New Car: another 1969 mustang

So I've got to throw this post up or I'll never do it. Short Version: sold green car, got blue one.

Loong Version:

About two and half months ago, as most of you know, I hesitatingly decided to put (what I have found myself calling "Numero Uno") my green mustang up on Craigslist. It was after a series of mechanical irritations but mostly the sinking realization that my hope of getting the rust fixed this year was totally irrational given the amount of grad school and wedding prep I was doing.

At about the same time, this blue one had just been sitting for weeks on CL for for near the same price as I was offering mine. I actually went and checked it out with another guy interested in it and got a better look at it.

While it was no trailer queen, it was nearly totally rust free (it's been SoCal car its entire life), had a f-code 302 just like numero 1, and the paint, though a single coat & shoddily done, was hella better then Numero Uno. Moreover, there had been entry-level work on the suspension (big sway bars, air shocks, poly bushings, and it was lowered 1.5 inches), & it came w/ a edelbrock 4bbl setup and power steering (still don't know if I like that last item). Cons also included the interior was @ 50% and it wasn't running.

I decided sadly, but once and for all, that I was game for selling numero uno.

Soon enough a kid with LA's skyscrapers in his backyard decided he was serious about my car after I drove it down there. This was after a series of mishaps including (quite embarrassingly) him and his dad driving up from LA and finding my car not running (points needed adjusting)... but nevertheless, SOLD for 3k, with a trunkful of parts I figured I wouldn't need. This was $500 more than what I payed in December '08 so I was ok with this (I figure I about broke even after all).

Then came the finagling for the blue one, and I got it! The owner moreover offered to get it up and running, which would entail, he claimed, just a new battery. Things were looking good: interiors are cheap on this car so I bought a bunch of upholstery, and I also bought the owners claim and hope for the best about the engine-- after all, 302's are famously stout.

Well the owner was wrong, and after a month of sitting in a deadbeat shop in Moorepark, car wizard Ricky in Santa Paula towed it over and got it running after another week and a half of experimenting ...thankfully no serious problems, it just needed a new alternator and distributor. And it needed brakes all around. Ouch. But hey, it was drivable, and, with the above mentioned mods, it felt waaay faster than my other one.

This basically leaves me where I am today. I'm pleased with the first mod on my part: OEM Mag 500 wheels, 14x7. Classic look IMO, and they were only $450 with tires on CL. Lots cheaper than Cragars, Torq-Thrust, or the crazy awesome Trans-am style wheels out there.

Right now it's at Ricky's again because the windows came screwed up: misaligned and non-rolling. Easy to break into. This fix has gone from a 6 hour attempt on my own part, a day job at Manny's, to 8 days there and counting. Tomorrow at 2 he says. Manana, Manana. Well, hopefully it will be ready to drop off at the upholsters sometime on Monday for new front seat upholstery and a headliner.

Though I'm deflated at the lack of driving I've gotten with this car because of all of the hang ups (I havn't even mentioned the fuel pump problems I'm still having--more on that in another post), I'm genuinely relieved to have a car whose body doesn't need work.

I'm also excited about the steady stream of good deals I've gotten on performance and restoration parts off of eBay including:

-Built Ford Racing aluminium heads (Previous owner put down 353 hp with a Ford x Cam and intake upgrades (!))
-Hooker long tube headers
-A holley carb which needs rebuilding (sort of an impulse buy, but I want to learn how to rebuild carbs--I think. We'll see if I regret this)
-Shaker ram air assembly and hood (actually the hood was freaking expensive). This will replace the overkill fiberglass hood which is also cracked and saggy.
-Fresh Grant steering wheel to replace the old and beat-up Grant steering wheel.
-Other interior goodies like an original AM/FM radio (subject to future experimentation)




With the interior done, the parts installed, painted, and cleaned up, a set of flowmasters (another $300), and a cam, I think I'll have a great cruiser. I'm hoping to sell my fastback shell because the roof swap would be overkill for this car. Oh, and the car has a slush box. That will change this summer.

For the long-term this car feels like 'the one.' A clean body will become all the more precious and rare as I move back to midwest, and getting married soon means the likelyhood of getting another car like this is next to none anytime soon.

So there it is! I hope to post in the future the little projects I can manage myself, gathering from the sagacity of the imperfect'd crew along the way.

P.S. I also recently got a horribly awesome beater car worthy of its own story, soon to come. Here's a hint...