This car was super rusty…like probably not worth all the effort it’s taken to fix it rusty. (Although the rockers and outside sheet meltal are very solid). But, in for a penny, in for a pound. When I last stopped working on it, it was at the point of fixing the a-pillars. They were toast. I was able to cut some out of another car though. Got the outer skins off, then cut off the inner part of the a-pillars that were rotted out. Then cut the “new” a-pillars apart to salvage that piece. The new ones are a little rusty too, but it’s a much better start than what was on the car. It came with another dash when I bought it because the one in the car was rotted out everywhere. So I got all of the old stuff out, the new stuff trimmed and fit in place. I had to set the gauge panel in there too just to see it. I’m thinking about a bunch of changes around the glovebox door…but that’s probably not worth all the trouble. Need to get two a/c vents on that side too though. I’m waiting on some supplies to coat the inside of this stuff before I weld it in. But I need to get it all wrapped up soon, because I have a batch of parts including the core support and inner fenders at the powdercoater, and when that’s ready I can assemble the whole front clip finally. I also ordered a serpentine engine accessories setup…nothing too fancy.
For my next trick….. I am going to try and put a Fox body 8.8 rear end in the car. While the 8.8 has similar mounting points to an a-body, they are pretty far off. I have heard that the lowers are “close” but they are definitely narrower. I have been brainstorming about this for a long time now. I think I can modify (or just make from scratch) the lower control arms. But for the uppers, I am going to use the factory Fox body upper control arm bosses plus the existing holes in the webbing by the pinion to build a bolt-on bracket with suspension points that match the A-body. Why?? Well, I priced out a 9”. Between quick performance and Speedway, there is no way I am getting a 31 spline posi (or trac loc) for under $2500. The cheapest nodular third member is still around $900. I just picked up this 8.8 for $250. Quick Performance has a rebuild kit with a 31 spline posi differential and whatever gears I want (thinking 3.73) for about $600 and will build me some axles with the GM pattern for another $300. I’m not sure what brakes I’ll run on it yet. Another selling point is the ‘79-‘93 Mustang rear ends are nearly 1” narrower than the ‘64-‘67 Chevelle, which is exactly what I need to fit the tires I want to run inside the quarter panel. And for whatever it’s worth, 8.8s are supposed to be quieter than a 9” due to the location of the pinion on the ring gear, and less prone to driveline vibration. And finally…because I like a challenge. So wish me luck!
I've been working on an '89 Mustang for a while and did the 5-lug conversion + rear disc brakes. As you know, there are lots of options out there. I ended up using an axle/brake kit from North Race Cars: North Racecars – Ford 8.8" C-clip Rear Ends Sharing here, in case you haven't already seen their offerings. It all went together nicely!
Blasted and powdercoated for $300. Not bad! I sure as hell didn’t want to have to clean up and paint this stuff myself. And only took 2 weeks.
Little progress on the A-pillar repairs. I got all the engine accessory stuff bolted up. I priced out buying just the brackets from Speedway and everything else from Rockauto…and it only saved me about $100, even though I already had the correct water pump and balancer. I was also not sure everything I found was exactly what was required to work with the bracketry. So I just got the whole kit and will either have a spare balancer and water pump or sell them on Facebook. Ordered the black powered coated stuff too because I really don’t like having to paint stuff. The P/S reservoir is a little cheesy but I might shoot that black and hope it disappears, but otherwise it all went together pretty well. Then I fit my radiator to the core support. It’s a BeCool and really nice. When I picked it out a couple years ago I went with an aluminum cross-flow for an LS swap, and it is made for the car. But I also got a Vintage Air “Monster” electric fan that fits the STOCK radiator for the car. It doesn’t fit this radiator, oops. But I can still use the fan and blade, modify the mount setup and make a new shroud. Just add it to the list… I don’t have the correct core support to frame bushings, but had the lower half of some early ford engine mounts that would do for now. I bolted up my fenders to get a good idea of how much room I really needed for tires. The tires on the car were from another project, so I already had them to try on and get a baseline. I like the rears but they had their own issues I’m working on with the 8.8 conversion. The fronts were a 215/70, too big. So I got some 215/60s to try and they look perfect…but still tight. I don’t want to raise the car, but might have to. The other option is to cut apart the front control arms and narrow them, which isn’t too complicated but I would rather not have to do. Fatman sells 1” narrow arms but at $1200 for the set, I’d rather cut up what I already have.
Pre weekend update. I read some stuff that said you could use a second gen Camaro rotor to pull the wheel in a little bit. They do use the same bearing sets. So I got a pair…and I think it’s going to work. I have some spindle interference issues because I’m using aftermarket dropped spindles. I did a little clearancing and made a half ass 1/4” bearing spacer to see if the new rotor would help at all. And it made a significant difference. I think with more work on the spindle I can get the rotor on without any spacer. It’ll move the wheel in a solid 1/2”. The rotor surface is farther back compared to the bearing assembly too though, so now I have to figure out a caliper bracket, but much better than messing around with control arms. Camaro left, Chevelle right. before after, and still with the spacer Last weekend I took the gaskets from a 10-bolt and 8.8 and marked horizontal center. Then scanned them, laid them over each other and drew out a pattern for a jig plate. I should be able to bolt this plate to the back of the 10-bolt rear end, fit and bolt the tabs to the factory bushings then weld them to that plate. Then I can take the plate off and bolt it onto the back of the 8.8 to see where it lands and have a ballpark idea of whether or not this will work.
On the 8.8 rear if the lowers are able to work have You thought of using a torque arm? We did one with a torque arm and panard bar on a 86 Thunderbird. It works well.
Yes, but I’ve already got a powdercoated frame under the car and I’m not to excited about making modifications to it. But we’ll see how it goes when I have the car back up in the air soon.
Turns out messing with those rotors was a waste of time. Spent a good minute working on spacers yesterday morning and everything seemed perfect. I got nearly 5/8” out of each side. But then when I set the car back on the ground it wouldn’t budge. Turns out when the weight is on the suspension, the lower control arms were hard against the rotors. ECI makes a custom hub kit that pulls everything in nearly an inch, so I guess I’ll have to pony up the grand it costs for that kit. It’s the easiest solution. And I guess I oughtta raise the front end up a little, at least to make scrub line. But it looks so good… Anyway, got the a-pillar repairs wrapped up and the dash back in it. Adjusted the doors, then assembled the inner fenders to the fenders and got them on the car, along with the grill assembly and some other misc pieces. Also mocked up my steering column and wheel.
I probably should have disassembled the entire grill assembly and repainted some of it but didn’t want to deal with the rivets. I got new headlight adjusters in and installed some Octane LED high/low bulbs. Left the T3 on the inside, I figure the LEDS will be bright enough. Also assembled my bumpers and brackets and got them reinstalled. I had blasted a few parts at work this week so got those painted and installed today…hood latch, battery tray, and pedal assembly. Started messing with the air intake and decided the power steering reservoir would need to move. Was going to install the fuel tank but realized I didn’t have new straps and the old ones needed to be refurbished, so that’ll happen tomorrow. I designed a fan shroud this week too and ordered it through SendCutSend, excited to see how that turns out. Tomorrow should be trans crossmember, air intake, fuel tank, and maybe some fuel lines if I have time.
Fuel tank in it, reproduction Tanks Inc. tank with an internal fuel pump. Used a Corvette style bypass fuel filter with -6 fittings on it, pretty slick. Got the transmission crossmember sorted out, cut off the stock center flange and ended up tunneling it into the center of the crossmember. One of the crossmember holes on each side lined up with one in the frame so used those, and redrilled a couple new ones. Rattle canned it and threw it in. Raised the rear coil over brackets 2 holes each which is about 1.25”. Then cranked up the front coil overs quite a bit, I can at least get a jack under the front crossmember now without help. Eyeballed the caster and crammed some shims in the upper arms. Might be ok with the tires to fender lip though will probably rub when turning. I would love it to be lower but it’s just not practical. Maybe one day with a roadster shop chassis or something… I have a shallower transmission pan that will go on it but the oil pan is still a hair lower than the front crossmember. The trans is just about into the floor already and I’d rather not cut that back up. I will for sure make a small skid plate to protect the pan.
Very cool project! Glad to hear you are planning on a skid plate to protect that pan. I could see that going bad otherwise.
What motor mounts and oil pan did you use? I used the Holley that mounted the engine 3/4 " forward so I could use the stock A.C.. I don't think my pan is that low. I used the Jeep Grand Cherokee steering box. It is a direct bolt on with quick steering. Th stock 2005 truck power steering hose worked
Hard to remember honestly. The oil pan is either a Holley, or the Summit knock-off which is nearly identical. I think I just used some universal LS to small block adapter plates, and the frame brackets are the factory ones. I’ve got the CPP 500 series box.
I wish I had used a Tanks fuel tank. My El Camino had a new stock tank so I used a Carter electric pump to pump fuel to a surge tank and then the high pressure pump for the fuel injection. I too used the Corvette filter and returned to the surge tank.
I had an idea for the steam port hose...its a hose, but needs to go from the drivers side head to the passenger side of the radiator, so it flops all around. I designed these hoops that fit over the radiator hose then hold the steam hose with it. The radiator hose I started with was a little bit bigger OD so these are a little loose. And in the end I don't think I like it and will make a hardline instead...but it was a fun quick project. Pretty pleased with how the fan shroud turned out. I have been working on flanges and bends in my CAD journey and this is my second project. I sent the file over to SendCutSend for them to cut and bend. It saved me so much time versus cutting it out myself (not to mention getting the material), and the bends are a lot nicer than I would have been able to achieve. The fan was taller than the radiator so I kicked the offset to the bottom and also patterned the pieces I would need to box that in. The pieces showed up yesterday and I got everything fit and welded today. I also modified the existing fan mount skeleton to mount off of the sides of the shroud. I started to mount the A/C condenser too but did not like the supplied universal brackets so will be designing some new ones. I should mention that there is more work to come on that air intake tube. It needs another bend and I want the filter to be all the way under the fender behind the headlights where there is a lot of fresh air coming in. Also need to weld the MAF sensor plate and IAT sensor bung in. All of this stuff will be painted black once finished.
I was pleasantly surprised that I was a full page behind on this build. Lots of neat stuff, makes me wanna work on my rambler wagon. It will be similar in style, but with a sbc and t5. (And the old wheels off your roadster lol)
Slightly more exciting? Waiting for the wiring pigtail to show up and find out if this works. Detroit Speed sells a fancy intermittent wiper kit for these. I had one on the last el camino and it was pretty great but I think I used it only a couple times. They've changed the design a little since then and the motor they use...but I deduced that they are now using what looks like a C7 Corvette wiper motor. But, their kits are EXPENSIVE. The intermittent part is what has me sold on their function...two-speed wipers are horrible. Well I found a module made by a company called Revolution Electronics that makes a factory two-speed switch and wiper motor work as an intermittent setup. Realizing this, it makes using a factory wiper motor a no brainer, but I'm pretty low on brains these days. Anyway, I did need a new motor so I bought one of the Corvette motors and made an adapter plate and modified the pitman arm. All in for about a quarter of what the Detroit Speed setup costs.
Nice find. I unfortunately went the deep dive on windshield wiper motors/switches/etc somewhat recently. I believe one of these Cole Hersee switches would be a relatively low cost solution as well. Just throwing it out there in case:
I don’t think I had been able to find those switches when I started heading down that road, might need to change lanes for that one. Not a lot to report, but I went to a 6” wide wheel up front (from a 7”). Same 215/60 tire, but the majority of that inch came out of the face of the wheel. Dropped the front back down a little too. This is the final front wheel/tire and I’m happy with the clearance it has.
The Jalopy Journal
