1965 ( 64.5? ) mustang, advice please

[Joey120373]

Ok guys/gals, this it technically not FE, but I hope you all will give me a pass because it is a Ford and it is a 65 mustang.

My Grandmother bough the car brand new, and it’s been in the family since then. Unfortunately, when I was young, maybe 10 give or take a few years, it got put out to pasture and has been there every since.

The good news is that Its in remarkably good shape considering it’s 40 some years of neglect. Bad news is that, when my dad was a young gear head, he opted to pull the origional 265 and trans out and put a 302 and different trans in its place. So it will never be a numbers matching resto...

I finally got around to working on it a few days ago, and it runs and drives now. I pulled the plugs to squirt some oil in The cylinders. I also changed the oil and filter, then I pulled the distributor and used a drill to prime the oil system. Old girl fired right up after a bit of coaxing.

New fuel tank and some interior parts are on the way, but the next thing to do is get brakes on it. And that is where I am hoping for a bit of advice.

Initially my thought was to rebuild the drums in the rear, and upgrade to discs up front. I have no plans to road race this thing, I just want a fun daily driver. So I don’t see the need for disc brakes out back. However I am not opposed to it either.

I have a set of 16 inch rims on order, so I may be able to get a larger disc up front as well.
I am looking at the willwood 4 piston calipers for the front, with possibly a 12 inch rotor. I would like to stay with a manual master cylinder for now, to keep the engine bay a bit cleaner.
I am having a bit of trouble finding a complete kit that does all this, there are lots of kits for power brakes but I can’t find any that offer either disc/drum or disc/disc with a manual master.

So, I am open for suggestions! Let me know what you have, how you like it and what you recommend.
My budget for the brakes is pretty open, but I would like to keep it under $1500 or so.

 

[Rory428]

The 65 and 66 Mustangs were only available with disc brakes with no power assist, the drums could be manual or power. 65-67 Mustangs hasd 4 piston calipers, which were prone to seized pistons in the caliper bores, starting in 68, Ford went with a single piston floating caliper design. For a regular driver, I would consider finding the factory disc brake setup from a 68 and newer Mustang, Fairlane/Torino, Cougar, Maverick, Granada etc. I have the Wilwood 4 piston front brake kit on my 59, with 11" rotors, and a manual brake master cylinder. No idea how well 12" or larger rotors would function without power assistance.

[machyoung]

Check out mustangsteve.com. He has numerous conversion parts and you may find something that fits your needs. I used his power brake booster on a 66 GT car that was disc/drum however manual. His booster sits low and hugs the firewall pretty good (out of the way). Very much improved the braking in my opinion. How about some pics?

[Chris68GT]

Swapping to later model 68 and up Ford brakes will require changing spindles and will create some really bad bump steer issues on 64.5-66 mustang's due to the placement of the steering arms on them. Wilwood makes a 12.3(?) Inch 4 piston rotor front brake kit and also a rear kit that will fit with 15 inch wheels. I'm not sure it will fit with all of them but most. Mustangsteve.com sells a really cool Fox body booster kit that fits early Mustangs, which I like because if you have a failure you're not searching for an aftermarket part, you can get a new booster from the parts store.

Once you've taken care of the brakes I'd look at upgrading to a Borgeson power steering box, huge upgrade over the factory control valve/ram junk. Then start doing front suspension mods to make the thing actually handle. It's real fun to transform these old cars for people and make them stop, handle, steer and drive unlike any old Mustang they've ever driven. I can also not stress enough the importance of a good alignment with modern numbers. The factory specs are the worst. What made you chose 16 inch wheels? Pretty limited tire size choices there.

[Joey120373]

Thanks for all the responses, I will try to post some pics, but the ones I have on my phone won’t post because they are the wrong format.

So I found out today that I do actually have the origional 260 that came in the car! My brother went and collected it years ago and didn’t know what it was. The original trans is long gone but I do have the engine. It’s been exposed to the elements for around 40 years, intake open and no spark plugs, so who knows if it’s salvageable or not. Just going to have to tear it apart and see how bad the rust is in the cylinders.

The new fuel tank arrived from CJ pony parts, those guys are fast on the shipping. Got it installed today, also replaced the dual pump and all the rubber lines. Blew out the steel fuel line and ran some brake cleaner through it, it’s now running really good . Replaced the thermostat, it was stuck. Ran it enough to see the heater core is leaking, and honestly I would have been surprised if it didn’t leak. So for now I’ll just bypass it.

Settling in on some brakes, I did find a couple companies that offer modern 4 piston calipers and a bit larger rotors. So hopefully soon I’ll pull the trigger on getting the brakes working.
After that it’s suspension. And looks like that is a case of how much a guy wants to spend. I’ve seen upper control arms that are $800! Just for a tubular control arm! I’m thinking for now, I’ll just go back with stock replacements. If I decide to road race the thing later on in life I will look into going crazy....
Joe

[Heo]

One thing when you tear down the suspension, do a Shelby drop on
the upper controll arms

[Bolted to Floor]

MustangSteve has some good options, but his but his brackets for late model brakes will require 17 inch wheels. The folks on the FYI Ford forum are very helpful as well.

Different spindles will require different tie rod ends or tapered bushings so they work together.

[BIGBLOCKHEAD]

This is the kit I did years ago, little pricey though.
https://www.summi
tracing.com/parts/tsb-a120

[BIGBLOCKHEAD]

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tsb-a120

[Rory428]

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tsb-a120

That looks just like the factory 65-6 Mustang Kelsey Hayes 4 piston setup, including the large capacity single master cylinder. for about 1/2 that price, you could by the 4 piston Wilwood setup, which retains the original spindles. The Wilwood kit does not come with the flex hoses, or master cylinder, but even to buy those items separately would still be much cheaper.

[Joey120373]

I’m leaning towards a willwood kit, 12 inch rotors with 6 piston calipers. Not the cheapest option, but within my budget.
Lighter and larger rotors. Should fit with the 16 inch wheels I have.

https://www.cjponyparts.com/wilwood-front-disc-brake-kit-dynapro-6-piston-with-plain-rotors-v8-1965-1966-all-1967-1969/p/DBF250-V/

[cattleFEeder]

Here is another option, a mom and pop shop and they only deal in ford stuff, good people to deal with.
http://www.chockostangclassicmustang.com/discbrakepowersteering/discbrakeconversions.html

[DubyaTF]

 The kit from CPP to go from manual drum to manual disc. They also have a power kit. 

https://www.classicperform.com/Store/Brakes/6567FBP-M.htm

[Joey120373]

Well, one of these days I’ll figure out how to post some pics.

Mustang has been moved to a new garage where it’s out of the elements.
I was able to get the ignition switch apart, cleaned and put back together. Stole a starter solenoid
From my old F250, and dang if it didn’t fire right up.
Fuel tank, pump and rubber lines all replaced. Head lights still work, Speedo still works, blinkers still work, and to celebrate I lit a cigar with the lighter that still works perfectly.

Drove it up onto a trailer and hauled it to its new home.
So looks like the brakes won’t show up till mid March, bit bummed about that. So in a couple weeks when I get time off work again I’ll start stripping the seats and interior out of it. That needs a good cleaning for sure.

After that it may be awhile before I do much more, I ordered new carpet for it, but I may wait to install that. Née seats and dash pannel should be next but with Jay announcing his heads to be going into production, that’s where I will be putting my project funds.

I do have a T56 6 speed that I can start working on. I scored the trans years ago from a co-worker who was going to put it in his 67. The internet is all over the place about how and what needs to be done to fit that trans in a 65, so I’m just going to wing it.

[hbstang]

I’m leaning towards a willwood kit, 12 inch rotors with 6 piston calipers. Not the cheapest option, but within my budget.
Lighter and larger rotors. Should fit with the 16 inch wheels I have.

https://www.cjponyparts.com/wilwood-front-disc-brake-kit-dynapro-6-piston-with-plain-rotors-v8-1965-1966-all-1967-1969/p/DBF250-V/

can you run those 6 piston calipers with a manual brake master cylinder?