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65 Convertible Fix-Up

7K views 49 replies 10 participants last post by  image98 
#1 ·
Getting the car -
Hello all – I thought I would start a post to document my progress while I fix-up my old Mustang. I say fix-up because the wife and I plan to use the car so I will be adding Safety and reliability items to the car as I go and although I would like it to look good at local shows, meets and cruise nights I have no plans of doing a full on concourse type restoration. I have had the car home now for just over a week and I have discovered a lot about the car and old Mustangs in general in this time. We bought the car from family and my wife had told me about the car practically since I met her. The car had sat for over 25 years in a pretty well sealed garage by the time I was offered to possibly buy the car. When I went to look at the car it was all intact with flat tires and the interior had its share of mildew. I tried to turn the engine with what tools I could find in the garage and it didn’t want to turn and I really feared a locked up engine from sitting so long. I didn’t want to make things worse by forcing the issue so I just made a mental note that the engine may very well need a complete rebuild if useable at all. One way or another I knew how much my wife wanted the car and I had the ability to resurrect the old beast so we went forward with the purchase. When I went to pick the car up I aired up the tires and really feared locked up brakes because the e-brake was pulled and heaven knows for how long. A buddy and I pushed and rocked and quickly heard a pop and the car started to roll – Yay!! We had a full size trailer with a wench so once out of the garage it was easy sailing. 3 hours later and we unloaded the car to my garage. To be continued...:cheers:
 

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#2 ·
Welcome, this is a great place to look for information, and if you cant find dont hesitate to ask. Everyone is great about answering questions , even if it is a topic already covered. Have no fear in asking.

My wife and I bought our 66 vert last year and have enjoyed every second together in it.
Cheers
 
#7 · (Edited)
Excellent choice!

Welcome to the forum!

PS; If you have to clean Mildew......Go to Wal-Mart and pick up a can of "Scrubbing Bubbles" cleaner - You know, Those little Smiling Cartoon Scrub Brush Bubbles on the Front of the Green Can... Spray it on the mildewed seats, Wait 10 minutes and then wipe off......then repeat procedure as necessary.. The stuff works great and best of all its cheap!! I got the tip from a Corvette Forum...

:eek:)

Tony K.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the replies and interest guys!! - - And the story goes on - -

Work Begins -

Day 1 – when I got home the first thing I did the following day after coffee was remove all the plugs and pour marvel mystery oil down all the cylinders. I changed the oil and poured seafoam into the carb. At which point I realized the old stang had a four barrel on it. I figured it had to be aftermarket because it says Holley on it. So - I dug into some web pages to find that some cars came with four barrels from ford and if it was a factory four barrel you should look for a certain letter on your vin. Sure as heck I looked it up and there is an A for the engine code. I know all you are probably saying at this point “what an idiot that’s the first thing you check out” but I know nothing about Fords or Mustangs – I’ve learned a great deal about A-Body Barracuda’s because I spent 20 plus years restoring one but Mustangs uum not so much. So any way I’m way stoked about the 4 barrel thing. I went on to cleaning all the interior and after several hours of wiping, vacuuming, and sweating it all cleaned up really nice. Upon my door tag decoding I found out the car although certainly not factory paint still sports its original Wimbledon white hue and black standard interior. Next - I moved on to electricals. I put in an old battery I had in the garage and found that the headlights worked and that was about it that worked Lol!! My first stop was the fuse block and after taking 30 year old aluminum foil out of 2 of the fuse slots I pulled all the fuses to find just 1 that was still good – the cigarette lighter fuse – which made sense since I found the cigarette lighter in the back ashtray of the console while I was vacuuming. I went to the autoparts store and got an assortment of fuses and replaced all the bad ones. Then most everything worked again. Except taillights and brake lights. The flashers came on but didn’t flash and I was holding off on the ignition for another day or so while the mystery oil hopefully worked its magic. Dome light was hanging under the dash so I found a screw and secured it still didn’t work so I changed the bulb and that did the trick. Back console light bulbs also needed changing. And the cover was missing but hey the screws were still in the holes so bonus. The old 2 speed fan still works. Hell The AM radio still kicks out the tunes!!! I then pulled the taillights apart and cleaned them well. Then I cleaned the sockets and replaced the bulbs and I have taillights and brake lights again - put it back together. So now all the electrical was working again except I need a flasher unit. Time for a beer and to stand back and look at it awhile in the dark garage with its lights on!!
Day 2 - I had family stuff going on and I figured it best to let the oil work anyway. :cheers:
I will leave you today with a couple shots of the cleaned up interior - Enjoy!!! :grin2:
 

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#9 ·
Thanks for the replies and interest guys!! - - And the story goes on - -

I know all you are probably saying at this point “what an idiot that’s the first thing you check out” but I know nothing about Fords or Mustangs –

Hell yeah, that's the first thing you do! :wink:

If you haven't decoded your data plate yet, post a pic of that and someone here will tell you everything on it from memory.

Nice car, too.
 
#10 ·
Holley would be an "Aftermarket Carb" on a '65-'66 Mustang.... Unless it was a Shelby... Regular Production Mustangs used "Autolite 2100" (2 Barrel Carb), or "Autolite 4100" (4 Barrel Carb).

:eek:)

Tony K.
 
#11 ·
Looks like the interior cleaned up really nicely. Nice to have everything complete and be able to slowly sort through it.

Holley 600's (4150's and 4160's) got slapped on to replace poorly tuned or worn out original autolites. Mine had one too. Not a bad carb. Any engine bay photos? Post up the door tag photos and the folk here should be able to get you even more great info. Being an A code certainly helps.
 
#14 ·
If at first you don't succeed - - try better tool's!!

Day 3 – Equipped with a ½ inch breaker bar and the proper socket and extension I attempt to turn the engine over by hand. To my infinite surprise it started to move!! Without too much resistance even. Maybe it was the sub-par tools I had out on the road or the mystery oil or lack of spark plugs or all this combined, but it was moving.
I grabbed a ratchet and turned that sucker about 5 times around just to make sure, but the old engine was turning freely with no noises or binding – I thought OK now were getting somewhere. I disconnected the fuel line with old nasty fuel coming from the gas tank as to not suck any of that junk unto the carburetor and I went into the car and figured I would try to bump the starter. Turned the key – and - Nothing!!
Came back out to the engine bay and jumped the solenoid - - Nothing! Got out my trusty meter and found I had power to the starter, so the solenoid was working (at least when I manually put power to it). So off I went to get a new starter. That was it for day 3 I decided to swap out the starter and continue trouble shooting the next day.

Here are a couple pictures of the engine bay and carburetor - nothing much to look at but I will clean things up in time...
 

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#15 ·
Great Day!!

Day 4 – Started with swapping the starter out – a bitch as usual – but got it done. Back to the engine bay I jumped the solenoid and the engine cranked away!! I spent the next 20 minutes cleaning Marvel Mystery Oil off the fire walls. Then back inside to bump the ignition - - Nothing! Grabbed my trusty meter and went back to the solenoid to check power at the ignition wire and as I went to pull off the push-on connector I found the wire dangling below the connector.
I found a connector that would work temporarily and spliced it on. Went back to the ignition switch and it just cranked and cranked!! Oh yeah!! Now I was feeling lucky, so I gaped and installed all new spark plugs I had gotten my last trip to the parts store for the starter and then hooked up a fuel line to a small gas container and primed the carb with fresh gas. Went in the car – hit the key and it just cranked and cranked!! But didn’t fire.
I came back out and pulled one of the plugs I had just installed and jumped the solenoid again with the ignition on. No spark at all. I pulled the cap cleaned and checked the gap at the points. I made sure the points were working and they were. So I figured it must be the coil. I then tested the coil with a spark plug and had no spark. I have a couple of coils laying around the garage, so I decided to swap out the coil and as I took off the positive wire its push on connector fell off in my fingers.
I found another connector to use temporarily and spliced it together. I checked for spark again and Boom!! – Good spark Finally!! I poured some more clean fuel down the carburetor got back in the car and cranked it over and the old engine fired to life for the first time in 20 plus years!!! it smoked like crazy due to marvel mystery oil and seafoam but it cleared up after a few minutes – I held it at a high idle for several minutes then turned it off. I let it cool off till it was cool enough to top off the coolant.
I put more seafoam in the carb and some more fresh fuel and started it up again. This time I let it run at a high Idle until I saw the thermostat cycle and when I finally let off the gas the engine came down to an idle. Just like that!! Just sitting there - purrrring away!
 
#16 ·
After getting the car started I took a trip to Cj pony Parts. They are about an hour from my house so I made a list of items as I was going threw the car. Mainly I needed a new fuel tank and sending unit. I got the 90-degree connectors that had broken off the solenoid and coil leads. I picked up a battery tray, a missing lamp lens for the console light, windshield washer bag and hoses - little stuff.

At this point I installed the new gas tank and sending unit, blew out the old fuel line with my air compressor, installed a new fuel filter and soft lines at the fuel pump and tank and put fresh fuel in the tank. I checked the fluid level in the transmission and it was good. I then started the car up, let it warm up awhile, put the car in reverse and pulled out of the garage. I wanted to see how it would shift so I drove down the street and the trans shifted very nice and smooth. The Carburetor will probably need a good rebuild but if I go slow and easy it really runs nicely down the road.

Here are a couple shots after the first drive!!
 

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#17 ·
Can anyone tell me how to figure out if my car came with a white convertible top from the factory? Is there a code somewhere? Obviously it has a white top now but I think a black top would look better with the black interior - Any thoughts??
Thanks Bill
 
#18 ·
Hey, It looks like your Holley is no ordinary Holley 4 barrel... It is a Ford Factory 1970 Holley Carb. For what engine, I have no idea... Probably 351C or 351W if I had to guess.. I don't think that it's a 302 carb, but it's possible. You'd have to look up the carb number... Maybe I will do it later..

:eek:)

Tony K.
 
#22 ·
Hey Tony - from what I have come up with the carb is a 4548 Holley 450cfm. Since I'm going to keep the car as a driver I am going to keep the Holley. I've found a rebuild kit on ebay for about $30. The motor seems to like the 450 cfm but it certainly needs a rebuild.

Bill
 
#19 ·
Be very careful when taking apart the Holly 4-barrel. It has like double the parts of an Autolite 4100 which was the car's Original carb. Parts can get easily lost or misplaced..

:eek:)

Tony K.
 
#20 ·
Wow. Sweet car. I envy you having what looks to be nearly an all original car that has been tucked away for twenty or something years waiting for you to bring it back to life. A dream come true in my book. Someone else probably caught it, but did you swap your 65 hub caps for 66?
 
#21 ·
Thanks image98- I am really enjoying the car and I am glad it is in such original/complete condition it certainly makes the process easier when you don' t have to research a bunch of missing stuff. I put the hubcaps on that are on now because they came with the car and there are 4 of them - I only have 3 of the other style. I actually saw a set with spinners on them and really like them but I will probably just get one more of the correct ones and go back to those. I will probably with time go to 15 inch with gt wheels - I just love them but plenty of projects before that happens.
Bill
 
#24 ·
Yes, The interior looks pretty Nice... I'd keep it looking that way and not change a thing....until something gets really worn out.. Yes, The Hubcaps are 1966 hubcaps...., and not 1965 Hubcaps.. The Holley 450 should make the car run pretty well.. so leave it on until you get sick of it or decide to return everything in the car back to original.

I can tell what the car's top is original if it was a NJ made car.... It's hard to do if the car was from Dearborn or San Jose. Would need a few things...I would need the VIN# of the car to start...you can leave off the last 3 digits.. and would need some pics of the current top...especially in the Rear Window area. There should be some stampings in the rear vinyl window in the Left Bottom Rear of the Vinyl Window....Like the pics below. Would also need to see pic of the Top Tack Strip the runs along the Top Rear of the Convertible top. Original Top Strips were Plastic and of a certain design...Replacement tops have ALL VINYL Rear Top Tack Strips. Original Convertible Tops also had ALL BRASS Zippers, Not Plastic ones like Reproductions. See pics below...
 

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#25 ·
Thanks Tony - My Vin is F08A628xxx. I will look at the top sometime this weekend and take some pictures but I'm pretty sure that the condition of the back window is so poor that I won't be able to read any markings if they were ever there but I will check it out.
Thanks again - Bill
 
#26 ·
I think you mean...."5F08A628xxx" ..... That would be a February 1965 Dearborn built car (Date code: "B")....... Sorry, but because it's a Dearborn built car, I can't make any determination on the Convertible top until I see some pics of the areas that I requested. Until then, The topic is at a standstill...

:eek:)

Tony K.
 
#28 ·
Thanks Bill... I'll be here....waiting.....

:eek:)

Tony K.
 
#29 ·
So Tony here are a few pictures - It looks like my top is after market IMHO. The rear trim strip is shorter and not 2 peices like the one you have pictured. also my zipper is brass but it is a different shape and says SCOVILL on it. So I guess I will never know the factory color of the top - but - I think I will go to a black top. I think it would look better with the black interior.
 

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