How to plan a resto project

It would depend on the condition of the Mustang you acquire. I would focus on safety first - entire suspension, braking, wheels/tires and steering systems. Then relibility second, such as the drivetrain (engine, trans & rear end) and the electrical system. Lastly, appearance like body and interior work which would be the last part IMO.

one half the purchase price multiplied by the amount of feet it takes to make the car look good squared.

so P/2*D`2





buy the best car you can afford then work from there. Or find someones half finished project.
both ways will save you allot of money and headaches.

First the big question is: will it be your only car, or can you have it down for an extended period? To me an extended period can be anywhere from 6 months to a year or more. If it's your only car, you're kind of limited to weekend restoration projects so that you can have the car running by Monday for work. This means you can't do a quality paint job, replace floor pans, rebuild the engine or any other involved project unless you want to thrash all weekend, then the quality of the job will suffer and you will certainly not enjoy the restoration. If you have another car as driver, then things change for the better by a bunch. Here's the approach I'm taking and the reasons for doing them in this order: I believe that a quality project must start with paint and bodywork. There are at least two good reasons for this thinking, first is the fact that no matter how hard you try, sanding dust and overspray get everywhere. Do you really want to do the interior first, only to have your new seats covered in dust that you can't seem to ever get out? Or detail the engine and find that there is overspray all over the chrome you spent three months waiting for? Overspray aside, the only sure-fire way of really knowing your car's history and assessing it's potential is to strip it to bare metal and see what's underneath. Nobody wants to blow $10,000 on engine, suspension and interior parts only to discover that the body of the car they've been pouring money into needs more work than the Titanic. That super straight car you thought you bought could have tons of filler hiding all kinds of evils that would render the car worthless, and all your work would have been for nothing. That being said, here's the order of progression I'm using.
Body and paint first. This will insure that the body is right and is a perfect time to replace weather stripping and door/trunk seals.
Interior next. This makes sense because to replace the headliner the windows need to come out, which they already are for paint. Plus since the doors and windows are off, access to the interior is much easier.
Suspension after that. It's very likely that the suspension is covered in overspray and well worn at best. So now is a good time to remove the rear axle, paint it, rebuild or replace the brakes and any leaky seals and gaskets. Then swap in some new springs and shocks and the rear is done. Same for the front suspension. With all the suspension out of the way, it's also a prime time to mask off your new paint and scrape, sand, wire brush and scrub the floor pans clean and either undercoat or paint with a rust-resistant paint. The engine and trans should be last, and should be done with the final use of the car in mind. If it's going to be a frequent driver, stick with a mild cam, smallish carb and quiet exhaust. Less frequent street use means you could get by with more serious engine stuff, but whatever you choose, plan carefully and spend your money wisely. One of the guys I work with did things completely backwards with his '67 coupe and is paying the price. He originally wanted a serious street/strip car and had a killer 351C built for it. Then he bought a roll bar, glass hood, drag radials, stiff clutch, racing only shifter, 3 inch exhaust, loud flowmasters, etc. Then he got married and his wife helped finance the paint and bodywork. He found the car had been rear-ended HARD in the past (he's owned the car since '79) and the rear was loaded with filler nearly 3/4 inch thick in places. This required nearly $17,000 worth of work at the body shop, and when he picked it up, he decided the new paint was far too nice to take to the strip, so the 'glass hood, roll bar, strip tires and some other stuff got shelved, and another set of wheels and tires got installed. The killer motor stayed as did the stiff suspension, detroit locker rear, vertical gate shifter and loud exhaust. He then piled on a bunch of NOS trim pieces and now has a $40,000 dollar car (that's what he has in it) that he couldn't sell for half that and that's too radical to drive on the street. Plus, with all the original trim parts it looks like a restored car, yet it's so stiffly sprung, his wife and kids don't like riding in it. Planning ahead and evaluating what he honestly wanted to do with the car would have resulted in a better car.

Zookeeper, you have made a good point about checking the body integrity first. That would be fine about doing the body work first as long as it's up on the block until the safety issues are dealt with before being driven. You wouldn't want to drive with nicely done body & new paint and only to discover the brakes & steering aren't up to the par and risking of causing an accident/wreck!

The only peice of advice I have is this. When you go out looking for a car to buy bring a very pessimistic friend that has a large screw driver and isnt affraid to poke.

They will save you alot of headaches when they find out that they can punch that screw driver through a 4 inch area behind each window. Preferably before you buy it.

But really, if they arent physicaly poking the car with a screw driver (which the current owner wouldnt like) Another set of eyes is always a good thing. They may see some rust bubbles or something you didnt.

67coupe351w said:

The only peice of advice I have is this. When you go out looking for a car to buy bring a very pessimistic friend that has a large screw driver and isnt affraid to poke.

They will save you alot of headaches when they find out that they can punch that screw driver through a 4 inch area behind each window. Preferably before you buy it.

But really, if they arent physicaly poking the car with a screw driver (which the current owner wouldnt like) Another set of eyes is always a good thing. They may see some rust bubbles or something you didnt.

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a small pocket magnet also worked wonders for finding out the true condition of the fender lips, rear quarters, and door corners

how I did mine

First thing to do is determine your budget. Then identify your needs and rank order them in terms of priority. Identify what you NEED, what you "need," and what you'd like to have. Make your wish list and price it out installed. ARe you in the ball park? Even if yes, whatever you think you will spend, count on spending more.


I will try to give you the benefit of my experience, which includes a complete mechanical rebuilt. Your milage may vary.

I bought my car last year and have been waiting on it for the last 7 months while it gets rebuilt. You can reliably purchase out of state without seeing the car if you send the right inspector to look at it and give you a report. I purchased my pony from overseas. One thing I can say is to stay away from automobileinspections.com. They suck in the pejorative and rip you off at $300 per inspection. I was looking at cars in OH, GA, TX, and PA. Automobileinspections.com inspected my car in OH and based on what I heard, I was prepared to buy. But they did not give me the 48 hr. turn around we agreed on because they sent the report to the wrong email address and the car was sold in the mean time. What I did for each state was go to Yellow Pages.com and find mechanics. I called, asked what kind of work they did, whether they had any business relationship with the XYZ company, and told them what I was looking for. The mechanics in TX and GA talked me out of buying each car after they looked at it. These guys were straight shooters. The mechanic in PA told me what I wanted to hear and for all of $68. Once I determined that the frame was straight and that there was no rust, I was in business. I gave the seller his $13,500 and went from there.

I knew I wanted a new suspension first and the engine later for two reasons. First, I felt the suspension would be too hard to do here in Europe with shipping, duty, taxes, installation, VAT, etc, and that it would be easier to just do the engine here as ford does have a big following in the UK. Then there is the fact that this engine had been rebuilt within the last 2 years. I had already been in a car that had a monster engine but no suspension to handle it and knew that I wanted none of that. I wanted TCP front and rear coil overs but they were just too expensive. Since I won't be racing, I felt that a Griggs set up would be overkill so I opted to split the difference for a GlobalWest.Net stage 5 kit with L11 Cat. 5 rear leafs, new upper and lower control arms with a negative wedge kit, vintage wheel works "vintage 45's, and their wilwood 12 inch disk brakes. I knew I wanted good handling so I did get a TCP manual rack. And while I was at it, I got a new exhaust as well. At this point, I was in for $6500 for the suspension, brakes, and wheels, and welded jacking rails/sub frames, $1200 for the rack and pinion (mustang depot in NV), and $650 for the exhaust (would you believe $750 for powder coated long tube headers, new stainless steel x pipe, and new flowmasters installed?). Then I figured what the hell and did the engine. It was pulled, hot tanked, and is being redone as I write this. You can see from my signature what I had done and what I am having done, which is everything (new pistons, rods, plugs, wires, seals, timing chain, heads, carb, you name it) There are other cosmetic touches as well. TCP motor mounts and pedal covers, a Grant 1170 wood steering wheel, etc. I shopped around for the parts and the mechanic. Aside from the car, everything I bought and had installed cost me $16,500, so I am up to $30 large for the whole thing. I had figured $24 tops but the engine rebuild put me over the top. I am satisfied with what I got and what I paid for it all. My car will be practically new and I am convinced that had I effected similar upgrades on my Sebring in terms of repairs at a Chrysler dealer, I would have spent much, much more than just $16,500.

Jerry brings up another very good issue, and that is cost. Too often, people get all wound up in just building the car of their dreams and forget to see what it may cost ahead of time. You don't shop for a new car without knowing what it costs do you? The do-it-yourself route is indeed a double-edged sword. On one hand you can pay as you go, wheels this month, seat covers next month, an engine rebuild after that, and it doesn't seem too expensive little by little. But then you get to the end of the project and find out you could have bought a finished car for much less and on top of that, your car isn't worth what you owe on the credit card you paid for it with! You may want to take the time to order some catalogs and window shop for not only your project online at such places as www.collectorcartrader.com but also figure out what all the parts that you'll need cost. Don't forget to add some money to the total for a "fudge factor", and you may surprised to find out that you could buy a nice finished car cheaper. I promised my wife at the start of my fastback project that I wouldn't spend more on the car than it would be worth finished, and thankfully fastback prices have soared so I'm still safe there. But it's still cost nearly twice what I originally figured as well as taken much longer than I'd hoped.

I'm at the same point as Tim. I want to do a restore but I'm trying to get a clear picture of what I'm in for.

I would like to build a 64-69 coupe as a daily driver. I want disc brakes, basic 289, a T5 and some nice seats. I told this to a local shop and they said I would cost about $7500 including a nice but not great paint job. From what I've learned they are really low in this estimate. What do you think? Is this too low? What would you budget for a project like this?

Thank you for your time. RS

low cost resto

R31x:

your quote is indeed possible, especially if you are using basic parts and not exotic, race-ready components. You can save a lot of money using second time around parts. It all depends on what you want your car to do.

don't forget about tools. the right tool for the right job makes a difference.

I just started my project 65 fastback and having a good budget really helps. I have wanted to build this car for several years and finally have the chance. I started by making a detailed plan of my own expectations of the project. I also bought a couple of resto books to learn the jargon associated with mustangs. There is nothing like trying to ask questions and not being able to describe parts properly. I also spent a lot of time on the web reading the experiences of others. This really saved me a lot of time. I knew exactly how to search for a project by reading some of the budget articles in mustang monthly... I bought a car with good body, go floor pans. The engine and 4spd needed rebuilding but I knew from the beginning I wanted to upgrade my engine and tranny... I think having a good detailed plan and leaving room for changes will really make a project come together well.

347Fastback,
Can I ask what is your budget and plans for the car? Is it going to be a driver, show car or race car?

Here is my total cost spreadsheet
http://www.dodgestang.com/death trap.xls

This will give you an idea of how much you can spend on a restoration and performance build-up for a mustang....SSBC disc brakes, 9 inch rear, stroker motor, transmission, suspension, etc...

Basically this cost sheet covers a complete redo of the Drivetrain and suspension of a mustang. I had to do no bodywork on my mustang aside from getting a new hood and painting it which total cost on that was under $500.

Cool spreadsheet! You don't let your wife see this?

Sudz said:

Grrrr....i can't get that link to work...any chance you'd be willing to email that spread sheet?

Thanks,
T

Click to expand...

I sent you an email. I also recommend removing your email address before a spider picks it up and adds it to a spam list somewhere.....