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Dan's 65 Fastback - RestoMod build

122K views 678 replies 82 participants last post by  Dan Babb 
#1 · (Edited)
I find myself hanging out here a lot more lately, so figured I'd put up a build thread.

This is a C code that was born on May 13, 1965.

My car might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I wanted a car that I will drive a lot, so it's getting a number of modern updates. Since I'd have to buy everything anyway, I figured I'd go a bit better than stock.

My Plan:
Go to go with a GT350 look for the car. Not 100% sure on the color yet...I know that all the GT350's in 65 were white, but I might stray from that.

Here's what I started with:




Since this picture was taken, I improved the fit of the seat risers and welded them in place. I did a trial fit with the ratty stock seat and I have plenty of head-room, so I didn't need to shorten them.




Here's the plan for parts I'm going to be using (most of them ordered already).

Front Suspension:
Control Freak Coil-Over setup in front
TCP Power Steering Rack with Ididit column
CSRP 1.5" drop spindles
Wilwood 6 piston front brakes

Rear Suspension:
Control Freak Rear 4 link
Ford 9" with 3.55 gears
Wilwood rear disc brakes setup

Interior:
Going to go with something like a Procar Elite or maybe a modern mustang seat. Might even try to find a reasonably price set of seats for a 911 (wouldn't mind having the power & heat features...need to measure the ones in my car and see if they'd fit).

Rear seat delete (going to use the Shelby tray from Cobra Auto)

Shelby style roll bar...mostly for a place to mount a racing harness and give it the shelby look. Bought it from Tommy already (see this thread for details: http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/v...shelby-rollbar-removeable-cross-bar-pics.html )

Will install AC/Heat...still undecided, but leaning towards Vintage Air (had on it my 68 Camaro and it worked well). But open to suggestions. I don't really want the vintage looking - big box in front of the shifter unit for the car, but I think Classic Auto Air has a hidden unit too. Have plenty of time before I need to decide.

Body:
No major changes. Going to use the front "R" valence from Branda that allows me to also run a front bumper. I think that gives the car a more aggressive look (without going full race look).

Wheels:
For now, planning on using the 17" Cragar Eliminator wheels (with gray centers). Those look a lot like what came on the GT350's...but I need bigger wheels for the larger front brakes and I want the performance you get from a 17" tire. I have 15's on my Cobra and you can definitely feel a difference between when I run those and my 17" auto-cross wheels.


Where I'm at now:
I ordered the front torque boxes and will work on getting them installed this weekend. Then I'll work on some welding of the shock towers and any other spots that need it. Suspension parts should start showing up next week, so then I'll focus on making it a roller.

Might just try to get some crappy donuts so I can roll it up onto my lift so I can seal the underside and put some bedliner on the bottom. I know some people think bedliner was used to hide crappy repairs/rust, so I'll take a ton of pictures to show I wasn't covering up anything. I know I'll drive the car a lot and want something more durable than just paint on the bottom.
 
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#336 ·
As I get tired/frustrated with working on one end of the car, I move to the other end. It's a never ending back/front/back process.

I spent some more time on the bumper to get the gaps even on both sides. Just barely a paint stick width along the top edge...a bit tighter on the side...so I will probably do a bit more so it's even all around.






After seeing some pics on facebook of cars done by Rusty, I decided to bond my quarter extensions. That solved the crappy gaps I was getting when I tried using the rubber seal. :)
The pictures above look good, but that's without the seal and the extensions right up against the quarter (wouldn't be good for the paint).

Without the rubber seal or rubber washers on the posts, the gap was real tight...some you couldn't get a sheet of 20 gauge in...so I think the panel adhesive will do a good job and not crack. I used a flexible spreader to see how the gap looks and it will require very little all metal filler to smooth it out.





Purists won't like it - but it's my car. :)

I think it will fit the look I have going on with the tight fit bumper that will be painted body color (white).
 
#337 ·
Dan, the gaps are looking good. Make yourself happy with the end result as you know it is impossible to make everyone happy.

I gave up worrying about the purists almost from the start when I went with a Coyote plus 6R80 AT. My FFR was not from the standard carbureted SBF mold either, 4.6L 4-cam with 5-speed, so I guess I am just a rebel.

Looking at all your detail work shows me what I am in for next year. I thank you and others that are willing to take the time to improve on what the factory gave us.
 
#338 ·
innovative

Purists won't like it - but it's my car. :)

I think it will fit the look I have going on with the tight fit bumper that will be painted body color (white).[/QUOTE]

Now it has me thinking that I should just get some fiberglass and make a quarter extension\rear bumper combo......sort of a reverse Shelby front....keep the ideas coming Dan, I have unlimited time to dream..
 
#339 ·
Now it has me thinking that I should just get some fiberglass and make a quarter extension\rear bumper combo......sort of a reverse Shelby front....keep the ideas coming Dan, I have unlimited time to dream..
That's a really cool idea. Bolt everything together...bond a fiberglass bumper to the quarter extensions and smooth it all out...then take it off the car and use it for a mold. The original body holes could be used to bolt it up to the car. I've never built a mold before though, so I'm not going to do it...I'll be happy just to get the current setup to look good.
 
#340 ·
Dan,

I've been following your build for a few years. Really like what you have done so far and we seem to be running a similar build style - you're a few years ahead of me and making great progress.

We even share similar taste in the other cars in the stable. My '66 sits next to my Cobra replica as well.

Keep the ideas coming - the rear quarter extension and bumper feature is a winner. I have one of the extensions at work and am going to try to replicate out of sheetmetal and weld into the car.

Jeff
 
#341 ·
Down side of bonding everything together, is constant expansion and contraction. You will always see line. Now for making the end caps and bumper one piece, another bad idea, you loose all adjustments in the end caps. People have more trouble getting end caps to fit than any other part. You need to be able to move them individually.
 
#342 ·
mustangstofear Now for making the end caps and bumper one piece said:
Yeah, just random synapses firing, not something I’m planning. Of course now I’m wondering what chrome caps would look like with the bumper? Maybe I just need a cup of coffee.
 
#345 ·
I’m calling the bumper gaps done. Still have to do some finish filling and sanding on the bumper and end caps.







I still don’t know how guys do this for a living without going insane over all the details.




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#346 ·
I still don’t know how guys do this for a living without going insane over all the details.

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Dan, only the guys who get the big bucks will do the quality work you are doing. They get paid well enough to pay for the required therapy.
 
#350 ·
The passenger side fender has been kicking my butt for a while. Seems like every time I take it off, it doesn't want to go back into the same spot without a lot of persuasion. That has me worried because I don't want to have to fight to get it back on when it's painted.

If I try to get the door to fender gap looking good, then I can't get it to fit easily to the front valance. If I do the front section first, then the rear gap looks horrible. This is about as good as I can get it.

The hood gap is really close. A paint stick slides in...doesn't wiggle, but it drops in easily. Is that what you go for? Just barely fitting the stick in or easily dropping it in? The driver side is a tight paint stick fit that's noticeably different, but I guess I can open that end up so it's even.




I'll need to break out the welder and tig rod to close up this gap. I can't get it back any further because the top rear edge hits the window opening.



And speaking of the top edge, the curve at the top of the door doesn't match up with the curve in the fender. I can't bring the door up...then the body lines won't match. If you look at the top of the door/fender in the first picture, you can kinda see how the door curve is higher...I'll try to get a better shot today. I guess I can try to figure out how to bend the fender to raise the curve, but not sure how to get that done without screwing it up.



Any fender fitting tips?
I followed steps I found on some youtube videos, but I guess my aftermarket parts just aren't playing nice together.
 
#352 ·
Any fender fitting tips?

Yes, find some used original fenders!


I started with a pair of repops on my '65 Fastback and nothing lined up. After a lot of cutting, trimming and welding by my body man I said baloney and found 2 used originals. They required some work but the difference in fit was amazing. Especially up front where the headlight doors attach. The repops weren't even close there.
 
#351 ·
I had a heck of a gap at the top of my repop doors and the fender and had to close it up with some weld. Ended up doing some fine tuning, and will probably have to do some more, with a variety of tools. My favorite for gently shaping an edge out is a spoon Long Curved Spoon Martin Tools1054
 
#354 ·
Looked online and didn't really find any original parts near me, so I spent Father's Day welding on the fender to close up the gap. Still have a lot more finish work to do, but the gaps are closer.

The transition from fender to door is all screwed up. Door high on the top of the fender...fender high on the middle...ok at the bottom. Holding up a straight edge along the upper door body line and it looks like the leading edge of the door is bent in there, so I'll do some hammer/dolly/bending on the edge to straighten it out...then it won't need much filler.



Door out at the top


Fender out in the middle...you can kinda see how the door edge turns in a bit.


Alignment good at the lower fender line/crease.
 
#355 ·
Man you guys that do this nth detail work are amazing! I'm more into down and dirty; does it run? Do the doors close? Will it smoke your opponent? If the answer is HELL YES!, well, I'm ready to party! I'd go nuts trying to find the level of perfection you seem to do with ease.
 
#356 ·
...you seem to do with ease.
Brad (4ocious) will tell you that it's not with ease...it's a sickness. I'm driving myself nuts on crap that most people won't notice. I ask him to come over and see if he can spot the problems without me telling him more than "look at this area...what do you see" just to make sure someone else can look with a critical eye and the perceived trouble spots don't stand out to him as much as it does to me. Then when I show him the 'bad spot', he gives me the "come on man...call that spot done already" line.


But the obvious discrepancies at the body lines and panel transitions have to be pretty good or I'll hate how the car looks and probably won't drive it.
 
#360 ·
WOW! Really got me wanting to jump back on mine. Soon as this knee is back in service got a lot of catching up.
 
#361 ·
Still working on fender and door gaps/alignment.

Getting pretty close to calling it done. My plan is to get it to 90% and let the body shop worry about the last 10%. They'll knock out that 10% in a day and it will take me weeks.

After doing some welding/grinding/sanding, I put some primer on so it's all one color and I can see how the gap looks.







Have more work to do on the driver side door, so I'll tackle that soon. Then I need to do some filing of the bolt holes for the taillight buckets so they slide in. After that, I think I'm about ready to get some lizard skin sprayed inside and put a coating under the car (was going to use lizard skin for that too...but will do more research first) and I should be ready for it to go to a body shop
 
#362 ·
Progress on the driver side door gap. Still have some grinding to do, but I think I’m getting good at this part.

Anyone looking to hire Door Gap Dan? I don’t like this work, so I won’t come cheap. :)





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#374 ·
I might hire you! Been working on mine, they look ok, seems like I could work on them forever and never be satisfied.

I plan to paint the car myself and reassemble it after. I'm trying to think of a way to get the doors back in the same spot after everything is painted. Seems like a potential daunting task with everything finished painted.

You have any thoughts on that? Leave the hinges on the car? On the door? One on the car, and one the door?


Progress on the driver side door gap. Still have some grinding to do, but I think I’m getting good at this part.

Anyone looking to hire Door Gap Dan? I don’t like this work, so I won’t come cheap. :)





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#365 ·
Not much to report.
Going to use corvette filter regulator to manage fuel pressure for my efi setup, and mount it back by the tank (nice short return line).

Couldn’t find an aftermarket bracket that would match the curve of the trunk floor, so I made one. I had an extra rear torque box in my bin, so I cut that up and made it. The filter will be held in place with a hose clamp.

Got to put the engine back in the car so I can make sure my fuel lines don’t get too close to the headers since I want to run it up the firewall.

Sometimes when I get down on the project, it helps to do something like this to get back in the mood to get back at it.









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#368 ·
I had a short section of 2” od roll bar tube so I used that and beat on it with a hammer to get it close. Then opened up the curve a bit so the 2 1/4” filter would fit. Did the same thing on the other end to get the curve right to match the floor.

All the wrong tools, so it was a PITA but it came out fine



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