1972 Coupe 302 --> 429 rebuild

[afeng79]

And so here it begins. This will be a work in progress of the rebuild (restomod) of the 1972 Ford Mustang coupe. Expect photos but this might be slow due to working 5 days a week and earning basic pay! Also, the majority of the first photos will be strictly procurement of parts. I plan to show all fab work and technical work. I'll note I bought the car 17 April 2014, the 50th birthdate of the Mustang.

The day we bought it. Craigslist ad for all the non-believers.



The mustang bought as is. Day 0



The original interior. All pieces intact. Will be repainting these later on.



429 Thunderjet bought as is. $500. Day 3



Day 4. Interior gutted to the floor pan.



Day 9. Transmission pulled, motor mounts removed, exhaust system removed, Engine bay pressure washed.



Day 9. Floor pans and interior bottom scraped and smoothed from existing carpet/insulation.

 

[71_resurrection]

I love this build and am excited to see how it turns out! I have a coupe and was very close to a 429 conversion myself, but financial limitations killed the project. Good luck and great progress!

 

[TommyK]

That car looks very solid. You got a great deal!

 

[Totalled]

Floors are amazing.

 

[mjlan]

Man that car looks clean!

Good luck with the project.

What transmission are you going with?

 

[gatormc9]

I'm bookmarking this thread and anxiously awaiting your progress. I would love to have a 429 Vert some day.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

 

[whitesoc]

Looks like you got yourself a good car to start with. Looking forward to seeing the progress.

 

[afeng79]

I'm going with a C6 tranny on this one. Only plan on smoking camaros from light to light And I'll tell you what...the 429 seems like a couple minor changes but now that I'm into it, it feels like much more. Tranny cooling lines, bigger radiator, motor mounts, tranny xmember, the list goes on. I'm in it, and I'll start digging myself out slowly lol. Stay tuned, i'll update as I find time to work on her.

 

[matrixx]

Great project you have there. Cool to see another coupe going the restomod route. Wish mine had been more complete/clean as yours is.

Sent from my SCH-S960L using Tapatalk

 

[Knoxferatu]

That's a remarkably clean coupe. What a nice starting point!

 

[TommyK]

Do you know what year Thunderjet 429 you have?

 

[OLE PONY]

Great looking coupe for $500. Keep the pics and updates coming.

 

[mach71351c]

Floors are amazing.

+1

 

[afeng79]

Tommyk, the Thunderjet is a 1971. quadrajet carb, mech adv, points style, internally balanced.

 

[TommyK]

Tommyk, the Thunderjet is a 1971. quadrajet carb, mech adv, points style, internally balanced.

Are you sure it is a Quadrajet and not an Autolite spreadbore?

If it is in fact a Q jet and it is original then there is a good chance you have a CJ which is way more valuable than a Thunderjet.

What are the casting numbers on the heads? A 1971 Thunderjet would have D0VE-C heads. A CJ would have D0OE-R heads.

 

[afeng79]

I assumed it was a Q jet because I've only dealt with Holley's but the heads are D0VE so that would make it an autolite spreadbore I'm guessing. Original air cleaner also has original Thunderjet decals. If only it was actually a CJ.

 

[mjlan]

Either way, the motor looks really clean and will move that coupe just fine.

If you left the hubcaps on it and it wasn't that loud, you could sneak up on about anybody and surprise them!

 

[afeng79]

It has been well over a year since I started this thread and I didn't keep up with it like I wanted to. I created a word document with pictures and short narratives and captions for each one showing the progress on this car. I'm not sure who is still following this thread but I intend to upload the word document on here which I think would allow for easier viewing if anyone is still interested.

A year and a half later, the '72 hardtop is inches away from driving (exhaust, driveshaft, power steering bracket is all that's left) and while it's not going to be restored by any means it will be a drivable car. The "partial-restoration" on this car was one that was done with a budget in mind which is what I wanted to convey to people out there who thought about doing this kind of thing but thought the price would be out of their range.

Stay tuned for the word doc upload sometime this week. It will have a year and half's worth of updates!

 

[mach71351c]

We are all interested .