Words: Tommy Parry
As a skilled Mustang builder, Rusty Gillis gets hired for elaborate builds like this quite often. Often times, he’s handed an average platform and manages to turn it into something quite special, like some of the builds we’ve seen here before.
However, before he could lend his talented hands on this particular Fastback, the client first had his hands full finding a ‘67 Fastback without much rust decorating its hide. Wisely, he started searching for a Dynacorn body instead, though found they were hard to come by at the time. But after plenty of scouring, he came across a largely incomplete build with a Dynacorn body, bought it and brought Rusty on to turn it into a masterpiece.
The chassis had already benefited from some extra stiffening measures by the time he’d picked it up: shock tower braces, extra welding in the engine compartment, plenty of spot welds, an export brace, and TCP frame connectors, which required a little massaging of the floor pan to fit. It also had a one-piece riser to increase rigidity. Clearly this would be a great platform for big power, but there was some bodywork needed first.
The Dynacorn had a few issues; namely, the hood bumper brackets weren’t completely straight, it lacked E-coating underneath the fender brace and the fender gaps were far from perfect. Once Rusty had tweaked and trimmed a significant amount of metal, he added two layers of SPI epoxy to the sanded body and Fab 9” rear; the car was well on its way.
Fortunately, some parts fit nicely with minimal tweaking, like the CJ Pony headlight buckets and taillights — the latter only required some trimming of the rubber seal.
After the epoxy and the first coat of SPI red oxide, he fitted the Applied Racing Technology rollbar and surrounding trim panels. Quickly, the interior was taking shape.
Next, the motor arrived. A 351 Windsor-based engine, it features a block, intake and heads from Dart, a Concept One serpentine belt system and Ron Morris adjustable engine mounts. It also makes 502 horsepower at 5,900 rpm and 533 lb-ft of torque at 3,600 rpm — most of which are converted into efficient forward movement thanks to the remarkably stiff chassis.
He then installed the massive Wilwood brakes and the TCP front and rear suspension. To clear the custom stainless exhaust system around the complicated rear end and frame connectors, he took the assembled car down to a local exhaust shop, where the stainless pipes were routed beautifully.
With the engine, body and footwork largely done, Rusty applied three coats of Pro-Spray Acapulco blue and three coats of SPI Universal clear coat. After a three-stage wet sand and plenty of buffing, the bright blue Mustang had been rendered a head-turner.
This ambitious build is a ways away from completion, but the staggering paint, the retrofitted pro-touring suspension and the punchy motor will provide a wonderful balance of looks, handling and acceleration. To follow this in-depth build, you can witness its progress here.
