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Mustang - out with the new - in with the old


marzman

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I sold my 2018 Mustang in June 2021 after 3.5 years of ownership.  Since then i've been scouring the internet every night looking for its replacement... i've kept an open mind as to what i would replace it with, but narrowed it down to either a classic Mustang or an AC Cobra replica. I'd been to see a few cars but nothing was really doing it for me...

 

...until now.

 

Yesterday i picked up this beauty - it's a 1968 289 4.7L V8 Coupe Automatic.  60k miles.

 

Restored in Texas in 2014 before being imported into the UK, it's been owned for the last few years by a retired mechanic who's done some fettling in the engine for reliability and mild performance improvements.

 

I've always dreamed of owning a 60's era Mustang - they have been number 1 on my bucket list of cars to own since i was about 12 - so i'm very happy with this.

 

Whilst it looks and sounds great (imho), it honestly drives like crap...!!  It has drum brakes all round which are about as useful as a chocolate teapot. I think itd be more effective if i Fred Flintstone'd my leg out the door tbh!  So first on the list will be a Wilwood dics/caliper conversion, although im in no rush - it'll only be driven very occasionally.

 

Anyway enough talking... here's the pics!

 

Out with the new...
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In with the old...  (shame about the skip - i'm having a bathroom done...)

 

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Edited by marzman
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Yep lovely, but I know exactly what you mean about driving old cars ... it takes you back to the seventies (or sixties in my case) when cars were really crap compared to today.

 

Anyone remeber wind down windows and pre-recoil seat belts ?

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Cheers guys... took it out for a blast today and it feels gooood!  I realised that you've got to be fairly heavy handed with it to get the most out of it... i was being super gentle on the day i got it, but its basically a tractor.... you have to slam the doors to get them to shut, and stamp on the pedals to get it to go/stop.  Once i'd figured that out things felt a lot more natural!

 

Im struggling a bit with the anxiety of wondering if it'll start each time I fire it up... it was only 2 degrees this morning here (but sunny), but it took me a good 5 mins to get it running comfortably.  The first 3 attempts to start it just refused to idle and died, so i kept my foot on the gas at about 2k revs for maybe 3 mins and then it was fine...  not ideal really... It has an auto choke which from what i've read can need constant tuning...  Seems to start on the button though once warmed up.

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Glad you got it started. It’s one of the charms and headaches of owning old cars. On my Datsun 510 if it doesn’t fire after 4/5 attempts in the cold then she won’t start until I take out the spark plugs and clean them as they coke up. Put them back in and bang she’s fires first time. One for you to consider if you keep trying to turn her over and she struggles more and more each time. Enjoy ownership. I’m enjoying my 1970 SSS 510 more than the many cars I’ve owned including my 350z and 370Z Nismo.

Martin 

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4 hours ago, Payco said:

Glad you got it started. It’s one of the charms and headaches of owning old cars. On my Datsun 510 if it doesn’t fire after 4/5 attempts in the cold then she won’t start until I take out the spark plugs and clean them as they coke up. Put them back in and bang she’s fires first time. One for you to consider if you keep trying to turn her over and she struggles more and more each time. Enjoy ownership. I’m enjoying my 1970 SSS 510 more than the many cars I’ve owned including my 350z and 370Z Nismo.

Martin 

 

Good advice, i'll keep that in mind cheers.

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1 hour ago, ZMANALEX said:

Another thing to consider is converting to manual choke, keeping all the parts to perhaps convert back to auto at a later date, to retain the originality.

Yep. I have a manual choke bit have removed the handle as the 510 floods with the choke and is renowned for it.  3 pedal pumps of the accelerator to get fuel into the fuel filter and she normally fires first time. I’m sure you will find the best start up

procedure for the Stang in good time. Patience is your friend with these old cars but as I say it’s part of their charm albeit frustrating some times. Enjoy.

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Whats amazing about these Mustangs is that there are loads of off the shelf kits to do all sorts of cool things, and literally 1000's of Youtube how-to videos of people who have done every mod conceivable, which makes all of this maintenance much easier!

 

Not saying i'm going to do it, but there's a fuel injection kit to replace the carbs, which looks pretty cool...

 

 

Edited by marzman
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It's so nice when there's good content out there, finding stuff for the cayman is a nightmare, no one does anything that doesn't involve the word 'dealer'. I can't believe EFI is not top of your To Do list!

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8 hours ago, Stutopia said:

It's so nice when there's good content out there, finding stuff for the cayman is a nightmare, no one does anything that doesn't involve the word 'dealer'. I can't believe EFI is not top of your To Do list!

 

Yeah i can imagine.

 

EFI might be top of the list yet be yet... i'll see how i get on over the next few weeks with it.  But it sorely needs modern brakes - at the moment i have to plan braking events about 400m in advance... i've not got a chance in hell if i have to do an emergency stop!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Been out for a little spin this evening just to stretch it's legs and take some pictures.

 

I've not even detailed it yet... looking forward to getting the chance to so that it really pops in the pics...

 

 

 

I bought a drone recently that i'm still getting the hang of... my battery was almost dead so i only had a couple of mins flight time so this is the best i could do. 🤪

 

 

 

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Edited by marzman
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  • 2 months later...

I finally found some time to decorate my garage this weekend with the various bits of Americana and motorsport paraphernalia i've collected over the years from holidays and car shows. The banners were from eBay, about £7 each. i've been wanting a garage like this forever so i'm pleased with where it's now up to... 

 

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