Around the Shop, June 30th 2022
Cool upgrades for 1966 and 1967 Mustangs
We always have plenty of customer cars around at JBA Speed Shop. Be they vintage or late-model GMs, Fords, Mopars or even the occasional AMC, they're here for many kinds of upgrades, repairs, maintenance, engine rebuilds, dyno testing and all sorts of other good stuff.
As a new feature here on the JBA Speed Shop News page, we're going to do a quick walk around in the shop one or two times a week and shoot a few photos of two or three cars, so you can read about and see exactly what we are up to.
To start, we are looking at two vintage Mustangs, which, of course, are a kind of car we work on daily. Might they be the most popular car we have in the shop? Could be. Whatever the case, there is always at least one '65-'70 Mustang here for one or more of the service work procedures mentioned above.
One of our recent favorites, this Ivy Green '66 hardtop (with a minty-fresh vinyl top we might add) has a good-running 302 small-block connected to a T5 five-speed manual trans. Rolling on a set of 15-inch Magnum 500 wheels with BFG 60-series tires, this car is the ideal driver. Its just-right slight patina still means it's a standout at any show or cruise night.
But it's also the perfect car to drive anywhere without being paranoid about parking it in a normal parking lot fearful of it getting one little scratch. Shown here it has just had a Classic Auto Air AC system (classicautoair.com) installed complete with a modern Sanden compressor, which is a much more efficient unit than the ancient boat-anchor York compressors found on legions of classic Mustangs and other Ford cars. With a fresh charge of R134a refrigerant, this sweet little '66 is an even better road-trip companion with a brand-new AC setup that now blows ice cubes.
The second car shown here is an equally great '67 convertible that's also small-block powered and paired with a five-speed manual. We freshened up its 8-inch center section, installed a set of Wilwood (wilwood.com) four-wheel disc brakes, a complete Hotchkis (hotchkis.net) front suspension system and a Borgeson (borgeson.com) power steering conversion.
These two cars, both of which got the very functional upgrades we've mentioned to improve them, are a prime example of how to make any older collectible car considerably better and much safer to drive anywhere.
AC systems, brakes, suspension and steering are mainstream upgrade areas we work on all the time. So if you have any interest in having these kinds of components maintained, repaired or upgraded/installed on your car, please let us know. --Miles Cook
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