Nail Polish Remover Is A Hell Of A Thing…

You may have noticed that the current color of the Mustang is probably best described as “primer”.

Thankfully that dull gray color isn’t long for this world, but it’s also not the original color of the car. The primer was added later…

…By someone who did a really terrible job. Generally when you paint, you cover up the shiny parts with tape to avoid painting them. This guy apparently didn’t get the memo. There are a distressingly large number of parts that are supposed to be shiny and look like this:

But instead look like this:

Look close, there’s a shiny piece there to the right of the inside headlight. Can’t see it? No? Oh, that’s right – it’s not shiny and is hard to see because someone painted over it.

Why? Why? Why? Why?

We pulled the part to see what we could do. Here’s the before picture:

I wasn’t expecting to be able to do much, but after watching this video on YouTube, I learned that sometimes paint can be removed from metal by using nail polish remover. So, I gave it a try.

I’m pretty happy ecstatic with the results:

These parts are ~thirty-five dollars each. That little three dollor bottle of remover just saved me seventy bucks.

Nail polish remover, it’s a hell of a thing…

Engine À la carte

We disassembled the top half of the engine on Saturday.

What was once this:

Is now this:

Four containers of this:

And a growing collection of parts on a shelf that look like this:

As more and more pieces of the engine come off though, the terror of what we’re doing is starting to subside. Engines have always been a terrifying “black box” to me. These black boxes take in gas, oil and money and perform their duties of zoom zooming the car from point A to point B. I kinda sorta knew what made them work, but the most I’ve ever done to “fix” one was a tune up on my old Mustang. I’ve always felt totally out of my league and have never attempted anything more.

I’m still out of my league – but I think I’ve graduated from T-Ball to coach pitch and I feel as though I’m moving up fast. Yeah, there’s lots of parts – but as we take them off the logic of how the engine is put together is getting clear. I actually believe I’ll be able to put the thing back together again. It might even work after I do…

I’ve wanted to be able to do this my entire life.

So, what’d we find when we took the thing apart? To start with, standing anti-freeze in a couple of the cylinders:

When I bought the Mustang, I was told it had a blown head gasket, so we were pretty much expecting this.

What we weren’t expecting was this:

Those itty-bitty tiny little pits I’ve highlighted in the picture above were probably caused when the engine overheated after the head gasket blew. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to futz around with the bottom half of the engine – but these little buggers had other plans.

These “other plans” involve pulling the cylinders, crankshaft and associated bottom-of-the-engine parts so we can take the block in to a machine shop to be bored or honed.

About That Bench Seat…

Of the 299,824 Mustangs built in 1969, only 4,635 (1.5%) came with a bench seat. My Mustang is part of that 1%…

With bench seats being so rare and unique, I tried very hard to like them. I reminded myself that their upholstery seems to be in decent shape. All the pieces are there. It’s always nice to have a unique car…..

I hate them.

Last Tuesday, we took a road trip out to Klamath Falls, Oregon. There was a guy out there parting out his 69 Mustang and he had some seats and other paraphernalia I wanted to look at. We ended up getting the seats and a few other parts that we need.

As you can see, the seats needed a little TLC, but after cleaning they look at lot better.

I’ll probably still re-upholster them since what’s there is tired and serviceable at best. But, I now have the proper seats for a pony car and I couldn’t be happier.

Where We’re At Today – The Engine Is Out!

The Mustang has been “home” for a month. I’ve spent countless hours on the internet looking for parts and restoration tips (I’m anything but an expert here) and only a few hours on fixing the car itself. Most of our time has been spent finding a temporary home for the Mustang out of the weather and clearing shop space to work on it.

Here’s the Mustang’s new (temporary) home:

The first thing my brother in law and I (to be known as “we” from now on) fixed was the front drivers side tire. It had come off the wheel and made pushing the car difficult. It wasn’t much, but I had to include a picture of the old and the new tire here to commemorate the accomplishment of fixing something.

Why are we pushing the car? Well, the 302 engine it came with has a blown head gasket. I knew that when I bought it so this wasn’t a surprise. It’s an opportunity to learn how to rebuild an engine :)

So here’s where we’re at. We have a Mustang

• With no rust of any significance. It has a tiny bit of surface rust on the roof which will be addressed in due time
• With a little body damage in the rear passenger quarter panel and driver’s side door
• An interior with the following downsides:
  • A shot dash pad that will need to be replaced
  • A head liner that is likewise going to make some parts company a lot of money
  • Carpeting that needs to be replaced
  • A bench seat
• An interior with the following upsides:
  • Upholstery in good enough shape that I could probably get away with just cleaning it.
  • Clean and undamaged door panels
  • A working electrical system (with what we’ve tested so far)
• Needs a paint job
• An engine that needs to be rebuilt.

Last Saturday, we got started on that last item. We pulled the engine from the Mustang and brought it into our shop where my brother in law and I will spend the next few months rebuilding it.

Doing Something About It

Dateline: Sunday, November 23rd, 2014 – Craigslist

69 mustang rebuilt trans 4 years ago car has sat current tags new brakes all around new lower control arms ball joints tie rod ends new heater core 302 motor factory disc breaks in front

Sometimes, the exact car you’ve been looking for falls in your lap. I’d been looking at Craiglist for a 69 Mustang project for a few weeks. I’d gotten so far as to find one in Kansas and ask for an internet quote for transport back to Oregon.

Never do this. Seriously. Never. You will get calls and emails for weeks from car transport companies.

As I sat there annoyed on Sunday night, I stumbled upon the post above. A 69 Mustang in what appeared to be great condition (as far as a project car is concerned) less than three hours from where I live. Thinking midnight might be a little late for a text message, I set an alarm for the next morning to call.

Tick Tock, Tick Tock – it was a long night…

As early as I could justify a text on Monday morning, I was contacting the owner of the car arranging for a visit the next day.

At O’Dark thirty on Tuesday morning, I set out with a borrowed truck and auto-transport for the long drive. I had my son with me to keep me company with 234,424 questions about cars, trucks and farts (don’t ask).

I had a spiel all planned for when I made an offer – if I was going to make an offer.

• It needs a lot more work than the pictures indicated
• There’s a lot of rust in wherever I found rust
• You’re asking a little more than it’s worth, how about…

As I looked at the car, I found myself in a quandary. The Mustang was exactly as advertised. There was no rust. He was asking a fair price ($3500). Finally I settled on

I have to talk you down to something, would you take $3250?

An hour later, I texted my wife and brother in law that I was “coming home heavier”.

And so the journey began. I had my 69 Mustang and a very familiar starting point – a car with hideously ugly hub caps and an unmistakable smell of being left outside for too long. But it’s mine and I love it – and these too will pass…

In The Beginning…

When I was a kid, my family always went to my grandparents house for holidays. My Grandpa had a 1969 Mustang that I was in love with from the first day I saw it. I used to sneak out of the house and go down to the barn where he kept the car and just sit in it.

About the only thing I could make the car do without the keys (which I wouldn’t have…because sneaking) was play with the turn signals. The Mustang had a hood scoop with integrated turn signal lights similar to the ones on this video from a 67 Mustang:

I’d sit there, turn on the hazard lights and stare at the awesomeness of blinky lights on the hood. I’d do this for hours.

When I was 10 or so, my Grandma made the mistake of making an off-handed comment that when I was older I could have the car.

I never let her forget it.

Fast forward five or six years and I found myself still sitting in the Mustang – only this time I’m being handed a set of keys by my Dad.

I had my dream car. It was green, had the ugliest hubcaps ever to come out of Detroit and the interior smelled of Oregon Coast – but it was mine and I loved it.

My dad (who’s awesome) spent the next year or so restoring the Mustang into one of the most beautiful cars I have ever seen:

I spent the rest of my teenage years trying (and failing) to avoid speeding tickets.

As the years went by, the glamour of owning a classic car started to fade. My young-adult-self bought and enjoyed a Mazda Miata. The Mustang was driven less and less.

In 2003, I decided to donate the Mustang to St. Mark Catholic Church as part of their campaign to build a new church. The raffle raised almost $10,000 and the new owner promised to give the car a good home. It was a sad parting-of-the-ways between myself and my dream car, but it was for a good cause.

As time has past, I have come to regret the decision to get rid of the Mustang. This year, I decided it was time to do something about it…