69ISH 69 F code Sportsroof trials and tribulations

[69ISH]

It's  to late to  start a project thread so thought I would start this instead of my never ending and evolving mustang.
I purchased it back in 2006 sight unseen with it described as a presentable nice weekend  cruise car needing very little but having rust blisters coming up in the front corners of the doors. I  saw a lot of photos and the car looked solid and did not show the blisters when they tried to photograph them.
I spoke with the owner numerous times and felt comfortable  when purchasing it.
I was really happy when I first saw it at the port of Brisbane and it did look like the photographs that it did look presentable but without doing a thorough inspection.
Photos below of when it first arrived  home below.

[67FBGT]

Looks very nice, both being a '69 plus the colour.
Looking forward to hearing more about it.

[mwizz]

I like it. Looking forward to seeing the updates.

[69ISH]

After inspecting it at home I found a few  problems  that needed addressing before I could even think about driving  or registering it.
I started by removing aftermarket gauges in the A/C register which led to finding burnt-out wiring and circuit boards, I  pulled out seats and carpet chasing wiring when I  found some insulation tape on the floor and when trying to remove it I discovered it was holding  a big piece of bog in place hiding where a big rust hole once was..
The further  I  looked and pulled the car apart the more sins I  found.

I  had a friend who was just starting up Sixties Rust Restorations  and got an estimate on doing the repairs and repaint and was advised between  10 and 12K  with me doing what ever I was capable of doing.
After discussing it with my wife we decided to pull the car down completely repair the rust repaint it and put it back together.
I  stripped the car of every nut, bolt and screw, put it on a rotisserie then removed the floor both inner aprons from the shock tower forwards including the radiator support as we new these needed to be replaced then sent it of to the sand blasters.
This is what we found when it came back.

[69ISH]

The next 2 to 3 years it spent going backwards and forwards between  my place and Sixties Rust replacing and repairing all the rust and damage this was done in stages as parts arrived money was available and availability in the work shop.
It had a new 1 piece floor  fitted, toe boards, trunk floor including drop offs, both quarter panels, both doors, hood, trunk lid,  beaver panel, trunk to rear glass filler panel, both front inner aprons, battery tray, inner and outer wheel housing on 1 side and the outer on the other and I  think that was it.

[69ISH]

The car was always going to be painted black but after owning 2 other black cars while this was being fixed I  decided against painting it black and the wife had suggested (told me) to paint it purple. I had always loved the colour of the wild violet falcon gt's but after careful consideration decided to paint it Phantom a 2002 to 2005 XR falcon colour. The main reason  on going this colour was the availability of most repair centres being able to match it if it ever needed to be repaired.
I  still decided to go with the Mach1 clour scheme but went gloss black instead of satin and no Mach1 badging, I  debadged the whole car and filled in the aerial hole.
Finally the car came home ready for reassembly.
The cost  had blown out some what. Ended up costing 22K before paint only a 10K difference and that original estimate included paint.

[mwizz]

Episodes 1 & 2 were great. Bring on episode 3.

[69ISH]

Now after it came home I bolted up the front and rear bumper bars and looked at it and just could not keep on bolting on the old parts as they now looked shocking against the new paint, the car then came to a stand still  once again as I  found the funds, wheeled and dealed and got new or rebuilt parts.
Whilst waiting for funds I sandblasted and painted in 2K all the items that would be used on the mustang such as strut rods, shock tower braces interior brackets etc, I  also had the dash and the top of the door trims  media blasted in nutshell (so I  would not lose the woodgrain finish) and painted them as well.
Over time I  ordered  new front and rear bars, stainless trims, all glass, door handles,  brake components,  fuel components, interior kit, bolt kits and a lot more.
As parts arrived I reassembled what I  could.
I worked out what was the largest wheel I  could,fit with the deepest dish and ordered them.

[Pinto Pete]

The cost  had blown out some what. Ended up costing 22K before paint only a 10K difference and that original estimate included paint.
 

Yeh, but look what came home,...... stunning...

[69ISH]

I  then purchased a 347 stroker that was built by Dyno Flo race engines in the states, had my C4 rebuilt to handle 650Hp and a 9" with a 3.25 tru trac to handle the same Hp..
This was all fitted in 2012/2013 and I  started and drove the car for the first time since starting the project but it still needed exhaust child seat mounts and seat belts and finishing off a number of other small items.

[69ISH]

Finally  1/7/13 the Mustang was first registered in Australia.
Happy days.
My sister who is a photographer  took some photos for me and she has never been happy with the photos or the location but we have never done another shoot but it may still happen 1 day.

[69ISH]

After putting in all the hard work  and replacing nearly everything, not cutting  corners or buying the cheapest items you would think that would  be the end of fixing or replacing things.
Oh how very wrong I was.
The rebuilt replacement power steering pump, was very noisy, leaking fluid, and had a very small shudder.
1 of the strut rods  broke luckily enough at very low speed (original to the car).
The halo headlights started to fail 1 by 1.
The sequential  tail lights failed.
The alternator failed,
There were issues with the distributor
 This all happened in the first 12 months

[69ISH]

There  were good times as well with winning this trophy at its first car show especially considering it had not been cleaned as I  was up to after midnight the night before and up early the following morning just trying to get it running and had no time to even think about cleaning it.
I was very lucky as I wasn't even going to register it for judging (due to it not being clean or detailed) but the wife insisted and after he r spitting the dummy she went  and registered it for judging.

[69ISH]

Not long after this I  fitted the rear louver as I loved the look of them and also when I had the daughter's in the car they would get sunburnt so that fixed that.
I  purchased a 1968 Olympic Debonair  caravan so I soon after fitted a towbar to tow the van behind it.

[LEE H 69]

the car looked pretty good to start with Rodney, suprising what a little paint can hide, still the final outcome is an absolute credit to you, awesome car 

[67FBGT]

Well while the expenditure has no doubt been hard & stressful the whole project is an absolute credit to you, & not to forget your better half for her part.
Wow, impressive stuff.

[BAC]

Have you been game to total up how much has been spent on the car to date? 

[69ISH]

Have you been game to total up how much has been spent on the car to date? 

I had added it up before it's  first registration  still with a few things to finish off and it was around  80K
If I  remember correctly.  I  have a file full of receipts and documents for it but have not dared adding it  up again.
There  is more to come when I  find find the time.
Thanks all for the compliments.

[BAC]

I had added it up before it's  first registration  still with a few things to finish off and it was around  80K

At least for that money you have everything exactly the way you want it.   

It's easy to spend way more than that on a German luxo cruiser and have to put up with what they give you...

[Pedro]

The way things are going Rodney, with low dollar exchange and prices rising Stateside your expenditure and actual car value will reach par in the not to distant future.

[69ISH]

I had put the car down the quarter mile on a club event and ran what I thought was a respectable 13.2@104Mph but I still was having minor issues like the never ending power steering pump that had now been rebuilt 3 times and still leaked like a sieve the power steering having a slight shudder.
I had the car booked in to got to "Cooly Rocks On" and was really looking forward to showing it off and then 3 or 4 days before the event I suddenly lost oil pressure and the photos below show why.
The engine builder failed to do his job properly from what we could tell and my motor was now scrap metal with the only salvageable parts being the heads.
It had not even been on the road for 1 year.

[69ISH]

Over the next 5 months I acquired the money and Shaun built a new motor for me which I could have never have done without him in this short time frame and with out his advice and know how.
It was in the car and fired up for the first time just a few days before "D" day, I will explain later

















This had its complications as well with me burning out a brand new ignition box, the exhaust having to be cut up and now needed to be modified to fit which we had forgotten about.
It was my sisters wedding coming up in just a few days and it was a big push to get it ready for that as I had committed myself for this and I really did not want to miss this as I had missed both daughters formals but luckily enough I had other toys to use for these but I was now down to just this one toy.







Wedding went off with out a hitch except for the C4 transmission locking up as I was about to pick my sister up but after a little bit of playing around moving the shifter back and forwards it came good.
It was back at my transmission guys workshop shortly after being pulled out and being rebuilt once again with little time before its next event being the Yamba Rod Run.
The transmission was back in and the stang towed the van down to the event and back again with a few little issues like what I thought was losing oil pressure again on the way down and after spending a couple hours on the side of the road pulling rocker covers off and making sure oil was pumping we finally continued on, the thermo fans starting to work intermittently and having to spend time again on the side of the road waiting for the car to cool, cutting through a rear brake hose and replacing that on the side of the road after a trip into Ballina, but I really enjoyed it.




 

[69ISH]

Not long after Christmas this year the C4 once again started to play up and once again it was pulled for rebuild no3 and nothing could be found for why it would lock up and why the gear changes flare between 2nd and 3rd.
Ballina car show was its next big outing and as afternoon/early evening car show it was certainly one of the more enjoyable car shows that I have done. It is a really nice drive there on good roads and on the way back with little to no other cars on the road beside what was in our group meant we  could play a little.
The stang also took out its second trophy for top 15 there which surprised me again especially considering that we hit rain twice on the way down one quick down pour and the second time we drove in it for about 30 mins or so.
The downside to winning the trophy was the following night the wife dropped the trophy across the hood breaking the trophy, chipping the paint in a few places and bending the hood.

[Mattstang]

`The downside to winning the trophy was the following night the wife dropped the trophy across the hood breaking the trophy, chipping the paint in a few places and bending the hood.`



Still married Rodney??

Great story BTW 

Cheers
Matt

[69ISH]

`The downside to winning the trophy was the following night the wife dropped the trophy across the hood breaking the trophy, chipping the paint in a few places and bending the hood.`



Still married Rodney??

Great story BTW 

Cheers
Matt

Yes still married.
When it happened  I was in the dining room with the inlaws and the wife had snuck  into the garage with the youngest daughter to grab the trophy to show it off.
All I heard was a  mighty crash and as I was walking down the hall way my daughter was yelling don't come in DONT COME IN. I don't  know what she thought I  was going to do but it was a accident so what do you do.
My wife was more upset about it than I was.