Winter project - new motor for my wife's '66 GT

[PaxtonShelby]

Holy crap - 2 years have gone by. Well, the car is together and went on its maiden voyage yesterday ( on which it flipped 84,000 miles ) without any major problems. Brakes good - acceleration good - handling nice. I was tweaking the idle adjustment in the driveway ( in the 90 degree heat ), and when I backed it into the garage and shut down, I heard some hissing and saw some dripping which was the radiator telling me it was toast. So this week I'll pick up a new radiator and drop it in.

Currently, the car needs exhaust. It still has the original H-pipe ( complete with Ford part # ) which is in perfect condition. So I will cut off the old mufflers ( they're shot, as were the tailpipes that were on the car ) and install a pair of 2 1/2" stainless Borlas and the stainless Flowmaster tailpipes off of my green '66. The tailpipes need to be tweaked to come thru the rear valance ( like stock tips would on a GT ) at some point.

The car also needs aligned, so hopefully I'll be able to get that done in the next few weeks.

Other than that, the last main thing I have to do is install some new interior door panels that I got from our buddy Lou at Laurel Mountain.

If all goes well, I'll have it at the PVGP this year alongside my Ivy Green '66 coupe.

The home computer is on the fritz at the moment, and lots of photos from the project are on it - but hopefully I'll be able to upload some new pics here soon. I promise it won't take 3 years...

[94Cobra]

Great work Ron. Way to stick with it even though it took a long time. Some would have given up. I can't wait to see it. Any chance you will bring it to Walnut Street? We could park together.

[PaxtonShelby]

Thanks Bob. It's kindof embarrasing that it took so long - but you know how it is when the kids are young. Not much time for tinkering in the garage. Plus, the house has really kept me busy the last 1 1/2 years. It feels good knowing just about everything I want to do is done...

I got my invite for Walnut Street, but the invitation is for the green car, not the GT. I'm sure Greg wouldn't mind if I brought either car, but I'd say there is maybe a 25% chance I'll bring the green car, a 25% chance I'll ride down with my folks in the Avanti, and a 50% chance I won't make it to Walnut Street at all. I don't want to burn out that week - and I'll be at the vintage races at BeaveRun the previous Saturday, the Waterfront cruise on Tuesday, setting up at Schenley Park on Friday for the Saturday show, probably heading up to the Starlite cruise Friday night, then running the Schenley shows on Saturday and Sunday. It is a lot of fun, don't get me wrong...but it wears me out.

Tonight I have to order the new radiator for the GT - but I found a $50 gift card from Advance Auto tucked into my wallet, so that will come in handy.

[94Cobra]

Although it is very difficult to find, you might want to consider finding a U.S. made rad for that car from one of the Mustang vendors. National Parts Depot sells Desert Cooler rads that offer increased cooling and the inlet/outlets are in the correct spot so you can put the correct hoses on.