1968 Mustang body on Howe road race chassis

[cruizin01]

Looks great. Maybe a cool little duct or something to fill the gap between the headlight and fender? That is if you dont stretch the headlight bezel. Maybe half and half?

[TimTaylor751647545500]

When the world sees this thing for the first time finished, we'll all be able to say that we watched it evolve into the masterpiece they all get to admire.

[Tinman]

Again, much thanks for all the kind words! They are very appreciated and motivational.

 

I finished off the filler strips all the way to the front and added a flange to mate to the extended headlight surrounds.

 

 

 

Now came the ugly part. The headlight surrounds are cast from pot metal, a mixture of different metals that are easily cast into complex shapes but due to all the alloys mixed in, not considered weldable. But I figured I could make it happen well enough to be structurally sound yet would need body filler to be pretty. Here's what a clean piece of 3003 aluminum welded to 50 year old cast pot metal looks like,

 

 

Not at all pretty but it holds quite well.

 

Then it was just a matter of tacking on little pieces at a time.

 

 

 

 

Then welded them out and ground down the excess of the beads.

 

 

 

I was planning on cutting in ducts like cruzin01 mentioned in the style of the 1970 mustangs. But there really isn't enough real estate to pull it off and look right in my opinion. For now, I'll let them be and when the fender flares and front spoiler are done I can get a better idea of what will look best.

[cruizin01]

Looks good. I think you pulled it off ok. I dont think anyone will ever notice.

[Mensan]

The headlight surrounds are cast from pot metal, a mixture of different metals that are easily cast into complex shapes but due to all the alloys mixed in, not considered weldable.

 

Reminds me of this conversation, 0:57 through 1:13

 

[Tinman]

Looks good. I think you pulled it off ok. I dont think anyone will ever notice.

 

Thanks!

 

Reminds me of this conversation, 0:57 through 1:13

 

 

Wow, nice movie reference. I've seen the film but didn't remember that exchange of dialogue.

[Otis Nice]

Reminds me of this conversation, 0:57 through 1:13

 

Perfect.

 

 

Love this build and can't wait to see if finished. HUGE kudos to you for all this work knowing what's going into it (the experience from our build has shown/taught me a lot).

 

I can not WAIT to see this thing "finished".

[Tinman]

"finished".

 

Lol. The automotive hobby needs a new word for "finished" as the projects never are by definition, finished.

 

Some good progress on the bumper. It's been widened and main brackets are done. Still need secondary brackets where it wraps around the fenders but those will come after the fender flares are done.

 

I cut two strips of 14ga. cold rolled steel the width needed for widening and a little longer than the stretchout of the bumper profile and broke them up in my bench vise with the handy little press brake jaws.

 

 

Back and forth to the profile template until good.

 

 

I didn't get any pictures of the main brackets, they are just simple angle iron with speed holes drilled in for a little weight savings.

 

I also tuned up the body lines on the fender extensions a little to match the fenders better.

 

 

 

And now that it is to this point, I'm probably going to change the fender extensions by moving the headlights outward which will mean scrapping these and starting over. But I'll do the fender flares and front spoiler first so I can look at the whole picture and go from there.

[Richard Cranium]

It's weird to me thinking about how nice the work is your doing will hide how much work it is. Everything is looking natural. I can see when this is done most people thinking this was easy to just drop the body onto the chassis. I guess that's the point though, to make it looks like it belongs that way. The trained eye will notice things wider than they should be or wondering why this line goes that direction.

 

Question. Now that the front end is wider than it was the A pillars look awkward to me sitting inboard of the front fenders. Just curious if that is in the plan to do something with them? Or is it just part of the plan and they stay where they are.

 

I'm still just baffled how you are making this look so easy, despite the fact I have some inkling how much work you're putting in.

[Tinman]

It's weird to me thinking about how nice the work is your doing will hide how much work it is. Everything is looking natural. I can see when this is done most people thinking this was easy to just drop the body onto the chassis. I guess that's the point though, to make it looks like it belongs that way. The trained eye will notice things wider than they should be or wondering why this line goes that direction.

 

Question. Now that the front end is wider than it was the A pillars look awkward to me sitting inboard of the front fenders. Just curious if that is in the plan to do something with them? Or is it just part of the plan and they stay where they are.

 

I'm still just baffled how you are making this look so easy, despite the fact I have some inkling how much work you're putting in.

 

Much thanks. I do want to keep the original lines as close as possible with two major exceptions, the wider overall body from the beltline down and the fender flares. The A pillars will stay where they are in a similar fashion to the 80s and 90s IMSA GTO and GTU cars.

 

But instead of the fenders covering the wheels I'm going with a half and half method. First half, widened body, second half, fender flares.

[Otis Nice]

Good points/input Rick and good follow up Matt.

 

Rick is right that the majority of folks that see this thing when finished will never fully understand all that went into it but also to his point you are doing it right for that very reason.

 

I can not WAIT to see this thing done.

[Tinman]

Had to revisit the radiator mounting as the Mustang body lent itself to the opportunity for some increased cooling capacity and more importantly, front aero downforce. The 1968 and 1967 Mustang GTs came with front turn signal indicators on/in the hood. I'm not sure if it was GT specific or an option, die hard Ford fans please chime in. I decided to mimic the body lines of the turn signal indicators but have the recessed areas dive much lower to evacuate the air that passes through the radiator upward through the hood instead of going through the engine bay and then under the car. This should help with both cooling and create some front end downforce or maybe better put, reduce front end lift.

 

 

In order to make this possible, I had to remount the radiator. Slightly higher and with a forward instead of backward lean. New lower mounts were made from 14ga. cold rolled steel and welded to the frame and the upper mounts relocated and connected to new tabs welded to the radiator with high temp rubber isolators.

 

 

Then it was time to slice some sheet metal. The flat, non GT hood that came with the shell turned out to be an issue as it seemed to have been stripped of it's e-coat, left to rust, and then covered with some crappy black paint of some sort. Instead of pitching it, I'm using it as prototype material for the heat extracting vents.

 

 

 

Yet another detail that will require more time and expense but I feel will be well worth the effort in the end.

[gillbot]

Badass

[zeitgeist57]

That's a clever use of cutouts already in the hood.

 

With a radiator/nose canted forward instead of backward, wouldn't that have a lifting effect on the front end at speed? Or will managing the volume of air through the radiator through those hood vents turn all that airflow into downforce over the front end?

[Tinman]

That's a clever use of cutouts already in the hood.

 

With a radiator/nose canted forward instead of backward, wouldn't that have a lifting effect on the front end at speed? Or will managing the volume of air through the radiator through those hood vents turn all that airflow into downforce over the front end?

 

Thanks.

 

If the air were to hit the radiator and deflect off of it, yes it would have a lifting effect. But if the air goes through the radiator and out of the hood, it should have the opposite effect.

 

I plan on fully ducting every bit of air entering the grill. Some to the brake rotors but most to the radiator and from the radiator, full ducts to the hood vents. I did something similar to my RX7 and the results were very noticeable, even to the point my co drivers felt the car was balanced too favorably to the front.

 

[Mensan]

I did something similar to my RX7 and the results were very noticeable, even to the point my co drivers felt the car was balanced too favorably to the front.

 

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking of as soon as I saw your post. I never saw the car after you added the sheetmetal like in your pic above. Make sure you have the clearance for everything mounted to the front of the engine.

[Tinman]

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking of as soon as I saw your post. I never saw the car after you added the sheetmetal like in your pic above. Make sure you have the clearance for everything mounted to the front of the engine.

 

Noted. Should be much easier in this case as the centerline of the engine is roughly where the hood meets the cowl.

[Otis Nice]

Man, every update gets me more and more excited about this build and I have absolutely no connection to it.

[Tinman]

Man, every update gets me more and more excited about this build and I have absolutely no connection to it.

 

Much thanks good sir.

[RS69]

Amazing work Matt!

[gillbot]

Best thread on CR!

[Tinman]

Much thanks gents.

 

It was time to revisit the rear bumper to make it flow better with the body lines. I had already done some of this when I widened it. I added 2 3/8" to the width of the bumper whereas the rear of the car is 3" wider. This helped a lot but it still needed to be made taller to come closer to the rear fender extensions. And the rear fender extensions needed a little trim.

 

 

I started with a couple of pieces of 14ga. formed to the profile of the bumper.

 

 

Added a V shaped cap and started on the welding and grinding.

 

 

More welding, fitting, and grinding to get it close enough for a skim coat of filler. The fender extensions will need filler as well as they did not take to welding very well at all.

 

 

[Tinman]

Relocated the ignition system to work with the hood vents. It was mounted to the same X brace but horizontally. By flipping it vertically, it gives the yet to be made ducts more room and will allow them to go nearly to the bottom of the radiator.

 

Just some simple pieces of 1/2" square tubing welded to the 1" round tube of the Howe X brace.

 

 

 

[Not Brian]

lmk if you ever need moral support. I live near you now.

[Tinman]

lmk if you ever need moral support. I live near you now.

 

Lol. Thanks. Cold snacks, aka, beer is currently supplying adequate moral support. Where are you currently located?