Mals13

Hello everyone my name is Jacob. I am a newcomer to the world of ford muscle as it where. I am 25 years old and have been turning a wrench since I was old enough to hold one. I usually build tuners and new school american rods, the newest addition to the list is somewhat confusing to me and I would like to ask for some help. My wife has begged me for a 65 mustang for years now. Well just so happens one was dropped off in my front yard yesterday, after it stayed in the woods for 15 years. This car is pretty banged up, it has no motor or tranny, the pans are rusted through, the only good glass on the car is the passenger side door glass, the rockers look decent, but the big problem is a small pine tree decided to take a nap on the front end...

This is a going to be a massive project for me. Plus a massive money pit. I want to make the wife happy and restore it but at the same time I don't want to get half way through and find out that the car isn't legally driveable.

She isn't making it easy either. As far as I know the car use to have a 289 in it. But this is second hand info. Well the wife found one of my favorite sites last night, jegs. and she wants a Boss 302 crate motor put in this car. Is that even doable? Plus she flat out refuses to put a manual in it, she wants it automatic, and she wants a/c.

My big question is, am I biting off way more then I can chew as a new comer to the classic mustang world?

jlg2002

First, IMO if the car is an ordinary coupe (code 65 of the data plate), it's probably not worth the money you will need to spend to fix the sheet metal based on your condition statement.

Have a look at the VIN and make sure it has a F, D, C, A or K in it (no T's) that tells you it was V8 from the factory (if it is a D,A, or K code it would increase its value).

Lastly, all pre metric designation SB ford engines are essentially identical in size and fit very nicely. a nice C4 or C6 AT can be had and add on AC is also not a problem.

racer_dave

Hi, welcome to the site. I don't think the site will let you post pics until you have 50 thread posts, so that's going to hinder our ability to see your stuff. I wish we could see pics. Maybe you can post them for free at an image hosting site and give us a link to see them. Without pics its hard to gauge how bad off the car is.

Sounds like a HUGE project. From your description of yourself I'd say you have the mechanical ability, but the question is whether its worth it. From your description of the car, nearly every part of it will need to be replaced which is a ton of work. On the bright side all the parts are out there to do it. Find us a way to see the pics so we can weigh in with what we think.

AscolA

I took a look at the pics that you had posted by opening them in a new window. Thats not at 65, it's a 67.

MustangFTW

It would save a whole helluva lot of money and time to buy a different one. Probably doesn't have a title either right?

BuckeyeDemon

i hope your wife understands the kind of money and time (i.e. as in time away from your wife) it takes to rescue a car like that.

stephen.osborne1

From your description, it sounds as if you'd be better off finding one in better shape to start with, unless as stated earlier, it has one of the "magic letters" in the VIN, which would increase the value of the car but it'd still take a lot of $$ to fix. You can find decent, running '65 coupes out there for $4,000 or so. Check for common rust areas (which can be searched on this site).
Your Boss 302 motor will fit in place of the 289 the car supposedly had. Also, a newer Automatic Overdrive (AOD) transmission is a pretty easy swap in these older Stangs. Good luck and welcome to the world of classic muscle!

Kenny_Z

I took a look at your pictures. It is a 67, not a 65. I prefer that style even though I own a 66. The 67/68s had a more muscular styling in my eyes.

I hope you can weld but even if you can't buy a welder and lots of practice sheetmetal because it'll be cheaper than paying someone else to do it. Count on nearly that entire car needing new panels. Count on those new panels not lining up the way you want. Count on a lot of new vocabulary words. And finally, count on that feeling of knowing you put a lot of yourself into your car and the pride that comes with accomplishing a lot of little goals to get to your final goal.

Good luck on your project.

Kirklandkie

am i missing something? how are you seeing this guy's pictures?

-kirk

andrewmp6

If it sat in the woods that long and has rust sell it its cheaper to buy a better car to start with then a rust bucket missing half the car.