Now I know why some folks wanted you tokeep the stock column; that thing is awsome! Love the Schwinn badge on it. Totally jealous.
Got the fuel tank mounting ring made tonight. It was a great opportunity to use my welding table. I’m still trying to sort through the sea of T5 info. Leaning hard on buying a ‘85 V8 Camaro T5 I found.
whats that frame made out of? 1.5" 14g angle? im putting the same tank in my trunk. whats your plan for hanging it? run a couple rails off of the top of the frame and mount it there or just hang it in the sheetmetal of the floor? as far as t5s go i think the one you want is a 83-87 s10. camaro has the shifter in the wrong spot and the case is offset like 15* or something? I could be wrong. my car has a 235 in it and im about 80% done with a t5 swap which has went pretty smooth, but you make a lot more power so you may need a different tranny. read this guys stuff for better info. https://lugnutz65chevystepside.weebly.com/t5-info-page.html
It’s 1.5 x 1.5 x 1/8 angle. I plan to cut a hole in the trunk floor, punch holes in the floor around the perimeter and plug weld from below. Then apply seam sealer. I have a line on a Camaro T5 with bellhousing. I’m also looking at TKO500 quotes. I only want to do the 5 speed swap once. My time is becoming more valuable all the time. The TKO is a sure thing, but spendy. I’m using the Thunderbird bucket seats, so the S10 shifter location isn’t as appealing to me.
It involved about 500 miles of windshield time, and I came home with a 84 V6 Camaro T5 and bellhousing. I have the Walton Fab pedals with hydraulic clutch master cylinder and the camaro bell seems like a straightforward path to a hydraulic slave cylinder. Now to order up the Frankenstein clutch stuff - 10.5 clutch set, 153 tooth flywheel and Advanced Adapters 14 spline 10.5 clutch disc.
Clutch parts arrived today. Got the Centerforce pressure plate on Amazon for less than half of what everyone else was charging. Disc is 1" 14 spline for the Camaro T5, Advance Adapters 716104.
Cut the trunk floor for the Mustang tank. First time using my import (Razorweld Vipercut 30) plasma cutter. Worked a treat. Exhaust crosses new tank location. After I cut the rear of exhaust. I’ll have to rework it after tank is mounted. Feels good to make some progress on this. I need to pull the engine and transmission to completely reseal the engine and start the 5 speed swap.
Made some progress on the trunk floor today. The fuel tank mounting flange is welded in. I did 5/16 holes on 3” ish centers. It went well save for a couple porous welds that I drilled and re-welded. The air file with a 36 grit belt worked great grinding the welds down. Not super exciting photos. I have a lot of packages coming this week for the parts table.
I bought this Cold Case radiator setup from Summit. Too many bad reviews on the Champions.. Little metal work left on the fuel tank mounting flange this weekend.
Put the car in the air for the first time on the lift this morning. Took a good look around. Lots looks good, plenty of things to address, clean up, improve, etc in order to consider it road worthy and safe. This is the left->right front brake crossover line. Looks like it got squished. I had already planned on replacing / reworking the brake lines.
Removed the “console” or whatever the previous owner made... Much better. I’m not sure, but I’m thinking I’ll have some sheeetal work to do to clear the T5. Not sure what this hacked together TH400 shifter is/was. It had no detents and was dangerous.
You're making great progress and the car has the right look. It has a great chop and the right modifications with the peaked and welded hood, etc. It looks like the chassis work is decent in terms of setting up the trailing arms and front subframe. That's good news. That being said, it looks like the PO/builder spent more time concerning themselves with making it "cool" rather than paying attention to details and making it run and drive reliably. I hope you bought this car at a fair price because when all is said and done, I think there will be a strong likelihood that you have essentially rebuilt the entire car mechanically, and you'd have done the same amount of work, or more, than as if you started with a virgin shell. I speak from a position of firsthand experience, so please don't think that I'm saying this to disparage you or the project. You obviously have some real skill, as well. But I recognize this type of car as a trap for guys like us, where it looks great and runs acceptably at first glance, and it sucks you in. Please keep us posted with the progress. It has the potential to be one of the better custom builds on the HAMB in recent memory.
Cool project and car. Liked your 1st photo & i am a Ford guy. BUT, i have aleays liked the 54 and of course the 55. A school friend had a GR8 54 2 door that i can still see in my minds eye. You'll have a really neat ride when it's done.
Good observations and points made. I don’t want to disparage whoever built the car. There’s some really good things about the car like you said. I’m not sure what his situation when he sold the car, etc. I paid way too much for the car. At the time it was exactly what I wanted and the guy I bought it from told me it was road worthy and reliable. I drove quite a way to pick it up and just went with it. I already have more in it in purchase price and parts than I’ve seen nicer cars sell for. I’m happy with what I have. It’s my only hot rod and I’m going to finish it before I start another. Almost all of the parts are bought and it just needs my time. I work on it when I have time between remodeling the house and other stuff. I will nearly if not completely rebuild the car mechanically. I’ll know what I have and I’m enjoying the process. I love the chop and I think it’s going to be a hell of a car when it hits the road. I will be doing a few things that are not H.A.M.B. friendly. They will be well hidden and the esthetic will be quite traditional. Going through the engine because it needs new freeze plugs. Will reseal and give it a coat of paint prior to putting back in the car. Also going to clean up the firewall, Walton clutch and brake master setup, and under hood paint. Thanks for following along. I appreciate your thoughts and comments.
Cool project! The chop really makes this car look fantastic. Not to take away from your build, but how about posting a couple pics of some of your custom upholstery projects?
The Jalopy Journal
