Fast68back
Guest
Here is my story. My dad purchased my current Mustang when I was only three or four years old, around '72 or '73. His intention was to install his balanced and blueprinted 427 in it and drag race it. He had pulled the motor from his race car ('64 comet caliente) around '66 or '67 the car was sold but dad kept the motor, trans, rearend and fairly elaborate header setup. The car sat in my parents garage for years, I remember sitting in the drivers seat shifting the Hurt T handle from the toploader. I also learned a little bout girls in that car, seems dad kept his playboy collection stashed in there as well! :nice
The first "garage" (my dad had the driveway widened so he could work on more cars inthe driveway
When I was in third grade my family moved into a new house and my dad moved the car to the new house where they had built a four car garage. About the same time my dad had a Ford van that needed an engine. We were looking through junkyards and came across a wreck ford truck that had less than 5k miles on the 302. I helped my dad pull the 289 out of the Mustang (it had 53K miles on it) my dads van got the 289 and the Mustang got the low mileage 302. About the same time dad got a little more involved with the Mustang, he cleaned up the Mustang, installed an edelbrock manifold, holley carb, some nice valve covers and a set of crager mags. I remember riding in the car around the block and the smoke coming out of the heater core. My dad decided to keep this car and find another race car. I remember two other fastbacks sitting in my grandmothers garage and driveway (later he would also buy a couple '64 Falcons to put the motor in). My mom drove the mustang to work one day while dad worked on her car. She parked the car out front of where she worked and while she was at lunch, the car was stolen. Days later the car was found sitting behind an abandoned house. All the bling bling was taken from the motor, the wheels and tires were gone as well as the thieves cutting out the vin number and tearing off the dash tag. A set of tires were rounded up and the car was towed home. I remember helping dad push the car in the driveway while mom steered. She could turn it fast enough and hit the corner of the garage, bending the front bumper. Dad was already pissed about the car being stolen and this definetly didnt help any. The car would sit in the garage until '82 when we moved from Connecticut to FL.
The second "garage" (Three car garage and the third bay was two deep, that was my bedroom above the garage)
My dad unloading the car from the trailer in FL
Shortly after the move my dads friend was down for bike week and the two of us wore him down and over a weekend we got the mustang fired up and drove it to a gas station over by the daytona speedway (little did I know I'd be draining this same gas 20 years later..). We drove the car home and parked it in the same exact spot, where it sat for a few more years. In '84, when I turned 15 I started looking for a car. I knew it would be a mustang, I just hoped it would be a '68 fastback. My dad wouldnt budge on selling or giving me the mustang.
Shortly after my son was born my parents were planning to come out for thanksgiving. My mom called a few weeks before and said "your not gonna be happy", my mom proceeded to tell me that my dad had sold the 427...but said "dont worry, he'll never sell the Mustang". She then asked if they were still welcome for Thanksgiving..... I said she was...
Fast forward to Oct of '02, I was at a Goodguys car show one weekend that my son was with my now ex-wife. Enjoyed the show and all the cars that were there. I decided I should get a project car to work on. When I got home I called my folks and told them I was ready to come pick up the Mustang. Their reply was “great, you can help us move while you’re here�. They were relocating from Daytona to Jacksonville. I drove out with a trailer in tow and brought the car to Texas.
My initial plan was to tinker with the car, get it running and enjoy it for a while before “restoring� it. After replacing the fuel system, ignition system, replacing the parts that had been robbed from the car over the years, Radiator, Solenoid, rear decklid, right side rear qtr extension (with an NOS piece), I replaced the faded and nasty carpet (remember the heater core leak). Basically I was just tinkering with shit, not really getting much accomplished.
here's the car in the garage at my old house. Thats the new rear bumper sitting on the roof
before and after shots of the old motor
After getting the car running (but I still didn’t drive it) I decided to shop around for a painter. I talked to several people before deciding on the shop that did the work on it, Mohr restorations. After talking with Ron, the owner he showed me a ’69 sportsroof that he was working on. It was up on the rotisserie being worked on. He mentioned the car was originally from Massachusetts and said being that my car was originally from Connecticut, we would most likely find a lot of the same issues. Ron said it would be a month or two before he could get it in the shop to start on it. This gave me time to tear it down. The only thing I left on the car was the drip rail moldings, body panels and enough of a suspension to be a roller.
Before and after of the interior tear down
Stripping all the front end brackets off
Pulling the motor out
after:
Stripped down and ready to go to the body parlor...
Dig those rear snow tires...
Loading up
Moving out
Next up body work...
The first "garage" (my dad had the driveway widened so he could work on more cars inthe driveway
When I was in third grade my family moved into a new house and my dad moved the car to the new house where they had built a four car garage. About the same time my dad had a Ford van that needed an engine. We were looking through junkyards and came across a wreck ford truck that had less than 5k miles on the 302. I helped my dad pull the 289 out of the Mustang (it had 53K miles on it) my dads van got the 289 and the Mustang got the low mileage 302. About the same time dad got a little more involved with the Mustang, he cleaned up the Mustang, installed an edelbrock manifold, holley carb, some nice valve covers and a set of crager mags. I remember riding in the car around the block and the smoke coming out of the heater core. My dad decided to keep this car and find another race car. I remember two other fastbacks sitting in my grandmothers garage and driveway (later he would also buy a couple '64 Falcons to put the motor in). My mom drove the mustang to work one day while dad worked on her car. She parked the car out front of where she worked and while she was at lunch, the car was stolen. Days later the car was found sitting behind an abandoned house. All the bling bling was taken from the motor, the wheels and tires were gone as well as the thieves cutting out the vin number and tearing off the dash tag. A set of tires were rounded up and the car was towed home. I remember helping dad push the car in the driveway while mom steered. She could turn it fast enough and hit the corner of the garage, bending the front bumper. Dad was already pissed about the car being stolen and this definetly didnt help any. The car would sit in the garage until '82 when we moved from Connecticut to FL.
The second "garage" (Three car garage and the third bay was two deep, that was my bedroom above the garage)
My dad unloading the car from the trailer in FL
Shortly after the move my dads friend was down for bike week and the two of us wore him down and over a weekend we got the mustang fired up and drove it to a gas station over by the daytona speedway (little did I know I'd be draining this same gas 20 years later..). We drove the car home and parked it in the same exact spot, where it sat for a few more years. In '84, when I turned 15 I started looking for a car. I knew it would be a mustang, I just hoped it would be a '68 fastback. My dad wouldnt budge on selling or giving me the mustang.
Shortly after my son was born my parents were planning to come out for thanksgiving. My mom called a few weeks before and said "your not gonna be happy", my mom proceeded to tell me that my dad had sold the 427...but said "dont worry, he'll never sell the Mustang". She then asked if they were still welcome for Thanksgiving..... I said she was...
Fast forward to Oct of '02, I was at a Goodguys car show one weekend that my son was with my now ex-wife. Enjoyed the show and all the cars that were there. I decided I should get a project car to work on. When I got home I called my folks and told them I was ready to come pick up the Mustang. Their reply was “great, you can help us move while you’re here�. They were relocating from Daytona to Jacksonville. I drove out with a trailer in tow and brought the car to Texas.
My initial plan was to tinker with the car, get it running and enjoy it for a while before “restoring� it. After replacing the fuel system, ignition system, replacing the parts that had been robbed from the car over the years, Radiator, Solenoid, rear decklid, right side rear qtr extension (with an NOS piece), I replaced the faded and nasty carpet (remember the heater core leak). Basically I was just tinkering with shit, not really getting much accomplished.
here's the car in the garage at my old house. Thats the new rear bumper sitting on the roof
before and after shots of the old motor
After getting the car running (but I still didn’t drive it) I decided to shop around for a painter. I talked to several people before deciding on the shop that did the work on it, Mohr restorations. After talking with Ron, the owner he showed me a ’69 sportsroof that he was working on. It was up on the rotisserie being worked on. He mentioned the car was originally from Massachusetts and said being that my car was originally from Connecticut, we would most likely find a lot of the same issues. Ron said it would be a month or two before he could get it in the shop to start on it. This gave me time to tear it down. The only thing I left on the car was the drip rail moldings, body panels and enough of a suspension to be a roller.
Before and after of the interior tear down
Stripping all the front end brackets off
Pulling the motor out
after:
Stripped down and ready to go to the body parlor...
Dig those rear snow tires...
Loading up
Moving out
Next up body work...
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