But From Humble Beginnings…

By complete happenstance, this post is the 200^th entry in the story of the Mustang’s restoration – a story that began exactly three years ago when I found the Mustang parked outside by a chicken coop:

Not having any idea what I was doing, I towed her home:

and parked her at my Brother-in-Law’s house:

because I had no room in my tiny, one “car” garage:

In the year that followed, we moved into a new, bigger house with space for a minimally-equipped shop building:

The Mustang’s engine was pulled out, rebuilt, re-installed and started for the first time:

Year two of the Mustang’s restoration saw the electrical system brought back on-line and the Mustang’s first (and so far only) real drive:

Year two also saw the Mustang get torn apart:

Prepped for paint:

And finally sent to the body shop:

As restoration year three began, I was finishing up the restoration of the upholstery:

With the Mustang still at the shop, I began running out of things to do. So I went out and found a way to keep myself busy:

She was christened Mystique, and…well… she needed a lot of work:

I’d never done body work before. I’d never welded or pulled body panels off. But the desire to learn has always been there and all journeys begin with but a single step.

I learned how to pull body panels off, eventually tearing nearly the entire rear half of Mystique apart:

I began to learn how to weld, starting with some spectacular failures:

But ending with a quarter panel patch:

and reconstructed derrière that I am damn proud of and will long remember:

Year three also saw the shop outgrow its original design and go through a number of re-designs.

What began as some simple shelving from The Home Depot and some garage sale left overs:

grew into a fully functional and well stocked work area:

with a pet mascot:

that was ready to welcome the Mustang home in early September:

Project Assembly was finally ready to start.

Beginning with a partially-assembled nose two and a half months ago:

the Mustang ends year three of her restoration looking like this:

Most importantly, her blinky blinky hood scoop lights work:

And her engine has awoken once again:

 

As I begin year four of this journey, I look back in awe at everything that’s happened in the past three. What began with a U-Haul trailer towing a broken down old car I had no place to work on has turned into something amazing:

I don’t know what will happen between now and next year’s anniversary post. I do know however that I’m looking forward to finding out.