My beautiful rust bucket...

[old289]

Some who know me, know that my hubby bought me this car for Christmas in 2004. I drove her around a little and this past spring I decided I wanted her to be a different color. Big mistake, lol, I should have left her as she was. I never knew a paint job could turn into such a pain in the rear..


Mike has been so great when it comes to my patience.. he just tells me to shut up and he keeps working. I never thought it would be so much work to make it look decent. OH well...


ok, so when this whole thing started, she looked like this
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e260/mustangkathy/DSCN0043.jpg

then I took her to the shop... mike got a few things done.. lots of paint and bondo off

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e260/mustangkathy/shastaawwman11105.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e260/mustangkathy/shastaawwman11111.jpg


Then a few weeks ago, I get an email, oh I'm about ready to trash the whole thing... I trust him and know that when this is all over with it'll look like it came off of the showroom floor... maybe?? He's got the paint, he's ordered the fenders and cut out a lot of rust. I'll have to get the seats re-done, rewire the whole thing, get his motor to the machine shop, take the old motor out... lots of other little details.. and sheesh...who knew that it might have been on fire at some point??

Funny how project cars usually turn into bigger projects once you start them. Sorry this thing has been such a headache.

Ok, the red part you see back by your tail light area!!! that all comes off the car as well. I just have not got that far with cutting yet. The new parts have those parts attached to them.

The inner fenders on this thing are RUSTY....I'll clean them up as much as I can and spray some por15 on them. That will stop any other rust from forming.

At one point or another the car was on fire I guess. The bottom of the seat and the back of the back seat are burned.

I think with all the new stuff going on the car it will make for one hell of a nice ride when it's all said and done.
http://i33.tinypic.com/e5h5yr.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/2mhbnyh.jpg
http://i38.tinypic.com/15hnaew.jpg
http://i36.tinypic.com/bhbyn4.jpg

[Scooter]

Keep us posted on the build :mick:

[BlueStang]

ya gotta love the classics, its got some potential & its something not everybody in the world has got--anybody can go & finance & buy a new Mustang but to be able to have one of these is truely special. When its finally done you'll enjoy it--keep it looking nice!!

[No1FordGirl]

It will be awesome when it's done. Lookin' forward to seeing the progress

[Marc]

A diamond in the rough! :marc:

[Aviators chick]

wow that will be beautiful when its done. Best of luck!

[ambenz]

Katheryn, you sure are in the drivers seat when it comes to what you want to do as far as upgrading the car to todays technology.
Good luck in dealing with all the rust clean-up and modifications.
What color are you thinking of painting your pony?
May I suggest Grabber Orange?!?!?? :snicker:

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t57/ambenz2/neRally2008/grandaddy-1.jpg

[MikeSVTGT]

Cant wait to see the finished product :mick:

[smokinjoe]

I feel your pain, a while back I was swapping a rusted-out master cylinder and ended up rebuilding all the brakes as well as the complete suspension!!! Just one of those things . . good luck

[Squid]

Yup, nothing on a 1st gen goes easy. It'll be worth it in the end tho.

[Adam65]

I feel your pain here is what mine looked like, and then the completed car. It's worth the time and money

[Booty Queen]

:david:I AM SURE IT WILL LOOK GREAT WHEN IT IS DONE. KEEP US POSTED ON THE PROGRESS!

[Mustang Timmy]

LOOKING GOOD!!! keep us posted

[old289]

I feel your pain here is what mine looked like, and then the completed car. It's worth the time and money

seeing that made me feel a little better about mine.. thanks for posting...

I plan on visiting with her this coming week and will post up more pics of the progress. Having y'all give me all those encouraging words helps tremendously!! :awsome:

[smokinjoe]

Keep working on her, like Adam said, it's worth it in the end! :) I joke that I spend as much time wrenching on mine as driving her!!! But that's part of the fun too ;)

[latamud]

I bought my first 65 in 2000. These are very easy cars to work on and you can do whatever you can imagine with them.

Before
http://s3.amazonaws.com/hubgarage/photos/220237/716662_32_full_detail.jpg
After
http://s3.amazonaws.com/hubgarage/photos/220233/716662_6_full_detail.jpg

I'm on my 7th classic project.

Before
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/8/web/716000-716999/716662_3_full.jpg
After
http://s3.amazonaws.com/hubgarage/photos/219417/2205350_8_full_detail.jpg

Have fun with the car. Make it whatever you want it to be. Looks like your mechanic is covering the problem areas. Your car looks like it was well preserved considering its age.

[hookedonstangs]

I agree with everyone. The classics are well worth restoring, and a whole lot of fun when finished.

[Darren]

Thought it would be a walk in the park did ya: :pointlaff: LOL
It wont matter what color you want it. It will all need to be painted regardless. Good luck :mick:

[old289]

THanks y'all....

latamud, those are gorgeous!!!

thanks for the encouragement .. i need it!!

[old289]

:cryeyes:

Well, I haven't had my car for a year now...

and it looks like I'm going to have to wait even longer. The guy that was fixing it, has now decided he really needs to focus on other "projects" in the shop. Sooooooo... like many resto stories I've heard, I now need to find someone else to finish my project. :( It's hella hard cause most people dont want to start where someone else hasn't finished... ya know?

There is one place north of houston that I'm going to go check out on Monday. His story for opening his business is a lot like mine. Get started with a small lil shop and it turns out to be too much of a project than first anticipated.. yadda yadda.

I've literally been in tears for days. Struggling to find someone else who can just jump on this because I'm not waiting another year. I am not wanting a full resto, I just want the rust taken care of, a good paint job and a few mechanical things... nothing major. The car is perfectly driveable as is.

ugh.

Sorry I had to vent.

[ambenz]

UG! Heartbreaking news!
I really feel for you.
Not being able to drive you baby for a year and now seeing no end in sight....oh my!
Keep your chin up and don't allow anyone to talk you into selling it as is!
Try to find a place where they only do restro work like CJ pony parts.

[Shane361]

Was just telling Marc my latest "it will be alrite" phrase...THIS TOO SHALL PASS! When it does..all this headache will make the car that much more special. Good luck!-shane

[Kenny]

its going to look great

[old289]

ok, once again I come here to vent... get opinions...

I purchased the car for a little over 10K sight unseen off of ebay.
I have now put a little over 6K into it.
Now who knows exactly how much more I'll have to put into it to get someone else to finish it. Could be 5K, 10K or even more.

Heres what I'm thinking. The car DOES have some sentimental value because my husband bought it for me for christmas 4 years ago, knowing I'd wanted one since I was a kid. Now, after discussing this with him and literally beating myself up over what kind of decision to make.. he has brought up a good point. I can go ahead and deal with the headache of trying to finish this project OR, I can sell her "as is" (it does still run with the 289 thats in it) or go ahead with a Maaco type paint job, throw in the 306 I've already purchased and let someone else deal with it and possibly buy this:

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?paId=137152837&aff=national&CMP=usedInv

which, in the longrun, it's almost what I wanted my old car to look like in the first place. I chose a gray metallic shiny paint... and wanted to change out the interior for the pony seats. It already has a 302 in it.. and it's only a 5 hour drive... For almost 14K, I'll have a "headache free" car.

What do you think I should do?? Any and all suggestions from this point are welcome!! Thank you!!

[mrstang69]

I would first check your VIN # and make sure your Stang is not a rare collectible. If its just a regular coupe, i would check with the dealer of the other car you want to see if he would be interested on a trade and cash. If its a GT or HiPo engine, A code, i would keep it because it would be worth more in the long run. The mustang that is listed with cars.com says it a 1965,but he has 1966 emblems on the car? Hope this helps. :stang::awsome:

[mrstang69]

my dad has a 1965 mustang with alot more rust than that but has a 289 w/4speed. He is looking for just a body to put that engine in if he can find one without an engine.

[ShelbySVT]

Wow I am sorry to hear about your situation. How is everything going with it? I wish you the best of luck in the future with this and just keep your chin up cause she is going to be a beauty when finished and the envy of the town :wink: