66 Coupe

Purchased by my Grandfather in Jan 1966, it was originallyIvy Green with Ivy Gold/White Pony Interior, itjust came out of media blasting at the beginning of this week. The bad news is that she's going to need a fair amount of new metal; the upper radiator support, pass side fender apron, cowl hats, pass quarter panel and tail light panel will all need to be replaced. The good news is that the floors are rock solid, and despite the long list of young drivers and mishaps over the past 40 years, other than the aforementioned wrinkles, everything else is sitting straight and rust free!

I will be going out to look at it tomorrow and will snap a few pics.

66 Fastback

In the meantime,I've includedsome pics of the Fastback a bought a few weeks ago. I'm not thrilled with the current color, but there isn't a spec of bondo or rust anywhere on this car... then again, it had been sitting in a Nevada storage facility for more than 20 years of its life. It will be going back to it's original Nightmist Blue Metallic.

A whole bunch of parts arrived for both today (chassis, suspension, etc), so there's going to be lots of activity and pics to come. The FB, even though it hasn't gone into body yet, is going in for installation on Monday (need to test fit and measure to get properly back spaced wheels). They've got a lot of stuff going on right now and they know I'm not in a hurry, so it's going to be a couple of weeks to get everything tied up. Here's the list of parts being installed on the FB over the next couple of weeks:

TCP Power Rack
TCP Front Coilover
TCP Spindles
Wilwood 13" Forged Superlite 4 piston w/SRP Rotors
TCP Pushrod Suspension w/ Fab 9 housing
3.70 Gears
Strange 31 Spline Axles
Wilwood 12.19 in Forged Dynalite 4 Piston w/SRP Rotors & parking brake

Vintage 48 17*8 w/ 245/45 17, unless I can fit more without major modification; will know more once we get everything fit and measured.

The Coupe will get a similar set up, but less extreme; more of a reliable cruiser with a mildly warmed over 5.0EFI Motor and AOD.The jury is still out on the motor for the FB; if the new Boss crate motor is out when we're ready for a motor, then I may consider that. Otherwise, it'll be something nasty based off of a Dart 302 block. Either way, the tranny will be a Tremec.

I think I may be crazy having all this stuff going on for two cars at once. I guess it would be worse (though more satisfying) if I were handling more of the stuff myself.

Anyway, I'd appreciate any tips or advice form those of you who've been through ground up restorations before... it seems as if the devil is in the details!

Cheers.

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sweet! who in their right mind would go from nightmist blue to that turqueer!

but either way, i envy the guy who has a mustang thats 73 colors and has a ****ing rag for a gas cap

 

Trade ya projects... two for two... lol.. Okay not the Cougar though..

 

That's a baddass ride.

 

i have to agree about that "turqueer". not a great color, but the car itself looks to be in good shape. i am working on my 65 fastback and my brother has a 70 mach 1 so i feel your pain with the 2 projects.

 

Yeah, it's hard to look past that color, but given how straight and structurally sound it was, I had to. I used theold magnet in a sock trick from end to end, top to bottom and there wasn't a single point where contact became weak.

The guy I bought it from claims it's Grabber Blue (used on 1970 Boss 302's). It actually looks a little darker/better in person, but there's no way in hell I would have ever gone that direction.

 

[8D]Colors can change easy enough. That Nightmist Blue will be killer on her.Dont let the issues with the rust on the coupe get ya down. That can be worked out as well. We have put one together with alot more rust in it than that. I have two in working stages and a another on hold. Never enough time to get all that you want done but you'll get there.

 

tips for ground up restoration... label everything you take off the car .. put bolts and nuts back and make lots and lots of pictures... details... . before taking parts off and after. ......every step
store parts (interior)you want to use again on a dry place and cover against dust
ohh and count on it it takes much more time than you expect.. not to mentionthe $$ budget you have in mind before start probably won't be enough
but after you have finished it feels very rewarding
good luck

arthur

 

My hat's off to you guys that can do more than one car at a time!

 

Good advise arthur. Things get lost and you forget at times exactly where something may be. We log, bag, label ,tape and bin everything we remove. Use totes and seperate into electrical, trim , interior, and so forth makes it easier when putting one back together. Not to mention everything is not available, sometimes you have to reuse and repair certain pieces .