Advice on my Notch Project

[tylerdred]

So I bought a pretty nice '89 Mustang notch back in '06. Here is what she looked like the day I got her:

So, I took her to a shop to get restored. The guy ended up getting evicted, and he pretty much abandoned my car. The landlord said that if I didn't happen to show up that day, it was going to the junkyard! I found her like this :

interior:

My T-5 transmission and rear bumper were missing. The motor was pulled out of the car. The landlord stuffed the motor back into the bay without bolting it to the motor mounts. I know that I am probably missing a whole bunch of random parts and bolts here and there.

My plan is to get some friends together this winter break and get this car at least drivable again. I am a novice when it comes to wrenching, but I can learn quickly. I just wanted to get everyone's opinion on this project. Is it a fairly straightforward process? I need to bolt in a tranny and install the motor. I also need to do some body work: hanging the doors, trunk, hood, and bumper; installing the rear glass; and reassembling some pieces of the interior. Any tips or advice?

 

[bentley429]

Man thats terrible, personally I'd go looking for the guy. Anyways, its pretty straight forward, expect there to be some snags here and there but its not bad. Hopefully your not missing to many things. Do your friends have foxes? A lot of times friend of mine have parts I am missing or I'll have stuff they need so that always helps out. As for the body work, I have no idea never tried to do any type of body work besides sanding down a few panels and my engine bay. Good luck, you should make a progress thread.

 

[FrankenStang]

Find, cuss out, torture, repeat.

Oh, I'd be pissed.

 

[riceslayer302]

wow thats horrible. ide be pretty upset. if you still can, get in that shop and grab anything from a fox that you can get your hands on.

make a progress thread and ask questions, everyone here will help you to the best of their abilities. good luck man, not a bad project just a little bit of sorting out to do.

 

[1991notchbackLX]

wow man, that's the worst... they really did a number on that thing... well after you find the guy and your knucles heal from beating him to within an inch of his life, i'd go out and get a Chilton's or Haynes manual and start from there... if you're just returning it to stock those books have a lot of good OEM info

best of luck man! i'd also get acquainted with this forum, people on here can be a great resource for help and even parts in the classifieds

Chris

 

[tylerdred]

You guys have given me a lot of good ideas here.

I just want to return this thing to stock, drivable condition again. How long of a project does it sound like. Any special tools? I already got myself a Chilton's. This is going to be a LONG winter break...

 

[1991notchbackLX]

from the pics it looks like you'll need to hang the doors and rear bumper, front fenders, clean the interior, you can snag a T5 trans for really cheap probably 4-700 bucks, it looks like you need a radiator and clutch fan, but the shroud is in the car so at least you have that, headlights and taillights, upper manifold, EFI stuff (MAF, air box, throttle body, etc.)...

i have an upper manifold, stock injectors, and all the stock EFI stuff if you need it, it looks like the majority of that stuff might be gone... PM me if you do i'll hook you up

Chris

 

[5.0Droptop]

Its going to take more than winter break to fix that mess.

 

[Beasty306GT]

thats a big mess to put back together after someones mess....good luck..theres prob a few pieces missing

 

[stykthyn]

if you have the money and ambition I think you could have that knocked out over winter break and have it ready for the spring. lots of knowledgeable people in here that will be happy to help you out.