A Slow Build: College Kid's 1994 Mustang

BrettNorton · May 6, 2015

hotmustang95 said:
I would grind most of it away and try it again. Do one section at a time.

Right. Thank you for pointing all of this out to me. I had a feeling that the welds weren't deep enough, but dumb kids like myself tend to rush the many important jobs of making a car perform nicely lol. Plus, this project is my first time doing nearly all of the things I will be doing to this car.

Anyway, when I get the car rolled into the shop, then I will work on getting my subframe connectors all straightened out. With the car in the shop, I will have 24/7 access to the MIG welder, no inclement weather to slow me down, and plenty plenty of time to do the job right.

Big_T · May 6, 2015

wow man, i love the cleanup and painting under the car and the bay. I wish i had time to do that on mine. You sand blasted under the car to get all that rust off then just rattle canned with underliner?

BrettNorton · May 7, 2015

Big_T said:
You sand blasted under the car to get all that rust off then just rattle canned with underliner?

I used a wire wheel underneath since the sandblaster I have here would need constant refilling and adjustments to work right. I also didn't want to get a bunch of sand in all of the car's little crevices.

As for paint, I didn't use the rattle can type undercoating either. I read many horror stories about how rattle can undercoating can crack, trap moisture, and cause even worse rust than what was cleaned up.

I just used a hell of a lot of Rustoleum rattle can paint. Gray primer and flat black paint.

The way I went about cleaning and painting underneath the car was probably not the best way to go, but hey, at least it looks better than it did before.

Big_T · May 8, 2015

Yeah, like you said better than the previous rust before it. I need to do this to mine but i just wanted my car running and being under the car while grinding rust away wasn't exactly my idea of a fun time hahahaha ill get it done eventually. but still looks good man.

Pirate Bman · May 17, 2015

I'll be following this thread closely, as I want to do the same project. But before I get into it I do need to ask, since you had replaced the one fender due to damage, have you ever noticed any gaps in the rest of the body? Just thinking with that in mind like you I would like to clean and straighten everything as best I can just for good measure.

Firefighter181 · May 17, 2015

That is a fair amount of work! I would love to have a shop like that down the road some day.

Vegasfilter · May 18, 2015

dude way to attack this build. "A" for effort for sure. Good luck with finals!

BrettNorton · May 18, 2015

Thank you for the kind words everybody. I wouldn't be able to accomplish any of this if it weren't for my good grandpa letting me use his shop and many of his specialty tools.:slowclap: He's retired now and doesn't use that stuff very much anymore.

Pirate Bman said:
I'll be following this thread closely, as I want to do the same project. But before I get into it I do need to ask, since you had replaced the one fender due to damage, have you ever noticed any gaps in the rest of the body? Just thinking with that in mind like you I would like to clean and straighten everything as best I can just for good measure.

Compared to the door gaps on the passenger's side, the driver's side door gaps are larger by maybe a few thousandths of an inch? Considering the speed and cheapness that these cars were built with back in the 90's, I wouldn't be surprised if some of said body gaps are off ever so slightly. The average person wouldn't really notice any major body gaps until they actually get up close and physically measure them out. The whole body of the car seems straight enough to me.

What kind of project are you getting into? Don't worry, I don't mind my thread being hijacked. I won't be making any progress on my car for a while.

kb1982 · May 18, 2015

Now would be a good time to install some battleboxes where the control arms bolt to the chassis.

BrettNorton · May 18, 2015

kb1982 said:
Now would be a good time to install some battleboxes where the control arms bolt to the chassis.

I would love to install some battle boxes in my car. Now is the best time to do it while the car is a bare body shell. However...

THEY ARE ALREADY INSTALLED.....:grd: (It's on the first page along with the horribly welded subframe connectors)

kb1982 · May 19, 2015

Guess i went straight from subframe connectors to the rusthole pic.

Justang · May 19, 2015

I must say, the underbody of my car is a sad sight right now. Seeing the difference you made with yours is inspiring. Hope I can make the same progress.

Just a wire wheel and some Rustoleum? And some wicked tall jackstands...I am jealous of those.

BrettNorton · May 21, 2015

Justang said:
I must say, the underbody of my car is a sad sight right now. Seeing the difference you made with yours is inspiring. Hope I can make the same progress.

Just a wire wheel and some Rustoleum? And some wicked tall jackstands...I am jealous of those.

Just wire wheel and lots of rustoleum primer and paint. It's not the best stuff to use for an actual restoration or show car, but I'm just trying to get the underside all cleaned up while it's completely bare.

Being that my car has 230,000 miles on it, which are mostly highway, the worst rustiness was underneath the trunk. There is a spot on the driver's side kind of where the wheel well and trunk pan join together that has rusted through the trunk floor. Hopefully, the rust doesn't get bad enough to where it eats through the quarter panel.

BrettNorton · Jun 26, 2015

It's been nearly 2 months since my last update of this project, but I've finally received the first round of suspension parts for the Mustang! I bought everything here from Rock Auto and it was all at my door less than a week after I placed the order.

KYB GR-2 shocks and struts. These are simple OEM replacement units that were at a good price for me. I also like that they came with all necessary hardware for installation.

MOOG steering parts (ball joints, inner / outer tie rods, tie rod boots). A good compromise in price between cheap and expensive. Plus, I've always good things about MOOG parts being used in roughly-driven trucks and in NASCAR. They should hold up in my street-driven Mustang just fine.

ACDelco rear upper control arm bushings. I'll explain why I got these rubber bushings when I get the rear control arms.

Centric brake rotors. These are, once again, OEM replacement parts at a good price. Figured I might as well buy them now.

Dorman parking brake cables. Without the transmission or the entire braking system in the car, there is nothing to stop it from rolling the wrong way during the moving process. These new cables will provide me a sense of security while moving the car.

Also, not really a part of the build, but something important nonetheless. After 225,000 miles, my little Volvo has a pinhole in the radiator. I tried to seal the leak up with gasket sealer, but after driving through town on a hot day, I opened the hood up to find the radiator pissing coolant everywhere. I think I'll feel better if I just replace the leaking radiator with a new one.

Also got new radiator hoses and a new radiator cap.

More Mustang suspension parts should be arriving over the next month.

BrettNorton · Jun 26, 2015

I've decided to change the name of this thread from "1994 Mustang Budget 302 Build" to "A Slow Build: College Kid's 1994 Mustang." The reason being that after much planning and calculation, this build of mine isn't going to be on as much of a budget as I thought it would be. I will be spending a pretty large chunk of money to get this car back on the road, and it's going to take me a long time to do so.

Burninriverdiver · Jun 26, 2015

Nothing wrong with taking your time man, I work a lot in the summer and save up for winter build time. I understand the broke college thing... Even though I'm done and out of school, the $400 a month student loans keep me humble with my car! Keep on chipping away at it, make it reliable first and then the fun stuff comes along. Good work so far!