noman

I just inherited my father's '68 289 hardtop Mustang coupe. It is in good shape generally, but it is showing signs of age (~120,000 miles). The auto-tranny is slipping in 2nd, the front end is worn out and it smokes a bit (I think it is gas smoke, not oil).

I plan to fix it up, keeping as close to stock as is reasonable. But I am planning to make some upgrades, mostly just bolt on's so I can restore it to stock later if I want. I've been thinking about boosting the hp output somewhat, improving the efficiency, upgrading to disc brakes, that sort of thing. I want to end up with a good daily driver, with a bit of "spirit".

Although I consider myself an "advanced amateur" when it comes to car repair, I've never worked on Mustangs before. So, I don't really know what sort of modifications are available for this car considering what I want to accomplish. That brings me to my questions (finally) . . .

1. What brake options are there? What's the best price, the most reasonable, maybe the most common? How hard is this upgrade. If I want to buy a kit what is the best one?

2. Is the 2nd gear slippage a common thing? Does it probably need a rebuilt? Is there a good upgrade I should look at? I want to keep it an automatic.

3. Assuming the compression and oil pressure are ok, what upgrades are available for the 289, bearing in mind that I don't want a dragster? I'm thinking carburetion, cam, intake, exhaust, that sort of thing.

In short, if you had a stock 289 like mine and you wanted a fun daily driver, what upgrades would you make.

Thanks

roundman

You might get more responses if you post this in the Classic Mustangs section instead of here in general tech.
There are lots of places to go for parts for older Stangs and upgrades of the original systems, Year One is just one place I can think of.
I would be a little reluctant to change much on a '68 Stang as it could be worth quite a bit in stock condition to some collector car guy so you might want to keep this in mind before you decide what you are going to do with it. If you Dad wanted you to keep it and have fun with it, then go for it.