Thread: 1974 Mustang II Build

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Originally Posted by Mike P

Good eye on the Monza Seth. I'm storing it for a friend of mine who's currently working as a contractor in Afghanistan. It's an original V8 car, that somewhere along the line the 262 got changed out for a 283 and a 10 bolt rear end was added. Rumor has it was street raced on a regular basis locally for a few years. My buddy has scrounged the Mirage fiberglass body panels for it along with a few other parts (including a 400 SB) but who knows how long it will be before he actually gets to it.

As far as Cade and school work, I can't say a lot, basically I was the same kind of student he is. Nobody could get it thru to me how important it really was......I ended up figuring it out not long after I graduated that I really should have paid more attention in class. We're hoping Cade won't have to find out the hard way too but who knows.



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Starting at age 8 through 15 in Karts, then moving into modifieds on a dirt track, I learned at a very early age that Dad's willingness to open up the checkbook, supply technical expertise and transportation to the races was very dependent on grades in school!!!!

It looks good on you Mike, I'll bet you dollars to donuts Cade will thank you for it someday!!!!!

You're right on both accounts, thanks for helping me understand.

Ah to be 15 again, where our only mechanical limitations are experience, finances and maybe not full muscular strength yet. I miss those days of being able to work under a car for hours and be able to go out afterwards feeling fine(ie. not the aches and pains that only the hot tub can relieve! It's an exciting age with only possibilities ahead! Great kid by the way, I know your proud of him, as we all are watching this thread!

Good eye on the Monza Seth. I'm storing it for a friend of mine who's currently working as a contractor in Afghanistan. It's an original V8 car, that somewhere along the line the 262 got changed out for a 283 and a 10 bolt rear end was added. Rumor has it was street raced on a regular basis locally for a few years. My buddy has scrounged the Mirage fiberglass body panels for it along with a few other parts (including a 400 SB) but who knows how long it will be before he actually gets to it.

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I was just looking at one wondering if it was too ugly to own or ugly enough where I had to have it. It's also a V8 four speed car, that thing could fly with a small build.
https://siouxfalls.craigslist.org/ct...486141103.html

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As far as Cade and school work, I can't say a lot, basically I was the same kind of student he is. Nobody could get it thru to me how important it really was......I ended up figuring it out not long after I graduated that I really should have paid more attention in class. We're hoping Cade won't have to find out the hard way too but who knows.
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Do whatever it takes to keep em motivated to keep trying. We couldn't convince our oldest to finish school and he's in a mess right now to put it lightly. Our middle one has gone further but he's a senior this year and he has to go to summer school to pass but the problem is his give a shi# level is a -10 so we'll see, but it doesn't look promising. What's so frustrating is their both way smarter than me and could be anything they want, but they can't seem to pull their head out of their ass. Our youngest boys outlook seems much better so that's a very good thing. Sorry for the hijack , I need to vent sometimes.

I was pretty much responsible for my friend ending up with the Monza. Another friend of mine who ran a wrecking yard had it and was debating whether to crush it or not. Although I'm not a big fan of them it was too neat to see it squished so I told him to hold on to it for a while and I see if I could find a buyer. I ended up taking my friend out to see it.....he remembered the car (and previous owner) from its street racing days and didn't take long to for a deal to be struck.

Like I said, personally I'm not a big fan of the Monzas. I had a customer years ago with a factory V8 4 speed one. The car came out of California so it had all the additional smog crap and factory AC.....talk about 20 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag. You always seem to remember the jobs/cars that fought you every step of the way so I remember a lot about that little Monza I think my "favorites" were the heater core and the clutch. The smogged up 267 with a cast iron Saginaw and 2.something gears was not really the hot set up either.

That being said at least working on that particular car exposed me to the (as far as I know) only SB 4 speed bellhousing with a cable clutch that Chevrolet produced......something I remembered and came in really handy when it came time to stuff the 283 and T5 in my Ram 50.

The biggest issue I have with any of the hatch back cars (Monza, Mustang II and Vega fast backs, and hatch back Pintos) was the body twist when you stuffed a good V8 and sticky tires on them. Sub frame connectors and engine compartment bracing are almost mandatory at a minimum and a cage is better. As the cars are unibody any rust in the floor/structural areas would be a show stopper for me.

Besides rust if I was looking at a factory V8 car I would defiantly also check to door and hatch fitment to try to get an idea on how bad the body has been abused........and yes the Monza that's sitting out in the yard has a fair amount in spite of the sub frame connectors and ladder bars.




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".......Sorry for the hijack , I need to vent sometimes........"

Seth, never a problem, hell like a lot of people here I sometimes hijack my own threads ......as an example see my Monza post above.


As far as kids (and grandkids) and school it can be hard. Sometimes just being able to talk about it with someone helps. Watching a kids eyes glaze over when you talk to them about it and knowing you aren't getting thru to them is probably the most frustrating thing you can go thru.

In a lot of cases I think the kids figure that they can always go back and just get a GED at some point and it will be the same thing.......they just don't realize IT IS NOT. Besides just finding the time, money and ambition to get the GED especially if you are holding a full time job and maybe just starting to raise a family. While a GED helps a bit when you go to look for a job it never counts as much as a diploma. I can remember times off and on when it took a waiver to enlist in the military if you had a GED instead of a diploma....and a waiver wasn't always granted

I spend a lot of time listening to an exasperated Daughter vent about Cade and I wish I had the magic formula to help her.......and if anyone should have it, it would be me as like I said I was the same kind of student Cade is. All I can do listen and tell her some of the "motivational" things Mom and Dad used on me (usually involving extra home work time and not being able to do other things I liked). Mom and Dad did everything they could and I did graduate (barely). I also spent a lot of time after high school wishing a I had paid more attention in class when I had the opportunity. On a side note after some of our talks I find an overwhelming need to call mom and apologize for being such a rotten student.....especially when I could have done better.


About all I can do is tell you to hang in there, remind them you are doing this BECAUSE you do love them and keep plugging away. As a senior remind him he's ONE step away from the finish line.....way to close to throw it away.



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One more highjack ! If one was to hot rod a Monza, I like this look!

Thanks Mike!

Originally Posted by stovens

One more highjack ! If one was to hot rod a Monza, I like this look!

Stop that, you going to make me look at the one on Craigslist.

Another car Sunday with Cade


Work on the Car was pretty minimal, we pulled the rear brake drums and checked the shoes and wheel cylinders. Typical Ford, one of the drums was stuck to the axle so I got to show Cade how to gently heat the drum to release it from the axle and back off the adjusters to get it from catching on the shoes. The shoes are getting a bit thin and one cylinder is just starting to seep, so a rear brake job will be done in the near future. For now it was just put back together so he could practice driving today.


The other little job we needed to do was put a battery hold down in. That required a bit of fabrication, just a couple of small L shaped brackets with a hole for the hold down stud to go thru. It was super simple....... just about 5 minutes to do. I knocked out the first one then handed Cade the piece of flat stock and the bracket I had just finished and told him to make one just like it. I got the big old deer in the headlights look .

He realized I was serious and in spite of being a bit nervous he got started on it. He did good, I gave him a couple of minor pointers and pretty soon he had the second bracket done.


CF3 by M Patterson, on Flickr



I know it's a pretty small thing, but it's the first time I really turned him loose to fabricate something and I was pretty proud of him.


I realized when he was drilling the hole just how fast they grow up. When he was setting up the bit I had to take this picture.



CF by M Patterson, on Flickr



It reminded he of the first time he "helped" me drill some holes (for the old tot rod).


CF4 by M Patterson, on Flickr



I swear it does not seems like it's been that long since he had to stand on a milk crate to see anything.


Of course I remember taking this picture too and thinking it's going to be a long time till we need to worry about him driving.



Cade 3 by M Patterson, on Flickr



Now it just seems like the time went by too fast. I turned him loose solo this afternoon (he seemed to do a bit better without Grandpa sitting beside him with my hand hovering above the emergency brake handle )....... he'd probably still be out there going in circles if I hadn't eventually told him it was time to put the car away and clean up for supper.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-3o...ature=youtu.be




Time goes by too quickly.



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Time goes by too quickly.

Yep, shockingly fast.

Looks like he's learning a lot of things that many young people these days will never get a chance to learn. Good on both of you.

So, so true.................in a good way...........

Hopefully he can figure a way out to get his grades up. I can't say much just for the simple fact of they don't teach the kids the same way and it drives me nuts. And I haven't been out of school nearly as long as some of you.

That's awesome he still has the drive to want to help and be aught by you.

Why are you holding out on us? What's up with that Ford COE?

I can picture the look on his face when you told him to do the other one, I've seen that look as well. I think you did good with not hovering over his shoulder the whole time, I don't learn well that way either.