Buying '66 coupe. Recommendations
12-16-2007, 10:56 PM
#11
D.R. THE PATHETIC DORK
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: West Virginia
Posts: 30,863
RE: Buying '66 coupe. Recommendations
ORIGINAL: Spbeyond
Hello. This will be my first classic car. I am buying a 66 coupe with a 289 as an everyday driver. Has a new clutch. What should I replace first to get a decent amount or reliablitly? The engine has 90,000 miles on it. If i were to overhaul the engine what is the range I should expect to pay? Is the 289 known as a decently reliable engine? What problems should I expect. What gas milage can I expect and is there anyway of making i better without killing my power? I appreciate any help.
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Hello. This will be my first classic car. I am buying a 66 coupe with a 289 as an everyday driver. Has a new clutch. What should I replace first to get a decent amount or reliablitly? The engine has 90,000 miles on it. If i were to overhaul the engine what is the range I should expect to pay? Is the 289 known as a decently reliable engine? What problems should I expect. What gas milage can I expect and is there anyway of making i better without killing my power? I appreciate any help.
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12-16-2007, 11:21 PM
#12
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: None
Posts: 7
RE: Buying '66 coupe. Recommendations
Yeah... I cant do anything really really fancy with this mustang say like put 20,000 into it. I want a decent looking mustang with okay reliablility. That is number one priority. Say I buy this mustang and put 1000 bucks in within about month. I hope that is enough to make it decently reliable. Then over time a little here and a little there. I dont at this time have money for major rebuilds right away. Is this possible.
12-16-2007, 11:31 PM
#13
D.R. THE PATHETIC DORK
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: West Virginia
Posts: 30,863
RE: Buying '66 coupe. Recommendations
yes it is possible but like any old car you'll be way over budget when it's done.....I bought mine and it looked like the one you were buying and I paid 9000 initially and now after all was said and done I had more than doubled my investment[&:]..oh well it looks good anyway
12-17-2007, 10:11 AM
#14
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location:
Posts: 1,195
RE: Buying '66 coupe. Recommendations
i usually try to stay away from cars with fresh paint...i mean why would someone spend that much money and sell a car? unless of course its a macco job and theyre trying to hide something...
as for gas my mom's '65 vert gets 8mpg on her 289 (runs WAY too rich) and mine gets 11-13 depending on how i drive. i figure if i wanted good gas mileage i would have bought a honda haha.
edit: just saw it said that paint was 10 years old...if nothing is showing yet (bubbles, cancer, etc.) you're probably fine...id also like to know where the 289 emblems on the front fenders went. either they shaved them when it was painted, it was in an accident and they replaced the fenders with ones from an i6 car, or it was an i6 that was converted to a v8 at one point...any chance you could get the vin?
as for gas my mom's '65 vert gets 8mpg on her 289 (runs WAY too rich) and mine gets 11-13 depending on how i drive. i figure if i wanted good gas mileage i would have bought a honda haha.
edit: just saw it said that paint was 10 years old...if nothing is showing yet (bubbles, cancer, etc.) you're probably fine...id also like to know where the 289 emblems on the front fenders went. either they shaved them when it was painted, it was in an accident and they replaced the fenders with ones from an i6 car, or it was an i6 that was converted to a v8 at one point...any chance you could get the vin?
12-17-2007, 10:15 AM
#15
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 1,692
RE: Buying '66 coupe. Recommendations
I hate to see someone finance a classic car. These things cost money to keep up, not like your average newer car. Payments AND repairs costs together could get high. This leads a lot of people to short cut on the necessary improvements (brakes, suspension bushings, etc.) or just not do them at all.
JMO ......
JMO ......
12-17-2007, 11:00 AM
#16
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: AR
Posts: 5,469
RE: Buying '66 coupe. Recommendations
In any case the Mustang isa very simple car. While you will have issues with the car,the parts to restore proper operation are quite cheap when compared to newer vehicles. If you have means of findingproblems as they arise, thenthe carcan be relatively cheap to maintain. (M/F can be a huge help here)
Since you are buying the car as a driver, don't get in a big hurry to make changes. Evaluate the car for a while and then proceed with needed updates.For example, if you end up needing a brake job, this would be a good time to think about switching to front disks. Approach the issues as they come at you. The only thing I would jump right on without provocation would be the stock master cylinder. The stock 66 cylinder is a single design, and I think it is a little scary. We changed toa 67 cylinder for a modest price.
There will be things that you want to update the more you drive the car. By driving the car, you will find out what is the most important priority to address these changes. By being smart with these updates you can spread them out over a period of time and the operation cost will not be staggering.
This Forum is great, I love it, but sometimes the postings are a little too aggressive concerning the updates that "need to be made".
Since you are buying the car as a driver, don't get in a big hurry to make changes. Evaluate the car for a while and then proceed with needed updates.For example, if you end up needing a brake job, this would be a good time to think about switching to front disks. Approach the issues as they come at you. The only thing I would jump right on without provocation would be the stock master cylinder. The stock 66 cylinder is a single design, and I think it is a little scary. We changed toa 67 cylinder for a modest price.
There will be things that you want to update the more you drive the car. By driving the car, you will find out what is the most important priority to address these changes. By being smart with these updates you can spread them out over a period of time and the operation cost will not be staggering.
This Forum is great, I love it, but sometimes the postings are a little too aggressive concerning the updates that "need to be made".
12-17-2007, 04:13 PM
#17
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location:
Posts: 744
RE: Buying '66 coupe. Recommendations
I agree with Connors post,I looked at the car and if I were you I would check the vin to make sure it was not a six cyl.That paint sure looks good for being 10 years old!!Get yourself a magnet and check for Bondo and take it to a reliable Mechanic to have it checked out !!As far as Upgrades,Brakes are by far the most important!! A car can run like a scalded dog but is not worth crap if you can not Stop.That would be my 1st Upgrade!!Lots of luck!![8D]
12-17-2007, 04:49 PM
#18
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: None
Posts: 7
RE: Buying '66 coupe. Recommendations
I like mjr46's mustang. I am currently trying to secure financing for it. I have to finance because there is no way I can afford to buy a car outright and no one is going to help me. I figure with a nice one like mjr46's I shouldhave less un expected problems, so I will just pay the payment. And alot of the high priority upgrades are done. Now If I could just find a lender.
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