Just an introductory post.

Probably picking up a 1966 Mustang this weekend. It's going to be a "first car" restoration project with my 12-year old daughter. I've rebuilt several things in the past, including several Trail 70s, Ski Whiz snowmobiles, a Subaru Outback, and an Eagle Talon.

This will be my first Mustang rebuild. I like the 69-70 Mach 1s, but she likes the 66 style so that's what we're going with.

I'm planning on a few safety things like a disc brake conversion, and looking in to safer front seats and seatbelts. I know some purists will hate that, but this is for a teenager so I'm looking at what we can do for safety and reliability, while still keeping the classic essence of it. Beyond that I have no idea what the build is going to consist of.

The car was an I6, but had a 289 swap. I need to look if that was done right, I've seen torque boxes mentioned, but haven't figured out what they are yet. I think the car has sat for 15 years. The guy said he dropped gas down the carb and ran it for 15 seconds the other night, I wish he hadn't done that. The jets are probably clogged at this point.

I hope I can get a lot of use out of the forum for the rebuild.

 

Well i'll be the first to chime in: Torque boxes are a triangular-ish shaped bit of sheet metal right infront of the firewall on both sides (immediately infront of your left foot if you're the driver). It's shaped such that one flat side of the torque box faces down.
*googles a diagram*
Torque box:


Someone installing a torque box:


As far as disc brakes, consider a lincoln versailles rear axle swap for rear. Front there is a factory option.

Welcome to the forum!

-Kirk

 

Sounds like fun, if you can work on cars you should be fine everything else is learned on the way. I dont know if CO cars get rust just make sure the car is pretty rust free being im sure you dont want to get into big money to pay someone to do work like that.

 

+1 on the rust. I would not worry about torque boxes, 66 coupes did not have them. I also doubt any purist would disagree with adding the safety additions (not that it probably matters).
I am jealous, my son is 9 and I cant wait to do the same thing with him. My grandfather had a 67 Camaro that my father sold after he passed, and I was trying to locate that and rebuild it.

 

Great project! I recently started a restomod on a '65 coupe as a father/son project. As a special bonus my 9 yo daughter has really taken to the project too and spends more time on it than my son does! What a great way to spend time with your daughter, she will cherish it forever! Good luck and enjoy every second!!

 

The main thing between the inline 6 and v8 cars is the suspension steering and rear end.The easy way to tell if it was done right is the lug nuts a inline 6 car has 4 lug a v8 one is 5 lug.Its a 4 lug its gonna need a lot of work to make it safe to drive but can be done.On the seats you can buy a kit to add head rest or a kit that adds head rest and new foam making the factory ones look like a sport seat,Or you can buy some from procar that bolt in.Seat belts they sell a few 3 point kits you can use but one thing you might not know it don't have a collapsible steering column they started in 67 but can be added too.

 

Thanks for all the responses! So torque boxes aren't a big deal? The little reading I'd done so far mentioned frame flex when someone did a V8 swap?

The car is here:

http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/3354598878.html

The rust doesn't look too bad from the pictures. The rear quarter panel definitely has some. The guy mentioned the floor pans are in good shape without rust.

The project I'd like to end up doing is something like this one:

http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/3363488369.html

I'm comfortable with the mechanical work. My wife's Outback I found in a driveway. It's engine was in pieces in a box in the back. Someone I managed to get that back together. I've also done more clutches than I ever want to admit. I'm not so comfortable with body work though beyond taking things apart and repainting them, that worries me a little on an older car.

I'm really looking forward to the project.

 

Thanks for that info. Looks like 5 lugnuts in the rear. The owner did say it had a 4 inch rear end, so that's good.

 

That is a great site! I saw the information is very usefule!

 

I don't know what he means by a 4 inch rear end,But the inline 6 used a 7.5 but the car has a 5 lug rear end so its a 8 inch or maybe a 9 inch both look the same but the easy way to tell is try putting a socket on the lowest 3rd member bolt to the ground on the rear end.If the socket goes on its a 8 inch if you can't get a socket on it its a 9 inch.The front end you will need to change out the spindles but swapping to disc like you want gives you opinions on spindles.The rest is springs and the steering linkage but that would get replaced any way because of its age.Your wallet is the only real factor on how mild or wild you can build a early mustang.