Dad's '64 1/2
 

My dad has had a 64 1/2 coupe in his garage for 20 years. His mom (now deceased) bought it new. It hasn't run for years and he is convinced that it needs a new engine and transmission. He has always dreamed of fixing it up but is broke and is now thinking of selling it. It would break my heart to see it leave the family, especially since in 5 years or so I will be in a position to fix it up. I have a few questions.

What is the corpse worth (assuming nothing works and that it is rust free)? Second, what would it cost to buy a new (or reconditioned) engine and transmission? I have a couple good mechanic friends that would do the installation for free. He has always talked about putting a 289 in it. What would you recommend for something fairly reliable?

If he couldn't get more than a couple grand for it, I would buy it from him.

Advice?

This is a single family vehicle that has been in your family forever, dont let it go now in this bad economy. Have some of yuor mechanic friends look at the engine , it may not be as bad as thought. Maybe they can help you clean it up for a higher price if you must sell it.

Also is this a V8 or 6 cylinder? Stick or automatic, check the vin number to see if there might be something special about this car as to production number etc...

DO SOME HOMEWORK before y9ou decide to get rid of it and good luck!!!

yep. hold on to her.
first go to mustang decoder, enter the VIN and door data tag., see what you find. maybe it's anything rare or special. post the results.
as berndude says it's important to know if it's a 6cylinder or V8 (both. what's in it and what the VIN says). as if it's a 6cyl car with 6cyl engine and you upgrade engine only you probably w ill end up blowing out the rear end after a few heavy accellerations.
post pics!

If it has been sitting in a garage all this time, chances are it'll start and run easily, although I'd recommend changing the oil in the engine and trans. I have pulled engines out of wrecks left in fields for years and they ran. Replacing the engine and trans mission will be difficult, since the 64 engines were unique, and in any event replacing them will kill the value of the car. Changing all the fluids and rebuilding the brakes would probably get the car back on the road. The worst case would be you'd need to rebuild the carb and fuel pump.

If he's really selling a rust-free 64 for a couple grand, I'd buy it sight unseen.

You should keep this car. You can get a used car anywhere, but for one that's been in the family 45 years, that's a treasure.

Seriously, I doubt it would take more than a day to get it running.

If it is a 6 cylinder now you would need a new tranny, suspension and brakes to switch to a 289.

i recomend not changing anything to a 64 1/2 though....they are rarer then 65s and many people are much more intrested in the 64 1/2s....i recomend driving it for what it is....a rare classic it is not a hot rod to be moded out in my opinion and the best thing to do is fix it up take it to local car shows and drive it on occasion and not beat the hell out of it or make it a daily driver. If you want a moded classic i recommend starting on another car even if you do need to sell the 64 1/2 to do this i hate to see a ruined 64 1/2 unmolested at all messed with....how many miles, VIN, numbers still match, and pics would help a bunch!

Don't change anything!! Just restore it. My mom also bought one in Oct 64' and me being a dumb kid, I hot rodded it and even torched off the front end and grafted a MII frontend one it. (before they had kits!) I wish I didn't cuz it was the early 289 5 bolt with air and disc brakes........... Don't be like me, do it smart. You can always build another one!

haha those were the days randy...thats what im telling him if u wanna hot rod do it to another car not a rare classic

If it hasn't run in 20 years then odds are the motor in the car is rebuildable as a worse case.

You don't need to "replace" it...worst case is you pull it and have someone bore it, boil it, crack check it, grind the crank, etc and reassemble it.

How many miles does the odo say the car has?

If it was not excessively high miles then you could probably change all the fluids (oil, transmission fluid, etc), give it a serious tune up, replace the gas tank and get her going again.

Thanks guys. I am convinced to do everything in my power to keep it in the family. Worst case scenario, my wife and I will buy it from my dad and keep it in the garage until I am in a position to fix it up.