Back into the breach: I bought the "GT coupe"

[foothilltom 33]

Hello gents,

 

Well, I bought that car I posted about the other day. I have pictures up the waaaazoooo so forgive me if I'm over-zealous in the number. I'm 93% sure this is an actual GT equipped coupe. The "M" code, the GT cap, the cut-out-exhuast rear-valance, the GT stripes, the beefier suspension, the 351-4V, it all adds up.

 

In any case, what do you guys think? $3000 + the $400 I agreed to pay the DMV to register.

 

Best of all, no rust. It's really quite unbelievable considering my track record for rust-buckets. The headers and exhaust are a little rough, but the body is rust-free. No water test yet, but that's next.

 

I think I may have actually gotten a good one this time. Curious to hear your thoughts.

 

Tom

http://premiersoft.com/powpow/mustang/gt/DSC_0009.JPG

http://premiersoft.com/powpow/mustang/gt/DSC_0010.JPG

http://premiersoft.com/powpow/mustang/gt/DSC_0011.JPG

http://premiersoft.com/powpow/mustang/gt/DSC_0013.JPG

http://premiersoft.com/powpow/mustang/gt/DSC_0014.JPG

http://premiersoft.com/powpow/mustang/gt/DSC_0015.JPG

http://premiersoft.com/powpow/mustang/gt/DSC_0016.JPG

http://premiersoft.com/powpow/mustang/gt/DSC_0017.JPG

[foothilltom 33]

The interior is definitely not original...should have been black vinyl according to the door codes, but the interior looks pretty good for a 70's job.

 

Lots of little dings and dents here and there, and tons of work, but i think it's a good start.

 

Tom

[S code 69 13]

The GT cap and stripes don't mean anything but like you say the rest of it makes it possible. the only way to know for sure is to get the Marti report, for that price I don't see how you can get hurt bad in any case.

[jkskinsfan 19]

If that car is as solid as it looks, you got a steal Tom.

 

And if I deciphered the codes correctly from the door tag, they are as follows:

 

9 = 1969

R = SAN JOSE

01 = 2 DR. H.T.

M = 351 4V V8

 

 

65A = 2 DR. H.T. STANDARD

C = DARK IVY GREEN MET.

2A = BLACK VINYL INTERIOR

13C = MARCH 13TH

72 = SAN JOSE

9 = 3:25:1 CONVENTIONAL REAR AXLE

5 = 4 SPD. MANUAL WIDE RATIO (2:78 1ST GEAR)

Edited August 15, 2009 by jkskinsfan

[GT350 16]

you got a bargain the looks solid.

[Fordrevhead 29]

Looks great from here! And the interior is interesting. Color scheme reminds me of an old Gran Prix I worked on that my Aunt had.

[Justafordguy 10]

Man that thing looks great. What a deal!

[Grabber70Mach 107]

Nice I think you got a good deal.

[foothilltom 33]

Thanks for the responses, fellas. Normally at this time, I'd have a serious case of "buyer's remorse", but this time I actually get more excited every time I look at this car. For once, I was at the right place at the right time. Now, the journey of getting her running begins...

[RogerC 136]

Pretty nice, I think you got a deal. Anymore interior shots?

[foothilltom 33]

I have this one other shot of the interior:

 

http://premiersoft.com/powpow/mustang/gt/DSC_0018.JPG

 

I wasn't too keen on it at first (due to the departure from stock), but I can see why they went with the beige color scheme...it accents the jade-black really nicely. They painted the entire dash cluster and pad, so they were definitely motivated.

 

Tom

[RogerC 136]

Like the seats & the door panels, not sold on the beige dash & trim either. Maybe it grows on you in person.

[Pakrat 1,043]

I agree it looks pretty good from here Tom, I think you got a deal. The only thing that bothers me is the hint of air nozzles on each side of the license plates. That usually means the car has or had air shocks which also usually means it either had some suspension issues or someone liked to drive around with bags of cement in the trunk from time to time. It also means some potentially worn or fatigued metal under your rear seat if reinforcement plates weren't used.

 

As for the interior someone did go a little crazy with the Duplicolor Camel Tan vinyl dye for sure. From here it looks like the dash is a plastic coverlay, there could be a decent looking black dash underneath it still. If you want to keep the budget low for now I would go pick up some cans of the black dye and just change all that tan back to black, I think it would make the rest of the custom seats and panels look a lot better with a contrast instead of that poor color match.

[foothilltom 33]

Hey Pak, you're right about going a little crazy with the interior...though it's worse than it looks: it's painted. Somebody obviously took the time to take everything out and paint the pad, cluster, door panels, etc. The paint is chipping in a few spots revealing a beautiful black dash underneath. I don't know what I can do to remove the paint safely.

 

Thanks for the heads-up about the air-shocks. I haven't looked for any fatigue, but my hope is that the original owner was just big on the "jacked up" look from the late 70's. Hell, I put air shocks in my 69 Camaro in 1978 because I liked the driving downhill look. Cornering wasn't a high priority.

 

I'll look for signs of fatigue or re-inforcement and eventually remove the air shocks. Still trying to muddle over the interior job. The seats have been reupholstered with tan fabric -- no dye job here.

 

Tom

[Pakrat 1,043]

Well ya know aside from the poor choice of late 80's style the upholstery job looks to be of a decent quality. Here's a quick shotty photchop of all the trim parts returned to black for a comparison, it would be a cheap way to get by for now, probably take about 10 cans or so. I can't tell if the carpet is faded black or actually a chocolate brown but a true black there would make a big difference too.

[Armond 10]

Talk about Grand theft Auto! You stole that car!! Congrats! Very nice combo. I am going to guess it had a Gold Stripe originaly? I know of a few black jade cars and they all were gold except one that had dark ivy interior and had a red GT stripe. It was an all original car and I could not get him to sell, 390 car with a 4 speed. It ran around Rancho Cordova back in the early 80's. I would go back original on the interior, just my opinion. Nice car.....

[SlimeGold 69 15]

Looks like a smokin deal from here. Do you have pics of under the hood?

[Mike65 476]

I like it.

[foothilltom 33]

Here be some picks of under da' hood.

 

http://premiersoft.com/powpow/mustang/gt/DSC_0019.JPG

http://premiersoft.com/powpow/mustang/gt/DSC_0020.JPG

http://premiersoft.com/powpow/mustang/gt/DSC_0021.JPG

[SlimeGold 69 15]

That's a Windsor and not a Cleveland. You did say it had a 351C didn't you? Looks pretty good under there.

[Pakrat 1,043]

The first pic just cuts off the underside of the hood, does it have the odd pie shape cut out under the scoop possibly hidden under a large sticker?

[foothilltom 33]

Hey Pak, no there is no cutout as you describe. I stared at the underside and the only difference between it and the hood of my son's coupe is (what appear to be) factory cutouts for the hood pins. What would the pie shape imply?

 

And to the previous poster, you're right, this is a 351W. When I was researching the codes (prior to really having access to the car), I thought it mapped to 351C. I was dis-abused of that notion.

 

Tom

[Pakrat 1,043]

Well it is believed that all (or most) true GT hoods should have this hole even if it is still covered over with foil as it was planned to make the hood scoop functional on the GT model simillar to the 68 1/2 Cobra Jet. For some unknown reason the factory scrapped it at the last minute, most of us think due to the shaker option now being offered and probably not enough of a cost difference to justify both. Of course not alot of these cars have their original hood still and Bryan has been trying to document what he can on the subject, since yours was in storage for so long I figured it was worth asking.

[SlimeGold 69 15]

 

And to the previous poster, you're right, this is a 351W. When I was researching the codes (prior to really having access to the car), I thought it mapped to 351C. I was dis-abused of that notion.

 

Tom

 

My fault. I was thinking the PO told you it was a Cleveland.

[bnickel 10,004]

Well it is believed that all (or most) true GT hoods should have this hole even if it is still covered over with foil as it was planned to make the hood scoop functional on the GT model simillar to the 68 1/2 Cobra Jet. For some unknown reason the factory scrapped it at the last minute, most of us think due to the shaker option now being offered and probably not enough of a cost difference to justify both. Of course not alot of these cars have their original hood still and Bryan has been trying to document what he can on the subject, since yours was in storage for so long I figured it was worth asking.

 

 

well Pak being a march san jose car it may not have had the cutout hood and actually most of the ones i've documented have had the entire opening stamped out and don't have the pie-cut hood, though a few have had the pie-cut hoods. also i have documented quite a few 351-2v cars that apparently didn't seem to have either of the cutout hoods but instead had a regular flat hood with the scoop and pins.

 

Tom, does this car have disc brakes? does it also have the visibility group option? this included the park brake warning light underneath and between the ignition and wiper switches, underdash courtesy light, trunk light, glove box light, ignition switch light, ashtray light and map light....i see yours doesn't have the map light on the passenger dash insert but that could have been changed at any time.

 

i would either order the Marti report or the ford 999 report just to verify whether it is a true GT or not. if so congratulations on a very sweet find. even if it isn't a true GT still congrats on a pretty sweet deal