Somethingclever's operation 65 Mustang DD - built and bought

[somethingclever]

Well Ron as you can see in the picture above I didn't find the time to "restore" the bellhousing finish like I had wanted - it just got a wipe-down and that was it.


I bought a new Ford pilot bearing, Ford clutch fork pivot, Ford clutch fork, FRPP throwout bearing, and clutch fork cover from LMR or American muscle..whoever had stuff in stock.

Clutch is an organic job...basically like a "king cobra clutch kit"....so should be good for about how much power it will make but still slip well with minimal pedal effort. (main principle I was looking for was low pedal effort)

The factory repop engine mounts place the T5 trans shifter NEARLY perfect in the original automatic shifter hole. I retained the NOS shifter base which will be used with a Hurst stick. I like a Tri-ax or pro 5.0 in T5's but their larger base would have mean more trimming of the shifter hole opening and the stock job will have less NVH than the aftermarket piece so stock it is. i ended up trimming about 1/4" on the front of the shifter hole opening so the trans could be installed at the right height with a replacement rubber trans mount.

Those Ron Morris adjustable engine mounts would have saved a little time here but again...was concerned about the headers clearing those larger mounts.


With the 'heavy lifting' of this project basically completed, it was time to turn the car back over to me to finish it up.


My buddy was itching to start on his own car next in the lineup (can you believe his nerve..lol) which is a 65 galaxie z code manual trans fastback. He loves no-option full size Fords...he's weird like that.



With the trans in the car he bolted the front seats in and gave it a quick wipe down....he also got the 8.8 finished up and bolted in well enough for transport.



A few pictures of the car he sent me before I picked it up:

[07v6vistablue]

Looks great!

[somethingclever]

So this is pretty much up to date at this point.

Car still needs about 100 hrs of finishing touches I would expect:

1.) wring out all wiring
2.) cooling system
3.) rebuild rear axle
4.) Driveshaft
5.) Exhaust
6.) Finish fuel System
7.) Rear brake lines
8.) Bleed Brakes
9.) Misc Interior Details
10.) Figure out pulley situation/Alt brackets
11.) Whatever else I am forgetting


To get to this point, starting with a very clean California car....he logged approx 500hrs of labor on a nut and bolt restoration.

Paint materials and consumables alone were $2k for middle of the road PPG products....

Engine ended up about $7k

Trans/clutch..etc about $2k

Steering/Susp/Brakes $3.5k

Interior/Misc $3k

Wheels/Tires $1k

rear axle $1k

Misc exterior/fuel/hardware $3k

Exhaust $1k

Cooling/driveshaft $1k


That totals about $25k in parts not including car purchase or any labor. If I would have planned better I may not have gone down this path but instead bought a finished one for $25k.


Granted a professional shop probably would have saved some hours as compared to my buddy, but even if they did the job in 400 hrs @ 75?/hr that's another $30k in labor making this a $55k coupe. Yikes!

Luckily I paid friend rates which was super cheap by comparison.


Anyway got the car home and in the garage while it waits it's turn as I finish up a few other automotive projects ahead of it.


If it's ready for a road test by spring of 2022 I will be happy.

[2000GT]

It did turn out really nice though! Plus having the satisfaction of you putting a lot of the work into it makes it all the better! It looks great!

[Fast Gypsy]

Every project that I own, cost more and took more time than I wanted. Your happy with the result and that's what counts. Great looking car!

[Terminated]

I feel like the route USUALLY ends up being better to buy one already done, but the fun is seeing it all come together! Great job the car looks awesome.

[somethingclever]

It did turn out really nice though! Plus having the satisfaction of you putting a lot of the work into it makes it all the better! It looks great!

Thanks Shawn - can't wait to hear it start for the first time....

Every project that I own, cost more and took more time than I wanted. Your happy with the result and that's what counts. Great looking car!

I feel like the route USUALLY ends up being better to buy one already done, but the fun is seeing it all come together! Great job the car looks awesome.

Thanks guys - I am used to it at this point....just wanted to provide a little book-keeping details for anyone else considering a restoration. Have read lots of build threads over the years with little info about what it cost to get there....

Looking forward to spring time to get some shake-down miles on it.

Also going to add 2 more items to my to-do list:

1.) Rear backup lights
2.) Third brake light



I ended up picking up a couple other cars this summer which are getting put in front of this 64.5.


I did a light restoration on a 65 Mustang that needed a little love......original PNW car nearly rust free as well.

[somethingclever]

I ended up selling the 65 here recently.



Also picked up a 69 coupe - going to do a light cosmetic and mechanical restoration on it here this fall.

This is a pretty entertaining car....302 4spd toploader.

It has a comp thumper cam and bolt-ons...probably an honest 250hp but sounds like nascar.....