Custom 1965 Correct Craft Mustang build

Gary S wrote: Well done Jim looking good. Did you drive it yet or were you just floating it?

Oh I sure did drive it! Thats how I found out the motor was blown

It drives just how I hoped it would, no pouposing and it goes very very fast havent gpsd the top speed yet, and i probably wont get to until next year :/

63 Skier wrote: That boat with a warmed up 351 will be scary fast.

Without the interior and whatnot it is already scary fast, you can just crank the wheel and blow out a nice rooster through the turn. Love it.

Even got a couple cheers from different docks because of my antics, many people came by the marina to ask about it. Feeling pretty proud of how its turning out so far

john b wrote: Has anyone successfully fitted a 351 in an old Mustang? I couldn't find a thread on a swap when I searched, just a lot of discussion and what ifs. Unless it would fit under the stock doghouse I would have to get skinnier feet to get to the back seat. It's silly narrow as it is.

Mine fits just fine under the doghouse, just needed a 3 inch booster, theres more space on the sides than 50's v8 centurys, if you consider those spacious

John- Peter 1234 has despite what the ad says a Skylark with 350 Chevy,which I might add anyone can make go fast and I think there was one at GL a couple of years ago that had been regeled orange with a 351. Link

Gary, are you thinking of that dark orange (tangerine?) Mustang that had been repowered with a newer 350 (~260hp)? I think it GPS'd right around 50.x. There was talk of a 351w powered Mustang that showed up one of the years I couldnt make GL- but it had a modified motorbox. Width has always been the issue, and I thought the consensus was that a 351w would have a really hard time fitting under that older (pre-70) glass box, and PCM style manifolds on a 351w were definitely a no-go. Some people have put those on 302's and reported that they rub the sides. I need to go measure my intakes... I want to say the 351w is about 2" wider than a 302.

Oops,I thought you had changed your mind Peter and tried to pull that ad. ---
That's the one Tim, time has dimmed my memory,I thought it was a Ford. is a Chevy about the same size as a Ford?

JoeinNY wrote: There was a 351 in a mustang that showed up to McCallums for one of the reunions as well.. with a modified box. Adding the riser at the bottom effectively widens the box down at the manifolds and helps with the fit.

Its actually not the width interfering its the height, theres a good inch play side to side, the humps are catching at the top

Blower hose barely fit behind the tank.


Just a pic of the Century Arabian eye bracket, the two bolts in the middle are for the ski ring on the outside.



Tank installed yay! Now I can start building the seats finally!

It is custom, but still looking great.
Keep paying attention to details as you do...

nice work Jim!

Alright so normally I dont explain much in my pics, but this **** is all from scratch so it probably needs some splainin.

A piece of plywood! This is pine, bought it because it was cheap. You will notice though that the color of the wood changes later on ( keep this in mind)



Getting the right profile was an extremely daunting task, wasted quite a few pieces figuring out the back angle rise run ect.





This is the top of the seat, hopefully the pics make sense.



This is after the front cut to match the profile of the seat back



Then I attached the rear facia. I got the proper curve by attching the facia, tracing it along the curve of the top board than removing it and cutting it. The face of the seat back is a different angle however due to the change in slope!



Rear fascia.



Testing fit.

This is where things get goofy, notice the tint change? I started over! Using the dimensions I liked and the dimensions that needed some tweaking. Used the good doug fir plywood for this iteration. Major changes were a shortening of the seat by a 1/2, Narrowing of the back by 1/2 and a change in support of the bow using plywood this time. Ski pole still needs to be shortened.

Unfortunately didnt take many pics second time around, of course building the second one was much easier than the first.

Not the best setup sound wise, but I LOVE the way it looks.










Used that boombox so I could test them out, surprisingly load and clear for little 4x6's covered by vents.

Its funny you say that gary, It got trimmed down another 1/2 but I didnt bother taking new pics. It was a tough height to mess with because I was following the angle built into the back of the boat. It would definitely look silly with the front backrest lower than the rear. I like your train of thought