great looking machine!

if my car were that original i'd go with the dual bowl mc as a safety upgradebut not necessarily the discs. Most of the basic disc kits availabledont stop any better than well maintained drums in an emergency one-stop situation.they just take longer to start fading after repeated applications (like attacking a canyon road). you have to adjust your driving style with an older car regardless.

 

Looks great, congrats! I'd invest in some tire black, it'll really make your car pop and match that great paint.

 

I read an articale that said if you are rear ended at over 50mph there is a chance the gas tank could rupture sending fuel into the interior. If I am rear ended at 50mph that may be the last thing I worry about.

In spite of this I did add the metal plate. I think I got it from NPD for about $35 plus oversized shipping fee. Remove the back seat, remove the felt liner that came stock. I installed mine with self tapping sheetmetal screws and caulked the edges for a nice seal. Mine was a perfect fit with no trimming required. Total time about an hour.

Will it work in a crash, I don't know and hopefully I'll never have to find out.

 

By the way: Great looking car Nev. Welcome and I'm sure you'll have fun with it.

 

Yes. There is an aftermarket modification plate available that bolts in place behind the rear seat. The plate is intended to help prevent fuel from sloshing onto rear seat passengers in the event of a rear end collision.

My thoughts.... If the rear end impact has enough force to crush/rupture the fuel tank.... why will the impact not also dislodge the bolted-in aftermarket plate? I believe the plateprovides a false sense of security, but little else. If you really want safety, replace the factory baffle-less fuel tank with an approved fuel "cell".

But then where do you stop? Compared to modern vehicles, these old Mustangs are death-traps. The list of safety upgrades is enormous and most of the important ones aren't even feasible (airbags, crush zones, etc.).

My best advice is to make some reasonable adjustments to the vehicle to bring the safety standards up.A brake system with a dual bowl master cylinderis at the top of the list. When the new master cylinder is installed,also replace every brake line on the car. Visually, brake lines will ALWAYS look to be in great condition.... this is because they corrode from the inside-out.Ford engineers never intended for the soft metal 3/16th inch factory brake lines to last over 40 years. It's very simple and cheap to install new lines.

I agree with the previous comment about front disc brakes not being a neccessity. Properly adjusted serviceable front drum brakes will stop the car okay, they'll just have a hard time doing it repeatedly without the time to cool down between hard braking. As long as you learn your cars limitations and drive accordingly, everything should be fine.

Dave