I meant to start this earlier this summer as a motivation and historical guide for myself and others that like to follow these. Here we go....
History - in 1992 I was 15 and my Dad said he would help me buy my 1st car. He asked what I wanted and I said an old Mustang. So he found a 66 GTO and bought it and when I saw it I didn't like it and said thanks but I'll save my money and get a Mustang. :loco: (Yes, I know...)
We ended up finding a 67 GTA Coupe with a 390 in the California desert. It was at an impound yard and didn't run but was still owned by the original owner. We bought it for $2200 bucks and trailered it home. (Wish I could find these pictures) What my Dad thought would be a repaint and a tune up turned into an Engine and Trans rebuild, paint, some interior work, etc, etc. We all know how this goes.
In the summer of 1993 My dad and I drove the car from Los Angeles to Boston where I lived with my Mom and I was going to drive the car back and forth to High School. The trip was a total disaster but we had a blast looking back on it now. In Gallup, New Mexico the brake booster went out and we got stuck for 2 days at a Ford dealer waiting on Parts. In Iowa we got a tank of bad gas with water in it and had to have the tank drained and then in Illinois we got rear ended by a Nun. My Dad used the tow truck to pull the quarter off the rear wheel and we were able to continue on to Boston albeit depressed and upset.
I drove the car for about a year and my Dad and I decided it would be best to ship the car back to Los Angeles and have the collision damage fixed. My Dad fixed the car and drove it around for another couple of years and then put it into the garage and we both basically forgot about it.
In 2007 I sold my 03 Cobra and 03 Lightning and I talked my Dad into letting me come get the Mustang and bring it back East. I borrowed a trailer and drove from Boston to LA to get it. When I saw it for the 1st time in almost 15 years I was horrified. It was being used as shelf storage and had about 3 inches of dirt and grime on it; not how I remembered it! We pushed it onto the trailer and I gave it a bath. Once all the crap was off the car it looked pretty good considering it had 20+ year old paint.
When my Dad had the collision fixed he had them change the stripes from white to gold which I think are awful. I'll put them back to white when I have the car repainted in the future.
I let the car sit for another 4 years in a friends garage because I didn't have a place to work on it. This summer in 2011 I finally decided to make it my mission to get it going.
I replaced all the brakes, front suspension, power steering and got the car running. I put plates on it and drove it around for the 1st time in 20 years. Awesome! Hooked again!
Here is what the car looked like in June, 2011.
Yes the tach on the dash I did when I was 16. It was my Dads that he had in his car when he was a teenager and yes I did punch holes in a good dash pad. :shaking:
Goal - I want to do the Hot Rod Power tour with my Dad in 2013 and drive the car across country again. This time with no problems!
I have a good foundation but the car needs work. The Heater/AC doesn't work, most of the gauges are broken and the engine needs seals and all the rest of the stuff from sitting for 20+ years.
I want to repaint the engine bay and reseal the motor and replace all the rubber under the hood.
I plan to install a Classic Air kit and update the interior with new stuff. Recovers the seats, paint the dash, the doors, etc, etc. I'm going to install an American Auto Wiring kit, etc. I want the car to look pretty much stock but have modern updated stuff to make it a nice drive across country and for weekend cruising in the future.
Underhood pics...
The intake and timing cover is leaking oil and everything needs paint. It's coming out so I can repaint the engine bay.
Earlier this summer I let my younger sister drive the car for the 1st time. She was only 13 when she rode in it last. I sat in the backseat and her husband rode shotgun. Every bump we hit the rear suspension was on the stops and clanging off the exhaust.
So I replaced the springs and shocks and did a gas tank while I was there. The nice thing about a desert car is minimal rust! All the bolts and rubber came right out.
With that in I kept driving the car around this summer and having fun with it.
I joined the New Hampshire Mustang club and was getting ready to attend my 1st club event and meet all the guys and the car decided it didn't want to go.
The heater core let go....
I missed the event but I cut and rerouted the lines so i could still drive the car.
I figured since fall is here I may as well get started on pulling all the A/C and Heater stuff out of the car. The plan is to purchase a Classic Air kit. My Dad had someone fix the A/C back in the early 90s and the heat and A/C never really worked that great.
Looks like fantastic work they did. How much strip caulk to you need?
After I got all that crap off...
I tried for 45 min to get the hoses off and they wouldn't budge. I went to the store and had my 1st experience with a cut off wheel. These things rock!
All lines were off in 2 min, this is all aftermarket stuff anyway and its all trashed and getting replaced.
I went inside the car to start on the box. Took out the console and seat.
I went to pull the carpet back to get more room and just about had a heart attack!!! :shocked:
My rust free desert car! NOooooooooooo!
After drinking heavily that night I went back to work and decided I may as well just start pulling it all apart at this point.
Gee, can you guess why the heat and A/C never really worked right? What a hack job!
Then the fun starts...
Light and Mask - Check! Time to get rid of the carpet and sound deadener and see what I really have here.
I spent the whole weekend bagging and tagging everything. Looks like I'll need a full floorpan.
Not having any welding experience I'm still sorting out what to do. I have a good friend that does fabrication work and I'm pretty sure I can call in a favor and have him help/teach me.
Bye Bye old Harness. New Auto Wire Harness will go in...
44 Year old Dash Pad that was basically fused to the dash from sitting in the sun.
Will need painting.... No spear o matic, 390s got the rag joint. Woo Hoo.
I bought the Scott Drake ignition bezel tool and it worked great, 2 seconds it was out.
That brings me to the current progress. I'm going away for work for 2 weeks and when I get back I'm going to start pulling the motor and trans. Much more to come!
Awesome story and car! she looks to be in great condition. My son and I are planing on going on the 2013 hot rod power tour with his 68 Mustang as well.
Good luck with your car and keep the updates coming!
Thanks!
Pat
I have been following your thread. While I don't plan as extensive a resto I hope mine comes out 1/2 as well as yours does. Here is to hoping we get our cars done in time to meet up on the 2013 Power Tour! :drunkies: :thumbsup:
Some more pictures to start this thread off. I know the car looks pretty good to start with but unfortunately sitting for 20 years takes it's toll and it needs refreshing. I'm not planning to paint the car for a couple years, this "resto re-refresh" will cost enough.
It will need a new exhaust system and tips. These came from a local muffler shop in the 90s. They are larger than the stock ones but only the Mustang guys pick that up.
More floor pictures, I was half expecting to take the interior out and take pictures to show everyone and say "See! There are rust free Mustangs!" Yeah, not so much.
The passenger floor has holes and from the bottom of the car the floors look perfect, no rust at all.
Going to send the steering box off to get rebuilt. As I was taking the column out I could see it turning on one end and not the other.
I'm going to send the exhaust manifolds out to get coated as well.
Two questions, (may be dumb)
Oh, first of all, I think you got something special there.
1. If there are no holes underneath, could you just wire wheel the inside a little to see if it is just surface rust from moisture under the carpet? Granted it looks bad, but is it deep?
2. What is this ignition removal tool you speak of? My car came with the ignition removed. I re-keyed the ignition barrel but do I need a special tool to install it?
Thanks, I'm grateful my Dad kept it all these years and I can't wait till we can drive it across country again 20 years later.
1. If there are no holes underneath, could you just wire wheel the inside a little to see if it is just surface rust from moisture under the carpet? Granted it looks bad, but is it deep?
I started using a wheel on the passenger side, starting at the edges and working my way in. I was hoping I could rough it up enough to paint some rust sealer over it so I didn't have to cut anything out. I accidentally dropped one of the lights outside the car and saw light coming back at me and knew it was over.
That was this picture here, you can see the light and holes. I crawled under the car and could see the holes and not a hint of rust from the bottom. I'm thinking the heater core started leaking some years back or the cowl was letting water in when I washed it. :shrug:
The drivers side and rear seat areas can probably be cleaned up and saved but honestly I only want to rebuild this car once. I have 1000s of hours reading on this site and I think a full floor pan is right way to fix it and get rid of all the rust. I might need to cut a lower section out of the toe board as well. You'll see updates next month when I start on that.
I talked to a friend of mine tonight and he is going to help me cut the floors and teach/help me weld the new pan in place. I'm excited to learn!
2. What is this ignition removal tool you speak of? My car came with the ignition removed. I re-keyed the ignition barrel but do I need a special tool to install it?
Some people use plyers or whatever to get the bezel loose but I like using the right tools and doing it the easy way. I think the tool was 18 bucks or so from CJ Pony. Push it into the bezel and twist and the bezel unscrews. In this picture I screwed the bezel back onto the switch and the yellow thing is the tool.
Here is what I took when I was taking it apart. The guy who "fixed" the A/C in the early 90s only had it bolted it back in on the bottom. Apparently he couldn't get it bolted back over the 2 gallons of strip caulk. ha ha
It looks like you are missing the rubber grommet. Probably a fatality in that 'repair' that made him break out the tube of caulk. Thank's for the bracket pics. Yet another part that going to be difficult for me to find!
I read on this site that they were removed from the small block cars and reused. It was only the big block cars that they stayed on because they were a pain to get back out during assembly.
One of 719 cars. I'm not sure I know alot about Mustangs, but that sounds pretty rare. I think I am going to send mine out for a Marti report tomorrow. I'll also take some shots of my unrusted floor boards
Funny, my story is a little similar to yours. You've inspired me to write up my own thread.
Thanks guys. I was in England for 2 weeks and then have been without power for a week. Last weekend I ordered the Dynacorn 1 piece floor and frame extensions from CJ Pony. They are on back order and will take a few weeks which works great since I don't have the motor and trans out yet. More progress to come next week!
Having Mustang withdrawl I bought a new one today. 2012 GT/CS wth a 6 speed stick. I promise it will stay stock and the money will go into the 67 Resto. :shocked:
Subscribed. Good thread - hope to see your progress. I have a '65 and '67. The '67 is in the same shape as yours and is in real need of new wiring. That will be a project for me.
Finally back at it. Bought a bunch of new garage toys to help with this. Air compressor, blasting cabinet, portable heater, new tools, etc.
I got in on a discount from CJ pony for a dynacorn floor and frame extensions. I took them out of the box and they look pretty sweet. Still not sure how going about it but i'll figure out it.
When you think about all the work it's overwhelming so I just try to think of it as 1 task at a time.
I'm working on getting the motor and trans out now that the interior is stripped.
20 years ago my dad and I put this flex fan on to keep the car cool. Glad I had gloves, this thing is like a razor blade. I'd love to find a stock clutch fan to put back on.
I'll need a new battery tray but it's not awful. I can't get the last bolt out, it looks like the bumper support? is in the way in the wheel well. I'll deal with it later.
Back in the 90s my Dad had a guy "fix" the A/C. He cut up the radiator support to get an aftermarket condensor and dryer in there. :crybaby:
I'll pull the accessories off later this week and start bugging my friend for his crane and engine stand. It's amazing what sitting will do to a car. The motor only has around 10K miles on it but it sat for 15 years and there is surface rust on a lot of this. The plan is to reseal the motor and paint it so it looks new again.
I'm so afraid I'll never get it back together! I'm bagging and tagging everything.
I wouldn't replace those floor pans unless you're going for a concourse car. You can strip and sand both sides down and do a POR-15 or similar coating and get a good surface to paint. Just get all of flaky rust removed.
I've also got a '67 S-code coupe.
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