It was a rattle can job iirc. About 20 cans of it lol.

Electric wire brush, small pneumatic wire brush, Rustoleum primer, and Rustoleum flat black paint. That's all that used to clean the engine bay and underside of my car. No paint gun was used.

I can admit, it's probably not the greatest method of cleaning up the underside of a car, but makes the underside look a whole lot better. Multiple coats of paint wouldn't hurt. And yes, Royal96 is right when he says that I used about 20 cans of paint for everything that I painted.

I think it looks pretty damn good honestly, rattle can or not.

Definitely agree. And knowing that it looks like that underneath is piece of mind and makes you proud.

The funny thing is that the underside of my car and the engine bay will look nice and clean when this build is all finished, but the body and interior will still look like crap just like they do now.

Volvo radiator repair = Success!




More Mustang parts are on the way, so stay tuned...

It's good having a solid DD while your building your baby. :thumb

I got a bunch of Prothane bushings in today. First, let me be one to say that these things feel like plastic. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, it's just something I didn't expect. Anyway, here is all of what I got:

•Sway bar end links
•Front control arm bushings
•Upper strut bushings
•Non-offset steering rack bushings
•27 mm sway bar bushings
•Front and rear spring isolators



The deal with that gray car is still being processed and more suspension parts are on the way...

Got myself a set of SVE springs and a set of those new SVE caster camber plates, both from Late Model Restoration.





---------- Post added August 12th, 2015 at 12:05 AM ---------- Previous post was August 11th, 2015 at 11:56 PM ----------

The decision of what kind of rear control arms to buy for my Mustang was a pretty long research process. Originally, I was just planning on buying a cheap set of SVE upper / lower control arms w/ hardware, and a some Prothane upper axle bushings. I would just slap all that stuff together and call the rear suspension good. HOWEVER, the Mustang community has swayed me to do otherwise. My 94 Mustang will be a street car, and having those SVE control arms installed would present me with a few problems.

Buying the SVE rear control arms for my car would be fine if I were to regularly drag race it, baby it though the corners, and always drive it on flat roads. Being a street car though, my car will see quite a few fast corners, and it will see angled driveways. With the SVE rear control arms and Prothane bushings underneath my car, the rear suspension would severely bind up in fast corners and angled driveways. And when the rear suspension of my car binds, the rear control arm bushings will get torn up, the torque boxes will be destroyed (even with the reinforcement plates), and I could possibly lose control of my car and wreck it due to sudden snap-oversteer thanks to too stiff of a rear suspension. Damn! That meant that I had to find a new plan for what rear control arms I should buy for my Mustang.

Being that I'm in college and on a budget, something like a 3-Link rear suspension is out the window for me. I can't afford it, nor do I have the time or tools to install it. What I need is a factory-style 4-link rear suspension setup that will provide good street manners, yet not be something that makes my car have to be nurtured through the corners.

The first thing that I found out was that I need to use factory replacement upper control arms and new rubber upper control arm bushings. The UCA's need some degree of flexibility in order to allow the rear suspension to properly articulate, not bind up, and not destroy bushings / torque boxes. I looked and looked for a set of factory replacement UCA's online, and the only company that sells them is Maximum Motorsports... at $240 a set. ...Ouch... I think I'll just get a set of used factory control arms from my local junkyard for like $50 or so, clean them up, and replace the old rubber bushings with new ones.

As for the lower control arms, the factory LCA's and rubber bushings allow for too much flex in the rear suspension, which causes wheel hop during hard acceleration. The SVE LCA's with the tough 1-piece urethane bushings on both ends are too stiff, so I had to keep looking. What I eventually decided on was a set of J&M Street / Race LCA's from American Muscle. I've heard good things about them and they seem to be pretty sturdy and affordable. The J&M Street / Race LCA's are made of strong tubular steel and have 3-piece urethane bushings on the chassis side and solid spherical bushings on the axle side. This design allows the LCA's to articulate and move through their whole range of motion without flexing or binding up. These should work perfectly for me.


So, my rear control arm setup. J&M Street / Race LCA's with 3-piece urethane bushings on the chassis side and solid spherical bushings on the axle side. Factory (used) UCA's with ACDelco rubber UCA bushings, both on the chassis side and axle side.

Came home today with a complete 8.8" rear end out of a 98 Mustang GT. I bought it from a junkyard local to me called Midwest Mustang. I can admit that the price was a tad expensive (damn, $500 for an 8.8" rear end?), however, Midwest Mustang is the only junkyard I could find that has 94-98 Mustang GT parts in inventory. All of the other U-Pull-It yards in my area are only parting out V6 Mustangs.

The rear end itself has 3.27 gears, traction-lok diff, and 5-lug disc brakes. It's pretty old and dirty, but I'll be getting all the rust, dust, dirt, and grime cleaned off of it before I bolt it into the car.


I got a cheap set of factory upper control arms from Midwest Mustang as well.


Luckily, with a little ball joint pressing tool, I was able to get the old bushings pressed out of the UCA's. They came out almost too easily.


The old upper axle bushings though, didn't give in to the ball joint pressing tool at all. They're still stuck in the axle pretty good. I'll try and get those old axle bushings out when I'm back up at my grandparent's house where all of my tools are at.

Really glad to see you keepin' on with this build.

I like the bubble-hatch Capri.

Yeah, if only it didn't go missing.

It’s the end of my summer break, I have all of the Mustang’s suspension parts, and the suspension work will begin soon. Now is probably a good time to tell the story of that Capri that I previously posted pics of. Remember it? That little gray car that looked like a 4-eye Fox Body Mustang?

Here it is. It’s a gray 1986 Mercury Capri 5.0 RS w/ T-tops. About a month ago, it was going to be the donor car for my build. But now, it’s the subject of a legal dispute. In other words, this car is a Craigslist deal gone bad.




Some of you (like Royal96) have already been following my thread in the Underground about getting screwed over. For those of you that haven't seen that thread, this is going to be a very long story here, so bear with me. I’ll start with a generic description of the seller’s ad for that 86 Capri on Craigslist. It was listed on July 1.


FOR SALE: 86 5.0 MOTOR, T5 TRANS, 8.8" REAR END W/ 3.73’S ($1000 OBO)

I’ve got an ’86 Capri 5.0 RS that I’m selling the drivetrain out of. The car has about 130,000 miles on it.

The engine is a 5.0 302 motor with the stock bottom end and stock cam. It’s got GT40P heads, Comp Cams 1.6 roller rockers, upgraded valve springs, GT40 intake, Explorer 65 mm throttle body, MSD distributor, and Ford Racing headers. Only problem with it is that the rear main seal leaks.

The T5 trans is bone stock and has never been opened up. It doesn’t slip or grind in any gear at all, but the clutch is starting to slip a little bit.

The 8.8” rear end has the traction-lok limited slip diff, 4-lug drum brakes, and the factory 3.73 gears. No problems with it at all. I’ll even throw in an aluminum driveshaft as well.

I’ll pull everything out of the car once it’s all paid for. Only selling since I’m going to build a drag car out of this Capri and just can’t upgrade the original drivetrain any more.


“THIS,” I thought to myself, “THIS. It’s all of the major parts I need for my build… FOR ONLY $1000!!!” I called the seller who we’ll call Alex. I explained my interest in the parts he was selling and we agreed to meet up so that Alex could show me how everything performed in the car.

The day we met up on July 5, Alex took me for a ride in his 86 Capri. The car ran and drove perfectly in all driving situations. In-town, cruising, highway, acceleration, braking, handling, everything about how that 86 Capri ran and drove was perfect. We got back to where Alex was living and he showed me everything under the hood and underneath the car. Everything that his ad said checked out, both the good and bad parts. Alex and I wrote up a bill of sale with our signatures and the date, I paid Alex the $1000 in cash, and I went off on my merry way.

On July 8, Alex texts me that he’s having trouble with his living situation, but that the motor and trans had been pulled out of the car. Alex then told me that I would have to wait on the rear end since the new place he was living at (an apartment) wouldn’t allow a car w/o an axle to be in the parking lot. I told Alex that I would be able to wait on the rear end and everything until about early August, and that he could take his time in finding another axle to put under his car.

About 3 weeks go by, and on July 26, I texted Alex asking him if he still had the motor and trans, and how the axle situation was coming along. No response. So then I called his number. “I’m sorry,” my phone says. “You have reached a non-working number.” “OHHHHHH… SHIT.” I thought to myself.

The next day on July 27, I go to the address where the transaction between Alex and I took place. A lady (who we’ll call Tammy) answered the door and I asked if she knew where Alex the Capri parts seller man was at. Her reply was, and I’m quoting this exactly, “Alex that piece of shit?” At that point, I was dazed, I was confused. “What do you mean by that?” I ask. Tammy goes on to explain that Alex wasn’t really a part of her family and that while living at her house, he: 1) Screwed her over on rent, bills, and other forms of payment. 2) Destroyed a sizable portion of her house’s basement. 3) Was kicked out of the house 3 weeks ago. 4) Is a rip-off / con artist.

Tammy had no idea where Alex was, but her son did. Tammy got Alex’s new phone number from her son and I thanked her for her help. Before I left, Tammy told me this, which still sticks in my head very clearly to this day. “Brett. You’re lucky, it’s a saving-grace, a godsend, that Alex doesn’t know where you live. I would try to track him down, but I’m afraid of what he’ll do to my house, my pets, or me. Alex trusts you much more than me, so use that to your advantage.” I thanked Tammy for the help and the advice, and started my way home.

That same evening on July 27, I texted the new number that I got from Tammy that I was still ready to pick the Capri’s drivetrain up next week on the first week of August. Lo and behold, I get a text back from Alex saying that he started a new job and that his hours vary. He never asked me a thing about how I got his new number.

Over the next few days, I continued to call and text Alex about how I was ready to pick up the Capri’s drivetrain. He never responded to anything. On August 4, a week had gone by without any responses from Alex, so I decided to call him from a phone number other than my own. HE ANSWERED. I told Alex my name, that I had a good truck, and that I was ready to pick up the Capri’s drivetrain. Before I even finished that sentence, he hung up on me. “AHA!” I thought to myself. “That son of a bitch is INTENTIONALLY ignoring my calls and texts!”

For the next 2 days (August 5-6), my mother and I dug into Alex’s life over the internet and did everything we could in order try and track him down. We were only able to find possible addresses of his in terms of where he lives, but couldn’t find any specific address of his. Alex has had quite a few addresses over the years. However, we were able to find out what town he lived in, that he has been going through his 2nd divorce, where he worked, and his 2nd ex-wife’s address.

On August 7, I went to the county police station in order to file a police report over the whole situation going on. I told the police the whole story, to which they responded that I’m dealing with a civil case and that I couldn’t file a police report. I could either go to the County Courthouse to file a small-claims court case against Alex, or I could file a consumer fraud case with the State Attorney General’s Office so that they could track Alex down and get my money back from him.

Just yesterday (August 13), after a week of preparations for my next semester of school and my Mustang’s suspension rebuild, I filed a case with the State Attorney General’s Office. The case is in an office advocate's hands now, they'll track Alex down, and they'll continue to inform me as their investigation progresses.

One of two things have probably happened. Alex has either not pulled any of the drivetrain parts out of the Capri at all, and is still driving it. Or worse, he might have pulled the Capri’s drivetrain out and resold it to somebody else for more $$$. Alex and I have made a deal as stated in the bill of sale. I’ve held up my end of the deal by paying him the $1000, but he hasn’t held up his end. He still has those Capri drivetrain parts in his possession, and is ignoring all of my attempts to contact him. The case is in the hands of the attorney general’s office now. I don’t care if I get any of the Capri’s drivetrain parts now, I just want my $1000 back. Alex is NOT getting away with this.

I've started the new semester of school, so the Mustang's suspension rebuild will be kinda slow over the next few days. Regardless, I was able to get some work done today with an Advance Auto ball joint press.

First, I got the old upper axle bushings out of the rear end with the ball joint press. I could have bought that Maximum Motorsports upper axle bushing tool, but I was able to get innovative with the various press adapters, a few thick washers, and some PB blaster. I would have worked on the rear end some more, but it started raining, and I had to move all of my tools and other crap inside the shop, leaving the axle outside.


Next, I got the factory upper control arms cleaned and painted up. I'll get the new rubber UCA bushings pressed in tomorrow.


Lastly, I got the front control arms rebuilt with some Moog ball joints and Prothane FCA bushings. With a tube of lithium grease, the bushings slid into the bushing shells without any drama.


The ball joints though, didn't surrender as easily as the bushings did. At first, I was able to press them into the FCA's, but they didn't go in straight and didn't seat all the way around. With a little persuasion from an impact gun though, the ball joints then seated all the way into the FCA's.

Front control arms are rebuilt!


I'll probably be able to finish up the ball joint press jobs tomorrow.

Ball joint press jobs are finished! I got the new rubber bushings pressed into the upper control arms and the axle.




The assembly of the 3-piece urethane bushings in those J&M control arms was no easy task. Even with the lithium grease, the urethane balls didn't go into the control arms very easily at all. Make sure that you follow the instructions exactly, otherwise air WILL get trapped in the whole bushing assembly and it won't go together right. I ended up having to use a vice to put the bushings into the control arms.


And like all other parts of my car, I got the rear end nice, cleaned up, and painted. I'll be cleaning up and painting the axle ends when I go through the rear end and get it all rebuilt.


---------- Post added at 10:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 PM ----------

Everything's starting to come together now.

I got the SVE caster camber plates installed with new KYB GR-2 struts, but the instructions for the SVE plates are VERY confusing. Vague steps, references to pictures not given, no notches on the bolt plates (to determine which side of the plate is supposed to face forward), and even Steeda is mentioned. Thanks to a review of the SVE plates on Late Model Restoration though, I was able to get them and the struts assembled and installed properly.


I also got all of the control arms bolted into the car, both front and rear.




I should be able to start work on the old steering rack some time next week.

---------- Post added at 10:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:49 PM ----------

As I was preparing to take a pic of the new rear control arms all nice and bolted in, I noticed something tucked up in between the driver's side frame rail and the spare tire well of my car. HOLY SHIT!!! I CAN"T BELIEVE I was working underneath that thing! If I had tried to bolt the whole rear end underneath the car with that thing right above my head, I would've been in some deep shit.

The pic included here is a negative frame. Anybody care to take a guess as to what thing I'm talking about? That little thing right in between the driver's side frame rail and the spare tire well.

I have no clue what you are referring too

Only thing I can guess is a wasps nest

Yup. That's a wasp nest up there. Good thing I had a can of Raid on me at the time. That nest is long gone now.

That nest is probably the 3rd or 4th one that's been built on my car. There's another wasp nest inside the driver's side mirror, but everything in there is dead now.

---------- Post added at 07:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:23 PM ----------

Installed all the steering parts today.

I cleaned the steering rack with degreaser the best that I could, and bolted it into the car with some Prothane non-offset rack bushings. I bolted the steering shaft into the car as well. That rubber grommet that goes through the firewall gave me a few headaches, but it went through with only a few grunts and cuss words.


I finished up by installing the new Moog steering parts. Inner tie rods, steering rack boots, and outer tie rods.


All I have left to install are the SVE springs, the spindles, the rear end, and my Mustang's suspension rebuild will be all finished up. I'm going to save the last of the suspension parts for Labor Day next week.

Really nice build man. Your attention to detail is awesome!