• Hello there guest and Welcome to The #1 Classic Mustang forum!
    To gain full access you must Register. Registration is free and it takes only a few moments to complete.
    Already a member? Login here then!

1968 Mustang Coupe

phlegm

Active Member
I got a little story, I am here to tell, about three bad brothers, you know so well.. it started way back in history..

Ah kidding.
I bought my 1968 Mustang Coupe back in August 2001in Fort Collins Colorado while my wife was attending school at CSU. It was a rough looking bugger. At home in my stack of receipts I still have the original newspaper ad, he was asking $500. Being young(erish) and wanting a project while I was in Colorado I went to look at it, my wife (girlfriend at the time) didn't really want a project car, plus we lived in an apartment with no garage. But I needed something to do while she studied and she studied a lot. As luck would have it she had become friends with one of her classmates wives. And this friends wife wanted her husband to learn about fixing cars since he had no skill. FWIW at this time I had already worked as a mechanic from '94-99 and was ASE certified in Brakes, Electrical, and Suspensions. So the wives chitted and chatted and eventually thought it would be a good idea if we split the cost of the car and the repairs and before graduation one of us would buy out the other. I eventually bought him out and he bought a '66 Coupe.

Since we didn't have a trailer I expected that we'd have to tow it home the first day. To my amazement though, after putting in a fresh battery and topping off the fluids, the car ran! I drove it home for $400. Although very carefully, current title/registration, marginal brakes, and a broken driver side motor mount.

The white splotchy spots are actually house latex paint, the guy I bought it from had it sitting in his garage for a number of years next to his workbench and several paint 'accidents' had happened during that time.

I tossed a few more pictures in a new gallery called
1968 Mustang Coupe - as purchased

Those pictures aren't exactly how it looked when I bought it, by the time I took those pictures I had already replaced the UCAs, LCAs, brake lines, the driver side motor mount. And upgraded the induction from the factory 2bbl to an Edelbrock Performer intake and 1406 (600cfm) carburator. I also had to replace the power steering control valve and the hoses that connect to it. Got to learn first hand what happens when you hook those hoses up backward also.. its an eye opener.

The car was originally from California (built in San Jose) it has various college parking stickers stuck to the bumper and rear window. It was rust free, but far from damage free. I think the previous owners watched a couple too many Dukes of Hazard episodes.

Both upper control arms were cracked 1/4"-3/8" down both sides of he balljoints. The lower control arms had worn out balljoints and bushings. The body was very well worn/abused. I had to replace both fenders, the lower valance, the passenger side headlight and tail light extensions, and the passenger quarter panel. The driver side quarter panel had been replaced by one of the previous owners. The hood should probably be replaced some day as the leading edge of the hood near the passenger side headlight bucket was buckled down after they hit a pole? :wtf The door hinges were shot, the doors would drop almost an inch when they were opened.

The interior needed some help as well, the previous owner had replaced the headliner (or it is in immaculate shape somehow), the dash pad and the door panels. I bought front seat cushions and upholstry and had them assembled at a local upholstry shop. I bought new carpet and left that with the autobody guy, he installed it for us while the seats were out.

I found a guy named 'Butch' who was a retired police officer in LaPort Colorado who did autobody work out of his home garage/shop. He did all the autobody work including the replacement cost of the panels for $3500. And he did it in 4 months so it could be used in my friends wedding, the one I bought the car with.

The turbine style tires and rims came from a used tire and rim seller in Denver Colorado. On one of our trips to the Mustang Specialists out in Aurora we happened to see a sign for this place. We swung in and found something that looked reasonable. They have been working great ever since.

So in 4 months time the car wasn't restored but it was brought back to life and made usable. I learned a lot about how to spend money in a hurry and a lot about what I don't like about stock rebuilds.
 
A few short months later it emerged, sans matching rear rims and a lot of trim. Actually these pictures were taken before the clearcoat also..
 
Here are some more pictures of it, out at the barn where my wife used to board her palamino (his butt is in the picture) and it getting ready for its first wedding. It has been in 3 weddings total now, but it was not involved in my wedding.... so this is not me in the pic it is my friend who I co-owned the car with.
 
Not a whole lot has changed with this car over the years, the most drastic was finding the crack in the shock tower that had to be repaired. I've installed an export brace, I have a Monte Carlo brace that I haven't installed yet. I installed a CD player. Built some roller spring perches (kit from Dazecars.com), found a quarter sized hole in the top of the C4 bellhousing another :wtf moment, but I replaced that with another bellhousing from Dad's house.

The cheap paint job is starting to show its age now, some bubbling here and there. A low spot in the trunk that Butch never fixed properly, right before I put it away for the winter I ran it through a carwash (I knew better), it broke off my antenna and knocked off a piece of rocker panel side trim, which I promptly ran over making it unusable. I bought some 'appliance' rims last summer, they were ford stock off of something another set of 14" tires/rims but for $50 I couldn't pass them up. Nothing major so all these issues will most likely wait another year while I simply drive it. I will be possibly swapping in a '91 5.0/AOD.. but only if the motor is usable out of a 1991 Lincoln Town Car.
 
In addition to the '68 posted above.. I have a '67 Coupe and a '68 Coupe parts car. My younger ex-step-brother (who I am closer to than my real brothers) has a '68 Coupe that was originally a 200/3.03 that he is swapping a 428CJ/C6 into. My next older brother (in Oregon) has a 67 Coupe that has been a project in storage since Noah built the Ark, I probably won't have any pictures of that one.. You will be seeing lots of Coupe pictures from me..

Additionally I have a '66 Coupe parts car. And the project I had hoped to work on this Summer a 1963.5 Falcon Convertible 260/4spd. I don't think I will get to work on it because I bought a used 2 post car hoist and now I have to construct a building that is suitable to use it in. Both my garage and my shop have 9ft ceilings and the upright posts on the hoist are 9.5ft.. ugh.. (some peoples problems right?)
 
Back
Top