks, so figured I would introduce myself and share the car. I bought the car when I was 14 in 1997 for 500 bucks as an empty shell. Built a 302 with my dad and backed it up with a 3 speed manual and an 8" while in high school. Painted the car in my dads garage (still shooting lacquer then, and of course teenage me wore no mask. Good times, haha) did the interior with junkyard stuff, basically built the car from pick and pull just so I could drive it. The 302 gave way in 2000, so we put in a junkyard 351w and fmx auto. Drove the car with that combo for about a year and then parked it while going to college, etc. Fast forward to January of this year and I decided to build the car the way I have always wanted it as a father/son project just like we did way back when, but this time with nice parts. Tore her down back to the shell, and started from scratch. So far this is where we are at: -408w full roller motor that dyno'd at 533hp and 544ft lbs -full manual shift 4r70w from Dan at Silverfox with billet 3500 stall (o/d and lockup on toggle switches) -quick performance 9" with a locker and 4.11s narrowed 2" -4 wheel disks with wilwoods up front and gm calipers out back -painless wiring harness -grab-a -track front and rear suspension with caltracs out back -mustangs to fear cluster with all automata gauges -weld pro stars 15x10 rear and 15x4 front -mickey thompson street radials 295/60r15 rears -atomic fab fuel cell and all aeromotive fuel system Have done a bunch of other stuff like the interior/glass/etc. Only thing that hasn't been changed is she still sports the old paint job we did in my garage all those years back. Plan is to get her driving again, enjoy her, and then when all the bugs are worked out, we will tear her back down and paint her. Its been an amazing time working with my dad again, and she should be ready for her first drive in about 3 or 4 weeks. Waiting on dan to finish the trans right now and then will need to throw a drive shaft in and she'll be ready! Looking forward to being more active on the site and talking more with you guys. A lot of beautiful cars on here!! I see a lot of SF Bay Area guys too, which is awesome! Didn't know I had so many nice cars by me!! Well, enough typing, here are some pics. Enjoy!!!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rcodenewf 44 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 Let me be the first then to welcome you to the forum. Car looks great! Looks like you've done a ton of work to it already. You'll find lots of help on this forum for sure as there is a ton of knowledge here. Unusual colour ...what is it and what are you plans for the new paint you mentioned? Again...welcome. John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 Hey Mike, welcome to the site. Your car should really haul arise! Hard to tell how old your paint job is, it looks good. Any issues with keeping the rear calipers adjusted? I have them on my non driver 69 and have heard horror stories about them. Nice that you've kept it all these years. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SFMIKEY 2 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 Let me be the first then to welcome you to the forum. Car looks great! Looks like you've done a ton of work to it already. You'll find lots of help on this forum for sure as there is a ton of knowledge here. Unusual colour ...what is it and what are you plans for the new paint you mentioned? Again...welcome. John Thanks for the welcome John! To be honest, I have no idea what the paint color is. I was a teenager, and remember pointing to the blue in the color book at the paint shop, and my father telling me that it was going to show every dent on the car and to pick a lighter color. In true teenage fashion, I stuck with my guns and picked the blue. And, dad was right. It shows ALL of the imperfections of my "quality" teenage bodywork. Haha. I want to say it was a nason product. New color will be either calypso coral or candy apple red. Looking forward to talking more with you guys! -Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SFMIKEY 2 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 Hey Mike, welcome to the site. Your car should really haul arise! Hard to tell how old your paint job is, it looks good. Any issues with keeping the rear calipers adjusted? I have them on my non driver 69 and have heard horror stories about them. Nice that you've kept it all these years. Thanks for the welcome and compliments! I have been checking out your build for a bit now and love your car! As for the brakes, I will tell you they are the LEAST favorite thing on this build and I am going to get rid of them as soon as money permits (or as soon as I can buy wilwoods's without the lady noticing) They were thrown in with the reared package when I bought it, so I figured I would give them a shot even though my master and front setup is all wilwood. The trans is not in the car yet, so I haven't driven it, but install and adjustment was a horror to even get them to sit on the rotor right. Then we had an issue of not being able to get a good pedal out of it when bleeding. After 3 days of trying to bleed it right, and with the help of wildwood tech, we actually had to yank the calipers, put them on their backs and bleed them upside down because of the poor bleeder placement. Has a good pedal now, but I have a feeling I am not going to be happy once its rolling. 1 RPM reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SWPruett 83 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 Great having you on board and thanks for the history on your car! There is a TON of great help and information on this board so you will find yourself right at home! Welcome! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Footcutter11 23 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 Welcome! Nice ride! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 Thanks for the welcome and compliments! I have been checking out your build for a bit now and love your car! As for the brakes, I will tell you they are the LEAST favorite thing on this build and I am going to get rid of them as soon as money permits (or as soon as I can buy wilwoods's without the lady noticing) Then we had an issue of not being able to get a good pedal out of it when bleeding. Thanks Mike for the kind words. Your experience is what I just found out after a quick Google search. Thank you for confirming the bad news. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MustangBobby 28 Report post Posted July 23, 2015 Cool build. Since will soon have all of that power and torque, have you thought about subframe connectors yet? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GriGri 10 Report post Posted July 23, 2015 Hey Mike, Nice machine. What gauge cluster did you install (Yearone ? I notice it is predrill for turn signals ?) and what gauges did you put in the column pods ? Regards Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SFMIKEY 2 Report post Posted July 23, 2015 Cool build. Since will soon have all of that power and torque, have you thought about subframe connectors yet? Yes, It has global west subframe connectors waiting to be welded on and an 8 point cage being fabbed up as we speak. Not sure when the cage will go in, but the sub frame connectors are going in at the same time we throw the trans in. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SFMIKEY 2 Report post Posted July 23, 2015 Hey Mike, Nice machine. What gauge cluster did you install (Yearone ? I notice it is predrill for turn signals ?) and what gauges did you put in the column pods ? Regards Thanks! The cluster is the Mustangs to Fear product. It came smooth and in a carbon fiber type finish, so I textured it to match the original dash parts and resprayed it semi-glass black so it would look more stock. It's a nicely made unit, but required a lot of fitting and cutting for the 70. I have heard it fits perfect on the 69's. On the 70 model, it does not. In the column pod, I have an air/fuel ratio and trans temp gauge. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted July 25, 2015 Yes, It's waiting to be welded on and an 8 point cage He said 8 point cage! OK, you've got my attention. If you don't post a bazillion pics, you'll be on double secret probation :) 1 SFMIKEY reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SFMIKEY 2 Report post Posted July 28, 2015 He said 8 point cage! OK, you've got my attention. If you don't post a bazillion pics, you'll be on double secret probation :) Hahaha, will be sure to post pics for you. My brother is the Fabricator for McGee Motorsports at Sonoma Raceway (they restore and maintain all the historics class race cars) so blame him for the car getting the cage. He has done all the fab work on her so far and we will just say the car is a little "over engineered" for a street car in my opinion, but hey, it's free labor that I know is done right, so no complaints. LOL 1 RPM reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SFMIKEY 2 Report post Posted July 28, 2015 A couple more older pics of when it was at my brothers shop and of him helping me plumb the motor. No new pics because I have been under it doing all the little stuff before the trans install. But the transmission finally showed up today, so I'll be putting that in this upcoming weekend. Pics to come! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted July 29, 2015 Hahaha, will be sure to post pics for you. My brother is the Fabricator for McGee Motorsports at Sonoma Raceway Wow! A member of the lucky dog club eh? Again, it's not what you know but who you know. Is your brother looking for another brother??? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SFMIKEY 2 Report post Posted July 29, 2015 Wow! A member of the lucky dog club eh? Again, it's not what you know but who you know. Is your brother looking for another brother??? Haha! I think he is at the end of his rope dealing with me already. It's both a blessing and a curse. Nothing like spending all day mounting something up myself, and then having him come over and within 5 minutes of being in my garage, has completely taken apart all that I did, and pointed out 30 reasons it's wrong. LOL. But all joking aside, yes, I am truly lucky. I wish I had half the talent the kid has. I can bolt together stuff, and handle electrical, etc... but I have NO place welding or fabbing stuff. It truly boggles my mind how he (and other fabricators) can look at something and see which way it needs to be done, and how to make it happen. Truly an art form. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SFMIKEY 2 Report post Posted July 29, 2015 Couple more pics. Got the trans cooler mounted up. Doing little things here and there. Trans will be installed Sunday. Will post those pics then. Have to send a BIG thank you to both Dan at Silverfox as well as Joe Persad for all the help with this 4r70w swap. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rwcstang 201 Report post Posted August 10, 2015 welcome to the club SFMikey! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mach_1 18 Report post Posted August 11, 2015 Very cool build! Love the direction it's going in! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SFMIKEY 2 Report post Posted August 13, 2015 So the Trans is IN!!!! Surprisingly it went in with no issues. Mount that I got from Joe Persad worked flawlessly, and the Dougs headers clear fine (thank God). Doing all the fun little things now before the initial start up. Mounted the fuel pump and filter, put most of the body parts back on, etc. Driveshaft was just finished by Dennys and is supposed to be here Friday. Still a lot of little stuff to do this weekend but she's close. Planning on firing her and finally being able to take a picture of her OUT of the driveway hopefully in a couple weeks. Sorry for not updating last weekend, but at 9pm Friday night, we got a wild idea to drive up to Hot August Nights, and ended up spending the weekend up in Reno checking out the rides, and buying stuff I didn't need from the Summit retail store... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted August 16, 2015 Looking good, looking reeeal good! Hot August Nights is a very cool event. But where are the pics??? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Footcutter11 23 Report post Posted August 17, 2015 Love the meats! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SFMIKEY 2 Report post Posted August 26, 2015 Sorry for the delay in posting, but I have been playing with the car. She runs and drives!!!! Now we are adjusting, re-doing some things, changing some stuff, and killing some bugs and issues we found during the initial runs. The fuuuuuuun part of the build. Anyways, here are some pics from this last Sunday when we fired and drove her for the first time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rwcstang 201 Report post Posted August 26, 2015 hrmm if Im not mistaken, is this car on IG? lol saw a car that looks exactly like yours on a instagram car page. lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
