Rebuilding Generations Mustang

All in the Family
We’re all family in the hot rod industry
Many of us starting wrenching at a young age thanks to our fathers having grease under their nails; hot rods are often hereditary. But what do you do if you’re the only one in the family with 110 octane in your veins? Breaking into the scene can be tough without a mentor.
Enter Kevin Keep and his genius program called, most appropriately, Rebuilding Generations. The idea is to bring young guys (and gals!) together with seasoned car guys to help foster their interest in cars. The benefits are three-fold; the green horns get priceless experience building a complete car, the grey beards are able to share their knowledge, and both generations come away with a new appreciation for the other.
The inaugural year of the Rebuilding Generations program was a rousing success, which is a big relief to sponsors like Optima Batteries and Magnaflow exhaust, because high quality manufacturers in the hot rodding industry know that reaching out to young people is the future of our hobby

Everyone remembers their first, and this 1971 Mustang is no doubt seared into the brain of each RG team member. The plan was to build a solid performing car, nothing too outrageous for their first collective build, and if possible, make it look good. The 1971-73 Mustangs aren’t known for their beauty or performance. Starting with a presentable but well-used ’71 drop-top, the guys tore the car down to its essentials to get a lay of the land. A built 302 decked out with Edelbrock heads, intake and carb lies in wait between the fenders up front and is hitched to a patiently waiting Tremec T5. Real muscle cars have three pedals, right? We can thank Weld Racing for the RT-S wheels and the suspension system from Total Control Products for this car’s uncharacteristically good stance; most of these Mustangs just don’t sit like this. Turning to the inside, you’ll find a clean, white interior courtesy of TMI which goes great with the VHX-71F-MUS direct-fit instruments from Dakota Digital. The Silver Alloy face and Blue LED backlighting were a shoe-in for this car, and we’re proud the very first system landed in this convertible!

This article could go on and on listing all of the great products used in the build of the car, but the real story here is the builders; a great group that really has a passion for the hot rod scene. The Mustang made its world debut at the 2013 SEMA Show in Vegas this past November, and the DuPont paint was nothing less than stunning under the clear desert sky. Your author was lucky enough to meet the guys on the RG team and it was evident that getting the car done and being at SEMA was a dream come true for all of them – young and old.
A project like this would be nowhere without the help from sponsors; the entire team would like to thank the like-minded enthusiasts working in the industry that donated their time and products to the Mustang. A list of sponsors as well as step-by-step videos and photos can be found online at www.rebuildinggenerations.com.