Black Gold 380R's 65 Mustang Build Thread

Black Gold 380R

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Wouldn't it be cool some day (if you were selling it) to see it cross the block at BJ or Mecum?

Nice work on the door panels.

Do you keep track of the hours you put into this project, Glenn?

Hello Bob. Yes, it would be cool to see my car roll across the block LOL. Then again, I've seen Richard Rawlings lose his @$$ at some of those auctions too. Not sure I could deal with that. Guess I would have to do a reserve auction LOL.

I have not kept an official record of my hours, but I do keep an average of the hours I've worked.

As of today I believe I have 960 hours invested. This is my formula:

- 20 months (May 2020 to Jan 2022) x 4 weekends per month = 80 weekends.
- 80 Weekends x 2 days per weekend = 160 days spent working on the car.
- 160 days x 6 hours a day (average) = 960 hours.

Now I have worked on the car longer and shorter hours depending on how I feel and if there are any family issues I need to deal with. So, 6 is my average. I believe I have also spent a few more days working on the car due to time off on holidays and some vacation time I took. I'm not sure how many more days, so those days are not listed or factored in.

I have been averaging $75 an hour for labor. So, if you multiply $75 an hour by 960 hours that's $72,000 in labor.

I don't think this is a fair value comparison now. The reason being is I only do this on the weekends. A shop has M-F to work on the car. Also, I'm doing this by myself and a shop, with a team, could complete the project in a shorter amount of time. Thus the labor charge would be less because the hourly rate is the same regardless if 1 guy is working or 5 guys are working on the car.

So, I'm not sure I would have to spend that amount on labor to get the same quality I have put in to the car thus far.

That's my thought process anyway LOL.
 

geoffmt

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Hello Bob. Yes, it would be cool to see my car roll across the block LOL. Then again, I've seen Richard Rawlings lose his @$$ at some of those auctions too. Not sure I could deal with that. Guess I would have to do a reserve auction LOL.

I have not kept an official record of my hours, but I do keep an average of the hours I've worked.

As of today I believe I have 960 hours invested. This is my formula:

- 20 months (May 2020 to Jan 2022) x 4 weekends per month = 80 weekends.
- 80 Weekends x 2 days per weekend = 160 days spent working on the car.
- 160 days x 6 hours a day (average) = 960 hours.

Now I have worked on the car longer and shorter hours depending on how I feel and if there are any family issues I need to deal with. So, 6 is my average. I believe I have also spent a few more days working on the car due to time off on holidays and some vacation time I took. I'm not sure how many more days, so those days are not listed or factored in.

I have been averaging $75 an hour for labor. So, if you multiply $75 an hour by 960 hours that's $72,000 in labor.

I don't think this is a fair value comparison now. The reason being is I only do this on the weekends. A shop has M-F to work on the car. Also, I'm doing this by myself and a shop, with a team, could complete the project in a shorter amount of time. Thus the labor charge would be less because the hourly rate is the same regardless if 1 guy is working or 5 guys are working on the car.

So, I'm not sure I would have to spend that amount on labor to get the same quality I have put in to the car thus far.

That's my thought process anyway LOL.

Unfortunately shop rates are man hours, 5 guys working on the car for an hour is still 5 hours charged. But I may have read that wrong. Plus you would be lucky to only get charged 75-hr. Regardless that’s a TON of savings by doing it yourself and the end result is turning out amazing, all done to your taste and not for the tastes of anyone on the internet. A have great appreciation for your skills that you learned on this project and that you maintained the motivation. Cheers!


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Black Gold 380R

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Unfortunately shop rates are man hours, 5 guys working on the car for an hour is still 5 hours charged. But I may have read that wrong. Plus you would be lucky to only get charged 75-hr. Regardless that’s a TON of savings by doing it yourself and the end result is turning out amazing, all done to your taste and not for the tastes of anyone on the internet. A have great appreciation for your skills that you learned on this project and that you maintained the motivation. Cheers!


Sent from my iPhone using the svtperformance.com mobile app

Hello Geoff. No sir you did not read that wrong. It was my mistake. I didn't realize it was man hours that are billed. That sucks LOL.

No wonder people say ridiculous amounts of hours for a build. I always wondered why people say they have 3000 hours in a build. In your example above only one hour was actually worked, but since 5 guys worked on the car for an hour it's listed as 5 hours. Crazy....

I guess it could make sense since each guy did work for an hour.....:unsure:

Oh well, I agree with you, no matter how you do the math I have saved myself a ton of money doing this myself. Not only did I save money, but I've learned new skills and have a great sense of satisfaction, accomplishment and pride. Those things are priceless to me.

Thank you Geoff! As mentioned previously, you are one of the ones who always have great things to say. Greatly appreciated my friend!
 

Black Gold 380R

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Okay guys,

It wasn't a stellar day, but I did get some work done.

I got my backup lights installed.
20220130_112654.jpg


I put my battery on the tender and hooked the battery cable back up to the car. Made sure all my lights work and checked my backup lights. Everything is working great.
20220130_124427.jpg


I even managed to put the rubber bumpers on the bottom portion of my license plate attachment area. Should keep the license plate from rattling.
20220130_124447.jpg


I did a couple other little odds and ends. I tidied up those 02 sensor wires that were hanging below the car. I vacuumed the interior and reinstalled my kick panels.

I didn't install my new sill plates as I need new hardware. I thought the new ones came with it. Oh well, LOL.....

I think next weekend I'll take the car off the jack stands, put it on the rollers and position the car to one side of the garage. Then I'll work on panting the rest of the items that need to go on the car.
 

Black Gold 380R

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Hello everyone,

I was over on the vintage site and came across this picture. A guy had his car painted by a body shop out in CA (it is a base coat/clear coat paint job) . I have no idea how much he spent or what the specifics of his paint job are.

However, this picture caught my eye because of the amount of orange peel I can see in that QTR panel reflection (easier to see on a bigger screen vs your phone).

I know from experience orange peel is in every paint job. However, what I do not know is what is the industry acceptable standard and what determines when it's time to cut and buff?

I see some assembly has been started on this car. Normally cutting and buffing is done "before" reassembly starts. Not saying it cannot be done afterwards, but the residue makes so much of a mess it doesn't make sense to do it after it's been reassembled. So, I'm assuming this car's paint is done and will be given to the customer as is.

Anyway, looking at this picture and seeing it was done by a body shop and seeing the amount of orange peel in the paint it makes me feel better about my paint job.

I thought I had too much orange peel in my paint job and therefore, felt my technique or gun set up may have been incorrect. Looking at this I feel I am at the level of a body shop painter.

So, I point this out not to indicate a bad job was done on this car (not saying that at all), but to compare the paint job done here to mine and show that mine looked like this before I cut and buffed.

So, I think it's pretty cool the level of quality I was able to produce in my garage and for painting a whole car for the first time. Even though I did have a few do overs LOL.....

68 mustang.jpg


You can see what I'm talking about a little better in this picture. Look at the light reflection in the glass vs the paint.
68 mustang rear glass.jpg
 

Black Gold 380R

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I don't know if you guys have seen this channel. The guy is out of LA and spotlights cars he keeps in his storage facility and others local to him. I like his channel because he shows the super high end builds and also guys who build their own cars in their garage.

I would love to have him feature my car on his channel one day. I do go to San Diego every now and then so, maybe I can contact him and see if we can set something up once it's done.

Anyway, he did this video on how you spend $500K on your build (for me just think he's talking about $100K LOL). My car is not in the price range he is speaking of in the custom car world, but the premise is the same.

I understand what he is talking about, but when he explains "WHY" you do this (at the 4:10 mark) it really resonates with me. And for those of you who wonder why I keep pushing myself to get this car done and why I keep going even when mistakes are made, what he says at that 4:10 mark is why.

I just wanted to share brothers because I can relate to his message here.

 

CobraBob

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I would definitely pursue contacting him when your build is done. Give him the thread link, of course. That would be really cool if he featured your '65. Yes indeed!
 

Black Gold 380R

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Hello Everyone,

Well, I sent Dave Kindig an email this morning asking if he had any updates for me. He ended up giving me a call back. He said he just got back from Barret Jackson and apologized for the delays. I told him no problem and that I had seen Kev Dogg driving one of their cars across the block LOL.

He basically told me he was working with Borla to get the dimensions of my intake (I gave him the part # during our initial conversation). He said he needs to make sure the dimensions are the same as the one they used on that 1953 Ford they built. And to see if my intake is staggered like the LS one was they used on that build. He had my photos available while we were talking and he confirmed mine is staggered like the Borla LS intake.

Although they are staggered the same I'm not sure if the dimensions or spacing will be the same as that LS motor in that build. He said if the dimensions were not the same they would just have to create the design plate for my intake.

He said he would need a deposit to continue on the project at this point. We discussed what I was comfortable with and then told me that once he heard back from Borla he would get started. He asked me if I wanted the piece chromed or polished. I asked for polished as I need to have the top pieces powder coated anyway.

After that he said he would let me know once he hears back from Borla and then he transferred me to the office. I provided my payment information and now I'm waiting for the next step.

Too cool......(y)
 

Black Gold 380R

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Hello Everyone,

Did a little work on the car today. I removed the passenger fender again. I need access to the inner fender area before I can permanently install the fenders.

I got my door sill plates installed. Then I removed the plastic from the floor and repositioned the car in the garage.

I need to do a little more clean up in the garage and then I'll probably reinstall the PS pump and PS hoses tomorrow.

I need to do some painting, but it's too cold right now.

Here is before the door sill plate install.
20220205_111916.jpg


20220205_111920.jpg


Here is after. Man, these stainless steel versions are much better than what I had.
20220205_111937.jpg


Got my door popper spring reinstalled.
20220205_114121.jpg


Here is the logo I mentioned earlier when I said I went with something that matches my theme. On the 65 Mustang a black Ford logo emblem normally goes here. But, I wanted to keep with the Shelby theme, so I installed these. Hopefully these little details will make the difference in my build compared to others.
20220205_114129.jpg


Here is a comparison of the new stainless steel ones to my old ones. This is how shinny my old ones were. So, this isn't new to old. This is stainless steel to aluminum LOL. My wife said my old ones were like the tin foil turkey trays you buy at the store during Thanksgiving LOL. I agree with her.
20220205_134006.jpg


20220205_134024.jpg
 

Black Gold 380R

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Okay Everyone,

Got some cool stuff done today. I've been working on the rear of the car. Then I got the door sills done and the QTR trim installed in the interior. So, it was time to do some work on the front end.

Got my PS pump and PS hoses installed.
20220206_100808.jpg


20220206_135650.jpg


20220206_135732.jpg
 

Black Gold 380R

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The installation of the PS didn't take too long so I was wondering what I could do next.

Well, I need to repaint my hood. So, I figured why not install my hood and see where it lines up and make sure my hood pins are aligned so I can fix them before I repaint the hood if I need too.

So, the first thing to do was install my new billet aluminum hinges. Man, I forgot how badass the hinges are.

20220206_100842.jpg


I put tape to keep it from scratching. Good thing I did as I needed to shim the hinge the get it to fit in the pocket properly.
20220206_135620.jpg


I had to shim the driver's side as well.
20220206_135707.jpg


Man, that billet looks awesome up against that red paint.
20220206_135700.jpg


They both fit well. Now I will need to install the hood and adjust them for proper fitment.
20220206_135722.jpg


20220206_135239.jpg
 

Black Gold 380R

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After the hinges were installed it was time to install the hood. Since it's fiberglass I had my wife help me get it in place.

These hinges are designed VERY well. It uses a bolt and cam set up so you can turn the cam to move the hood side to side. The bolt and cam are installed on the forward bolt hole first. Then you slide them into the hinge. This keeps you from trying to install the bolt through the hinge and into the hood. Then once you snug the front bolt down you then install the rear bolt and cam.

After that you put the hood where you want it front to back. Then you rotate the cams to get the hood set side to side. Once that is done you rotate the turn buckle to get the hood to sit level with the cowl. There is a lot going on, but with all the adjustments built in it's easy to get the hood dialed in.

Even this fiberglass hood was dialed in. And you guys know fiberglass hoods can be a paint to fit.

Here is the driver's side dialed in.
20220206_144951.jpg


I was able to get a very nice gap. Even the body line on the cowl lines up with the hood.
20220206_145004.jpg


Here is the passenger side before I made fine adjustments. You can see how far above the cowl it sits.
20220206_145057.jpg


Here you can see how far the gap is off on the passenger side. But the body line is right LOL.
20220206_145106.jpg


Here it is after I made the adjustments to the turn buckle. Dead even.
20220206_145400.jpg


Look at that gap. SWEET!
20220206_145408.jpg


Overall view of the hood.
20220206_145701.jpg


Now I need to install the hood pins to see if I did my job when I cut the mounting tabs and moved them to line up at this point. :unsure:
20220206_145722.jpg
 
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Black Gold 380R

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Okay time to install my hood pins and see if I got it right.

SWEET! Success! Man, everything is coming together. This is great!
20220206_152350.jpg


I'm actually going to remove these and clean them up and do some detail painting.
20220206_152556.jpg


I'm going to paint the Shelby lettering Red and the ovals going around the plate I'm going to paint black. The rest will be aluminum.
20220206_152604.jpg


20220206_152411.jpg
 

Black Gold 380R

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Here is where I ended today. Really liking the progress I made today.

Man that is a great sight. Really happy with these billet hood hinges. Even my wife mentioned that she like the way they look.
20220206_150321.jpg


I have not installed the gas shocks yet. So, I need to use a broom handle to keep the hood propped up.
20220206_150334.jpg


20220206_150348.jpg


20220206_152924.jpg


20220206_152946.jpg


Now, I get to remove the hood so I can paint it. At least the hood hinges are in place and adjusted. Also, I have confirmed my hood pins are aligned and I do not need to do anything to the hood now except paint it. However, I'm going to leave the hood in place for now, just to admire it LOL.
 

CobraBob

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GOOD progress today. Feels good, doesn't it. Hmmm, I hope you take time off from your labors to rest and unwind. Something tells me that working on your Mustang IS how you in part relax.
 

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