JMarich

Greetings all. My name is Josh and I have finally decided to take the plunge.

In 1968, my Grandparents bought a brand new Mustang Coupe (289, white/red interior) and when I was growing up alot of my memories center around this. I remember my grandmother driving me around in it as a young kid. My dad kept this car and pretty much drove it as his primary. When I turned 16, the keys were turned over to me.

On my 17th birthday (to the day) I struck a white 1986 Mustang (white/red interior) in a cruel twist of fate. I pulled out when I had a hard time seeing and by the time I saw the car, it was too late. Completely my fault. The damage was the hood, fender, etc. Basic stuff.

Unfortunatly, that was the last time the family Mustang ran. It never would start after this accident and there never really was the money to fix it.

Fast forward: I am now 26, self employed, and just got out of the Marines after 6 years. With more time on my hands, I have really been kicking around a new project to spend my time on. Yup. You guessed it, time to completely restore my Mustang.

Where is this Mustang you ask? Dang, I was hoping you wouldn't ask this. Unfortunatly, she has not gotten any attention and I am almost too ashamed to look at her. But I am about to make it up to her. She has been sitting in my parents driveway (to their neighbor's dismay) only getting worse.

Tomorrow, I am having it brought over to my new house and she has her very own spot in our garage.

I am so excited, but incredibly overwhelmed. I am handy with a tool, and follow manuals even better I will take some pictures tomorrow and post them after my baby is home.

ANY suggestions, ideas, direction would be helpful. I would really like to go about this the right way. I plan on restoring this as an alternative to buying a new car. Not for the $$ reasons, but I sure miss cruising around in my mustang.

Ideas I am thinking about are a little more power out of the engine, disc brakes all around, better suspension, etc. I am not planning on showing this car, and honestly keeping it 100% original is not really a factor. I just plan on keeping this car for a long long time and maybe passing it on to one of my kids.

Ok, thats my novel. Thanks for reading

Josh Marich

bob emmerich

First off welcome to the forum. First hting is to get a good idea of what you want(which it sounds like you have) and to figure out exactly what needs to be done. Sitting for a while can destroy a good body/frame. pick up some vendor catalogs and check out the prices-it's always good to shop around.
Generally start with disassembly, then the body/frame work first. You wouldn't want the interior getting dust and paint all over it. Then tackle the suspension/steering/braking systems,drivetrain,and finally the interior. I like to leave the interior until last, so it doesn't get damaged/dirty during the course of the resto.
Of course this is just the easiest way I have found to do things after doing several cars.
GOOD LUCK WITH IT.

red347

Have to agree with Bob. Interior should be last. I remember dropping mine off at the paint shop, and after stopping by 6 weeks later, it was a mess. But, like the man said.."you have to make um look bad, before you make um look good". I do wish I had saved cleaning up the engine and engine bay before it was sent to the painter. That all had to be redone again.
One suggestion...I made a very thorough list of every part I needed for the complete restoration. Sun visors, door handles, carpeting etc. I then went to Cal Mustangs, Mustangs Unlimited, NPD, all of them and faxed them the list with their catalog prices. My proposal was that the lowest bidder got ALL the business. I saved, and this is not an exaturation, 20% over the catalog prices. I have some good connections for Wilwood disc brakes, when you are ready for those...

Ron