Subj : Re: Anyone seen/connected to...
To   : Accession
From : esc
Date : Mon Dec 04 2023 22:44:42

 Ac> I meant that on a wider scope, I guess. 'Street' can still be ran on the
 Ac> strip, but my version of "drag" meant not street legal. ;)

The cool thing about a vintage car is there are very few rules. For the most part, you can do what you want. I think the exception is wheel/tire width...I could be wrong. *shrug*

The thing that would make a strip car not work on the street is driveability, really. My car is sometimes frustrating when going over a bump while accelerating and your foot bounces on the throttle a bit, the car will buck and the wheels sometimes will chirp out a bit. Imagine having like a 900hp hemi. It would be insane :P

....in a good way. hehe.

 Ac> Did you build it from scratch or buy it already built? I think I saw a
 Ac> couple pictures in the past over there while scrolling on that there
 Ac> social media thing.

I bought a basic stock 68 Mustang with a 289 and an automatic trans. The bodywork and paint was done, and was new, and it was in creampuff status as far as that goes. To me, the body/paint is the hard part, the mechanical stuff is pretty straightforward.

<gearhead alert>

When I got the car, the first thing I did was new wheels and brakes, discs all around, hydraulic booster, dual master, and electric vacuum. Then I did the rest of the suspension - every suspension component is brand new and "modern technology" to fix a lot of the vintage geometry issues. This includes things like a panhard bar in the rear, bigger sway bars, etc. I also welded in subframe connectors to completely box the front and rear frame rails.

Next, the engine and trans came out, as did the gas tank. Then the wiring got ripped out. Installed all new wiring (modern tech, not just replacing the vintage with OEM style). Installed all new lights with LEDs to make night driving actually safe. Bought a 351 Windsor iron Ford block and had it built into a 427 from a shop that specializes in NASCAR stuff. It's an old block but has high flow aluminum heads, EFI, and some other niceties from the modern era. I also yanked the power steering and replaced it with electric power steering like a modern car, simply because hydraulic power steering requires so much upkeep and is always leaky as hell, and I just didn't want to deal with it.

I also added an air conditioner and swapped the trans to a brand new TREMEC TKX (it's a beefed up TKO trans that's made to fit in vintage cars without having to hammer out the trans tunnel - it fits perfectly).

I'm sure I am forgetting a lot...9" Currie rear with posi...some other stuff I'm sure.

But yeah, essentially, I bought the car considering it as a nice rolling shell and built it completely.

Now I live in SoCal and can take it out basically any day of the year for a cruise down the PCH. Life ain't bad ;)

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