I can't really see your car that well,but from what I do see looks like $4K isnt bad for initial cost. I gave top dollar for a non top dollar car, then started, and it's only a good driver. When I do get that lucky lottery ticket, I will get what I really want, haha.
Mike
its not as bad as i make it seem but for $1000 more i could have bought a similar shape or better driveable V8 car. mine is a 6 thats driveable with granada disc/v8 steering and an 8" already but needs full interior a bit of rust repair and paint/body work.
Im on board with most everybody else Its not like other not so good habits sorry to some but its not like smoking when their re gone their gone the car is still with you.In my opinion you need to get to a point where you are happy with the car and drive it.Then if you are like me I finished (started driving ) mine 9years ago and I still get excited before every drive Looking back you will see and say man this is worth every dime and hour it took Have fun cus I know you will
I can't really see your car that well,but from what I do see looks like $4K isnt bad for initial cost. I gave top dollar for a non top dollar car, then started, and it's only a good driver. When I do get that lucky lottery ticket, I will get what I really want, haha.
Mike
This statement right here puts my vote to "sell it". It's obvious that you really want a different car. Sell what you have and save, save, save for what you really want even if its a Ferrari, or Lamborghini or whatever. Ive wanted a 69 or 70 fastback for so many years, I read all about them, every time I got a hint that there was one even remotely close to me I was in the car going to look at it. I would get a little money saved but I could never find one for what I had and then something would happen so I had to spend the money and one would pop up and I would be so upset. I probably have 8 years of searching for this car and I finally bought one a few months back. It is my baby! I woke up at 3am to go to corvette Carlisle so if I hadn't bought the car, the 2 hour trip wouldn't have been a complete waste. By the time it was all said and done I was up and running around for 15 hours before my car was finally home and I still had to clean the garage. And I mean the garage was packed, there was barley room to move in there but I had everything moved into the house for the night so I could get that car in there. I'm excited to just be telling you about it. Anytime someone comes over to my house I make it a point to start it up for some reason. It is my dream car. I'm 25 years old and I have very limited knowledge of how to fix an old car and i dont have the money to pay someone but I go out in the garage and tinker with it every chance I get. If you don't have that kind of feeling toward your hobby car, sell it and save for the car you really want.
Ok, sooooo I bought my 69 mustang coupe, grande deluxe interior, 351W, FMX, AC , PS, PB, rear window defog, Tilt away steering "which doesn't work". Kinda rushed in, done some research, and bought it.
Nice car. The tilt feature still works, of course, and the away feature can likely be fixed, too. A VERY well optioned car.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikek69
I'm embarrased to say how much I paid for it and have sunk another 5G into an engine rebuild, wheels, tires and other stuff. The problem other than I have spent double what its worth, is that it still needs more!!
Don't blame the car for the money spent on wheels- that was your idea.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikek69
This thing $100's me to death! It's getting to a point that my stomach turns thinking about this car.......I mean, its a 69 coupe, but a they are a dime a dozen.
Huh? a) You are spending on want's, not just needs. b) It's a Grandé, NOT a "dime-a-dozen" coupe. The Grandé is more rare than the mach1, it was meant to be a Mustang version of the luxury Thunderbird. It featured luxury interior, including unique-to-the Grandé cloth upholstery, the woodgrain panels extended to the rear seat (69 Grandé only) dual mirrors, special Grandé-only reflective side stripe, vinyl roof, an extra 55 pounds of soundproofing, unique Grandé-only rear spring eyes for quieter ride, and a few other unique trim items. Dime-a-dozen? Betcha at any car show will have 25 mach1's for every Grandé. And yours has far more options than most mach1's, or even for that matter, Grandés. I've never even seen a 69 rear window defogger.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikek69
I see so many good deals....now that I bought mine. Good grief
On Grandés? A Grandé with those options is easily worth double the price of any 69 coupe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikek69
Should I just quit pumpimg money into this car and drive it as is, or try and get out of it hoping to recoupe some of my money?
If you don't like it, sell it to someone who does. Or learn to like it, and appreciate its rarity. If I didn't have a Mustang, I'd certainly look forward to finding a loaded luxury model like yours.
__________________
Amateur restorer. (Well, once in a while I have been paid for it)
Nice car. The tilt feature still works, of course, and the away feature can likely be fixed, too. A VERY well optioned car.
Don't blame the car for the money spent on wheels- that was your idea.
Huh? a) You are spending on want's, not just needs. b) It's a Grandé, NOT a "dime-a-dozen" coupe. The Grandé is more rare than the mach1, it was meant to be a Mustang version of the luxury Thunderbird. It featured luxury interior, including unique-to-the Grandé cloth upholstery, the woodgrain panels extended to the rear seat (69 Grandé only) dual mirrors, special Grandé-only reflective side stripe, vinyl roof, an extra 55 pounds of soundproofing, unique Grandé-only rear spring eyes for quieter ride, and a few other unique trim items. Dime-a-dozen? Betcha at any car show will have 25 mach1's for every Grandé. And yours has far more options than most mach1's, or even for that matter, Grandés. I've never even seen a 69 rear window defogger.
On Grandés? A Grandé with those options is easily worth double the price of any 69 coupe.
If you don't like it, sell it to someone who does. Or learn to like it, and appreciate its rarity. If I didn't have a Mustang, I'd certainly look forward to finding a loaded luxury model like yours.
I will eventually fix the tilt away.
Yea wheels and tires were a want. Just the 14" chrome gt's didn't seem to fit the car.
I must have missed the cloth intereior part, they look all vinyl to me. But the covers could have been changed during the last 40 years I suppose.
The top was removed at some point and I had considered on putting it back on.
I have realized it's a hobby and project I like so I'm cool spending the money when I have it. I will always hate the fact that it was hit in the rear, but 20 years from now I may restore it from the ground up and fix those issues.
I guess I lucked out in most cases as compared to what I've seen here! I will most definately agree with Pmustang that you need to buy ANY old mustang from the bottom. I would rather find a complete drivetrain than tackle a lot of rust!
I did start out fairly lucky in my "finds"!-
1965 GT Convert- last one Va Mustang restored. $6500 w/ orig owner's manual that stated GT. Drove it 71,000 miles in 2 years until Ex totaled it (other driver's fault) Insurance pay out- $11,500
1965 K GT Convert- $16,000, added about $2K in corrections and drove it 20K in 2 years -- Traded at $35K
66 GT Coupe- $2900- traded it 2 years later for 70 Mach I in fairly good conditon-
68 6 cyl convert- $3600- Was family beater for years until 2 accidents and messed up good- Ins pay-out- $7500 + traded even for 92 Grand Marquis w/ 9500 miles and drive until last year and sold for $1600 after putting almost 100K on it!
64.9 Convert- (present car) $9200- put 369K miles in 23 years, maybe $12K-15K in repairs/maint. Was in fairly good condition when I bought it- 2nd owner- original paint until 1999.
65 K GT FB- 58K miles- all there, running & driving- $13K- est resto about $15K+ Not too much for what's there
69 GT Convert- (just bought)-71K miles, lot of previous work done, some not all that great, will probably take $2K+/- to finish- $12K
When I had the shop, I saw WAY too many people buy a carcass and thought they could make a lot of money by restoring it. Almost all were sadly disappointed when they saw what it would take just to make it driveable! I'd much rather buy something done, or almost done and finish it, then try to taclke a major resto, unless it had a real pedigree and was dirt cheap at the start.
__________________
64 9/10 Convertible- 370,000 miles & counting (2nd owner)
65 GT Convertible
65 K GT Fastback- 59,000 original miles
69 GT Convertible- 72,000 miles
08 Coupe
200 F-250 Lariat, 2010 F-250 King Ranch
well, who knew your car was so special? thats pretty cool info on the grande. and as i said before, thats a good lookin car, especially with the wheel upgrade !
Location: Soviet Socialist Republic of Massachusetts
Posts: 2,513
Quote:
Originally Posted by datac
Got news for you, every single one of us, unless we bought the car complete and needing nothing, is upside down. I bought mine in great shape when they were cheap and plentiful, and I'm way, way in the hole, too.
Forget the money part- is it what you want? Do you smile when you drive it? Do you look back over your shoulder after you park it? If not, ditch it now, because no amount of money will fix that. Having the nicest example of a car you don't like is no victory.
As with most of the replies, you can't look at these cars as investments. If you enjoy the car, enjoy doing the work, and end up with a product you like, who cares? The only way to avoid being upside down is to buy one complete and done.
If the car isn't what you want, then sell it. If it is, keep it and never look at the value market. I couldn't even tell you what a 65 Vert goes for these days. I see some pop up on the market around here time and again and I usually look at the value and go "too much". I stopped keeping overall tabs on how much I've sunk into my car.
But I enjoy working on my car and I enjoy driving it.
I guess I lucked out in most cases as compared to what I've seen here! I will most definately agree with Pmustang that you need to buy ANY old mustang from the bottom. I would rather find a complete drivetrain than tackle a lot of rust!
Very true! Doing rust repair is dirty, painful, and time consuming, and that's if you are doing it yourself. If you pay to have it done, it better be an investment in future fun, because it sure won't be seen in sale price, if you sell it.
I recently spent a lotta time repairing the rockers on my Mountaineer, time I'd have rather spent on the Mustang. Rebuilding the toploader, which it needs, would have been easier and less work than those rockers. The results were outstanding, and I must say it's the technology, I'm not a "natural" painter. For $100 a pint (wholesale no less) it better be good. Makes me feel better about the paint that looms in my Mustang's future, except for the price.
__________________
Amateur restorer. (Well, once in a while I have been paid for it)
I will eventually fix the tilt away. Figure out the problem now- It might take a while to find needed parts.
Yea wheels and tires were a want. Just the 14" chrome gt's didn't seem to fit the car. Well, IIRC, the Grandé came with wire wheel covers.
I must have missed the cloth intereior part, they look all vinyl to me. But the covers could have been changed during the last 40 years I suppose. Hmmm… You can have that done, but it'll come at a price. Well worth it.
The top was removed at some point and I had considered on putting it back on. I would. It'd be a real interesting touch at shows. Nowadays the fashion is to remove them, but they were considered a touch of class at the time. Still are, really. The missing Grandé roof emblems may be hard to find. Start looking now. 69-73 left/right are all the same. The top mouldings were 69-only. Cast zinc, but look like stitched leather.
I have realized it's a hobby and project I like so I'm cool spending the money when I have it. I will always hate the fact that it was hit in the rear, but 20 years from now I may restore it from the ground up and fix those issues. Properly repaired, the rear hit should be no problem.
__________________
Amateur restorer. (Well, once in a while I have been paid for it)
Well.....I do grin alot when I'm in it and rev that engine. I have not been able to put many miles on it yet, but I look at it once more every time before I close my shop door. Does that count?
Mike
This to me says it all, sounds like you have a bright future with your car. This is the thing that I just can't shake about my car, I still love it everytime I look at it.
I love this thread, its like therapy. I to am upside down. I think. Im sure I have twenty grand or more in coupe GTA. I cant even remember, but I dont care
Location: Soviet Socialist Republic of Massachusetts
Posts: 2,513
Quote:
Originally Posted by scrogg67
I love this thread, its like therapy. I to am upside down. I think. Im sure I have twenty grand or more in coupe GTA. I cant even remember, but I dont care
Remember, you aren't upside down until you sale your car and actually 'realize' the loss. Until then, it's just a hobby just like many others. In fact, most hobbies are places where money goes to disappear.
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