Spent some time this weekend on the car. Mostly trying to figure out what I really wanted to do next and trying to come up with a body dolly for the front end. Still nothing to document as my first idea really doesn’t appear to be workable.
I did get the outer shock tower covers stripped/blasted and in primer – I know, whoopidy doo. Will paint them later. Also cleaned up and painted the center steering drag link and strut bars as they are in good shape and will be re-used. I converted the car from power to manual steering by replacing the center link a long time ago and guess I’ll stick with it.
I also dug through my old parts to see what I might want to re-use. I have pieces from an old ’70 Boss 302 car (rear sway bar, door hinges, forged crank, front sway bar, etc) and apparently a ’71 Stang. I thought the extra spindles and disc brakes I had were from the Boss but they are D1 numbers so that should be a 1971 I guess. I had snagged them eons ago since the 1969 rotors were hard to find back then and the 1970+ where easier and cheaper but now it doesn’t really matter I guess.
I finally attacked the floor board with a air chisel and roughed out the worst parts on the drivers side. Will have to get a new wheel for my cutoff tool and straighten things up before ever trying to fit a pan back in.
I really hadn’t planned on pulling the seat risers since they are in good shape and the floor is good under it but I need to dig a little deeper to insure I can get the new pans to fit in good enough and work. No telling I might have to pull the risers as well.
Believe it or not at one time this housing looked pretty nice. That was about ten years ago when I put it back in the car. That’s a standard single web 9″ with a 4.11:1 gear. I had two nodular third members at one time and still don’t understand why I got rid of them. Some friends needed a housing for a drag Stang and I didn’t really need the stiff gear that was in the car back then so I let them go.
I seriously doubt I’ll need anything more than this in the long run but will really need a 5 Speed or AOD to go anywhere with today’s gas prices.
I also hope to replace the existing drums with some disc in some manner. Not sure what yet but figure it would be worth it. That is a 1957 housing as well which used to be the best way to keep the tire under the fender as much as possible. With today’s wheel offsets I might have to drop the stock width housing I have back in to avoid massive wheel spacers.
