"Silver"     1968 Ford Mustang

Introduction / Overview: My '68 mustang coupe, certainly not a head turner yet, at least not in the way I'm hoping to achieve.  I bought this uber rusty 'stang in August 2010 for a mere $600.00 with the hopes of making it into something special.  The car is a New Jersey built 289 3 speed car that has all the original interior and drive train in it. The floors, front frame rails, trunk floor, and most all of the other metal has heavy rust damage, but for my purposes I figured I'd rather build from the ground up anyways.  I want Silver to be a fast, curve hugging, reliable and safe muscle car that is at home on the street as well as the track.  It is going to be reminiscent, yet not a tribute or clone, to the prototype Shelby Green Hornet test car of yesteryear. Hopefully when it's all finished I plan on touring it to some Car shows nationwide and then auctioning it off and a percentage of the proceeds will benefit a yet to be determined cause. I plan on building this entire car for under $10,000 out of pocket.

Drivetrain: I was initially intent on reusing the 289 that was original to the car, but due to the amount of power that I wanted and the stresses that will be put on the motor, I felt the 289 just wouldn't cut i. SO I decided to rebuild the 289 and sell it and the rebuilt three speed tranny to fund the car.  I had considered going with a big block, maybe a 390 or a 427, but I wanted to save weight and I wanted it to hold it's own on a road course. I decided to go with a 351w with a stroker kit to knock it out to a 427I'm hoping to get, and according to my engine guy it's possible, about 450 hp and at least 400 ft/lb of torque.I plan on topping it off with a gt-40 style Borla-TWM velocity stack EFI induction setup, I love the look ov stacks plus the benefits of EFI over Carbs. This beast will be backed by a beefy 5-speed tranny and a IRS setup, likely retrofitted from a Jag but I'm still exploring my options there as far as IRS setups.

Chassis: The front frame rails were shot when I bought the car and for the price to replace them with stock units I figured why not go with a full tube design that would tie the entire car together including a 10 point cage with removable door bars. Up front I'm going with a mustang II style independent front suspension wit non power rack and pinion. It's an old school racer after all I want as little power drain from the motor as possible, no power steering, no A/C and an electric water pump and electric fan setup. 4 wheel disc brakes, drilled and slotted rotors and I'm thing nice strong 4 piston caliper setup.I want this car to be fast, nimble and to stop on a dime. Also I want a safer fuel cell to round it all out.

Wheels and Tires: Style wise I'm not exactly sure where I'm gonna go with the wheels, I was thinking something like the old '66 AC Cobra or GT-40 style. I'd love to go wit some Magnesium racing wheels but the budget is limited and I;m saving that for my future '69 mustang convertible project, that is if I can ever find one at a reasonable price. I know I want an offset look like 18's out back and 17's up front with some wide tires, gotta have that traction.

Body & Paint: Given the name of the project, I wanna go with a dark, deep silver for the car nothing flashy just a very neat, and nice color with a bit of metal flake and depth to it.  For the body there are several mods that I want to incorporate. First the hood, I wanna go with a '68  Shelby style with the twin scoops and louvers but I want the fitment for a stock Mustang not the one that requires the Shelby nose extensions. I like the look and the functionality, I hate any non-functioning style cue, If it's there let it have a purpose. Some nice billet hood pins to hold down the hood as well.  Front end wise I want to incorporate a racing style front air dam with the stock bumpers tightened and fitted up to the body. All the lights up front will be upgraded to HID including two fog round fog lamps mounted in the center of the blacked out emblem-less grill. Out back I want to go with the Shelby style deck lid and extensions that are fiberglass and incorporate the built in spoiler lip. The lights out back will be upgraded to non sequential LED's retaining the stock look, no Shelby lights here. Now onto the surgical aspect of the build.  I like my coupe but certain body aspects just don't say "mean" like I want so I want to replace the rear quarters with those from a fastback, they're just a bit more muscular looking. I wanna delete all the side markers and emblems as well. The only emblem will be a "427" badge on the fenders. I like the idea of functioning brake cooling side scoops, but I always thought the Shelby scoops looked to "bolt on" for me.I want to make some custom sheet metal scoops that are incorporated into and that compliment the body lines and style. I also want them to be functional. That is going to be a difficult task, my idea is to use exhaust tubing and make a solid intake system that will be not only functional but aesthetically pleasing so the cool air can be routed to the inboard brakes on the Jaguar IRS setup. Difficult because I want to be able to use the rear seat as well. I want to use some bullet mirrors on the outside of the car, something that screams muscle car not sure on the exact mirrors yet. Lets see, small details...I am going to tuck in the rear bumper as well and use a billet gas fill.

Interioir: The interior is going to be pretty simple and classic, I like the look of the stock upholstery , for the front seats I want that style put onto some racier more supportive seats good for taking corners and racing, without sacrificing too much in comfort. the rear seat will be stock, the only change is instead of vinyl, leather will be abundant. New after market gauges and a quick release steering wheel with both a nice wood grain street wheel and a grippier safer track wheel. I want to bring some of the outside silver into the car as well. the roll cage I want to incorporate int the interior. all topped off with a nice, but not over the top audio system that will incorporate an Ipod connection and CD player. In the trunk will be the battery, for better weight distribution as well as a designated storage place for both the removable door bars and steering wheel. Overall the trunk will be simple and clean.

Lifestyles: Builder, Build-It, Drive-It, Muscle Cars, Classics, Club Racer