My 67 coupe, where do I start?

John Z · 03-26-2000, 09:15 PM

Developing a plan is always a pain, but the only way to avoid costly mistakes. The first step in the plan is determining what you will use the car for. If your going to continue daily driving status, then you do not need max power and super wide tires. My plans include a head turner reliable driver that is somewhat "better" than Ford produced in 67.
Start with rust repair. No sense in putting a killer motor in a car only to find out that the body is shot. Check out Steph Roberts page http://home.pacifier.com/~dnstoys/mustang.htm
She upgraded the motor, transmission, seats, and seat belts only to find out that the car required more body work than she was willing to take on. When any rust repairs are complete, I would consider putting on a cheap paint job to protect the body until other work is done.
Once you have the car rust free, the frist serious upgrade I would make is to convert to at least front disks (I do not think rear disks are worth the cost for a street machine.) I would then turn to the drive train. I would start with the rear end, the standard 8" that came with V8's is probably ok for the street, but I would look at changing gears, something in the 3.50 range, and adding powertrack if the car doesn't have it. Next, I would think about upgrading the transmission, AOD for auto, or a 5 speed for manual. Gotta love the over drive gear with today's gas prices. Then I'd modify the motor or replace with a 5.0 (there are a lot of 351 fans out there and that is great for them, I'm not going there.) When doing the motor, make sure to build the bottom end to handle your plans for the top end. For the top of the motor, I would look at after market heads matched with the intake manifold, cam, carb and headers (Tri Y's are in my future.) Also look into electronic ignition. Once the motor is sound, throw on a dress up kit to suit your taste. To me the drive train is the key to the mod part of resto mod.
I would then turn to the body, and finally the interior. But if your following this plan and have limited funds, you have a couple of years before you will get to this point.

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03-26-2000, 09:15 PM	#4
John Z Registered Member Join Date: Feb 1999 Posts: 102	Developing a plan is always a pain, but the only way to avoid costly mistakes. The first step in the plan is determining what you will use the car for. If your going to continue daily driving status, then you do not need max power and super wide tires. My plans include a head turner reliable driver that is somewhat "better" than Ford produced in 67. Start with rust repair. No sense in putting a killer motor in a car only to find out that the body is shot. Check out Steph Roberts page http://home.pacifier.com/~dnstoys/mustang.htm She upgraded the motor, transmission, seats, and seat belts only to find out that the car required more body work than she was willing to take on. When any rust repairs are complete, I would consider putting on a cheap paint job to protect the body until other work is done. Once you have the car rust free, the frist serious upgrade I would make is to convert to at least front disks (I do not think rear disks are worth the cost for a street machine.) I would then turn to the drive train. I would start with the rear end, the standard 8" that came with V8's is probably ok for the street, but I would look at changing gears, something in the 3.50 range, and adding powertrack if the car doesn't have it. Next, I would think about upgrading the transmission, AOD for auto, or a 5 speed for manual. Gotta love the over drive gear with today's gas prices. Then I'd modify the motor or replace with a 5.0 (there are a lot of 351 fans out there and that is great for them, I'm not going there.) When doing the motor, make sure to build the bottom end to handle your plans for the top end. For the top of the motor, I would look at after market heads matched with the intake manifold, cam, carb and headers (Tri Y's are in my future.) Also look into electronic ignition. Once the motor is sound, throw on a dress up kit to suit your taste. To me the drive train is the key to the mod part of resto mod. I would then turn to the body, and finally the interior. But if your following this plan and have limited funds, you have a couple of years before you will get to this point.