5 Tips for Building a $5000 Pro-Touring Mustang

1965 Mustang Fastback – Pro-Touring Budget

“I bought a 1966 Mustang Fastback out of a junk yard for $400.  Thought I would challenge myself to build as exotic a g-machine as possible for $5000. ”

It sounds impossible, anti-Pro-Touring even.  MyRideisMe.com asked Ron Schwarz, owner/builder of this Grabber Blue beauty, to share his 5 Tips with our readers.  He tells it like no one else can.  This guy is hilarious!  There are some killer classic quotes here.  Stick to these 5 Tips below and you too can build your own budget dream ride.

1. Choose The Right Car

Your car has to be affordable, but still turn you on. If it doesn’t keep your interest it will be just another project that doesn’t get finished. Choose a car you can get cheap parts for, period.

2. Do your homework

The mods on this Mustang were done with factory (Ford and GM) parts from performance models/sports cars.  The front suspension is all C5 Corvette parts; great handling, big brakes, relatively cheap, and fairly easy to come by.

3. Choose The Right Drivetrain.

Find a drivetrain that meets your horsepower goals and doesn’t need an expensive rebuild or power adders. Instead of the original 4.6L Mustang mill purchased, Ron ended up with an LS1 that had been in a fire for $300.  In fairly stock form the LS1 can easily reach Ron’s goal of 400HP. The purists hate it, but it fit the budget.  Best bang for the buck!

4. Use All The Deal Finding “Tools” Available

The “tools” are Ebay, Craigslist, Racing Junk , trade and barter, your buddies “take-off parts”, etc.  Network with car buddies, see who is upgrading. “Take-offs” can be picked up cheap. The barter system is alive and well.  The tires on Ron’s ‘Stang were traded for a wine cooler.

5. DIY=Do It Yourself!

This is the hardest of the 5, but its also a MUST to meet your budget!  The more you cut, weld, grind and paint the better you get and the more money you save!  Books are good for learning fab’ skills, but we learn more from being around true craftsman.  Don’t be scared to screw up, you can fix it.

Let’s see how Ron used the 5 budget building tips on his own Pro-Touring Mustang Fastback:

We’ll let the Mustang out of the Corral and tell you that Ron didn’t quite make the $5000 budget he set, but who cares!  He did do it for under $9000 though, which is amazing.   Here’s the parts and cost rundown to see how he pulled off the impossible using his Top 5 Budget Tips.

$2750 Car and Rolling Chassis

A must-see YouTube video taken by a Pro-Touring forum member at the Peach State Musclecar Challenge!

See Ron work his magic on his personal website and pro-touring build thread.  Lots more pictures and build details if you want the nitty gritty version!

With the economy doing its downward spiral, building our rides on a budget is as important as it’s always been!  Give us your comments below on what you thought about these 5 Tips and send this story to all your friends so you can start working those trade and barter swaps with your car buddies!

Hechtspeed

What type of grinding disc should I use?

Sometimes the alternative is way more appealing… for me, grinding welds is about as pleasant as plucking leg hairs one by one, or trying to unfold Saran wrap after it has clung to itself. Grinding is dusty, loud, and unpleasant. I’d much rather spend time learning to weld better so I didn’t have to grind than taking the time grinding. It’s true, a nicely finished mig weld is a thing of beauty, but if you can reduce the amount of time you have to spend finished that weld, you’ll be further ahead.

I’ll list a few of the discs I’ve used in the past, as well as their advantages and disadvantages.

This is a hard disc on steroids. The disc is formed with little mountains all over the surface which prevent it from loading up too quickly. It’s also a bit more aggressive because the mountains are almost like little teeth, cutting into the material. This disc will remove material quickly, but it’s not very good at fine finishing. Around the perimeter, a harder material has been added which is almost like a cutting disc. An advantage is the convex face (it looks kind of like a contact lens…) because it means you can pinpoint the area you want to grind by rolling the disc left to right and forwards to backwards.

Here is a 7″ Scotchbrite type pad. It attaches to a Velcro backing disc. It is not for removing material – it will take off slight imperfections, but where it shines is smoothing transitions and taking out grinding scars. One disadvantage is the load-up time – it can get clogged rather quickly depending on the material you’re using it on. Every garage should have these. They’re available in many many sizes, from little 2″ discs for your angle grinder right up to these 7″ pizzas.

A flat hard disc is probably a common fixture in a lot of garages. Personally, I only use these if they’re sitting nearby and I feel sorry for them. They aren’t for fine sanding… it’s difficult to not leave grinding scars or to grind a flat surface, because the disc itself is flat. One advantage is their load-up rate – usually they will go quite a while without requiring a change due to cloggage.

The sun shines bright on the last disc in the list. These are called “flap discs”, and that’s a pretty accurate description. There are a bunch of sandpaper strips bonded together, overlapping each other. Advantages include, but are not limited to, the ability to fine grind with a 7″ disc (yes, it will!), the ability to hog away material quickly, and the longevity factor. As you grind, the exposed edges of the paper are gradually removed, uncovering more fresh sand paper. A disadvantage could be the price, but for a disc that lasts so long and is so versatile, I think it’s worth it. Kind of like buying a cheap step-drill… it will last for a few holes and then you’ll chuck it. In the garbage I mean… not the drill. Buy a quality step drill and it will be around for a long time.

If you have any comments about grinding or what disc you like, please add it!

For more tech tips, please visit www.welderseries.com.

How-To: Custom Bumper Guards on a 1950 Merc

Here's a quick "before" snap of the guardless bumper. It looks naked doesn't it! All Ways Hot Rods will fix that.

All Ways Hot Rods, located near downtown Phoenix, was founded in 1999 by the Way brothers Mike and Randy. They help hot rodders build their dream cars. One of those dream cars you may be familiar with is a flawless 1932 3 Window Coupe that won the 2008 Goodguys “America’s Most Beautiful Hot Rod” award.

In this shoebox how-to we’ll take a look at how Gregg Grisham, a long time member of the All Ways team gives the custom touch to a ’50 Merc’s front and rear bumper by adding ’51 Merc’ bumper guards. Let’s listen in to the how-to instructions from Gregg: “This method will work for most combinations.

You can see the difference between the bumper profiles in a 1950 guard compared to 1951

I first used tig rod to copy the profile of the Mercury's bumper, then I decided on a starting point for where to trim the guard. Then I made a pattern of the inner area of the bumper, and after some measuring, traced that onto the guard also. Using a cutoff wheel I trimmed out the guard, and fit it to the bumper.

With an assortment of grinders and sanders I adjusted the fit until I was happy with the depth and angle the guard was sitting at. I then repeated the process for the other side.

I made plates to fit inside the guards, welded them in, and drilled the bumper in a semi flat area.

I held the guards in place, and scribed through the hole, onto the plate where I drilled and tapped the plate allowing one bolt to hold the guard to the bumper.

Now using a pair of rear guards which are slightly different than the fronts, I was able to use the front guards to determine the overall height of the rears.

I sectioned about 3 inches out of the guards and welded them back together.

I then trimmed them out to fit the bumper, mounted them like the fronts, and adjusted the fit to the bumper by building up weld.

I clamped a large section of copper inside to back up the weld where I had trimmed too much. Then I trimmed the inside of all four guards, and capped the open area at the top.

I need to mention that it is important to clean off the chrome and copper from where you are welding, and to make the surfaces of your welds as pit free as possible, and a good chrome shop like Kerr West can do wonders to finish off the parts.

Here’s a list of the Chop Shop Tools All Ways Hot Rods used: Rolloc grinder with various pads to clean chrome and grind for fit, 45 degree with cutoff wheel and burrs, as well as a reversable cut off wheel. The hammer and T dolly were used to adjust fit of sections when welding, and to tap out some of the dents in the guards.

Here’s a finished look at the front bumper. “No Way” these bumper guards are NOT originals, you say? Way dude! All Ways Hot Rods that is.

Check the gallery below for more of the finished and in progress photos, along with the tools used.

Go check out the All Ways Hot Rods website for more of their beautiful craftsmanship. Maybe you’ve got a project they can turn into your dream car too!

1964 Morris Minor Custom – UK Style

Minnie the Moocher
1964 Morris Minor 2 door sedan (See the Custom Morris Minor)

Written by: “Tootall” Paul from Cornwall, United Kingdom

‘Minnie’ is my Wife’s ‘64 Morris. She had wanted a kustom for a while and has a particular taste for ‘round’ cars. When one of our clubmates (We are members of UK Kustoms) suggested a Minor we looked harder at them and realized that one would make a great sled. When we were told that if we could find one before the 2002 NASC Nationals then the club would chop it for us, the search was on.

We bought her from a young chap who made us promise that we would look after her. We assured him that we would take great care of her and we have – though maybe not quite in the way he would have expected. We had owned her for 2 weeks before we drove her the 300 miles to the Nationals. She was driven there on Friday, stripped of her glass and interior on Saturday, chopped on Sunday and, with a plastic windscreen installed, driven the 300 miles home again on Monday.

I should mention here that when I say the car was chopped in the showfield, I do literally mean in a field. ‘Chopper’ John and ‘Sawzall’ Phil did the chop in one day, with generator power only. This included welding in the smaller rear window from an earlier split window car and hardtopping the roof.

Once home, I taught myself to weld by finishing off some small jobs. The swage around the bottom of the roof needed lengthening to make it look more finished. I also fabricated runners for the rear side glass, which now slides in. While the torch was out, I nosed and decked the car and removed some badges and trim. Now I would hate for you to get the idea that I do all the wrenching and my Wife does all the driving. That’s just not so. While I did the work mentioned above, she did the filler work on the roof and elsewhere and touched in the paint. The whole car is a team effort and has been a learning exercise for us both!

Once the chop was looking finished, it was time to bring Minnie a little closer to the floor. Doing one side each, we lowered the front end by simply turning the torsion bars. Of course I got my side wrong and lowered it too much! It looked great but was un-driveable. The rear end was brought down by fitting some home made lowering blocks to bring the whole thing down by around 4 inches.

The car originally came with a 1098cc 4-cylinder motor. Unfortunately that one didn’t last too long. It blew up on the way back from a show on the South coast, though my Wife still managed to get a speeding ticket even with the blown motor! The old engine was swapped for a 1275cc unit bought cheap from a friend. This one lasted around 250 miles before it too went up in smoke on the way back from a show. We now have another 1275 motor installed. This one was built for us by a Clubmate (good old Chopper John again) so we know it’s gonna last.

We still have a lot of plans for this car: The rear fenders will be extended down and the rear bumper moved down to make her look lower. Fender skirts are in the pipeline too and we want to do something with the front end to disguise the Morris origins. Oh yes and new rear lights too. First of all though is a ‘C’ notch in the rear chassis rails as it sits on the bumpstops and has no suspension apart from the 1 ½ inch thick rubber stops. This makes it a pretty bouncy ride and can be a little uncomfortable on a long run.

All in all we have managed to pretty much achieve what we set out to do. Minnie is well on the way to being a British take on a traditional kustom. She is useable, generally pretty reliable and most importantly with the stupid price of gas in the UK, economical. She has been built on a budget and with an enormous amount of help and encouragement from our clubmates. Most importantly, every time my Wife gets into her, she has a smile on her face. For me, that’s all the encouragement I need.

Thanks Paul!

Please take a look at Paul’s Garage and the Morris Minor in it. He didn’t mention the extensive, (not for the faint of heart) rust repair needed. The car had some issues. But Minnie and Paul got it done to make what I think is a fantastic little custom. Paul’s also got a Falcon Wagon, so he’s definitely all right in my book!

1953 Kustom Kaiser Manhattan- Builder Update

Somehow, I found another Kustom Kaiser!

When I found Keith’s Kaiser (Click here to see his Garage) I instantly thought, this is one of a kind! Well, it turns out it’s not. Keith and Ron (Click here to see Ron’s Hot Rod’s Garage) have taken different approaches to customizing their Kaisers, but both will be equally cool because of the clean and near-custom finishes on the stock Kaiser.

Ron’s writing a blog for Blogger.com (Click here) that I stumbled on recently. He’s let me run this blog to see what he’s up to for the interior. I’m checking it out just in case I get to work on my Rambler Amercian wagon project again some day! Check it out:
The priming of the miscellaneous parts for the Kaiser went well as the weather was nice and I was able to paint outside. I used PPG self etching epoxy primer DPLF
and prepared the bare metal with “metal Prep” a 50/50 mixture with water then wiped the area down with a 50/50 mixture of PPG Dx330 wax and grease remover and lacquer thinner cleaning a 2′ x2′ area at a time as recommended, so as not to let the metal prep dry. I had 2 quarts of paint that make 1 gal. using the epoxy part 2 additive, and ran out of paint before I could get to the inside of the body, that turned out to be a good thing because I had to complete the center console, weld in studs to fasten the A/C system, electrical panels, emergency brake and hood latch.

The 66 T-Bird console is 9″ too short for the Kaiser interior so an extension piece was hand formed and welded to the back of the console to extend it to the back seat. Filler plates were cut, fit and welded into place in the top front of the console where the T-Bird seat, window, A/C controls & door locks used to be so I would have a clean new surface to mount the new shifter and controls. The bottom front of the console had to be reformed and new pieces welded in to make it wider to fit the transmission tunnel as it was moved forward from stock T-Bird position to fit in under the Kaiser dash. The first attempt to make the riser from the console to the dash failed as I did not like the dash panel that I built to take the place of the radio, but I did like the lower panel with hand formed caps at the bottom where the T-Bird chrome trim pieces ended. So I cut the top panel off and reformed the riser to bolt onto the bottom of the radio cover plate. The lower trim pieces that ran the length of the console where the carpet meets the bottom of the console had to be reformed and made longer to match the new location.
We had originally planned a GPS/CD Player/Am-Fm radio unit to go into the riser panel but after researching the size and cost and giving consideration on how much we would use it we decided to go with a good stereo AM-FM radio system. Custom Auto sound built the radio and a 2 channel front speaker that fits the original Kaiser location and radio cover purchased thru their dealer Soundmove.com (800) 901-0222
The loqwer panel will now have the A/C vent outlets, A/C controls panel, Air Ride Control panel and window switchs in it with the new B & M Hammer shifter going in the flat part of the console.

Vintage Air provided a mockup A/C unit, at $50.00 that is refundable with the purchase of the permanent unit. I tried to fit the GEN II Super under the dash but there is not enough room so we will have to use the mini unit.
Studs were welded to the inside of the firewall for an electric panel mounting plate and new brackets were fabricated and installed for the relocated E-brake handle and hood latch. While I am waiting for the smaller A/C mock up unit and shifter to arriver I will install the new stainless steel brake and fuel plumbing lines on the from that was purchased from Summit Racing.

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