Steering installed and started on gas tank

The steering parts came in today so I put it all together. The stock rack was not long enough so I put a set of rack extenders on it to make it the proper angle so there is no bump steer. The front end is basically done except for letting the front arms settle then torqueing the mounting bolts so the bushings are aligned properly. I need to align all 4 tires but that is not a big deal to do after the car is finished.

IMAG0047

Next I started on trying to come up with a good gas tank. The stock Metro tank is about an inch too long to fit where I want it. So I will have to use the larger aluminum tank I built for the car from before. It did not have an internal fuel pump so I took the stock Metro pump out of that tank and started working on trying to get it hooked up to the larger tank. I have the fuel line connected now I just need to make a brace to the top of the tank mount so the fuel line is not supporting the weight of the pump. The fuel will exit the top of the tank and return to the bottom. It is not the smoothest way to do it but it works and should be a lot easier to change the pump in the future.

IMAG0048

The Metro pump is on the left, the right pump is the inline pump that fed fuel to the old engine. It is way larger than the 3 cyl engine needs so I won’t be using it on this build. Once I build the bracket to hold the fuel pump and come up with a way to get the power wire out of the tank it is ready to install. I will have to make the shifter setup before mounting the tank so I know it will clear the shift rod.

Rear suspension mounted

The hubs came back from the machine shop today. So I started putting the rear suspension together properly. I didn’t have a large enough bolt for the lower control arm mount so I will have to get one later for it. I bolted the struts and tie rods down solidly and mounted the hubs and rotors after drilling the rotors to match the hubs. The brake calipers I put on are from the front Metro suspension. I have a set of swift GT calipers ordered that are made for the rear that have the parking brake setup in them that I will put on once I get them. But for now I won’t have a parking brake. The passenger side CV axle fit perfectly on the drivers side so I will just have to cut and lengthen one side now.

IMAG0044IMAG0042IMAG0046IMAG0043IMAG0045

The wheel spacing looks good now. I like the looks of it much better than when I had them set the same width front and rear. The car is not sitting as high in the air as it was but it is still probably 3 inches higher than it is supposed to be. As I put more in the car it will hopefully start sitting lower to the ground so I don’t have to cut the springs to make it ride at the right height.

I am still a long way away from having it ready to drive but at least now it is looking much more like a car than it used to. I will probably get the gas tank out of the old frame and see how well it fits in the car. If it fits I will start on the gas tank and shifter setup next.

Headlights mounted

Since I have been spending so much time with the frame I decided to take a break from that and work on the headlights. The front of the car just didn’t look like much sitting IMAG0039around without headlights in it. So I mounted a pair of 4 1/2 inch driving lights to the bottom and a set of 5 3/4 headlights to the top. There are not high and low combined sealed beams in that size I could find so I used some conversion headlights that can use standard Halogen bulbs so I can have high and low beams in the single light easily. I don’t like how the adjusters are mounted to the back side of the bucket so I will probably modify them as soon as I can think of a good way to do it.

Mounting the driving lights was pretty straightforward. I cut the backs out of the housing so I could access the bulb without taking everything apart. I then just cut a hole the exact size of the housing and Popped them in place. I put a few small dings in the metal so it holds in place pretty solidly. I will shim and aim them later before gluing the housing down permanently. The upper lights I did basically the same except I kept the hole slightly bigger than the bucket and used the mounting plate from the headlights behind it. I then assembled the buckets in the car and with the mounting plate behind it I can aim the headlights without a lot of trouble. I need to do a bit of detail work making them work better but for now they are mounted and done.
IMAG0040IMAG0041

The headlight covers need to be trimmed up a bit to fit the openings and mounted but since none of the body work is done I will not mess with them for a while. I would like to tint them slightly but I have no idea how to do that so they might just stay clear.

Throttle and clutch cables installed

Today didn’t seem like much getting done but I probably took the pedals off and reinstalled them 15 times to get everything lined up. The throttle cable worked out pretty easy since it had a lot of clearance to line everything up and get it drilled. The clutch was in a hard to get to place so that took most of the time to get right. Once I got them mounted to the firewall running them to the back and connecting everything up was much easier. Now the car has a working throttle and clutch. The brake booster is also installed. I just need to get the lines to run for the remote reservoir and wait for the rear rotors to be drilled out then the brakes can be installed as well.

IMAG0033IMAG0035IMAG0037IMAG0038

Since I can’t do the brakes and rear suspension until the hubs are back from the machine shop and the steering parts are not in yet. I will probably mount the trunk lid and get a few other large parts installed like the gas tank.

Pedals and steering column installed

I took the rear hubs to a shop to have them drilled out. They should be done tomorrow so I can finally get the car able to sit on it’s wheels and suspension. So while that is being worked on I went ahead and started figuring out some other stuff. I had to make a new firewall out of 16ga so it would be strong enough to support everything, the fiberglass would weaken over time and crack with constant use. I just had to figure out where to put the pedal mounts then cut them out of the firewall. The power brake booster fits without any problems but the master cylinder is right up against the hood. It would be possible to fill it but converting it to remote fill is the best way to do it. I can run steel lines to the back and fill it there.

The steering ended up being much easier to hook up than I thought it would be. It even bolted onto one of the stock Metro mounting holes on the pedal mounts. I ran it between the clutch and brake arms but it clears everything just fine and is a pretty straight shot to the steering rack. I had to extend the lower shaft about 6 inches to make it work but it is all bolted together and working good now.

IMAG0029IMAG0032

I still need rack extenders to have the steering fully finished and I will get them as soon as I can find the proper ones to fit. I also need to make a clutch cable mount and mount the gas pedal and run it’s cable. After that I could probably connect up all the brake hardware and have all the pedals fully working.

Engine installed and front suspension mostly installed.

I went over the frame to make sure everything looked ok and so far it looks like everything is all good on it. So I started assembling some of the parts laying around the garage to try and free up some space. The engine and suspension parts are taking up the most garage space so that is the part I am working on first. The engine was pretty easy to put in. There is nothing else in the way so it was just a matter of putting it under the car and lowering the car into position.

IMAG0025IMAG0026IMAG0027

I still need to get some good bolts to bolt it all together but there are enough in it right how to hold it in place. After that I started putting all the parts together for the front end. The wheel bearings are bad but I don’t have new ones so They will do to hold the wheels in place. I put the springs and shocks in place and tightened up the ball joints. I will have to replace the wheel bearings and put a new set of non stuck calipers on it but I put them in place for now to get them out of the way. The suspension looks much nicer with the stock Mustang II parts gone. Hopefully the new parts are just as strong as the old.

IMAG0024

I still need to work on the steering and will have to fabricate something to make it work. The rest of the car is just bolting on parts now. I will start from the bottom getting the suspension done first then work my up. So probably the next thing to work on is the rear suspension. Then the car can finally roll around on the finished suspension.

Front end completed

I just had to add the upper frame to the front end to finish it. I also needed to make a set of braces to hold the front body and keep it solid. I need to weld everything up and add a few more braces but the frame is basically done on the car now. The front end is sitting nice and strong and should give me plenty of foot room for whatever kind of pedals I can find to fit in it now. I also need to come up with something for steering but that should not be that bad to get together later on.

IMAG0021IMAG0022IMAG0023

Next up is finish welding and bracing the front end. Then throw some paint on it and start putting stuff in the car. I will mount the engine and the full suspension first. After that is in then I can start planning out where everything else goes and put it all together as I figure out what I am doing.

Front suspension mounted

I got the front end put under the car and squared up. It is much easier when the entire thing is one piece. After I got it sitting exactly where I wanted it I just had to connect it to the old frame. I made the lower frame sections and attached them. I still need to do the upper part and some bracing. Once it is all done the front end of the car should be strong and much lighter than it was. I also will reinforce the dashboard crash bar a bit better. Having a single brace on it doesn’t seem like enough for me so while I am at it I will add a bit of bracing to it.

IMAG0016IMAG0017IMAG0019IMAG0020

The front end is strong enough it can be lifted off the ground without flexing but it would bounce and sag with any significant weight on it. Once the rest of the bracing is in place the front end is finished. All that is left after that is I just have to make a few body mounts on the front and rear and the structural parts of the frame are finished.

Front suspension ready to install

Today I finished cutting off the old frame parts and cleaned up the crossmember. After that I just had to cut it in half and widen it 5 inches. I welded on plenty of bracing to hold it solid. It might be a bit of overkill on it but I would rather have an extra 10lbs of weight in the front than have it weak. I painted it and put the new control arms on it. I don’t have the springs or shocks on it since nothing is installed permanently right now until it is in the car.

IMAG0013IMAG0014IMAG0015

After I get it installed and squared up in the car the frame is for the most part finished. I will have a bunch of minor details to do like welding on mounting tabs all over the place but that stuff is minor work I can do as I need it. The only problem I have to solve now is to figure out a good set of parts for the steering rack. I need something 5 inches wider than stock now.

Stripping and updating the front suspension

The front crossmember had a lot of stuff welded to it and in general was a pretty good mess. I have most of the old frame cut off it except for one part. I will cut it off eventually but it makes a useful handle for now. I managed to get the lower control arm bushing cut off one side without damaging the frame. I was able to put the new control arms on and weld the lower arm mounts in place. I will do the other side next before cutting the last of the old frame off. Once the control arms are replaced and the crossmember is cleaned up I will widen it so I no longer need wheel spacers.

IMAG0010IMAG0011

After widening it all that is left is to put it in position in the car and build a new frame to attach it. I am planning on running the interior all the way up to the crossmember this time so I have plenty of foot room. The only thing I am still needing is to figure out where to find a wider steering rack.