The old Project is a 1972 Ford Mustang Coupe. My dad bought the car in 2005 when I was 10, for $800 with the intention of making it my first car. It ignited my interest in Automotive Mechanics and started my quest into modifying cars, and eventually racing them. I had a dream of building a badass street machine, featuring wide slicks in the rear, and a blower sticking out of the hood. As I got older, I started to realize that, well, a blower sticking out the hood was not what I wanted. I wanted a car that turned heads, and had some power. When I turned 18, the car began its transformation. We started off with the body and paint. When my dad bought the car, it was sprayed Red. I didn’t like it, I wanted Satin Black. The car also had some rust, and “cancer”, which is rust that ate through the metal. It was in pretty bad shape and needed some repairs. I loved the 1971-1972 Mach 1 look, so I ordered the Mach 1 grille and Mach 1 NACA hood. Luckily, we had a family friend that did paint and body as a side job. AWESOME, RIGHT? WHAT CAN POSSIBLY GO WRONG. The family friend got straight to work and looked like he was making good progress. The car’s paint was being scrapped (sanding) away, the pieces of cancer were cut out and replaced with metal pieces. I will insert some pictures before you get bored of reading.
So everything is looking good right? I wanted baby blue racing strips. Everything was going great, then it started. Before I continue, here are some more photos.
So, in my 18 year old mind, the car was going to look like a variant of this:
Ended up looking like this:
Crap. I had to make the best of it. Wanted to get the car out of his yard and avoid a scene and into the engine shop that was waiting for a rebuild. It was in the engine shop for 4 months. However, there was some progress done. The engine bay was painted, the transmission was painted, suspension components were changed, and of course, the engine. 306 CI, with RHS Aluminum heads, roller rocker arms, 750 CFM carb, and a ported “Air Gap” Intake.
With the added power, the manual drum brakes just weren’t going to cut it. Did some research and came across Wilwood Engineering. Got their cheapest brake kit, a 4 Piston Drag kit. It was perfect! I loved it!
Well, kinda loved it. Thats where the problems started. Instead of keeping it manual, we decided to make it power assisted. No problem, we will just get a brake booster from a power assisted car. Not exactly. The cam that was put into the engine will not make enough vacuum pressure to adequately “assist” the system. We found a local shop that would retrofit a hydroboost to the system. A hydroboost uses the pressure and fluid from the power steering pump to assist the brakes. FINALLY! The car was ready, except it wasn’t. When we swapped to the disc brakes, the 14″ rims will not clear. On the search for wheels. What made it hard was the offset needed. The newer Mustangs were too high and interfered with the suspension. We HAD to buy rims. My dad wanted me to put 20s, I hated the idea. Unfortunately, we got a killer deal on a 18/20 combo. 20s it is. Doesn’t look bad.
Whatever, looks pretty good, I will admit. Finally, we can get the car out of the shop and into the exhaust shop. Because this was going to be a daily driver, I opted for Flowmaster’s Delta Flow 40s, with an H-Pipe and 2.5″ tubing to keep that deep aggressive muscle car tone, but not too loud. Got the car back to the engine shop to do last minute adjustments, and then its off to the tuning shop. After the tuning shop was the suspension shop to put the car in proper alignment and making the car go from this:
To THIS:
FINALLY! The car is ready to come home and be driven!
At this point, I was a freshman at Cal Poly Pomona. I met the then Vice President of CPP Imports in a parking lot who had a clean 1967 Camaro RS. He told me that the university had a car club. I attended my first car meet hosted by Imports@CPP. Being one of two Classic and Classic American Muscle Cars, it quickly gained attention. One of the members and later a friend, Stephen Alfon, expressed interest to “shoot” the car as a promo piece for the company Reckless Behavior. I did my first photoshoot.
I was loving it! I had my car, and it was what I wanted. Until the paint began to get worse. I could not clean it because the towels will get stuck. Took it back to the painter and made him repaint it and told him to get rid of his sorry-ass racing stripes.
2 months later, it was done. MUCH BETTER, however, he is a sorry-ass painter. Nuff said.
And so began the modifying. Got some makeshift door panels to replace the ones that did not exist. And I got a killer deal on a pair of Corbeau Forza seats. Cleaned them and painted them. Also, stripped off the floor plans and sprayed them with anti-rust. Much better.
Again, I had the bug. My car needed “MOAR LOW”. DONE.
To add to my Faux Mach 1 look, I got the Mach 1 Chin Spoiler.
Everything was good! I was enjoying the car, going to shows, and overall loving the car. Then it happened. My introduction to a different kind of pleasure, canyon Carving. My first canyon was Turnbull Canyon, Hacienda Heights, CA. Went with my friend, Danny, who owned a 1970 Series 1 Datsun 240z. IT WAS A BLAST! Instantly became hooked.
That became my new obsession. We went around SoCal to conquer different canyons. It was a fantastic adventure. But I wanted MORE! So I signed up for my very first track event. It was hosted by KROPS.org at Apex Raceway, Perris, CA. Thats my buddy Chris (he owns a Camaro) helping me out with installing shocks and struts. And getting an alignment for the race.
ITS RACE DAY! And I paid for some photos.
Thats when the racing bug started. I began to look for suspension upgrades and started to research about tires, brakes and such. Came across Mike Maier, and ordered some 600lb springs from Maier Racing. Came across Mustang Plus and purchased subframe connectors, 200lb leaf springs, front 1 1/8″ sway bar, and rear 3/4″ rear sway bar. HUGE DIFFERENCE. Car was stuff and handled drastically different(better). However, that was the first and only event. The car was plague with a broken control arm camber adjustment, and leaky rear seals. To make matters worse, I purchased a 1994 Ford Mustang GT, which started the Madd Motorsports brand. Because all my time and resources are tied up on the SN95, I have not done much else to the Old Project. However, it will receive the best treatment possible when it is time. For now, please enjoy the photos.
Build Sheet
Engine/Drivetrain
306 C.I.
Hyper eutectic Pistons
Chromoly Connecting rods & push rods
RHS 35012 Aluminum Heads w/custom valvetrain
Edbelbrock Ported AirGap Intake
Holley 750 carb
ARP bolts
FMX Transmission
Factory 8″ rear end w/3.08 gears.
Brakes//Chassis/Suspension
Maier Racing 600lb coils
Monroe Struts
Grab-a-Trac 1 1/8″ Front Sway Bar
Garb-a-Trac Subframe Connectors
Addaco 3/4″ Rear Sway Bar
Grab-a-Trac 200lb reverse eye leaf springs
Wilwood Forged Dynalite Front Drag Brake Kit
Interior/Exterior/Wheel
Lowered 3″ all around
Mach 1 Grille
Mach 1 Hood
Mach 1 front spoiler
Rev 100 18×8.5 20×9.5
Striped interior w/custom door panels
Mahogany Steering Wheel
AfterMarket Tachometer, Oil pressure, Water temperature, Voltmeter
Corbeau Forza seats
Corbeau 3-Point Harness
Madd Motorsports Design 
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