1972 Eleanor in Primer

Front Suspension and Brake Upgrade

I replaced the upper and lower ball joints. New lower control arms. New bushings for the sway bar. I upgraded to slotted and cross-drilled rotors. Also, new wheel bearings, brake calipers and pads. I still need to install the shocks and brake lines.

Integrated Rear Spoiler and Fender Flares

You can see in the picture above that the rear fender flares are big. These came with the car so I am finishing them by making the contour smoother and improving the style lines to fit with the car. They previous owner put alot of time and fiberglass into these flares.

Below you can see the rear spoiler. I built this out of wood, fiberglass and bondo. I started with a piece of wood molding I bought at Home Depot. Next, I fiberglassed it in place and built it up with resin and matting. Then, used fiberglass filler and finally, bondo. If you look at the picture below, you can see the wood coming thru in the top edge of the spoiler.

Installation of Power Front Disc Brakes

The power brake booster and master cylinder were installed on the firewall today. I upgraded the brakes from front drum to power front disc. Why Ford opted to put in front drum brakes in these mustangs from the factory is questionable to begin with. I had to change over the brake pedal during the upgrade. The rotors are going to be the high performance type (cross drilled and slotted) for extra stopping power. New calipers, pads, backing plates and brake lines will improve the stopping power of this mustang. New wheel bearings, seals and dust caps will add to the front end rebuild.

Bodywork in Progress

I am currently working on the body panels of the Mustang with a helper. We are fixing the fender flares, installing Shelby brake scoops, building a custom rear integral spoiler and straightening the panels of the car.

Pictures to follow soon.

Painting the engine compartment and undercarriage

I painted the entire engine compartment (including the new fender apron) with POR-15.

You can see I bolted in the starter relay also.

Replacing the Right Front Fender Apron

After drilling out all of the spotwelds, I used a chisel, hammer and grinder to remove the old rusted out apron. I put the new reproduction apron in place and checked out the fit. Then I measured with a tape diagnally to make sure the front end was square and clamped it up and welded it in place. I used the plug weld method to weld in the apron. I'll grind down the welds and paint the new apron with POR-15 like the rest of the engine compartment.

I'm not going to put the battery tray in because the battery will be relocated to the trunk.

Pictured below is the new "repro" fender apron.

The two holes you can see are were used as line up holes to make sure the apron was in the right place.


You can see the old apron that was comprimised by the battery box. This is a very common problem in older Mustangs.