New to the site. Introducing my 69 project.

[Bruno 11]

Hey all, I've been checking out the site for a while and finally decided to join in on the fun. I picked up my 69 sportsroof a couple months ago and have been slowing taking it apart for restoration. The body seems to be in pretty good shape but there's no telling what I will find when it goes to media blast. The interior is OK, the seats and headliner are in pretty good shape but the dash, carpet, center console and some other interior trim pieces will need to be replaced. It had a 302 and a 4 speed in it when I bought it. I plan on going with a 351 or 408 (that decision is still a long way away from being made) and a 5 speed. Other than that, it will be mostly original style. Anyway, enough rambling. I tried to attach a few pics but it only allowed one. I do have some in the photo album on my profile including a few of the new dash that I got today. It seems to be pretty good quality.

[Mike65 475]

Welcome.

[Bruno 11]

I may have figured out how to load the pics. Here goes nothing...

[Bruno 11]

A few of the new dash

[Bruno 11]

And a few of the old dash

[69NC 21]

A few of the new dash

 

That's a good Dash, I bet you gave a few "Bucks" for it :laugh:

 

Seriously Those are great deer.

 

Welcome to the Mustang club.

[jandj1970 13]

Nice car mate.

[stangme428 33]

nice ride... gonna be a fun build!:biggrin:

[Bruno 11]

Thanks guys. Engine, transmission and exhaust are out. Took the heads off the engine and found some pretty bad pistons. I bought the car with the knowledge that the engine needed a rebuild but I honestly wasn't expecting the pistons to look like this. Funny thing is, the cylinder walls don't look that bad. No pitting or scaring. One piston had a broken skirt but the rest were intact. Here's a few pics.

[70mstang 11]

Welcome! Nice looking Mustang :) What are your plans for it? Driver, show car, G-machine?

[Bruno 11]

Thanks. My plan right now is doing a resto mod style. I would like to add some stuff to make it drive nice (power steering, AC, etc) but keep the look of an original. I am not opposed to a pro touring car, I just haven't seen a lot that I like more than an original. First order of business is media blast. I am nervous to find out what is lurking beneath that paint. I am going to assume that quarters need replacing and hope to be surprised that good body work had been done in the past (yeah, right...).

[rwcstang 201]

very nice project you have there!

[Bruno 11]

Ok, so nothing new to the car since I first posted. I have been involved in purchasing a new home and working OT. Just waiting to close on the new house before the real tear down begins. Here is a brief glimpse into the conversation between my realtor and I...

 

realtor: "so, what are you looking for in a new house?"

 

me: "I want a 3 car garage"

 

realtor: "OK, what else?"

 

me: "ummm, a 3 car garage"

 

realtor: "I got that, what else?"

 

me: "that's it, all I WANT is a 3 car garage in a good neighborhood. I don't care about anything else"

 

 

Needless to say, I got what I asked for and now I'm going to have a lot more room for the project. :punk:

[rwcstang 201]

what wheels are you going with?

[Bruno 11]

That's a good question. If I decide to go full pro touring, I am leaning toward the American Racing Daytona wheels. Black with black lip. If I go with a resto mod, I will probably go for an original look with the magnums and white letter tires. I have only seen pictures of the Daytona wheels so I need to see them in person. I have also read about quality issues with the magnum wheels on the market, any thoughts or experience with this?

[jwscarab 20]

Nice ride! You will enjoy the project! Hopefully it is very solid - being a CA car, maybe all is well! Enjoy and Welcome!!

[RPM 1,190]

Welcome to the site Bruno! Northern California? That's a pretty big chunk of land, can you narrow it down?

After you tear down the 69, you'll wish you asked the realtor to find a 4 car garage!!! Good luck on your build.

 

Bob

[69RavenConv 286]

Good looking car, welcome to the site.

[Bruno 11]

Time to get back to work. Since my last post, I have bought a home (3 car garage is awesome for tons of work space), gotten engaged (the reason I haven't had money for the ride) and am in the process of planning a wedding. Now that I have space, I have started the tear down so that it can go to media blast. Here are some pics of the interior and floor boards/inside quarter panels. I'm going slow and bagging and tagging everything.

[Bruno 11]

Now to find out what lurks beneath the seats and carpet...

[Bruno 11]

the front didn't look too bad. The rear, on the other hand, has some issues to deal with but they don't look too bad. I'm sure media blasting with uncover a lot more.

[Bruno 11]

Removed the rear fold down seat and found a little bit of the original Winter Blue paint that was still in good shape. Also took out the seat belts which appear to be original. According to what I could find, they appear to have been made in Feb, 1968.

[Bruno 11]

Ok, so I've got all of the wiring harness to the rear of the car disconnected and labeled. I've taken out the new dash and stored it so now I'm going to work on the front of the car. I decided to take some photos of the dash behind the gauges for reference if anyone needs a pic (just for disclosure, I don't know if this has ever been messed with or if it's factory installed and left alone). To remove the speedometer cable, push down on the flat tab and push and pull. It just slides right out. The wiring harness is on the right side of the gauge cluster and is a simple "squeeze tabs and pull". There's a little rust near the left corner of the windshield that I'll take care of once the windshield is removed (glass is last to come out because I don't want to store it then have something happen to it). I'm keeping the wiring harness intact and labeled so that my new wiring harness (American Auto Wire) can mimic it, I think it's original because it looks to be the original wire wrap but I'm not 100% sure.

[Bruno 11]

For the past couple months I've been tearing the car down in preparation for media blast. I have also been purchasing some stuff along the way. I recently bought a Global West export brace and the first one that was sent to me had chips in the powdercoat. I sent that one back and just got the replacement. Now the replacement looks like there was a bunch of welding slag left on before powdercoat and there's a bunch of bumps imbedded in the coating. I'm headed to Hot August Nights this weekend and can stop by Summit to exchange this for the third time. My question is, am I just unlucky or is this the type of quality I can expect from Global West? I will just return it and look into the Maier Racing brace. Any experiences that can be shared is greatly appreciated.

[jnet4jt 10]

Good to hear your project is moving along. As far as Global West goes, I have their front coil over kit and all the powder coating is excellent. I hope I'm not the fluke. Everything seems stout and has a good finish (other than what I accidentally scuffed up).