Doomed Mustangs Get Second Shot at Life
East Coast Restoration needs only a firewall and the bones of the unibody to save any Mustang in dire straits.
If you have ever shopped for a classic Ford Mustang, the odds are good that you have seen cars that were just too far gone to save. We are talking about cars that have practically melted into the ground, looking more like a pile of formed rust than an automobile, as these are the cars that most body shops don’t want to touch.
However, for Peterson Restorations in Pennsylvania, almost no classic Mustang is too far gone to save. Bill Tumas from the CJ Pony Parts YouTube channel recently visited Ben Peterson’s shop to look at some of the projects that he is working on; many of which would be written off as scrap by most collectors and shop owners.
Meet Ben Peterson
The video begins with Tumas introducing us to Ben Peterson, the man behind the work at Peterson Restorations. Peterson actually got into the Mustang restoration game while working for CJ Pony Parts and working at a body shop in high school before opening his own business of bringing the roughest classic pony cars back to life.
Peterson learned his love of the Mustang from his dad, who drove one of the first generation cars throughout Ben’s life. In fact, he has restored his dad’s car and while it was clean to start, it was transformed into an award-winning show car. Peterson also worked on CJ Pony Parts’ 50/30 SEMA back in 2014, taking a car that was all-but-destroyed, buying it and turning it into a like-new roller. From there, CJs bought it back and completed the show car build.
What makes Ben Peterson’s work unique is that he will save any Mustang, even if there is almost nothing left of the original metal. He explains that with all of the measurements, he can fabricate just about everything, provided that he has a firewall and the basic lines of the chassis. As a result, Peterson Restorations will repair cars that others would recommend for the scrap pile.
Current Projects
While visiting Peterson Restorations, Tumas takes a look at Peterson’s current projects, including a pair of 1967 Mustangs, a 1972 Chevy Nova, a 1965 fastback and a 1969 Mach 1 that seems like a completely impossible build.
We first see the 1965 fastback in Twilight Turquoise (above), which will be restored to a rolling chassis with a clean body, at which point it will be sold to a customer for completion.
Next, we see the two 1967 models, both of which are a unique shade of pink. The fastback is Dusk Rose and is in very rough shape, requiring extensive work to simply resemble a classic Mustang. The coupe is painted Playboy Pink, and while the paint is rough, the body is very clean so it will be one of Peterson’s simpler restorations. He explains that both of these cars will be long-term projects, as he plans to keep both of them.
The next car is in Peterson’s assembly area and it is the oddest of the bunch, as he agreed to restore a 1972 Chevy Nova owned by a family friend. The current owner bought the car new, so with the Root Beer Brown paint and the basic bodywork being finished, Peterson will begin to tackle the rest of the project.
Finally, we head back outside to check out a 1969 Mach 1, or at least part of it. Most of the car is gone and it is sitting on the ground on the chassis. What metal is left is so rusted that we can see light through the firewall, but Peterson expects to build a roller out of it and making it even more amazing, he plans to have it finished by the end of the year.
Ben Peterson is a unique member of the community, working to save the cars that most people would cut apart and scrap, helping to preserve many antique Ford Mustangs.
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