Not another Mustang restoration thread.

I have started work on my 70 Mustang. I have seen Pete's signature "keep it original" many times on this site and I have named the boat Theseus' paradox in honor of Pete's signature. I believe that qualifies as a paradox in it's self. I hope to have it finished by the time the water turns soft in northern Wisconsin in the spring of 2012. I will attempt to keep a journal of the work I do to it, and I will no doubt be requesting the help of all of you more knowledgeable than me on CC Mustangs. That includes practically everyone on this site who owns or has owned a Mustang.

Gary S has already been very generous with his time. I pulled the boat out to his house in the rain the day after I picked it up and he took a look at it for me. I enjoyed the visit. Gary's Mustang is beautiful, and at this point I don't believe I am shooting for that level. It's not that I don't want to, I just need to develop more skills to reach that point.

This Mustang is what I would call a survivor. It's not perfect, but is a great starting point. I am the fourth owner. I have interviewed two of the POs and it's condition does not appear to have changed since about 1981 or 82 according to what I have been told. It has been in storage since 92 or 93 and was not used since then. There is some oxidation on the gel coat, but it buffs out beautifully. It has an Airguide speedo mounted on the dash, and a really cool stainless steel rear view mirror that I believe was a Correct Craft option. The second owner said that he was told by the original owner that the Holman Moody graphics on the transom were on there when he bought it new. He has no idea if they were factory or dealer applied, but I suspect the dealer put them on.

At this point I have decided that I am going to do as much detail work as possible to the boat, but leave it pretty much as it was when I got it. I considered having the small chips and scratches repaired by a shop, but I have rethought that and I believe I am content to leave them in, along with the Airguide speedo and the mirror. Gary suggested a plexiglass mount for the speedo and I think I will follow his advice and lose the ugly black unevenly cut bracket it is now on. Leaving the boat as is gives it that look like it is right out of 1970. The boat has no chocks front or rear, and no air horn. Although I have the air horn from the 69 Mustang SS I sacrificed, I am going to leave it that way.

As of now I have removed the deck fittings and sent them to the plating shop. I have about six hours into buffing the deck and it is turning out beautifully. I figure about 60 to 100 hours just in buffing and waxing. I considered wet sanding, but I didn't want to lose the "print through" of the woven roving. I think it is beautiful and it reminds me of a Colnago or Giant carbon fiber frame. It's something you don't get with a chop gun. I have removed the fuel tank and drained it and I found that it has been repaired with aluminized epoxy on one seam. I believe I will be forced to take it in to Gas Tank Renu and have it dipped, welded, and epoxy coated inside. I will lose the Tempo graphics and originality that way, but safety is very important to me.

Pete, please answer this for me, how original is original enough? It is not a smart alec question, I really wonder. Is it generally accepted to change things for safety such as putting the Holley marine carburetor on it in place of the Autolite that by all accounts I can find is original, but vents into the bilge in case of an overflow. I believe I can leave a few of the safety challenged items on the shelf and be OK. This boat will not be a trailer queen. I intend to use it and so do my daughters.

Looking good John! Keep up the good work and us posted on your progress. Another classic Correct Craft saved!       

John, I'd take really good photos of the tank. Might be something Marty Mabe can have made up someday?

vondy wrote: Need a steering wheel

Better touch base with Bruce! Steering wheel

Im sure I mentioned that Ill have those late 60's buckets eventually... but Im afraid they may go over like the emblems I just had made up- they cost more to reproduce than people are willing to pay!

Vondy, I do have a mold, but they will still require multiple layers of glass (cloth, mat) and not just resin. Probably a fair amount of time to get them into decent shape... and thats one thing I dont have a lot of! What would you consider a fair price on a set of buckets (glass shell only, no upholstery or aluminum frames)... just curious.

Sorry for the threadjack John!

[QUOTE=vondy] I think the level of keeping it original depends on what you intend to do. If you are going to show her, then do as Pete recommends, he's the expert. But if your never going to show her, I would not sweat the unseen. You will probably save a lot of money and effort, and spend more time using her, if you don't.

For example, why restore and old rusty gas tank that nobody will ever see if you can put in a modern new plastic one? And upgrading to a marine holley is one of the best things I did for my Mustang. Starts on the first hit every time. I also have an electronic conversion in my distributor and don't think it takes away from the originality of the boat.


I actually wish I could get the seen parts original. Need some front seats, a steering wheel and would love a fiberglass engine box. I also don't see anything wrong with using period correct parts even if they were not actually used in your boat. For example, my Mustang had the floor pan. Well it was in horrible shape so I went with a plywood floor instead. But I used a vinyl floor covering similar to what would have been used of the time. In fact, at the last wooden boat show I went to, all the guys had the same covering as well.


Hmmm, I just happen to have a spare fiberglass engine box for a 69 Mustang SS.

For example, why restore and old rusty gas tank that nobody will ever see if you can put in a modern new plastic one? And upgrading to a marine holley is one of the best things I did for my Mustang. Starts on the first hit every time. I also have an electronic conversion in my distributor and don't think it takes away from the originality of the boat.

The gas tank isn't rusty at all, it's really in good condition. It just has a repair to a stress cracked seam. It's an easy fix for Gas Tank Renu, but I will lose the original paint and graphics.


.


Hmmm, I just happen to have a spare fiberglass engine box for a 69 Mustang SS.[/QUOTE]

Yes, just the glass shells, just like this one. I have three floor mount brackets and a good upholstery shop.

john b wrote: Yes, just the glass shells, just like this one. I have three floor mount brackets and a good upholstery shop.

That one is not too bad. I had to do extensive repairs to both of my fiberglass inserts. They were cracked all over the place and full of holes were POs had to remount the brackets.

Crack sux


Outlined ready to V out


Ved Out on top


Patched on one side then feathered the edges on the other side to start applying layers starting small and get wider so that the bond is to the original frame and not just to each other.



More feathering


All filled in.


Like it never happened...

To those of you who think $400 is expensive for a seat, I offer the following:

seats

To that add seat bases and you are at over $600 per seat.

Here is my beat up gas tank. These ae the graphics I hate to lose.

6200 Cochran road is 2 miles from my house, actually I even worked on the same road years ago....gas tank address

John, I just replied to your email- we're on the same page. I can either fix that bucket or get you 2 new ones... I think you've finally motivated me to kick this project off!

Vondy, I suspect that even with a mold, these may be a PITA to make due to their complex shape. I foresee having to glass them in several steps, with a fair amount of grinding, shaping and reinforcing involved... so a fair amount of man hours. I'll keep close track of my time and materials on the first few, and see how the process goes. I was planning to use cloth and mat, mainly- the thicker the material, the harder it will be to make corners... but I may still be able to utilize that biax. Lets touch base after I make the first set.

Gary S wrote: Looking great John. When I looked it over the only thing that concerned me was the carb.If you do change it,I would go with a 450 cfm. I ran the original non marine carb on mine for years,changing it only because I wanted a 4bbl.A side benefit was better starting and running.Your distributor is already a marine one,due to the fact it has the screen over the vent on the side of the main body.Fuel pump is questionable. I have the exact one you do.I bought a replacement marine one, the only difference I can find is the diaphram "rupture" fitting that connects with a clear hose to the carb.When I rebuilt my pump I put in a fitting for the hose.

At this point I plan to replace the original 4V Autolite automotive carburetor, for safety reasons, with the Holly 600 cfm 4V marine carburetor from my other H/M engine after having it rebuilt. I believe that while it may be slightly large for the application, it should perform well, and the charge velocity will be sufficient to provide good low end torque and not stumble on sudden off-idle acceleration. Any comments or suggestions from those who have been there?

A few people have reported issues when bolting a 600cfm Holley onto a stock 302... a 450cfm is the proper size, as Gary mentioned.

I have been in a few 'Stangs that ran great with a 600cfm- but they were warmed up to the 250-300hp level.

If youve got the carb on hand already, I say go ahead and try it!

FYI, I broke out the mold last night and put a few coats of mold release on it. I hope to play around with glass early next week.

There were a few different flavors of 289/302's... the 2bbl Interceptors were rated at 165hp and 190hp, and presumably used something on the range of a 300cfm carb. The 4bbl Interceptors were rated at 210hp and seem to work well with the 450cfm 4bbls that came on the later 302's (Waukesha/PCM, Conq/Crus/Palmer, etc) that were rated at 220hp. The H-M's were a bit warmer (at least originally), so the 210hp 2bbl's had 500cfm carbs. I always assumed that the 235hp 4bbl's still used something on the range of 450cfm... but I could be wrong. ReidP probably knows off the top of his head.

Definitely going to make the new seats stronger than the originals... just using epoxy instead of poly will be a good step in the right direction. We also have the advantage of knowing where the weak points are in the original design- so I'll beef up the new ones accordingly.