1979 Mustang Indy Pace Car: Tubbed/Caged: The Pacecar Chronicles
- Thread starter James__WC
- Start date
Yes James, I believe they made a bit of a difference. Enough that ALL race cars that came out of Holman Moody/Stroppe shop had the old Moroso round Kool can installed. That says a lot to me as they were one of the shops that really knew what they were doing at the time.
Remembered something the other day, back in 1986, not that long after I bought the car, I got the partsman @ the local Lincoln/Mercury dealer (which is where the bodyshop I worked at dealed), to check and see if the factory stripe kits for the Pace Car were still available.....turns out there were, but I think there were only six or so left, so I bought one........by the next spring, as was mentioned earlier in this thread, after spending a bunch of time over the winter looking for another car to get a little more serious about racing, and finding nothing that fit my wants & budget, we decided to cut up the Pace Car. So, being as it was going to be tubbed & caged, at that time it seemed that it should get something a little less subdued than a "Factory Paint Job", so one day I see a Pace Car with BC plates driving around in GP, talked to the young lad, he was from Ft. St. John, and had only recently bought the car. I mentioned I had the NOS stripe kit, and he could have it for what I had in it (which IIRC, was about $250 or so). He was interested, but it would have to wait until he was back and had the funds with him. So, next time he was back, he contacted me, and I sold the stripe kit.
Flash forward a couple or three decades, and now Pace Cars are even thinner on the ground than when they were new, and I kind of think keeping the paint/stripes like it was is not such a bad idea. Phoenix Graphix repops the Pace Car stripes, for a mere $419 USD (and IIRC, that is less than it was several years back?) Although the kit does include several items I wouldn't use, like the "Running Stallions", the Mustang lettering for the hood, the "Official Pace Car" lettering that was on the sides, and the Indy Speedway logos.
But one might be able to order only the items they want, but in the end if I go back to an original style paint job, I may scrounge up one piece of the striping so I can match the colours, and paint the stripes on rather than use decals......
Anyways, for visualization, here's a couple pics found using Google Images of another Pace Car that has been tubbed, the first one is 460 powered, was on Ebay quite a few years back.....
The second one is SBF, and has ALL the decals
**I believe mine sits lower than either of the one ones below, as if I stand facing the car, the top of the roof is about nipple high
www.fordmuscle.com
enough rambling on for one day, so Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to all of you!!
James
Flash forward a couple or three decades, and now Pace Cars are even thinner on the ground than when they were new, and I kind of think keeping the paint/stripes like it was is not such a bad idea. Phoenix Graphix repops the Pace Car stripes, for a mere $419 USD (and IIRC, that is less than it was several years back?) Although the kit does include several items I wouldn't use, like the "Running Stallions", the Mustang lettering for the hood, the "Official Pace Car" lettering that was on the sides, and the Indy Speedway logos.
But one might be able to order only the items they want, but in the end if I go back to an original style paint job, I may scrounge up one piece of the striping so I can match the colours, and paint the stripes on rather than use decals......
Anyways, for visualization, here's a couple pics found using Google Images of another Pace Car that has been tubbed, the first one is 460 powered, was on Ebay quite a few years back.....
The second one is SBF, and has ALL the decals
**I believe mine sits lower than either of the one ones below, as if I stand facing the car, the top of the roof is about nipple high
eBay Find of the Day: ’79 Mustang Pro Street Pace Car - FordMuscle
In 1979, a new Ford Mustang body style debuted with the same boring, weak engines. What if instead, the first generation Fox-body had come with a 429 engine? Well this replica '79 Mustang Pro Street pace car has that and a whole lot more.
www.fordmuscle.com
enough rambling on for one day, so Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to all of you!!
James
Yup, I wanted mine to sit similar to a Pro-Stock car (or as close as is practical on a street driven vehicle)
I Will probably need to buck up for a Coil over conversion for the front so I have some height adjustment, and some Castor/Camber plates for the strut towers to get it to align.
The one in the first pic appears to have the rear wheel openings stretched?
The shinier one, although tubbed, looks to have stock wheel openings.
Easiest way to tell: The stock rear wheel opening (upper half at least) is a constant radius, a stretched wheel opening will have a horizontal straight section in the middle. If you go look @ the link I included much further back in this thread (post # 26) of the stretch I did on a friends car, you'll be able to see what was done, and the 6" section that was added in the middle......
James
(or as close as is practical on a street driven vehicle) I Will probably need to buck up for a Coil over conversion for the front so I have some height adjustment, and some Castor/Camber plates for the strut towers to get it to align.
The one in the first pic appears to have the rear wheel openings stretched?
The shinier one, although tubbed, looks to have stock wheel openings.
Easiest way to tell: The stock rear wheel opening (upper half at least) is a constant radius, a stretched wheel opening will have a horizontal straight section in the middle. If you go look @ the link I included much further back in this thread (post # 26) of the stretch I did on a friends car, you'll be able to see what was done, and the 6" section that was added in the middle......
James
Hey James, caught up with Al Hopkins and asked about the Fairmont. I remembered you mentioned it and I worked on it so it renewed my interest.
The car went to Ontario, got a 460 and was street driven. That owner ordered a plastic body 87-8 tbird for the track. Once I figure out how I'll post pics in a different thread so this one doesn't go off track.
Fred
The car went to Ontario, got a 460 and was street driven. That owner ordered a plastic body 87-8 tbird for the track. Once I figure out how I'll post pics in a different thread so this one doesn't go off track.
Fred