Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Received Title History

I learned of a VTR-275 form which requests the Texas Department of Transportation provide you with the title history of a vehicle. I completed the form about a week ago and sent it off with $6.75. Today, I received twelve pages of TxDot information on my vehicle. The records go back to 1987 but the older documents are difficult to read.

The history appears as follows:
1967 - 1987 Unknown Onwer(s)
1987 Transfered from Terry C. to Carl R.
2002 Transfered from Carl R. to Alice R. (husband to wife)
2003 Transfered from Alice R. to Aaron A. (transfer to brother-in-law)

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Getting Current & The Plan

I'll spare everyone details on the general maintenance and basic interior work I performed early this year. Those projects were simply to get the vehicle inspected and drivable. After driving it occassionally for a few months, it was time to begin the first actual phase of restoration... the front suspension.

The initial plan was to remove both fenders, restore the fenderwell area, install new front suspension, and then put it back together. However, I'm a bit of a perfectionist and this project seems as if it will take much longer than expected. At this point, the project has been expanded to include the restoring the radiator support and wiring as these are most accesible with the fenders off. The new plan is to restore the front suspension and the bay area in front of the shock towers.

I stripped the front sheetmetal off the car on June 1st. I've removed front sheetmetal, stripped the sound deadener from both fenderwells, removed all suspension components, and recently started stipping the paint from the part from of the engine bay area I will be restoring. I'll include a couple of pictures of the Mustang in its current state.




Initial Maintenance

Over the first few months, I completed a large amount of general maintenance work to the Mustang. Much of this was to fix items which were not functional or to increase reliability. During this time, I performed the following work:

01/09 - Removed underdash radio and alarm system
01/12 - Replaced tempature sending unit
01/13 - Repaired non-functing horns
01/14 - Installed in-dash radio
01/25 - Replaced antenna
01/25 - Replaced aftermarket pedals
01/26 - New quarter window molding
01/26 - Valve colver & oil pan gaskets w/new paint
01/30 - New battery
02/03 - Driver door window regulator
02/09 - New carpet
02/23 - Passenger quarter window regulator
02/26 - Kick panels & sill plates
03/01 - New dome light & windowlace
03/09 - Carburetor rebuild
03/10 - Intake repainted
03/10 - Replaced spark plugs

A few pictures of the interior and engine bay as of this maintenance work are included below. Following this work, I took a little break and enjoyed the Mustang by driving around town and to work. There were little projects but I did not really track those in much detail.

The Purchase

I searched for a Mustang using eBay, newspaper ads, and CraigsList.com. I located my Mustang on January 5th, 2008, through a San Antonio CraigsList ad which stated the following:

67 Ford Mustang Coupe all original. Used mainly as a sunday car. Only had two owners. 289 with a two bar carb. 3 speed dual exhaust with headers. Interior in great condition, Motor in great condition, body in good condition only needs paint job. Selling to make room for future family.

There were no pictures of the vehicle included on the ad. The Mustang had a manual transmission so I responded requesting pictures and left town for the weekend. I returned that Sunday evening to pictures of a Mustang in good condition. I requested additional pictures and after receiving those on Monday, decided I would go to look at the Mustang the next day rather than wait and find it sold.

When I first looked over the car, I noticed it was originally Lime Gold which was not one of the colors I liked. Additionally, the Mustang was a little more rusted that I had hoped. I found the floorpans rusted along with one door and both rear quarters. However, it was a complete, original car with a manual transmission in running condition.

A deal was struck and I began the several hour trip home from San Antonio. I was concerned the entire time as I only had the signed title. The inspection had expired a year prior, the vehicle was not registered, and I had no insurance on the vehicle. If I were pulled over there would be no telling what would happen. The Mustang made the entire trip without any trouble.

The attached pictures are those I received by email when first evaluating the Mustang. I like them as they show the original condition of the Mustang. I could not help but start working on it when I made it home. As a result, the car began to look different very quickly.





Introduction

Weclome to the blog created to document my progress in restoring a 1967 Mustang coupe. I purchased the vehicle a few months ago and am now in the middle of the first phase of my restoration plans. Before going forward with details on my plans and recent efforts, I'll provide the basic information on my Mustang.

My Mustang was built in Dearborn on 04/21/67 and was originally sold from Gregg-Simon Ford in San Marcos, Texas. My understanding is the vehicle was owned by essentially the same family since new but I've not confirmed this information. The car was originally equipped with the following options:
- 289-2V Engine
- 3 Speed Manual Transmission
- Lime Gold Paint
- Black Bench Seat
- 2.79 Open Rear Axle
- Rocker Panel Moulding
- Tinted Glass
- AM Radio

The car is far from rare as it has limited options and was painted in the most popular color in '67. The only unique option for this vehicle is the bench seat. It is unique in that only 4% of 1967 were ordered with a bench seat. However, this is one of those examples were rare does not make something more valuable, just more interesting.