My mustang and I should be world records

[jerry S]

Me for being the dumbest dumbass in the history of dumbassery and my car for being the most irresponsible yet comprehensive rebuild in the history of mustangs.

EVERYTHING on my car has been replaced except for the following:

• hood
• trunk lid
• driver side quarter panel
• driver side wheel house
• driver side fender
• driver side frame rail
• rear window
• door windows
• fire wall
• radiator support
• inner fender assemblies and shock towers
• engine block
• lock cylinders
• glove box door
• front bumper
• rear spoiler
• radio and heater bezel
• steering wheel column

If you don't see it on the list, it was replaced.

I was going through a stack of invoices and bills and doing some adding and realized that for what I spent so far, I could have simply purchased a new GT500KR.

 

[D.Hearne]

It's called the "learning curve" I may not have spent as much money as you did, but I did swap probably as many parts in the 9 years I had my 67 fastback big block Stang.

 

[wicked93gs]

you might as well replace those too...then you can claim your car is all new(and 0% original) lol, man that sucks...I got lucky with this '66...$800 for the rolling chasis....I'll have roughly 10k in the car when I'm finished(at least thats the plan and it looks like I'll make it)

 

[Rusty67]

Jerry, I'm just glad you had the sack to stay with it. You had a really sweet car before and you made a dumb mistake but you were man enough to correct what happened instead of giving up and now you have a truely badass car. I was drooling over the thing when you posted pics last time. My 67 rust bucket will never hold a candle to yours. Good job bringing it back from the dead.

Look on the bright side, its way better of then it was.

 

[Tim65GT]

No record for you...

1.3 million $ Mustang

He has your $ amount beat by 1.3 million miles

 

[jerry S]

No record for you...

1.3 million $ Mustang

He has your $ amount beat by 1.3 million miles

yes but I think he meant to do that. My build was entirely by accident. It just kind of got out of hand. I almost feel like I went into a casino with a $5 bill intending to bet once on the wheel only coming out three days later having run up $50 large on my credit cards. At least I paid cash as I went along.

 

[66Runt]

Just my personal opinion, but the ONLY mistake I see, is where you spent a day adding up receipts.
Every other decision, has been an outstanding success, as evidenced by the beautiful car you have.
When building these things, the only reason to even hold on to a reciept, is so that when you finally decide to sell it, you can hand them over to the new owner, who can meticulously go over each and every receipt (like a total dweeb ).
Oh wait, actually there are two more reasons. One, when it get's really cold outside, they work great to start a fire with. And if you ever run out of toilet paper, they can get you out of a bind.
Sweet car, great build, years of enjoyment ahead.

edit************
I just thought of a third reason to keep receipts. The staple that holds the credit card receipt to the invoice can be used to short a blown fuse, with a little scotch tape... (I wonder if McGiver ever tried that one )

 

[Red5oh]

I was going through a stack of invoices and bills and doing some adding and realized that for what I spent so far, I could have simply purchased a new GT500KR.

But, it would still be ONLY a 2009 GT500KR that anyone could buy, not a 69. Enjoy your car and know you have not spent it in vain.

 

[zookeeper]

Just my personal opinion, but the ONLY mistake I see, is where you spent a day adding up receipts.
Every other decision, has been an outstanding success, as evidenced by the beautiful car you have.
When building these things, the only reason to even hold on to a reciept, is so that when you finally decide to sell it, you can hand them over to the new owner, who can meticulously go over each and every receipt (like a total dweeb ).
Oh wait, actually there are two more reasons. One, when it get's really cold outside, they work great to start a fire with. And if you ever run out of toilet paper, they can get you out of a bind.
Sweet car, great build, years of enjoyment ahead.

edit************
I just thought of a third reason to keep receipts. The staple that holds the credit card receipt to the invoice can be used to short a blown fuse, with a little scotch tape... (I wonder if McGiver ever tried that one )

Yeah you never want to do something like add up receipts, that'll only bring heartache and grief. Here's what I did: I promised my wife I'd only spend "x" amount of dollars on the project, total. The number is irrelevant, since I pulled it out of my ass, and it's just a random numer to pacify her. So then I save the receipts in case of a total and the insurance needs them, and I keep them in a location hidden better than the Batcave. With any luck, they'll never see the light of day again...

 

[bnickel]

the only parts original on my car on the basic shell itself, the lower dash and steering column, underdash and taillight wiring harnesses, the engine pulleys and brackets, the back window, taillights, oil pan, the FMX tranny, windshield wiper motor, hood and hood scoop and maybe a few other various little bits and pieces here and there, everything else and i mean EVERYTHING else has been replaced. here's a partial list:

both doors and all the glass except the back window
both fenders and headlight extensions
almost all of the chrome trim with the exception of the windshield moldings and drip rails
new bumpers
the original one year only GT gas cap
wheels and tires
every single piece and part of the suspension, brakes and steering except the spindles, rear drums power steering slave cylinder (rebuilt) and steering gear box
(rebuilt)
all of the engine and associated parts except the brackets and pulleys have been replaced
every single piece of the interior except the lower dash, steering column and rear seat frame has been replaced
new parking brake cables, brake hoses, master cylinder, power brake booster, rotors, calipers, wheel cylinders, rear brake hardware kits, pads, shoes, wheel bearings, rear gear center section and all bearings, shocks, coil and leaf springs, upper and lower control arms, all the bushings, all the tie-rods and adjusting sleeves, idler arm, roller spring perches, etc, etc, etc........
steering wheel
rear view mirrors including the inside one
dash pad
deluxe instrument panels except the i used the original standard gauges in the deluxe bezel
seat belts
carpet
front seats and all new upholstery
door panels
rear interior 1/4 panel trims
package tray

the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on............


so i know exactly how you feel my friend. my last estimate without digging through all of my receipts was about 35,000 smackers or so.......for a coupe no less

 

[washMO66]

Been there man, it just kind of sneaks up on you over a couple of years.....

Don't worry, it only hurts the first time. Whereas I am getting ready to do it again, this time better planned but probably equal or more money than the first time with less changes. (hopefully)

 

[4MuscleMachines]

Yes I too know the feeling. I've done it three times. Not a week goes by without me thinking I could've had a Ford GT, new Viper, money in the bank, and a SEG. For now I have the SEG and my cars. For some of us, it's a sickness.

 

[gp001]

The only thing that was not replaced on my 66 are:
Roof/Quater panels/Floor pan/Subframes/side and rear glass. Everything else was either replaced, rebuilt, or customized.

I even custom wired the entire car (including designing the schematic beforehand) and all of my add on electronics, custom, hand bent all of my brake and fuel lines, and even completely dis-assembled the rear quarter windows, had the frames re-chromed, and re-built them (it was tough finding the leathery "belt" like stuff that goes between the glass and the frame). The steering column was completely dis-assembled and had the individual pieces powder coated before I re-built it with all new parts.

It was a fun project, but like all projects - NEVER ADD THEM UP!!!!!

 

[jerry S]

Just my personal opinion, but the ONLY mistake I see, is where you spent a day adding up receipts.

Ordinarily I would agree but I am getting the car appraised for insurance purposes and I need to back up my claims that the car is worth a lot of money.

 

[jerry S]

I was flying back to the US last year and got the 3rd degree by Customs. They were as invasive as ever but without the sneering "command presence" and barking orders so it wasn't that bad. They went through my wallet and found 5 ATM cards from 4 different banks (3 accounts with 2 American banks and 2 accounts from 2 differnt Dutch banks). "Why do you need 4 different bank accounts"? they asked me. Without missing a blink I replied, "I am restoring a classic mustang over in the NL and my wife can never ever know the true amount of money I am spending on it. Some of these are my secret accounts that I am using to squirrel away money for the project." They looked at me and pronounced my explanation entirely believable and let me go on my way.

 

[68RCodeConv]

Here's what was not replaced on my 68 vert:

trunk floor
engine compartment (not including firewall)
instrument cluster (back half)
A couple of screws and brackets.

 

[Rusty67]

I was flying back to the US last year and got the 3rd degree by Customs. They were as invasive as ever but without the sneering "command presence" and barking orders so it wasn't that bad. They went through my wallet and found 5 ATM cards from 4 different banks (3 accounts with 2 American banks and 2 accounts from 2 differnt Dutch banks). "Why do you need 4 different bank accounts"? they asked me. Without missing a blink I replied, "I am restoring a classic mustang over in the NL and my wife can never ever know the true amount of money I am spending on it. Some of these are my secret accounts that I am using to squirrel away money for the project." They looked at me and pronounced my explanation entirely believable and let me go on my way.

Best story I've ever heard involving customs lol.

 

[shelby69]

Great write up. I have a 69 coupe that I spent a small fortune on. I am sure I dumped way more into the car than its worth. But, I don't plan on selling it so its all relative.

 

[Hack]

I was flying back to the US last year and got the 3rd degree by Customs. They were as invasive as ever but without the sneering "command presence" and barking orders so it wasn't that bad. They went through my wallet and found 5 ATM cards from 4 different banks (3 accounts with 2 American banks and 2 accounts from 2 differnt Dutch banks). "Why do you need 4 different bank accounts"? they asked me. Without missing a blink I replied, "I am restoring a classic mustang over in the NL and my wife can never ever know the true amount of money I am spending on it. Some of these are my secret accounts that I am using to squirrel away money for the project." They looked at me and pronounced my explanation entirely believable and let me go on my way.

That is priceless!

I agree with the others - probably if you want someone to tell you that you are a dumbass you will have to go to a different forum! I bought a coupe shell to replace almost the entire body on my convertible due to the rust monster. I'm still in the planning stages of my project, but I will probably end up essentially in the same boat as you.

 

[jerry S]

That is priceless!

I agree with the others - probably if you want someone to tell you that you are a dumbass you will have to go to a different forum!

Or just confess everything to my wife. That should get me the berating I seem to be looking for. I guess I could tell her one day based on something she once told me about it being easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission but I am thinking what she doesn't know can't hurt her. It is best she never knows. What I should have done was find some idiot who dumped 10 x $thousands into his car and then needed to sell it and offer him less than 1/2 what he had into it. That way, I could have a sweet ride and a new Perazzi or stainless steel Daytona to go along with it.