To start off this blog, I figured some backstory on my Mustang would be a great idea!
I bought a Lime Gold (Basically metallic Green) 1967 Ford Mustang about 5 years ago. I had found it on Craigslist near the airport after my Jeep had been totaled (Story for another time!). From the ad it was a great looking car, I liked the color, and it looked in great condition! Took a look at it in person as well as a test drive and everything checked out. Sure it was only an inline 6 was not too much power, but I had to have a Mustang and this one seemed to be the one! It was great at the time, it had the black vinyl top, it had aftermarket A/C and that was it basically. It didn’t have a working radio, even if it did work, it was only an AM radio. It had an automatic transmission, standard everything, nothing upgraded. Manual steering, manual brakes, no tachometer or trip-odometer, no adjustable steering wheel. Just a plain Jane, 2 option car.
I couldn’t complain at first though, I had a classic Mustang and it ran! I was good with it for a while, fixing things little by little… That was until I decided I had to do something about the transmission. I mean having the inline 6 was thing, having it be an automatic was another. I figured I would get a shift kit and that would help out a lot and I would be good to go. Boy would I find out just how wrong I was. I got the shift kit, and installed it, buttoned it back and…it won’t shift out of 1st…. Ok, pull it back out what did I mess up? I cleaned the assembly again, made sure I followed the instructions, put it back in….same thing. Removed it, made sure the servos worked properly, and they did, and tried again…still the same problem! Tried driving it around and would manually put it in 2nd and it just wasn’t right. It was like it was fighting itself! Even if you floored it it would simple slow down the car. Found out I was looking at the instructions wrong so I think the separator plate gasket went on one side when it really went on the other. Still didn’t work quite right and I also did some damage (had some metal shavings in the pan) So I decided to pull the old C4 and rebuild it.
Long story short, the inline 6 C4 is different from a V8 one so some of the assembly’s are different, but should work (such as the clutch pack seemed to hold two extra) and also, unless you have the specified Ford tool, don’t remove any bushings…you won’t be able to press them back in properly, or at all…. Got it installed in the car again, still didn’t shift right. At some point during this ordeal, I bought a 2011 Ford Focus, I needed a reliable car… Upon putting the C4 back in and having it not shift right, and having a secondary vehicle, I finally threw my hands up and said screw it, this car is getting a manual. So begins the long journey of the 3 speed installation.
I found a suitable 3.03 Top Loader out of a 68′ Mustang that I was able to use. From here it got rebuilt, and bits and pieces were bought to transfer from an automatic to a manual. I did a lot of research on it, such as finding a better pressure plate than the old 3 finger. I also ended up doing a disc brake swap around the same time, using parts from a 72′ Mustang for the front, and got an 8″ rear end from a 67′ Mustang and doing a Crown Vic swap. This also meant I needed to rims to fit the 5 lug setup that comes with disc brake setup. Thanks again to Craigslist I found a set of 4 rims from a 2006 Mustang, that I think really complete the look of the car. When I took it for a test drive holy cow was it great! I wish I would have done the swap when I first got the car!
Up until this point I had also done some engine modifications, such as getting a new cylinder head from a 69′ Mustang (Larger intake log and port) and doing a 2 barrel carb conversion. I also got a 6 into 2 header and new dual exhaust system. One of the things that needed changed with the carb conversion was the distributor, which was swapped for a DSII setup with new plug wires and a FlameThrower Coil. I drove it like this for about a year (on and off) but the problem with the 3 speed was not having overdrive. With the 3.55 gears in the back, I could only go 80 before basically maxing the engine on RPMs. This really prompted me to start looking into the 5 speed conversion. I had wanted to do the 5 speed instead of the 3 speed, but from all my research it was not only much more expensive, but required more “custom” work, the kind I can’t do.
Well, it was time to face my fears and dive in. I found, yet again thanks to Craigslist, a guy selling an 88′ Mustang T5 (4cyl) for cheap. From here, over the span of about a month and a half, I worked on putting it in. It needed this and that (I’ll go more into detail on another post) but later today, I will have it completely finished, from having it in the car, to my custom made shifter handle and ball! It wasn’t an easy ordeal, having to move the whole drivetrain minus the rearend up a half an inch, or finding a suitable driveshaft (Found one from a 1997 Ford Explorer) but it is in. I have already driven it around the block without the shift ball, and holy cow is it a totally different car! I can now punch it in 1st and light up the tires. Finally, the one thing I always wanted to do in the car, I can!