Hello All,

Im new to the website, but figured it would be helpful in getting some base in for about my project. ok, so im a 17 year old kid, ive dreamed about owning a mustang, and insist that it is a classic! Ive done some research, and know that i want a 1969 because of the look appealing to me. I want to buy one in running and decent conditon, but do a restoration project on it. First of all i was curious what models/features i should look for within this year of car when im buying. Also how much should i plan to spend restoring it.

Thanks,
Nick

 

I dont think it would be such a terrible idea to buy one that's in decent shape and restore it slowly over a long period of time while you drive it around. Take care of all the serious issues first and then move from one thing to the next....I think its a good idea to try to win the war one battle at a time....You could try to nuke it and win the war all at once but that can have serious unforeseen consequences... such as the cost of the nuke, fallout, retaliatory strikes from neighboring counties.

-Gun

 

Nick,

If you don't need to drive the car, you can do the resto at home at your own pace.

I restored mine while I drove it. The priorities are different if you drive the car, and in my case, I didn't put some things off because the car was in my face every day and I was driving around a bucket of bolts.

Here's my resto tale:

I did realistic repairs and restoration without killing myself or working 18 hours straight by doing 15-20 hours each weekend for 3 years. My car was 100% complete when I bought it, but a complete wreck as it had been driven into the ground and neglected by the orig owner for 23 years. The roof and paint had baked off. Everything leaked oil, all the bearings, bushings, brakes, and hinges were about to fall off. Both door windows had become unglued and loose. The drive train needed to be completely rebuilt from the fan to the u-joints. Cooling system, electrical, and interior were shot. It was barely drivable.

I did one project each weekend, and if something came up, I skipped that weekend. After 3 years, I spent several thousand $$ on parts, and my arm just about fell off from color sanding the paint (6 months of weekends just sanding).

What I had going for me was a body with no dents, and the car had no rust. I was able to drive the car through 95% of the resto, and now it can have another life.

I did the restoration 18 years ago, and the car has still not been parked in a garage ever. It has been out in the street, looking and driving great for 40 years. I almost gave up once during the restoration. It was one weekend in 1992 when I was sanding the hood for 5 straight hours. I'm glad I didn't. It was worth it to finish.

Good luck.

CP

 

Plan on spending a decent bit on restoration. There are always hidden problems and things that will come up along the way. I bought mine in running (mostly) condition. I knew that I needed new floors and other things. Mine Still needs a fair bit of body work, but is running like a champ and has solid floors and interior so its totally drivable.

The cool thing is having my car at college with me everyone seems to stop and stare or yell "cool car" or such.

The 69 fastback is probably my dream car, but they were too expensive so I ended up with a 72 Mach 1. Good luck with whatever you end up with!

 

Sweet, thanks for the info guys!
Like i said im only 17, and i have little to no experience when it comes to working on cars. that i said i would love to know everything there is, so i definitely want to know. But if i am to buy a car, how will i know what needs to be done,w ith out paying a ton for someone to look at it. any reccomendations of what to do after buying a car and figurng out where to start?

Thanks,
Nick

 

Read about mechanical repairs, learn what the parts are called and how they work. Fix whatever breaks on your car and if its making a funny noise, take a look. Always use jackstands, not drive on ramps and certainly not only a bumper jack when you are under your car. Find people with similar cars, if they are old Mustangs or Fords, chances are good they are gearheads and will know a thing or two.

Some guidelines:
Dont ever take it apart when you have somewhere to go and its your only way to get there.

Dont be afraid to fix it yourself with guidance from knowledgeable people. There are some very smart guys on here who can give you good info.

Dont make big changes unless you have the money saved up.

Dont be afraid to ask for help, and listen to the solution.

Be aware of safety, you dont want to break anything, get cut badly, or find out just how much you cant bench press when the car falls on you.

That being said, I started to paint my first car in 1986. It was finally painted in 2007 but still not running, it has a long way to go. It is a 1967 Cougar and I only drove it for 19 months total. I have owned this car longer than you have been alive and I havent driven it since well before you were born. I have done all the work on it, paint, body, glass, interior, rebuilt the engine and trans, brakes,... everything. You can see how it went with the link in my sig. If you want to feel good about any Mustang you bring home, click the first link for the Mustang build. It still isnt close to being painted.

So what does this have to do with anything? Well it refers to the dont take it apart if you have somewhere to go, and dont start anything big until you have the money for it already. It doesnt have to be perfect, it doesnt have to shine, it doesnt have to have cool wheels that match, it just has to run, get you around, and teach you how to repair it on your own. I didnt know much when I was 17, but I was willing to learn and willing to get dirty. The rest comes with hard work and screwing up quite often.

Like Carlos suggested do it little by little until its all done. Good luck finding a Stang, they are great first cars.

 

I bought my 69 (much later in life than I wanted) with it pretty much complete. Look for a car with as little rust as possible. If you find one take a friend that knows about cars (mechanic) or find out the local mustang clubs and talk to some of the members. Find a car with as little rust as possible (biggest expense I think in restoring these cars). If you can hire someone that inspects cars (and not just for insurance).

Everyone here has stated fix the things that need to be first. You don't build a radically fast engine if you don't have the brakes to stop. Think about what you want to do with the car restore/resto-mod. Write it down. Seeing it on paper helps you gauge the cost. When you have that add 25% (roughly), never know what you'll find when you get in there.

Most importantly if it's your main car like everyone says don't do any really big projects till you have the money and set aside time on the weekend to do it. Also I would recommend asking a friend for a ride to school on Monday if you think it will take longer.

 

ok, so what exactly is a restro-mod?
and where should i look for a car that is in good condition, that is not to much (5,000-15,000 max)? any online recommendations?

 

I'll join in here:

Looking for a clean car to buy isn't easy, but it's a learning experience and can be fun.

Some buying tips:

First, lose the shiny eyes. I know that sounds silly, but enthusiasm shows in your face, to help try to keep in mind that you want to drive, not spend the next three years fixing stuff. My father used to call it his poker face, he always seemed bored when buying cars.

That said:

Rust:Mustangs are often called Rustangs, with good reason. With that in mind you'll have to crawl under the car, under the dash. Have a flashlight, preferably small, handy to peer at the frame rails front and back, in the cowling, I like to look at it from underneath the dash while someone runs water into the cowling. Look at the front kickpanel (underneath the brake and gas pedals) on both sides, here you can usually pull the carpet back a bit to peer underneath. Look at the bottom of the floorpan and the torque boxes. Look for rust bubbles around the doors, and behind the wheels. Check around the front and back windows for rust.

Bondo: One way to find bondo is with a small magnet. Check behind and above the wheels in back, as this fender requires quite a bit of knowledge and skill to replace. The front fenders aren't so bad as they can be replaced by bolting on new ones. Check the doors thoroughly, doors are a pain to replace for a novice. Check the roof thoroughly.

Originality: OK, you have to decide if you want to restore or restomod. Restoration is taking a car and making it original, like it came from the factory. Restomod is the practice of upgrading a car to modern specs and can be a combination of orginal and aftermarket parts.

Registration: Finding a car in your state is the easiest way to go. Make sure that the original owner has all the required paperwork. The Title and Bill of Sale are usually required.

I'm running out of time, I'll check back for further questions.

 

great, thanks for all the information!
so how would i go about hiring an inspector to look at the car, that i might purchase? (when the time comes)

and any recommendations of where to look for a car?