71 Mach1(Trans Am) 2" nose drop

[71Rustang]

Here's the car with a 10'' wide wheel with 4'' of backspace on the front. The flare is still wider buy a little over an inch.Now mind you the wheel arches did bow out a bit due to the nose drop and bending the fenders down,but still lots of room stock as well.

 

[midlife]

10" front tires without power steering is going to be a bear when you go to park this beast at your local grocery store.

You banged out those flares with the existing sheet metal without adding any metal?  Damn...you're the man!

 

[71Rustang]

10" front tires without power steering is going to be a bear when you go to park this beast at your local grocery store.

You banged out those flares with the existing sheet metal without adding any metal?  Damn...you're the man!

Thank you.......Just basic body hammers,dollies and technique. As long as you can see things that aren't there, just keep swinging the hammer until you see it. It's only metal.

 

[tony-muscle]

Thanks.There was a point when I was installing the Watts box,that I thought to myself,now she's a TA. After finishing hammering out the last flare and looked down the side and thought,now......now it really is a TA Mustang.

Are you looking at welding on premade flares,glass flares,build your own and weld them on,or doing a milder version of what I did? Just buy rolling out and flattening the lip they gained an 1 1/2'' There are multiple ways. The way I built mine is the way Kar Kraft and Bud Moore built them.

It is a wish dream list, but it is not going to happen soon so I have not really thought about. However, if I go this route, I would want a mild flare.

 

[71Rustang]

Here it is outside again.....flares aren't done yet,but we're workin on it. The rears really did balance out the fronts.But it still needs wider front wheels.  Probably 10s in the front and new rears with 4.25" backspace,same wheels all 4 corners.

 

[71Rustang]

Just a quick update.......I received my test wheel from Trans Am Race Engineering and have it test fitted to the car. It's a 15x10 Superlite with 4 inches of backspacing. From the edge of the front wheel to the edge of the flare is 1 1/2 inches. The same spec wheel will also be used on the rear so all 4 wheels will be the same. So next I will be boxing the wheel back up,sending it back and discussing the finer points of the wheels with TARE,and have a set of 4 made. Then fit with my tires and tweek and modify the flares to fit .

 

[tony-muscle]

Awesome. Those big wheels at the front will make a huge difference in handling. You had already reinforced your suspension to handle the extra forces. I am sure you are using some good ball joints to handle it.

 

[71Rustang]

Awesome. Those big wheels at the front will make a huge difference in handling. You had already reinforced your suspension to handle the extra forces. I am sure you are using some good ball joints to handle it.

All the ball joints are Moog,so they should do ok.The TA cars did run an adjustable Moog lower ball joint which is no longer available.It had a threaded adjuster on the bottom so you could take out slack. So when ever I wear out the lowers I have found Howe and I think another place makes an adjustable ball joint that I can fit into the lower arm.

 

[71Rustang]

Hi again everybody,it's been a little while.Sometimes progress is just slow. But I have the new wheels on the car and it's perfect. They are Trans Am Race Engineering,Superlites.........all 4 are exactly the same size at 15x10, 4 inches of backspace.I may have to go one size wider on the front tires,but the 600x15s will work fine for now.I haven't changed the flares on the car.I don't really have to make major changes to them ,just tweek them for a bit more turing clearance in the front and hammer more curve into them in the rear. I do however have to trim the rear of the front valance by 1/2''. So now I can continue working on finishing the flares and moving on.

 

[turtle5353]

Well done. The lines on that car are awesome! Great job so far!!

 

[71Rustang]

Well done. The lines on that car are awesome! Great job so far!!

Thank you

 

[71Rustang]

Hello,I'm still at it.I'm currently working on the outer wheel house filler panels. I have the drivers side fit tight to the quarter and tacked in. Now to do the passenger side then to weld them in. I also made the front and rear flares even larger to better fit the larger wheels.The fronts are done and just have to be edged and I'm working on the rear.The rears also need to be edged.

 

[droptop73]

Back in the day we used windshield caulk to seal the tub to the quarter panel. 

Nice work BTW... 

 

[71Rustang]

Hi.Moving along here we have the completed outer wheel house extensions welded in. I'm still thinking about if I want to use body adhesive or just tack them to the quarters in a few places. The flares get filler anyway to smooth them out. On to the next thing.

 

[71Rustang]

Back in the day we used windshield caulk to seal the tub to the quarter panel. 

Nice work BTW... 

Thank you ,I'm still thinking about how I'm going to seal them.

 

[71Rustang]

Hello everyone, it's been a while. Just a quick update. Since I live in Pennsylvania we have this thing called winter. And I refuse to have my AMX sit outside for the winter. So I can fit 3 cars in my workshop with room to work on one of them. So I made the executive decision to move the Mach 1 to the back and straighten out my AMX over the winter so that I can start driving it in the spring.  Then I will start back on the Mach1 in the spring and push hard to finish the chassis and build the roll cage. So just bare with me while I resurrect my AMC.I can't own a car like that and not drive it.

 

[Sheriff41]

Hello everyone, it's been a while. Just a quick update. Since I live in Pennsylvania we have this thing called winter. And I refuse to have my AMX sit outside for the winter. So I can fit 3 cars in my workshop with room to work on one of them. So I made the executive decision to move the Mach 1 to the back and straighten out my AMX over the winter so that I can start driving it in the spring.  Then I will start back on the Mach1 in the spring and push hard to finish the chassis and build the roll cage. So just bare with me while I resurrect my AMC.I can't own a car like that and not drive it.

Winter. We had a taste of that here in Texas last year.  You can keep it!  :classic_laugh:   I look forward to seeing your progress in the Spring.

 

[turtle5353]

Keep us posted on the AMX also!!! I like those cars too!

 

[droptop73]

I really enjoy the Mustang updates but the AMX will have to do for now...  :wrench:

 

[71Rustang]

I'll through out a little update on the AMX every now and again. I still look at and think about the Mustang every day. I'm just going kamikaze on the AMC so I can drive it and get back to the Mustang. I almost always have multiple projects going at the same time.  Once a hot rodder always a hot rodder.......

 

[71Rustang]

Goodmorning everyone, I hope y'alls projects are progressing. I thought maybe some would like to see just a quick update on what I have been doing to my AMX. Yes this is a Mustang forum ,but this is the car I'll be driving while I start back up on the Mach1 and it means just as much to me. Currently I'm working on rebuilding the rear end and rear suspension,the front end is basically done.......and what a job it was. The fender apron where the battery is,was a mess. Non of the engine compartment panels are available, so if you own an AMC you're cutting parts off another car or you're making them from scratch. So I made a replacement panel for the battery. It turned out really nice. It isn't metal finished on the engine side as I would have to remove the engine to have the room to finish all the welds properly......that can be done when I decide to restore the car. I also rebuilt the front suspension, all stock bushings for the most part,the sway bar bushings and spring insulators are only available in urethane....oh and I hate the Kelsey Hayes disc brake set up just as much as the factory Ford disc brakes.......they could have just borrowed the GM brakes,much better set up. I also included a pic of the clean and painted leaf springs because the Mach1 is patiently waiting its turn again. I look at it every day and look forward to getting back to it......