Barry

Yes. We'll be fitting wider wheels on the back and possibly skinnier wheels on the front. No power steering.

At a guess, maybe around 700kg. It's supposed to be 275bhp standard so we're talking 390bhp per tonne. It will be properly fast in a straight line. Good for showing up Mustangs and Camaros and a lot of other stuff up at the traffic lights but the handling won't be great. It's an 80 year old suspension design. There may be a chance that I'll have to raise the chassis up an inch and add some shock absorbers but we'll see what happens. I have a feeling that when there's a load on, that chassis is going to touch the differential.

And I might use black for the positive just to add to the confusion. In all seriousness though, it’s all I could lay my hands on. Terminals are stamped + and -. If anyone is stupid enough to mix them up, they probably deserve what’s coming.

Removed the rear bed. The plan is to extend the chassis and fabricate a longer bed. May also extend the wheelbase. We’ll see.

You mean like this?

A bit more fabrication today. I added some uprights and a top onto the battery tray I made to create a battery box. Don’t worry about the picture, it’s just tacked up for a trial fit. It was properly welded after. The hole I originally cut in the floor was a bit small so I cut it a bit more. The great thing about projects like this is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. You can cut, hack and weld things until they fit. Next I drilled and tapped a hole in the chassis as my main earth point. I also need to make a chassis to engine earth but I didn’t have enough terminals so I’ll do it later. I didn’t have a grommet for the earth wire to come through the floor so I just siliconed around it with some black neutral silicon. I know it’s the earth wire and it doesn’t really matter if it rubs through as it won’t short circuit but it might rub through and cut to the point where the wire heats up when starting so I put the silicon to stop rubbing. I already made the earth wire and there’s no point having to make another later because of cutting corners. Battery in, connected and clamped down. Ill make a lid for the box at a later date. You never know when something will roll under the seat and short it out. I don’t know why the pictures aren’t coming out in the order I posted them. @Carnity

If you know the part numbers it’s easier then you can just type them into the search engine. Ask the dealer for a printed quotation or get them to email it to you and that should get you the part numbers.

At the minute I’m doing all the work myself and to be honest, I like it. It’s very therapeutic. Ive had a change of plan. Because there are no pedals in this car, I don’t know where the seat is going to end up so my original planned mounting position might not work. I’d rather just do it right the first time rather than lose half a day later on down the line. So, I’m going to put the battery underneath the cab. I’ve cut an appropriately sized hole in the floor and it looks like it will work. I’ll use the original battery tray I made but I’ll modify it and weld a few bits onto it to suit. I have a few big jobs coming up with my day job so I’m trying to get as much done as possible when I have a bit of free time.

eBay if you don’t mind waiting.

Had a bit of free time on my hands today so I decided to knock up a battery tray out of some scrap 24mm angle that was lying around. Henry Ford would probably be turning in his grave if he knew I was measuring an American car in metric units. First thing I did was mark out the steel so I could cut 90 degree angles out to enable me to fold it into a rectangle. Note the safety glasses beside the grinder. You only get one pair of eyes. After folding I welded up the corners to make it solid. I drilled a couple of holes in it so I could fit the clamp. It’s a cheap universal clamp so I had to drill a few holes and make a couple of cuts to make it fit. The plan is to mount it on the floor behind the drivers seat. I still have to think how I’ll attach it. Maybe if I can find some nice countersunk screws lying around. I also have to paint it and find a piece of rubber to put in the bottom. If I have nothing suitable lying around, I’ll use some plywood.

Battery protector is overkill. Far better just to stick in an old school voltage/charging gauge and use your brain. If you’re in the desert and the heat is going to kill your battery, no fancy tech will save it. GPS and satellite phone is a far better option so you can call for rescue.

Try here www.gmnavdisc.com built in gps is the work of the devil and I would never spec it on a new car. After a few years they stop supporting it. Phone, mount and google maps is always a better option. If you need offline maps, maps.me app is fantastic.

The old Mustang engines are reliable. Pushrod design. Really easy to work on too. You don’t need any specific knowledge. Just take it apart and put it back together again as long as you have an imperial sized socket set. I’m not so worried about the petrol tank in the heat. It will be properly vented. May also switch to an electric fuel pump with safety switch in the future. We’ll see how it runs first. If the engine has a problem or two, I’ll repair it. If it needs a total rebuild, LS engines out of an old lumina or similar car can be picked up cheap here. Also to add, the engine will run on petrol. Red Horse is too valuable to waste in this hot climate.

Pedant!

I once hacked up a soft dash Range Rover for scrap. Also hacked up a series landrover and scrapped it to get the axles out for resale. Maybe some people would think I'm crazy but when you come from a country where it's always raining and they put salt on the roads for 3-4 months of the year, sometimes there's nothing left to save. Sad really. You rarely see anything over 10-12 years getting used daily. All the old stuff is mostly garage queens. All because people can't handle a little bit of snow and cry for the government to put salt everywhere.

Jeep owners be like,

I helped rebuild a stag before. It was a nice old thing but I remember it always had issues with running hot. I always liked the fiat 131. Never owned a fiat. In fact, I don’t think I ever had an Italian car. Reliability was always an issue.

I have US suppliers but I was hoping maybe someone knows a breaker locally. It’s a pain in the ass waiting 2 weeks for a part to finish a 15 minute job.

Does anyone have a reliable parts supplier for second hand American car parts? Please don’t say go to Sharjah or saaja and search. I have no time for fuckery.

Has anyone ever passed over a car in favor of something else, only to regret it later? I have a few but one springs to mind. A yellow Ford Capri Mk3. Just after I passed my driving test at 17, my then girlfriend talked me out of it and I always regretted it. Becoming a fast appreciating classic now.

After a bit of research, I’ve found out the engine is a D2EA-CA and it was produced on February 14th 1973. So it’s 45 years old tomorrow. Happy birthday Mr Cleveland.

It is very easy to get carried away especially on little details and the little things all add up. The first start turned out to be a failure. Running the bare minimum wiring. Coil to battery, jump lead to the block and the other one to the starter motor. No point making a wiring loom yet until I assess the engine condition. The starter motor had nothing to give so I thought I’d remove it and look inside to see what the problem was. It was filthy inside so I cleaned everything up and put it back together to see what would happen but I noted the armature windings weren’t in great shape. You can see all the crap in the bucket that came out of the inside. Refitted the starter and it turned very slowly, nowhere near enough power or torque to start the engine. So next thing is to look for a replacement. She also decided to draw first blood today. Sweat and tears to follow soon.

There is no budget. Costs will be kept to a minimum. Heres another couple of pics. Proposed petrol tank. An old beer keg. It’s small but it looks cool and it’s not the sort of car you want to drive too far in anyway. Picked up a new coil too as the original was missing.

I was originally offered this project a couple of months ago but I took one look at it and said no. But I got outvoted 2-1 so here it is. It’s a 1938 Ford 351 Cleveland Engine, possibly from a Mustang. I’ll get numbers at a later date and do some research 3 Speed FMX automatic transmission Corvette Stingray rear end Drum brakes all round Bear in mind, it is a rat rod build and will be true rat rather than rat look or rat style so don’t expect loads of shiny new parts. As it stands, the truck has no wiring, no fuel tank, no brake system, no propshaft, no interior, no floors, no pedals, basically no anything, so the first thing to be done is get some fuel and a spark to it and see if it runs. The engine turns freely and seems to have compression so looks like a good start. After that, make a proper wiring loom, lights, lengthen the chassis and make a longer bed, fit some fat rear tyres and see what happens next. Nothing is in stone and it’s set to be an adventure. Enough said, here she is in all her ratty glory. Watch this thread for updates.

If you’re into JDM or have even a passing interest in Japanese cars, you’ll know about the Top Secret Supra. Famous for illegally almost reaching 200mph on a British motorway in the 90s and running a 5.0 V12 1GZ-FE from a Toyota Century with 1000 bhp. Well it’s for sale. Anyone care to guess what it’ll go for? https://www.carthrottle.com/post/the-legendary-v12-powered-top-secret-toyota-supra-is-being-auctioned/