Have you ever done a full-scale restoration and found you weren't happy with the result? A full confession...
Eventually, you will read about this in Mustang Monthly. For right now, you get to read the brief teaser blog about it here. I own what's probably the longest running Mustang project in history - 25 years. Long running for reasons I won't get into here, but will eventually in your Mustang Monthly Magazine.
When I tore my Nightmist Blue '67 Mustang apart in July of 1985 in a steamy hot Central Florida garage, I never dreamed it would be two decades before I'd drive it again. Dreams are like that. We hang onto them tight until they manage to elude us. I'm like that. Lots of dreams - so little time to chase them because my hobby also happens to be my profession.
I've hung onto my '67 Mustang for a long, long time in all its various states. My father bought it for my mother as a second car in 1974 for $400 from the original owner who lived in Tacoma Park, Maryland. My mother drove the car for two years, fetching groceries, running errands, going to the doctor, and a host of other purposes before turning it over to me late in 1976. When I totaled my '67 Mustang hardtop in a rainstorm in 1976, she handed me the keys and title to her '67 hardtop without any thought. She just did it. And - I've never forgotten her extraordinary kindness when she needed a car as much as I did.
The decision to restore her Mustang a quarter-century ago was intended as a tribute to a terrific parent and mentor who was a pillar of support for me in some of the toughest times I can remember. Her name was Lillian Smart, daughter of White House policeman Lt. Paul W. Proctor who served under President Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression and World War II. My grandfather, who has been gone 44 years, was like my mother, a pillar of support in the toughest of times. I can still hear his gentle chuckle and feel what it was like when he bounced me on his knee.
Mom was the only person I could call at 3 a.m. when I was losing my mind and needed a reassuring voice. She'd earned my love and respect. I stripped her Mustang down to the bare shell, had it chemically dipped and stripped down to bare steel, and planned an extensive restoration. The goal then was to restore it to factory original condition as a bread and butter C-code 289-2V hardtop, then, drive it to Maryland to take my folks for a spin.
It's a good thing we can't see the future because it would probably scare the daylights out of most of us. When I tore this car apart, I couldn't know what lay ahead for me. I'd lose my job. I'd be getting a divorce. And - I'd be moving more than a thousand miles away to St. Louis to join a doomed Mustang parts business partnership. Most people would have given up on the '67 Mustang project and cut their losses. Not me. My '67 Mustang has traveled thousands of miles in pieces through the years. It has survived two divorces and a bunch of moves both locally and nationally. Suffice it to say - it's a keeper.
When I moved out to Los Angeles in 1994 to join Petersen Publishing Company (now Source Interlink Media), work began on Mom's '67 in earnest. Julio Mayen of JME Enterprises donated his precious time prepping and painting the body with PPG basecoat/clearcoat, then, color sanding and rubbing the car out to its current luster. He did an incredible job and asked for nothing in return.
The car is completed and running, thank goodness. However, I'm unhappy with the hurried craftsmanship, nicks in the paint, sloppy assembly technique, and poor choices along the way. Wishing I'd followed Donald Farr's lead with his Signalflare Red GT hardtop and restored my '67 hardtop to stock condition. Instead, a warmed up roller cam 289, four-wheel disc brakes, American Torq-Thrust wheels, dual exhausts, and a host of other mods.
So what to do? Disassemble the car and start over with a fresh approach and proper planning - something we teach our readers month in and month out, but don't always practice ourselves.
Just installed a Borgeson power steering gear to improve the steering system. Purely selfish because I was tired of drips all over the garage floor from that wonderful Bendix system Ford originally used. A Sanden air conditioning compressor for improved efficiency instead of the heavier York or Tecumseh unit. The roller cam 289 suffers from a leaking head gasket, drippy oil pan gasket, and improper valve timing and must be removed to make corrections.
Mom would have been thrilled with her Mustang. Sadly, she passed away in 2008 from natural causes after a long battle with dementia. She was 84.
If you've been working on your Mustang restoration for a long period of time and feel like you will never get it done, take heart. You have company. All you need is a plan for completion. Don't put it off any longer. Share your Mustang hard luck stories with us at Jim.Smart@sorc.com. If you'd like to tell your story, we will blog it here in our website.