TRUCKSTANG 2
THE WASTELANDER
After a few years of service in the chicken yard housing chickens from babies up to adults, the Mustang Chicken Coupe has fallen into a state of disrepair as the sheet metal that was used for the cab and brooder areas rusted away in multiple spots. Even after a couple patch ups, it has gotten to the point where the chickens really didn't use the coop anymore, mainly retreating to the Minivan Coop, as well as the Toyota Chicken Truck, up until we closed it off to use it as a brooder coop. Now with plans to utilize the Toyota Chicken Truck's frame for a frame swap with the LUV, we also have plans to bring the Mustang Chicken Coupe, which is a 73 Mustang Coupe, back into car status and build it out as another Truckstang build, installing the body on another small truck frame. This build will be geared more for use at car shows or Wasteland events as it would be very difficult to repair this body to a status that would even be considered remotely safe for road use. We recently picked up a short wheelbase S10 frame that we would use for this Truckstang build, as these frames have the same wheelbase as the vintage Mustangs, just like the SWB Ranger frames. The good thing about the S10 frame is that the front suspension uses the upper/lower control arm front suspension versus the swing arm style like the older Rangers do. This also opens the door for more modifications, whether I want to raise or lower the whole frame. I could very well lower the frame to bring the car down to an almost normal stature, versus the raised up ride height of Truckstang with its swing arm early Ranger front suspension. In the meantime I will have to move the Mustang Chicken Coupe from the chicken yard and cut out the floors and essentially everything that I welded or bolted in place when I built out the car as a chicken coop. One more thing, my plans are to make Truckstang 2 a bona fide Truck-stang, as the welded trunk lid will be cut out and the rear window and area cut out to make a carryall bed, essentially making a ute out of the body, giving the car some utility as well as uniqueness, and making it a true Truck-stang.
In the process of getting the S10 frame ready for the body mounting, I installed the powerplant for the car, getting the motor/transmission mounts situated. The powerplant we're going with here is a 300ci I-6, the big block 6 cylinder engine in the old Ford family. A C4 stands behind this engine, as the 300 has the same bolt pattern as the standard SBF V8. After going through the arduous process of cutting up the already rusty Mustang body and stripping the old components to support the thing while doing a lot of welding to graft the body to the S10 frame, I can start reassembling the old body. I will still be using the same rusty doors and fenders. The hood, which was a junkyard find, but still a little ratty, will also go on. The grille which is really ratty, has to be "creatively" reinstalled since the plastic has degraded so badly that the original mounting points were unusable. The biggest part of this segment was the Ute conversion work that was done, which incorporated large sections of the old S10 bed that was removed from the 2000 Chevy S10 we used in the 51 Chevy S10 project. I also used the rear window panel from the Ranger cab that used to be part of the S10 Ranger chicken coop. This panel has a sliding window, so in addition to the fabricated pickup bed that I built from scratch, the "cab" also has a sliding window, allowing the occupant to open the window for ventilation while communicating with the rider in the bed of the truck while riding around at car shows or Wasteland events.
The next thing on the list for this project is getting the interior closed in. This involves having to weld up a framework that will be able to support a bucket seat as well as the weight of the driver without dumping either down through the floor and onto the rotating driveshaft. Using a bunch of tubing, I welded up a grid of support metal, which was able to support the large sheet metal panels that were cut from scrap sheet metal I had laying around. Going from what was left of the firewall all the way to the rear where the torque boxes used to be and enclosing the area around where the rear window panel sits. There is a small cubby area just under the bed and rear window panel that was closed in, allowing for storage of random items one may want to store while at the show. I also took a moment to install the dash frame, which won't have much in the way of other interior components as this is a stripped down wasteland runner after all. I also bolted the front bumper back in place along with the front valance, locking in the rest of the front clip once and for all.
As we start getting into the advanced stages of the build, the next big thing is the electrical system. Again, being a stripped down wasteland car, there is no need to add a bunch of electrical components like heater boxes, wipers, radios, interior lights, etc. I focused mainly on what would be the basic necessities for a car: engine electrical, headlights/taillights, turn signals, brake lights and a gauge cluster. This way we can run and manage the operation of the engine, be able to navigate an area at night, and be able to signal to pedestrians at a car show what we are doing or planning on doing.
As we get into the final stages of building this car, we come to what could be part of our miscellaneous things. I took a moment to fabricate a faux dual exhaust system that routes up above the rear tires and out of the sides, giving it that wastelander appearance. I added an old shifter from the LUV, along with makeshift linkages to couple the shifter to the C4, then finished up with the addition of a crude fuel system. Since this car isn't intended to make long distance runs save for riding around a car show or wasteland event, I figured it would be sufficient to make the fuel system be as simple as a small 3 gallon generator tank, which I conveniently had laying around. The tank is mounted in the cab, behind where the driver's seat would be. The fuel line is routed through a hole in the floor and along the frame rail to the engine where short rubber line connects to the mechanical fuel pump on the engine, then up to the 1 bbl carburetor.
One of the biggest hurdles I had with this project next to actually mounting the body to the frame was how to address the damaged A-pillar on the right side, along with the damaged and severely rusted doors, which were missing windows. The solution I came up with was to cut out a large rectangular hole dead center on the sheet metal covering where the windshield used to be, then rivet in a single piece of Lexan plastic glass panel. I reinforced the edges of the Lexan with strips of metal, serving as washers to take the pressure points from the rivets. The rivets hold the metal strips against the Lexan safely this way. Silicone caulk seals the window from the outside. As for the doors, I welded conduit tube frames over the tops of the doors, following the contours of the A-pillars and roof and B-pillars. Extra tubing is welded inside this outer frame to support sheet metal panels. A small flip window is added in the center of this panel. The flip window is made from a metal frame covered with a piece of Lexan. This flip window is hinged to the inside, allowing the driver to open the window on the inside safely while riding around, with no risk of the window flipping around on the outside. With this all done, we can consider the inside closed up finally, allowing me to add a bucket seat without the fear of it being ruined by the elements.
As we get closer to getting this car ready to light off for the first time, there are a couple areas that still need addressing. For right now, I tackled getting the cooling system hooked up, as I had the components laying around to allow me to piece this system together. I still had the original radiator from the 73 Mustang but because of the 300 I6, I had to piece together the hoses that would connect the 73 radiator to the "non original" engine. I also had to fabricate a mounting to hold the radiator since the old core support was pretty much nonexistent. With the cooling system done I turned to the brake system. Replacing the old master cylinder with a disc/drum master cylinder and an aftermarket proportioning valve, I ran the plumbing to the front calipers and rear wheel cylinders. I had to replace one wheel cylinder on the S10 rear end and replace the calipers on the front. After we bled the brakes, we got them to a satisfactory stiffness that should allow the car to stop properly, given there are no power brakes. Again, since this is a car show/event roller, it will not be going fast at all to have to worry about locking the wheels to slow down from highway speeds.
Off camera I took a moment to get the tires straight as well as build a driveshaft. I had to source a pinion yoke for the S10 rear end, which was missing when we got the rolling chassis. I was able to match up a yoke from an late 90s/early 2k camaro, which had the same spline count as the pinion in the early 90s S10 rear end. I have to appreciate GM for keeping some standardization with a lot of their products. With that all said and done, I can now get the distributor and wires installed and fabricate the steering shaft that will couple the Mustang steering column to the shaft on the end of the S10 steering gearbox.
Lastly, I had to get the steering put together along with the installation of the ignition system. The steering is a mashup of S10 steering shaft welded to the Mustang steering shaft end, using pieces of the old rag joint and liberal welding to couple the two members together. The S10 steering shaft can slide along another shaft that's on the gearbox, so I had a little freedom in how I assembled the setup. As for the ignition, I sourced a hybrid HEI unit that fits the 300 6 cylinder. Because the old dizzy used a male terminal distributor cap like the GM HEI unit, I was able to reuse the plug wires from the old system. Quick and easy.
Getting the engine started took a little effort. I ended up having to swap out carburetors, borrowing the 1bbl carb from the 69 Mustang's 200 6 cylinder engine. I also had to swap out starters, replacing the old unit with a 90s F series starter for automatic transmissions. The newer starter is a high torque mini starter and actually spun the engine over way better than the old unit, which seemed smaller than the normal old school V8 starters. The drive gear would sometimes skip, but it was the lesser of two evils, especially since there is no factory starter for a big block 6 cylinder/C4 transmission. These engines are mainly on C6 transmissions.
With the car able to start up and the transmission surprisingly functional, despite having sat in this car when it was in its original form for somewhere north of 20 years, I was finally able to take the car for a test drive. Because of the Wastelander window setup, I didn't want to really put the car on the road for a long time. I limited my drive to a hop down the gravel roads leading away from the compound and a short hop down the "main" road, which was still a country road, really with the intention to attempt a burnout. It did a little something, nothing too impressive, but for a worn out 300 with a used carb and transmission, it was able to do a little something. I went a short ways down the road and pulled into a driveway and turned around, able to do a little wheel spin as I leveled off and proceeded back to the gravel roads and back to the house. Because of the rattletrap nature of the overall body, the car was exceptionally loud inside, making for what would become an uncomfortable drive in short order. The Wastelander windows, the loud rattletrap interior and the old pieced together nature of the entire build are why this car is intended mainly as a showpiece for rat rod car shows or wasteland weekend type events where people build wild contraptions to idle around at a fairgrounds at a fast walking pace. With that, Truckstang 2 can be signed off as complete, even if I do find myself coming back to it to do what may be considered epilogue jobs on the already finished product.
