What is this in the passenger dash pod?

[Route666]

WTF is it?


Also, I'm be seriously looking into buying this car http://www.justmustangs.com.au/forsale/ - #145, the brown and grey 69 with the mexican rake. What questions should be asked about it? I actually wouldn't be able to see the car before I bought it, see it's an importer in another state, but being an importer of classic Mustangs he wouldn't stay in business very long selling pieces of absolute crap, so what he says is probably trustworthy.

I have come up with these notes:

Why is it two-tone? Bodgy rust repair?

Is there any rust?
Floorpans, heater box, in cowl, bottoms of doors, fenders and quarters?
Around front and rear glass? Any leaks around there?

What doesn't work on it? - Electrical and mechanical.
Wipers - gauges - electric cooling fan?

What is wrong with the front suspension? (needs work according to ad)

How is the clutch conversion?
Is it to stock mechanism?
Is it a decent conversion? (if not stock)
What about wear in the clutch and brake pedals, and the hanger bushing?

Is it missing anything?
Are any of the trims / bumpers damaged - dinted or chrome flaking, rust?

What is in the middle of the passenger dash pod?

What are the white marks on the right quarter and left rear corner?
They look like bird **** or chips.

Any leaks?
Engine - radiator - gearbox - diff?

Do windows work nicely or are they worn?

Any chips or cracks in the glass?

Passenger door and fender look like they are dinted or warped in one of the pictures,
are they? Extent?


Cheers guys.

 

[bnickel]

well, that's where the clock or clock delete plate went. someone went wild with switches apparently. the one the middle looks more like a glass cutter to me than anything else. personally, i would spend a little more and get the red H code a little further down the page, my guess from looking at that one car is you'll end up saving money buying the red h code as opposed to the first one.

 

[Max Power]

Lord, he is asking 20 grand for project cars.

You can do much better on eBay.

 

[MustangMatt1966]

are those seriously the prices these people are asking????thats insane, there is no way i would pay 18,500 or 16,900 for the car below that. There are so many better deals out there....just my opinion

 

[reenmachine]

are those seriously the prices these people are asking????thats insane, there is no way i would pay 18,500 or 16,900 for the car below that. There are so many better deals out there....just my opinion

I think those are Australian dollars, guys. Plus, it ain't cheap to float a car halfway around the world.

 

[6r09k******]

Yes, the prices are in Australian dollars and the cost of shipping a car over from the states to here is approximately $3000 AUD. You can buy a real cheap 65/66/67 coupe for around $8000 AUD, but you get what you pay for...lots of rust and then the time and extra $$$ to get it up to standard

 

[Route666]

Yep AUDs peoples but I'll forgive ya for missing that. Import "duty" is added onto the cost of buying the car and shipping it too, so 20k is pretty decent for an average 69. Average meaning run-down but no rust.

Bnickel I was thinking the red thing was a glass cutter too. I don't know if I want the more expensive mach, not only do I plan on "restomodding" the bum out of it, that one has been on the site for a while, a few 69s have come and gone since that one went up, so it makes me think there might be something wrong with it. The ad for the mach also says it has a noise in the rear end - could be axle bearing but most likely carrier bearing - yikes. Also red mach has rust from heater leak. ALSO is auto, I want manual, and finding clutch bits etc for that is hard and expensive. Also has a T-5, and with my 40km (mostly highway) trip to work every day, I might actually be able to drive it once a week and not break the bank.

Bnickel what makes you favour the red mach over the mexican one?

 

[limey66]

I think the 'red thing' is a battery isolator:

http://www.nfauto.co.uk/battery_switch.htm

with the red key bit left in place...?

 

[bnickel]

the red car looks like it is mostly original so it would be easier to find and fix any rust probs, the other car looks like you'd be asking for problems, since there isn't much telling what all has been done to it. just an opinion, but i laways prefer to pick the car would be less problematic. again just my opinion

 

[krash kendall]

Are you sure thats not a big red wire coming out of the middle of that with the end frayed and a knot tied in it to keep it from falling through the dash with the other wires hanging all over the place?

 

[Max Power]

I think those are Australian dollars, guys. Plus, it ain't cheap to float a car halfway around the world.

Aaaaah...my bad.

What is the exchange rate these days?

I know Australia used to have some brutal import taxes and you could only get complete cars from certain dealers, so exporters here were cheating and cutting cars in half and sending them as parts.

Do you still have to convert to right hand drive down there?

 

[Route666]

The exchange rate is aroung 1.30AUD to 1USD, not too bad in the last couple of years.

There is no requirement to convert to RHD in my state, as long as the car is 30+ years old. There are seatbelt and lighting requirements though, 3-point retractables and amber indication lights USUALLY. This is per "engineer" discretion, most usually say to convert backup lights to both indicating and reverse in amber, but some understand the blinking brake light and say it is ok. I don't mind those things, I can use amber bulbs and keep the clear lenses, so it still looks stock, except when lights are being used, and I want 3-point retractables anyway, they're better than lap sashes.

Although on the seatbelt requirement, I have a copy of our vehicle design rules, and they clearly state that it only applies to vehicles built after January 1 1969. Hence I could get a 68 built car, like the raked 69 and legally be exempt, but it's a non-issue anyway since I want them.

bnickel thanks for your input, I hadn't thought about the more original the more likely it's all built properly and works, my mindset was that the more original, the older, more worn out and likely to break everything is.

 

[Route666]

You know the more I look at that passenger dash thing the more I see the battery isolator key.

Also, from that and the wires everywhere, I would say the electrics might be a bit hazardous, owner installed the battery isolator so the electrics didn't drain the battery.

That could mean there are shorts, or at least something is broke with the charging system.

 

[ozstang65]

Howdy, long time no speak. (been busy with other things). My father and I landed a '65 and a '66 in December '99 (still not on the road ), bought from a father and son in Yakima. I got the T-code '65 and dad, the C-code '66. They cost about 5K each to transport (plus a mountain of paperwork), we paid $US 1650 for the '65 and $2300 for the '66

From my experience, there's not much of the original car left! The ENTIRE running gear has been replaced. It's just the sheetmetal and glass that's left. So, if like me, you are going the restomod route (retrotech locally speaking...) don't be afraid to buy a grocery-getter 6 banger. Chances are they're a lot straighter than a flogged V8. My body rust repairs were limited to a lower right rear 1/4, frames around the fuel tank, a spot on the lower left rear 1/4 and a bit where the firewall and the floor meet. All the other bodywork/mods which has kept me busy has been of my own doing. (sometimes I wish I had taken the 'easy' option...)

Dad's keeping his pretty original. The front suspension keeps the upper and lower arms (with added camber pins). The steering box is from an XY GT (I think) with a fabbed drag-link. There is someone locally getting 1-piece draglinks made thesedays also. Spindles and disk brakes are XA or B, brake booster from a Celica and master cylinder from a, ahem, Holden (methinks )

If you want a RHD conversion done I can put you onto a local guy that does quality work. More expensive than some, but worth it in the long run.

Have a look in the trading post or Unique cars, you might find something there and avoid the dealers $$. Last year on a trip up north dad found an original 351C '70 mach which was going for about $13K and needed a coat of paint. Too many other toys so he wasn't allowed to take it home.... but it shows that they are out there. A neighbour of ours picked up a '66 GT convertible with boxloads of new parts for $25K. I also remember seeing a '66 coupe at the Toowoomba swap meet a few years ago. It was pretty rough, but they only wanted $6K for it.

I suppose it comes down to how much work you want to do on it and how many $$ you are willing to part with.

 

[Route666]

Ideally I would like a 6 cylinder fastback with manual drum brakes, manual steering, and a manual gearbox. All I'm after really is a good body, a clutch pedal, and drum spindles, although they're not all that necessary. Basically everything else I want to replace. Factory AC would be nice so when I put in a kit it have stock vents for it.

I've been looking in unique cars, last time I only saw two 69s, one was a coupe, the other was about 80 grand, for a nice Mach 1.


I noticed on that raked 69 I started the thread about that one side of the export brace is bent...