Getting Organized

As with any project, no matter how large or small, a certain amount of organization needs to take place.  So I've been thinking about how to approach bringing everyone up to speed on the Mustang, and yet keep updating with the progression of current work on the car.  Sprinkled in between may be some of life's little antidotes that apply.  

When my friend Glenn called to tell me that he knew where the car was and who the owner was, I asked him to set up a time to go see it.   The crazy thing about the location of the car was that it was only 4 miles from where I live!   What are the odds.   Glenn picked me up and we drove over to have a look.  None of us really knew what to expect.   The owner took us to an oversize garage behind his house.  When we walked in, here's what greeted us....

The current owner told us that he had the car for about 14 years.  He bought it from the owner who brought it up from Texas.   That guy owned it for 5 years.   Before he bought it, the car sat outside of a barn where it was parked after an accident which damaged the right front corner of the car.  The Texas plate on the car was last registered in 1973.   The current owner had done nothing to the car and was into building racing ATV's.  He also decided he wanted a Harley.   I cautiously asked what he wanted for the car, especially after noticing the "J" in the 5th digit of the VIN, indicating it was one with the rare 302 high performance V8.  He told me what he wanted and it was VERY reasonable, considering the condition and the market at the time.  We made the deal....and he was going to DELIVER it to my house too!   I went home and got a space ready for her in the garage.   This is what she looked like when she arrived at her new home...

The good news was that there was no frame damage to the car.  The bad news was that the damaged parts had been removed ages ago, and unfortunately, it left the engine exposed to the elements meaning that it's "frozen".   A rebuild is definitely required.   The paperwork was completed and within a couple of weeks, I had an Indiana title with the original VIN number.  I now was the proud owner of a 1968 Mustang fastback.

That's how the Mustang came into my possession.   The first order of business was to start the restoration process which included photo documenting the car and making a preliminary list of parts.  With eBay, the search was made much easier.  I also started a "baby book" that has many of the receipts.  I'll keep adding to this as the process continues.

But now for some of the work that's taken place--painfully slow however.  I decided to tackle the passenger side front floor.  (Both front floors are rusted due to the windows being left down while stored outside in Texas.)  After drilling out what seemed like hundreds of spot welds, the seat riser came out.  Then with the help of a sabre saw, the front floor was removed.  The new piece was "massaged" to fit and welded in place using plug welds to simulate/reproduce the factory spot welds.  The finished product looks good.   I still need to do the finish work on the underside of the car, but that will come when the Mustang is put on the rotisserie--hopefully later this spring or early summer.   Here's some pictures of the floor going in....

Well, that's enough for today, which is OK.  There's plenty more to come....