Exterior - Never Judge a Book by it's Cover
Yep, you guessed it. The thing that makes everyone stop and stare. Or at least turn their heads and wonder what in the world happened to that car. Hopefully, by the time I'm done it will be more of the "Wow, that's beautiful" than the latter. But only time will tell, and hopefully that time will be in the summer of 2011 (yah dreaming I know).
Old Exterior
Well original to the best of my taste. Here are a few pictures that showcase the beginning of my endevors. To say the least it was a pretty car to start with. I always enjoyed cranking her up and just going for a nice long ride. But with a 4-speed in the floor, a V-8 and four-barrel carb under the hood, those nice long rides were punctuated with more gas station stops than I can to detail on my credit card statement. Either way, I loved the look of the '66 coupe. The body lines were really nice, and with the side-pipes it really stood out from the pack.
Two Buckets Stripping
I tell you the funniest part about restorting a car is taking everything apart. If you are getting all new things, you really don't have to be gentle at all. And if you stick to the two bucket method, things go really fast. The two bucket method you may ask? Well it's simple, get you two large plastic buckets, and start taking things off. The first bucket is for bolts, and the second is for nuts. That's all you need. I'm a firm believer in replacing old crudded up bolts instead of trying to reuse them. I ordered up a bolt pack for my car dirt cheap, and I don't have to deal with mis-matching fastners and the like. Either way, click on the picture for more fun and excitement.
Media Blasting Reveals All
Well Robbie down at ASR had a really fun time with this old girl. He said it was one of the first mustang that wasn't given the title of "Rust-tang" I agree that it was a really solid body to start with. It's actually really neat once you remove all the bondo and undercoating just to see what everything looks like. Click on the picture for another rant.
The missing Torque Boxes
Here's the first metal work that has nothing to do with the drivetrain that I'm using. These torque boxes tie the outer rockers to the frame rails to stiffen up the chassis a bit more. Everything little bit helps at this point.
Wider Stance, and Wider Tires
Well one nice thing about a new performance suspension is that the mustang will handle like a go kart around corners. The bad thing, is getting the tires to fit and still look good. So after a few options, I decided to put on some fender flares to take advantage of the wider trackwidth. That and saving me from a custom wheel spacing nightmare.
Undercarriage Work
Ahh finally some real "color" on the car. Jeff and the crew definitely threw their backsides into knocking this portion out in about two weeks. The car looks simply amazing at this point. Finally a painted engine bay, undercoating, and wheelwells that actually fit my tires. Rydia definitely looks like a different girl at this point. Click on the picture and see some more lovely shots. BTW, I REALLY wished I had a rotissere at my house to do welding with. Maybe that will be my next welding adventure.
First Pass Painting
Well after a few months at the body shop I finally got my car back. We applied undercoating, painted the engine bay, painted the interior, and powdered coated the suspension. Now it's all downhill from here. Click on the picture for a more detailed rundown. And YES there is a teaser to what the body color is going to be in here.
Hood and Valance
Third time is the charm right? Well at least that is how many hoods it took till I had one that worked well on my car. "Worked Well" is really an understatement considering how good it really looks. Not just that but the amount of skill that went into that is just beyond belief. Needless to say I didn't weld this beast up, but I let the professionals at Barillaro Speed do it up right. Can you tell me where we got the styling cues from? If not, click on the pictures and find out.
