So, let's start at the beginning. When my oldest sister was approaching her 16th birthday, my father made a decision he later determined was a poor one, but none of his children agreed. Through one circumstance or another (I actually don't have much insight into the actual decision, I should ask him...) he decided to purchase and have restored a 1967 Mustang. I was about 12 at the time, but figured out what was going on over the course of that summer, and when it was given to her it was with the understanding that all 4 of us would drive it as our first car in our turns. That was fine, but everybody knew it was my car.
My grandfather and I took over the "restoration" while my sisters drove it in their turns, keeping it on the road and as safe as we could, there are many stories from those years that aren't really relevant. When I went away to college it was in the best shape it had been in our ownership, but a year with my brother did it no favors. In the end, the house needed a new air conditioner more than I needed to keep the car to correctly restore later, so it was sold. I determined, however, that I would replace it in due time.
Fast forward through 4 years of college leading to gainful employment, then 5 years of life happening and getting established financially, and I looked around and realized that A. they weren't getting any cheaper, and B. the family was soon to expand, so if this was ever going to happen now was the time. I set up some searches on eBay and eventually the right one came along.
A deal was done, and we set off on a road trip to trailer it home. Of note, the morning we left my wife and I got a positive pregnancy test; he's now 16.
At any rate, we enjoyed it as it was for a few years, alongside the car that my first Mustang had inspired me to reward myself with upon graduating from college...
It isn't a particularly special car beyond being a V8, it's an A code (2 barrel 289) automatic (C4) with 4 wheel drum brakes and that's about it. You can see under the hood that it was originally brown, and the yellow isn't a great paint job, but it was good enough for the money. After a while, I decided to upgrade to disc brakes on the front, and that's when I began to discover the meaning of those Nebraska tags on it. This thing is rusty.
It started when I removed the front suspension and saw light where I shouldn't have
The shock towers on both sides were fractured around the upper A arm mounts. As this was to be "her" car, that simply wouldn't do, so they had to be replaced. The engine came out and the front sheetmetal came off, and I set about trying to restore structural soundness...then I looked back underneath the car.
The floor pans had been "replaced" - they laid patch panels in over the holes, anyway.
And as you might expect, the more I dug the more I found. So the sheetmetal order got rather large. And then our younger son was born, as our older one got involved in things, and I decided that the car would be there when the kids weren't any more, and I should focus on them for the time being, so for 10 years the car sat basically untouched.
Fortunately, I have the shop so it is out of the weather, but it wasn't getting any better. There were a couple of Bronco restorations for friends, and lots of other projects have come and gone, but this one still sits. I think it's time.
My grandfather and I took over the "restoration" while my sisters drove it in their turns, keeping it on the road and as safe as we could, there are many stories from those years that aren't really relevant. When I went away to college it was in the best shape it had been in our ownership, but a year with my brother did it no favors. In the end, the house needed a new air conditioner more than I needed to keep the car to correctly restore later, so it was sold. I determined, however, that I would replace it in due time.
Fast forward through 4 years of college leading to gainful employment, then 5 years of life happening and getting established financially, and I looked around and realized that A. they weren't getting any cheaper, and B. the family was soon to expand, so if this was ever going to happen now was the time. I set up some searches on eBay and eventually the right one came along.
A deal was done, and we set off on a road trip to trailer it home. Of note, the morning we left my wife and I got a positive pregnancy test; he's now 16.
At any rate, we enjoyed it as it was for a few years, alongside the car that my first Mustang had inspired me to reward myself with upon graduating from college...
It isn't a particularly special car beyond being a V8, it's an A code (2 barrel 289) automatic (C4) with 4 wheel drum brakes and that's about it. You can see under the hood that it was originally brown, and the yellow isn't a great paint job, but it was good enough for the money. After a while, I decided to upgrade to disc brakes on the front, and that's when I began to discover the meaning of those Nebraska tags on it. This thing is rusty.
It started when I removed the front suspension and saw light where I shouldn't have
The shock towers on both sides were fractured around the upper A arm mounts. As this was to be "her" car, that simply wouldn't do, so they had to be replaced. The engine came out and the front sheetmetal came off, and I set about trying to restore structural soundness...then I looked back underneath the car.
The floor pans had been "replaced" - they laid patch panels in over the holes, anyway.
And as you might expect, the more I dug the more I found. So the sheetmetal order got rather large. And then our younger son was born, as our older one got involved in things, and I decided that the car would be there when the kids weren't any more, and I should focus on them for the time being, so for 10 years the car sat basically untouched.
Fortunately, I have the shop so it is out of the weather, but it wasn't getting any better. There were a couple of Bronco restorations for friends, and lots of other projects have come and gone, but this one still sits. I think it's time.
