1978 Mustang II

rusty428cj

Rusty Gillis
I took this in trade a few years ago toward some of the labor on restoring a Mustang. This is what we are starting with. The hood scoop has to go.







 
I always liked the body style, maybe the front bumper needs a little tuck, but I can see it SPI red, with a stroked small block, and a face plated top loader...
 
xjunkie;36415 said:
I always liked the body style, maybe the front bumper needs a little tuck, but I can see it SPI red, with a stroked small block, and a face plated top loader...

No 4 speed may left knee can't take it. I'm thinking something different for me and not red.
 
I'm not sure what they were thinking or what they used to cut this hole in the hood.



After Brian worked on it

 
rusty428cj;36426 said:
No 4 speed may left knee can't take it. I'm thinking something different for me and not red.

Coyote ? Or, I wonder how long before the new Mustang EcoBoost motors will be available in crate form. That would be cool!
 
Raymond_B;36434 said:
Coyote ? Or, I wonder how long before the new Mustang EcoBoost motors will be available in crate form. That would be cool!

Yes it would but this is a budget build in a very short time.
 
You going to "fix" the bumpers that appear to be for RailRoad usage, lol.
 
Body looks descent from the pictures. You selling it or daily driver?
 
Senile Old Fart;36494 said:
You going to "fix" the bumpers that appear to be for RailRoad usage, lol.

I have new tucked fiberglass bumbers

- - - Updated - - -

Joe's Notchback;36499 said:
Body looks descent from the pictures. You selling it or daily driver?

I plan on making it a daily driver but if somebody wanted it bad enough I would sell it.
 
The hood was sanded down to bare metal and all the old scoop holes welded.



It looked good before it was primed but it needs a lot of work



After a little block sanding and bodywork





I plan on using the Mach 1 scoop and once that comes in I will bolt it on and finish the bodywork. At this time the hood is low in front of the hole but the scoop should draw that up.
 
When I was in high school, I saved up a 1000 dollars from my first job. A girl I worked with had one of these that was white and said cobra down the sides in blue. I remember it had the snake on the fender. It was an awesome car. Dad said it was too much for a 16 year old kid. At the time I thought he was crazy, looking back he was right. I ended up with his new chevette, but I always wanted that car.
 
The only Mustang II I ever liked was the Roush and Gapp built "Sudden Death" car. I read Baskervilles article in Hot Rod about 200 times, it was great!

2103.jpg
 
Doing body work on these makes me cringe. Great work so far as usual ! I remember that Roush and Gapp car, ya it was great.
 
This must be a common rust problem with the design of the Mustang II fender brace. We had a lot of rust on one side but removed both and sandblasted them.



Starting to fabricate a new piece



After Brian finished he epoxy primed and fit it back on the fender and marked where he drilled out the factory spot welds. Next he will sand those spots to bare metal so he can weld.



Clamped in place ready to weld





Welds ground down and ready for epoxy primer.

 
The fenders were sanded to bare metal

Two coats of SPI black epoxy

Bodywork

One coat of epoxy for a sealer

Two coats of SPI Turbo primer
 
Ouch! Looks like one screw and bondo held it in place or just bondo?
 
Rusty,

I know this is a budget build daily driver but if you have to pull the tank, wouldn't that be a great time to install an in-tank pump to go with a reliable/tunable EFI?

I found a site that is selling FAST EZ EFI multi-port systems for less than $2,600 (http://www.efisupply.com/fast_ez_efi.htm). This is not the carb swap system. It includes "Billet throttle body w/ IAC and TPS, Multiport EFI manifold, fuel injectors, fuel rails, fuel pump/regulator system, EZ EFI ECU & programmer, Multiport EFI harness, Wideband O2 sensor, MAP, air temp and coolant temp sensors."
ezefi_mp_system.jpg
 
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