I am buying my 1st mustang this week! I have always wanted a mustang but I have been on a pinto budget. It is a 66 v8 coupe, this car is rough but I'm not scared, I have been working on Fords for years. This will be the oldest. I have had a lot of 70's trucks, two pintos and many others. I have one pinto to sell to make room.

I'm getting my 66 for $600,it has no engine, trany, seats or interior. this car needs a full restore I know a full restore is a long expensive process but that is what I'm looking for.

where should I start?
Look forward to getting to know you all. I have made a lot of freinds in other online forums.
Ches

 

Floor pans, frame rails is where I would start.

Welcome to the forums.

 

Yeah, watch out for "cancer" it kills Mustangs faster than anyting else, good luck and welcome aboard.

 

Welcome to the forums.

I started with the floors and rails, moved to the electrics. Now im doing the suspension and the brakes. Then slapping the engine, tranny and drive shaft in. Oooo and the interior somewhere in there.....and paint.

 

Welcome to the forums! You going for a weekend cruiser, track beast, show car or a daily driver?

Inspect the floors, rails, cowl, toe boards, torque boxes, rockers, bottom of all body panels. Main sections for rust. Inspect all the wiring. If its hard or had been hacked up over the years consider replacing it with an aftermarket wiring harness or custom kit. Suspension and steering would likely need some work and front disk brakes are a worthy upgrade.


Thats the starting point. Enjoy every second!

 

welcome
everyone pretty much covered what to look for, i wish you the best of luck with your project

 

Once again, WELCOME! Sorry for that little outburst there...LOL I to am somewhat new to this forum and trust me, these guys on here are GREAT! You can ask them anything and sometimes within just a few minutes they will either have you an answer or refer to someplace that does. I too just bought my first mustang a week ago, and it's a '66 and I got it for $600. Go to photobucket.com and look up my user name, it's 65-stang_2008 The reason for 65 being part of the name is because I originally thought it was a '65 until researched the VIN and found out otherwise...lol. Hope you can post some of your pics also so we can see what you got. Once again, WELCOME!...see there I go again...

 

Welcome. Glad to have our here. I've only been here a little over a year myself and have gone from knowing nothing to being able to help out in a lot of instances. These cars are pretty easy to learn. Pay attention to the cowl. It probably need replacement or fixing. Pour a lot of water down the vent in front of the windshield and see if it drips into the inside of the car under the dash or along the kick panels at the sides of the front floor. If so, the cowl leaks. Cowl replacement is done with the engine out so it would be one of your early fixes. You have to drill out something like 200 spot welds to replace it, but it is not an awful job if the front of the car is apart. Also, check the bottom of the shock towers for rust and cracks. Again, that is an engine out job.

I have not seen a Pinto anywhere in 25 years or more. I always thought they were neat little cars until they started exploding in rear end collisions. The Mustang shares the same little design flaw of using the gas tank as the floor of the trunk. A lot of guys replace the cardboard divider between the trunk and the back seat with steel.

 

Welcome and good luck with your project

 

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your new project. I am also working on a '66 coupe that sat up for 9 years.

Everyone has pretty much said what you should work on first, and I agree with them. I would get in good condition as far as rust, body, frame, main suspension components first. From there, put some power in her and get her on the street.