68 Mustang on a Crown Vic chassis

I raced the car all summer making small improvements but mostly afraid to do too much for fear of not getting it back together in time for the next event. The suspension is pretty well tuned now and several experienced autocrossers have mentioned how well behaved it is out on the track. The car is still faster than I am that is fir sure! So now that winter had set in I have been doing more serious mods. I have moved the main electrical fuse block to the trunk beside the battery where it belongs! This involved major wiring rerouting but surprisingly only 6 wires had to be lengthened! I think I took 10 lbs off the nose and seriously cleaned up the front end. Also I have started bodywork in preparation for paint. I have shaved off the drip rails and am working on flush fitting the windshield. Other than that I'm stuck doing a restoration on a classic Mustang.  New weatherstrip , glass, chrome, etc.

Geofordman said:

The picture I drew in 1987...

Is your paint scheme going to follow this? 

Also, Stick Shift conversion is going to be the crowning touch.

It totally needs a 3rd pedal! I am planning a paint scheme like this:

In reply to Geofordman :

Sweet! I have tons of pictures saved of that car if you need any close-ups. 

YES YES YES YES YES!!! I've been scheming up something like this ever since I slid a 2005 CV frame under my F100. If these things had a little narrower track width I'd be jamming them under literally everything.

As I have been taking the Mustang apart for bodywork and paint I've been able to stare at some odd bits.  Some revelations are coming to me. The trunk area is one of the hardest areas to meld the two cars.  They simply don't mix well the way I did it. I think when I do the Cougar I'm going to cut the whole wheelwell out of the Vic and use the inner and outer wheelwell from the older car ( if they're not too rusty) . I would cut straight back from the Mustang/ Cougar wheelwell all the way to the back of the gas tank area leaving the whole trunk perimeter in place including the trunk drops, but removing the Mustang rear frame rails. I would also cut the Mustang floor around the front of the wheelwells This would save a ton of fabbing . If you look at  the picture you can see how the Vic frame misses the trunk drops like they were made for each other. Also my calculations suggest that the Mustang trunk floor will sit just above the Vic frame. I will leave the Vic gas tank and chunk of floor that supports it in place and trim it so the Mustang wheelwell slides down beside it making it easy to join together.  The Mustang is 45 inches wide here and the Vic is about 48. Look at the Mustang trunk hinge supports to see the difference and you can visualize how this would work.  Doing it this way would also save all the persnickety cutting above the wheelwell. Keep the Vic floor but Mustang wheelhouses.
Also one of the pics shows how wide the Vic floor is( when cut at the inside edge of the rockers) compared to the Mustang floor and how you can keep the outside of the original Mustang rockers. I will fold this area up and weld it together for strength. Note in the last pic that I have moved the main fuse box from the right front corner of the car to the trunk area. I can't remember if I covered that here yet....

So its been awhile since I posted anything,  starting your own business does that! Also the Mustang has been stuck in paint purgatory for way to long because I'm a very slow body man! I was going to do it DA sander good enough and then started blocking and blocking and blocking! As my body man friend says: looks good! Keep sanding! But today! I! Well...

.

Looks great so far, I have a few friends who keep reminding me that "Perfection is the enemy of completion and a running car is more fun than an unfinished project."

Sean

Dang! You really are going for those graphics? Please, please, please. They are so rad.

In reply to Appleseed :

Yes I am! Those stripes are a pain to lay out, but that's what I'm going to do!  

In reply to Geofordman :

Nice.

So then this happened! And in keeping with the I did it all by myself theme,  I painted it myself. And I have no one to blame for the runs but me! Lol. Actually I got 2 runs in it and I can sand them out as they'll be under the stripes. Seriously jubilant right now! Whoo hoo! 

SWEET!

It's so nice to be building something they actually make parts for! New shiney parts...

When you're feeling overwhelmed and desperate ask for help! Call your friends.  Call a professional! All you have to do is ask! My friends came to my rescue! I phoned my Upholstery guy Mike and he dropped everything to come help because I booked the car in to get the glass installed and realized the headliner needed to go in first. He got the job done will I worked my regular job.  Also my friend Jay sprayed the fenders and doors the same day! These things would have taken me a week and a half to get done in my spare time.  POOF! 1 Day! Huge progress.  I'm so thankful so what if it cost me $500 between them.  That much progress! Priceless!

superb job. I love budget builds. Crown vic looks like a great base, i can see the prices of them going up once people see this

Juicy!

Teasers!

Fantastic!

Oh my. That is FABULOUS!!!!

i love it!

Wait for it...........

I was up till midnight and I still don't have all the details finished.  But I raced it anyway!