The Black Widow Mustangs Logo....

So here it is, the car that I will take apart and put back together. It is actually a 1969 Mach 1, originally it had a 351w and was a Lime Gold color. In this picture it looks like a cross between a Mach1 and a Boss, its a 20 footer, looks good from about 20 feet. The little guy in the picture is my son, Cole, he loves this stuff!!

My son is always willing to help, even say.....early in the morning....before being dressed he is willing to get the job done, aahhh, a chip off the ole' block!!

With some of the interior removed you can see the original color and the red primer, as well as the white overspray of the newer color.

Yes, I am doing all this in a carport, but I have lady luck on my side!

To the pros with this one, I am no body man, so since I want this car to be nice I sent it to one of the best body men in the area, John Lung.  Great guy, fair, 38 years experience, keeps you informed of everything, stands by his work and does a great job.  Check him out at  www.jcautorestoration.com   and tell him Chuck sent you, he'll treat your right.

Here is a taste of his work, can you believe that this still needs another buffing and then waxing and polishing!  Wow, looks like Black Glass to me.  It was blocked and worked, over and over, tons of hours in this car, but WOW!!

Pickup day, now I get to bring the Black Widow home, this thing looks great.

Now, lets see if you know what you are looking at....

Still can't tell, its the door of my car, if you look at the bottom of the picture you can see where the door and the door sill come together, you can see the holes in the door sill where the trim attaching hardware gets riveted.

At home I got to work, restored Hood Scoop, Front Valence, Front Spoiler, and Hood Pins were amongst the first items installed.  A word on Front Spoilers, they are not all equal, this is my third and finally a winner from National Parts Depot (NPD).  The other two were not formed correctly and did not conform to the from valence well at all.

I also installed the Roof Pillar Running Horse Emblems, someone decided to grind off the pins that would hold them on, so I had to get creative.  I measure, marked and drilled holes.  Then tapped the holes and installed small machine screws (Stainless Steel) into the holes.  Set the screws depth by test fitting the emblems, then backed the screws with nuts inside that I waterproofed/glued in with this stuff called GOOP, its clear and tough and will do the job.

I installed the Headliner and the rear quarter pillars, as well as the interior lights.  I haven't used a hot air gun to stretch and relax the material yet, my first headliner job, not too fun but not bad (the wrinkles you see are the only ones).  The interior is Black and Red (Mach 1 style since this a real Mach 1) or at least it will be, from the picture it is a little hard to tell.

You might be wondering what the white stuff is in the cracks and crevices, its foam insulation.  I am using this to reduce noise and weatherproofing.  My plan is to make this car quiet inside, which will be tough, real tough.  Below is the gas tank, 22 Gallon with drain plug.  I reused the sending unit, it was fairly new and worked fine.  I painted it Black, just like everything else.  I used a Satin Black exterior from Krylon (rattle can).  My other plan is to have mostly everything covered, weatherproofed, painted, or use anti-corrosive (like stainless steel) materials everywhere, inside and out.  This will ensure a long life for the car, from a corrosion standpoint.

Guess what, installing the filling tube above and mating it with the cap below was very hard.  The "flexible" coupling was about as flexible as steel, the 22 gal tank sits a little higher so the angle to the fill tube is a little different.  Bottom line, it took a little work to get this "quick" job done.

Showing the new windshield installed with the original trim, also notice the new Aluminum Griffin Radiator.

Here I am putting in a new rear end and springs (1 inch lowering springs) and a Currie rear end.  Also you can see the rear window is in with trim.

New Stage II Currie 3.50gears, disc brakes, 9+ case, 31 splines.  This also came with U bolts, plates, and Lokar cables for the emergency brakes.

All I used was a regular floor jack, it was pretty easy to install, just a little bit of a balancing act.

Total Control Products is what I went with for front suspension, steering and export bracing.  Here you see the Manual Rack & Pinion system installed.

As Cole get the finishing touches done on the Front Coil Over System from TCP I get ready for the engine.

Peering onto the box of my new Stroked, Bored, 351w from the Engine Factory.  This thing makes 435hp on pumped gas, good for street use I would say.

A turnkey masterpiece.  I installed JBA Silver Ceramic shorty headers.

So in the engine goes, a few things to note here.  TCP Export Bracing system is fully installed and the deleted shocks coming up through the shock towers is due to the Coil Over system being installed.  The different air cleaner was due to the fact that there wasn't enough hood clearance, I used TCP Engine Mounts (maybe engine sits a little higher) and the intake is actually a high rise (or at least a little higher than normal ones).  I also actually had to modify the air cleaner to make it fit without hitting the hood.

Notice the lack of a battery, its in the trunk.  Twin Spal fans, Griffin radiator and Stainless Steel hoses will keep it cool.

A few mods, but tasteful.  TCP Pedals, Hurst shifter (4 speed handle but I really have a 5 speed Tremec 600) and a Grant Steering Wheel with the Anti Theft System.

3 point seatbelt installed.  Small mods required but fairly easy to do.  Quarter windows are also installed.

Here it is, The Black Widow...

I am pretty happy with how the front came out, the picture is a little dark, but I was able to get everything to line up perfect.

Still looking like black glass even though it needs a buff (since the paint shrank a little since it was painted).

Easy to see that the 3 point belt looks nice and works very nice as well, and I didn't pay hundreds, I paid less than a hundred to do the whole car (back seat belts are new also).

Still have the console and the seats to recover but things are shaping up, looks almost like a new car, but better.....

Note the stock radio, I really only changed the seatbelts and pedals as far as a departure from the classic mustang look, but I think they go well with the interior (plus both upgrades are safer than original equipment).

Its Showtime! 

I took care of those untamed wires everywhere, give the engine a cleaner look, but like always, I still have more work to do under the hood, it never ends and I always love it....

I cleaned up the look of the engine and got rid of that other air cleaner.  The engine runs better and starts easier since I switched air cleaners.  I also got the correct plug ends to fit into the MSD cap, used wire looms to keep control of the ignition wires, rerouted a few things.

The air cleaner is a K&N and its a drop base.  I have an Edelbrock 800 and the drop base wouldn't clear the electric choke, so I beat it into submission.  I have maybe 1/4 inch of clearance between the top of the air cleaner and the hood (I have an Air Gap intake and didn't want to modify the hood), no room for error there.

Weird angle but its my front wheel and I put center caps, racing lugs and spike studs to secure the center cap (that was a pain in the A$$, but looks better than regular fasteners).  The calipers are red now but still blue in the picture, so more pictures coming!

More to come, keep checkin' back.

If you are having a tough time installing something or have a question on how I installed something on my car don't hesitate to ask, I am always happy to help.