The Strip Down

The two most important pieces of advice I can give here is one.........take lots of photos of EVERYTHING before, during & after you strip & two..........bag/box & label every item you remove. I would box everything in sub assembly & give it a detailed label. For example - "Left Door Handle & Lock" which would include the door lever/lock/latch mechanisms, as well as all the nuts, bolts, screws, clips, pins etc. required to fasten that sub assembly to the door & to each other. You could also make a simple parts list of everything taken off to include in this sub assembly and store it in the box with the parts. It all depends on how meticulous you want to be. Try & keep the sub assemblies as small as possible. I found it easier to remember how to refit a small sub assembly. Imagine opening a box & seeing only the door lock, latch & handle mechanism to refit as apposed to opening a box containing everything that attaches to a door IE. door lock, latch, handle & mechanism, door glass & scissor mechanism, tracks for door glass, window winder handle, side mirror & remote mechanism, window rubbers, door courtesy light & wiring, door interior pull handle, door interior panel with beading's, bezels & emblems, etc.etc. plus all the fasteners & hard ware required to install all this. It's easier to find an hour or two to fit a small sub assembly & you will leave the garage feeling like you have accomplished something instead of walking out not remembering what you've accomplished but what is still left in the box to do. Remember STRIP IT, BAG IT, TAG IT & take photos at every stage.

This is also the best time to evaluate a part to decide whether you want to replace it, refurbish it or simply refitted it. While I was bagging & tagging I had a note book that I would write down what parts I would like to replace & what parts I had to replace. There is a difference........part that had to be replaced were simply that, parts that I would like to replace were parts that were showing sign's of their age but could be refurbished with some elbow grease. The items that made the "would like to replace" list were only purchased if my budget allowed. And often I would have to choose between items that made this list. When the stripping was finished I used this "shopping" list to work out how much I would need to spend on replacement parts. A very expensive buy for me as I would have to import everything from the States & deal with a 12 South African Rand to 1 USA Dollar exchange rate at the time! But nothing takes away the money blues like shiny new chrome.

A special note with regard to the wiring loom/harness. The wiring loom/harness was one of the last items I removed from the car. As I would unplug different assemblies I would tag with a number & describe on both the loom plug & the corresponding plug on the part being removed. For example - #1 Left Outer head light or #8 Interior roof light. As a result my wiring plugged back in with every plug finding its same numbered partner without hassle.

Prepare yourself with good reference material

I read all I could on the 69, not to become an expert, but out of interest. For all I've read on the 69 I can only recall what was interesting to me or relevant to my stang. My two best investments into mustang information was a subscription to Mustang Monthly Magazine & Tom Carcoran & Earl Davis almost 500 paged 1964-1973 Mustang Restoration Guide. Both are readily available. My subscription was through Magazine Agent & Tom & Earl's guide was purchased via Amazon. These are not "the best" out there. There are many excellent publications covering the early mustang. These two sources worked for me and were relevant to what I was trying to accomplish. I can not count the amount of times I referred back to these. It is comforting to know that experienced, expert advise is as close as your book shelf. When all else fails get onto the mustang internet forums. You will get a wide range of responses to questions you raise in these forums. Remember every one who partakes in these forums are there for their love of Mustangs and the enjoyment of passing on knowledge or opinions. Everyone there remembers that there was a time when they knew nothing on Mustangs. Meaning no matter how trivial or stupid your question may seem, trust me you are not the first person to ask it. Draw from the knowledge these forums present and be yourself in your correspondence. People will pick up very quickly if you are talking out of your depth and this can stiffer the free flow of information as men by our very nature will draw conclusion on the type of person you are and whether they want to assist you or not by the manner in which you conduct or present yourself. Be yourself.
A note to all restorers in South Africa almost anything that you are looking for at Amazon can be found on our local Kalahari.net and there is no ugly surprises when it comes to the Rand/Dollar exchange rate.

Left Hand Drives in South Africa - (LHD in SA)

Previously I mentioned the importation of LHD's had been out lawed in SA since 2000. Bad news definitely but even worse is that the powers that be are now trying to out law ALL LHD vehicles. If this topic is of interest to you please read this and if you disagree please feel free to sign this petition. Lets keep the LHD community alive in SA.

What do you want from your Stang

I was obsessed with the 69 Mustang. The 64 to 73 Mustangs were all incredible machines but the 69 stirred something within me. The aggressive look and stance reminded me of a shark about to attack and devour anything that challenged its presence. So I knew all along I was looking for a 69, fast back if I could find one. You must realize these cars are in limited numbers in South Africa and were imported via private individuals who had a love for the American Mustang. Pickings were always going to be slim, especially a mustang that had not already been molestered or previously refurbished. I spent hours on Ebay going over mustangs but importing one was legally out of the question as South Africa has banned the importation of left hand drive motor vehicles since 2000. So what is here now is all that is ever going to be here. I finaly found my Stang on Auto Trader. Personally I was looking for a daily driver with my personal touch. Meaning no racing cams or superchargers, something that's easy to drive to the store and when I park it in the shopping centers parking lot I was not going to be overly worried that a shopping cart is going to scratch my custom paint job or body kit. Just a head turning daily driver with my personal touch. My personal touch came in the form of color choices both on the outside and the inside, a nice set of wheels and chrome in all the right places.So I visualized from the outset what my stang could look like and tried to make that vision a reality. I found this mustang online of what I had in mind and the picture below is what the near complete Mustang looked like. My stang was never meant to copy a picture but be a personal interpretation of it. Make it your own, the world is not going to appreciate another "Gone in 60 seconds" Eleanor clone. Not everyone will like your interpretation of a mustang that's fine. But the people that do see what you see will love it almost as much as you. It is an amazing feeling to invoke this sort or response in people just by having them look at your Stang.

Early Mustang Vin Decoding

I referred to my vin decoder often when I was looking to buy my stang. It's the quickest way to determine if a vehicle has been modified or is no longer original. Don't get me wrong I was not going for an original restoration, I prefer the restomod mustangs. However the modified vehicle you are looking at may not have been modified by its current owner and depending on his character he might not be willing to tell you for example that the manual transmission in the vehicle that replaced the original automatic has a tendency to jump out of 4th gear because it was installed in someone's back yard by a previous owner who decided they would save money and attempt to do the conversion themselves, never having done a conversion of that magnitude before. At least with original cars you only have to contend with original problems which are easier to fix because many people have had the same problems and the fix is easier to diagnose and repair, generally. Below I have scanned the vin decoder I used for body style, axle, transmission, exterior paint & engine. I hope it will prove useful to you in your decision to buying the mustang you are looking for.

My Stang

A brief introduction to myself and my Stang. I was 25 when I bought my mustang. I was working as a mechanical draughtsman for a international earth moving equipment manufacturer at the time and had been married for 2 years, my first son had just turned one. I was living in a two bed room cottage on a property my father owned, there was no garage for a restoration so I had to make do with a OLD open ended shed for a workshop. My Stang was a well used 1969 Coupe Grande. She was not the fast back I had been looking for but she did have a 351C motor and a original deluxe interior with all the bells and whistles, except for air conditioning. Apart form a bad respray she was for the most part original, but after 30 something years of living at the coast RUST was her biggest enemy. Mechanically she was pretty sound, I drove her when ever I could for about 18 months. Eventually I could not bring myself to wash her with out feeling absolutely guilty for the state of her body. With rust breaking out every where, so began her 3 year restoration. Here is a before pic.

Restoration Introduction

This blog is a collection of my experiences, difficulties & triumphs while restoring a 1969 Ford Mustang. I hope these short insights will assist anyone who is currently restoring or who is contemplating on restoring a Mustang. Bear in mind these are my experiences with my Mustang in today's global car restoration business. The things I have done and processes I employed suited me. As the saying goes "there's many ways to skin a cat". What you will read in the following posts are what suited me, my finances & what I wanted to accomplish with my restored Mustang. Ultimately if you are not having fun restoring a vehicle then you need to ask yourself "why am I doing this". Don't get me wrong there will be times when a restoration will drive you to the brink and I have thrown many a tool across the garage floor in frustration. But if you do not feel an immense sense of accomplishment once a task has been completed, even when every thing was working against you, then maybe a vehicle restoration is not for you. There is nothing wrong with that, but maybe you should do both the car and yourself a favor and employ a third party to build you dream ride. A short cut in the workshop could cost you your ride or your life on the highway. With this in mind there are aspects of my restoration which I shopped out to professionals for a host of reasons which will be discussed in the posts which follow.