When I started restoring/rebuilding my 67 coupe and really dug into the world of Mustang restoration, I started realizing I wouldn’t be done when I finished this one. I started feeling the draw of the fastback. After a couple of years of passively keeping an eye out, I finally found the one.

Most of my friends look at me like I am crazy when I show them the new Mustang. I often describe it as a “Mustang shaped pile of parts”. On the up side, it is already to the stage of the project where it’s all torn down. At this stage you can see exactly what you’re getting into. And with a 50+ year old piece of steel, that can vary widely, defined by the parts you often can’t see.

On the down side, I had been thinking my next project would start with a running, or nearly running car. I thought maybe I could restore parts of it at a time, while keeping it on the road. Wishful thinking as it is, I was fooling myself to think I also wouldn’t have it torn down at some future date. Floor pans and cowls are the first to go, and eventually you have to do some serious disassembly to replace them.

So, I started with a project that is well defined. The strong points of this one is that it’s an original C, or V-8 model. It’s a step up from my T (I-6), with maybe a few less parts to replace to get a modern 5.0 engine. It also has a lot of really solid original parts. The bumpers look real good, many of the interior parts are solid, and it comes with a lot of new parts, and new sheet metal.

On the down side, it’s going to need a new floor pan. It’s bad enough that I am planning on doing a one piece floor, all the way back through the trunk. I will find out soon enough just how much higher it is going to go from there.

On the top, the cowl cover is already removed. The lower cowl is a holy mess. With various parts is a brand new Dynacorn upper and lower cowl and the outside panels as well. This would be an easier project if I already had welding skills. Unfortunately, that is going to have to be farmed out again. This time I plan on doing the leg work and doing as much as I can myself up to the actual cutting and welding.

The hardest part today is getting everything into my garage. I need to get all of the parts into storage on the shelves, and out of the way. Since I still need to finish the 67, I will be storing the shell for a few months while I get the 67 running, leaving me space to work. Storage is also code word for in the queue to get some welding done.

I am quickly going to have to figure out which parts to use and which to sell. For example, it came with a more modern rear end with disk brakes, and the original 8 inch. Same story on the front end with 71 disc brakes.  Even with spares, I am kind of shocked how the parts expand to fill the space. Somehow all these parts will shrink down to a 65 Mustang sized shape some day.

So there it is, the start of another multi year rebuild project. This time, I have more experience and am better prepared. Having a blue one already, I have plans for this one to be red. That’s a long ways off though. Need to keep focused and not let this project distract me too much. I still need to make that last mile with the ’67 and get it back on the road.