The First 1965 Mustang 427 SOHC - Dick Brannan

[johnwitzke]

After reworking the shock towers the mightly 427 SOHC engine now fits into the engine bay of the Dick Brannan's 1965 SOHC Mustang....Goldfinger

[iBorg]

Interesting......AMT Mustang and what chassis or is that the Monogram? If its the Mono, what hood? Finally where is the engine from? This will be a fun one to watch.

[johnwitzke]

The kit is Revell 1965 Mustang 2+2 Fastback, the hood is from Competition Resins and the engine is from Ross Gibson.  Not shown is custom decals done by Decals by Lucas 

[Bill J]

Nice looking SOHC, is that a Ross Gibson resin? I missed out on them, my fault!

On the actual 1:1 SOHC Mustangs from back then, the springs towers were removed entirely. The springs also. There was a half of a leaf spring that went from the lower A-arms to the front crossmember of  the sub frame. It was a flakey looking affair but held up fairly well. That opened the engine bay for anything Ford had at the time.

On the later street Boss 429, they reduced the spring towers and moved them outward to get the Boss 429 into the street car. I drove one at Tasca Ford in Rhode Island and really could tell how front heavy the car was. A salesman told me to drive the Boss 302, which I did and it was a pleasure to drive and handled quite well for that time period.

Anyway, keep up the work on the Mustang, looks like a great project and subject.

[Snake45]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing! I've been playing around with a similar project off and on for a while now. Have the teardrop hood in my Modelhaus order.

I'm thinking of doing it either in plain white (perhaps with just the Competition Proven decal on the front fenders), or in plain Poppy Red, i.e., Gas Ronda's car before lettering.

[johnwitzke]

Brannan's car was the very first SOHC 427 mustang for 1965 and was originally red when delivered to Brannan from DST.  Then blue for a very short period of time before becoming Goldfinger.

Thanks for the info on the engine compartment. 

 

[MeatMan]

Very nice John.  I must say that you were smart to get that RG engine since now they are a hot commodity!

[Codi]

Do the headers fit?   Just going by the pics you've shared, it looks super tight.  Great subject and build you've selected.  cheers, tim

[johnwitzke]

Thanks, This was a really cool car as only two were built by DST, the red car of Brannan's and a white car retained by Ford for testing.  The white car was used a template for the others that were built by Holman-Moody.  Based on photos of the real car, I plan to remove the shock towers completely to replicate the real car.  This will open up additional room. 

BTW I have two RG SOHC 427 engines.  I am glad I bought both of them when the were readily available.

Edited September 26, 2016 by johnwitzke

[fairlane1320]

Are you doing the torsion leaf front suspension and rear axle relocation?

I'm doing a 1/25 AMT Goldfinger now...

 

[johnwitzke]

I am doing the torsion leaf front suspension, cutting out the shock towers.  No rear axle relocation. 

[Len Woodruff]

I always loved the color combo on the Goldfinger car.

[Brutalform]

That's a nice casting of the Gibson engine. They are getting harder to find since he passed away. I've used this engine from the Tommy Grove Mustang and 68 Shelby GT500. The Shelby engine isn't the greatest though. I gotta keep my eyes open for a Gibson resin.

[Brutalform]

Very nice John.  I must say that you were smart to get that RG engine since now they are a hot commodity!

Haven't seen any by RG since he passed away. 

[MeatMan]

I was fortunate as well. I have a Chevy Semi Hemi engine I bought for a long-delayed project. Can't wait for this 'Stang to get done though!

[johnwitzke]

I will do my best to move this one along.

[dodgefever]

I am doing the torsion leaf front suspension, cutting out the shock towers.  No rear axle relocation. 

The axle was moved forward 2" on these, IIRC.

[johnwitzke]

Actually, according to Mr. Brannan, the rear axle was not reposition (or moved forward 3") on his car (Goldfinger), the first of two built by DST.  The rear axle was in it's stock position.  The only modification was to the rear wheel well to accept larger slicks.  So if anyone is building this particular Mustang, the rear axle should be left in it's stock position.  That is from the original owner who was involved with the creation of this car.  

Edited September 30, 2016 by johnwitzke

[Force]

Here are a couple of pics on the front end setup on the early SOHC Mustangs.

[Brutalform]

Here are a couple of pics on the front end setup on the early SOHC Mustangs.

Just out of curiosity, I wonder how much weight was either added, or removed from the sub frame with this type of modification, to fit the larger engine? This could very well be THE first tubular sub frame that replaced the OEM one. Probably the additional weight of the engine was traded off for the savings on the tubular replacement.

[fairlane1320]

Here are a couple of pics on the front end setup on the early SOHC Mustangs.

 

That is Brannan's Bronco, built the summer of '65. It has the front wheels moved three inches forward, requiring the the front valance to be cut out for spring clearance.

[10thumbs]

I like this project.

As a kid, this was the 1st car I made as an AFX model, back in the day.  I was 14 or so.   Completely bashed the kit.  Painted gold, it had an altered wheelbase and the interior was done with smooth cardboard that looked a lot like an aluminum sheet deal.  The motor was placed further back,  more under the windshield with the injector stacks popping up from the hood.  Just like the pics shown on the great SS&DI magazine.  Man was that a great treat to buy that magazine every time it came out!!!!

I really liked the Ford AFX cars, there were some in my area that I'd seen running, way back when.

 

[boss 302 mustang]

Just out of curiosity, I wonder how much weight was either added, or removed from the sub frame with this type of modification, to fit the larger engine? This could very well be THE first tubular sub frame that replaced the OEM one. Probably the additional weight of the engine was traded off for the savings on the tubular replacement.

The torsion bar setup was not used to reduce weight, but rather to enable the engine to fit.  NHRA FX rules did not permit a tubular subframe and never did....factory chassis had to be used

[johnwitzke]

I have been busy modifying the engine compartment.  I removed the shock towers and battery.  I will post up pictures once finished 

[Snake45]

I have been busy modifying the engine compartment.  I removed the shock towers and battery.  I will post up pictures once finished

Looking forward to seeing them. I might follow your lead on my own project. I couldn't quite make out what was going on in the pics posted above.