1965 Mustang 289 Fastback
A few years ago when we came over to live in Spain, I decided to restore a classic car. I had plenty of time on my hands so was looking for something to give me a bit of a challenge. I was originally thinking of something like a TR6 or MGB, but I really had a yearning for an American muscle car as many years ago I had in the past owned several "Yanks" including a 1966 Mustang rag top ... So after trawling the internet I came across a 1965 Mustang 289 Fastback which was for sale in Scotland. It had been imported by the owner who had had it painted and used it for a few months, but had not done any mechanical work or restoration on it.
Above ... the Mustang when I bought it
Below ... the Mustang as it is now (2009)
I paid for an engineers report to be done on the car by Clydeforth Associates ... what a joke that was ... in my mind £75 totally wasted. The guy that went to do the report couldn't drive the car as the MOT had run out ... so steering, gearbox, brakes etc. weren't tested. The report also failed to find out the two back frame rails (at the spring hangers end) were rusted through and needed replacing .... I think he must have left his white stick at the office. The engine had a *slight tap* which he said may be a little end bearing that needs replacing ... the fact that the bearing is part of the rod and not a replaceable item seemed to have escaped his knowledge ..... Anyway the top and bottom of it is I don't advise anyone to use this bunch of monkeys.
I had it transported over here and set about restoring it. I bought nearly all the parts from the USA and found surprisingly that they were quite cheap to buy. I took all the interior out, re-covered the seats, fitted new dash, headlining, door panels etc. Then I turned my attention to the mechanics ... the engine and box came out and I stripped the motor down. I was horrified with what I found ... burnt valves, 5 cracked pistons, worn bearings and bores. I decided to keep the heads which were on it ... these were 351 Windsor heads which had larger valves and flowed better than the standard 289 heads. I rebuilt these with a Comp Cams *K kit* which included cam, lifters, valve springs, timing gear etc. I also fitted a set of Comp Cams steel roller tipped rockers with this combo ... rather than the original rail type rockers.
Then came the time to re bore the block ... it was standard at the present ... well maybe at the very bottom of the bores, so I decided on a +30 thou oversize. Here in Spain they don't do thou's so I calculated the 4 inch bore ... plus the 30 thou ... plus the clearance needed and converted this to millimeters .... fingers crossed I took the block down to the engine place in Gandia to have it done. I was fitting a set of Keith Black flat top pistons, but keeping the rest of the engine pretty stock ... new oil pump and water pump was about it.
The engine was rebuilt by myself and despite my worries about either tight (or loose) bores due to the metric machining, it ran well when first started ... the cam was broken in then I could use the car !!! Unfortunately driving it was an adventure ... brakes and suspension making it go all over the place. I originally had replaced the drum brakes all round with new bits ... slave cylinders, shoes, springs, hub bearings etc. but the stopping power was not up to the 280 odd horsepower it was probably making at this stage. So I decided that I would fit a set of Wilwood front disks ... this was done, and was quite an easy conversion, the stopping was much better now. I then fitted new top and bottom suspension arms to the front together with the *Shelby Drop*, 620 pound springs and new urethane bushing. The back also got a pair of new leaf springs as they had both sagged and one in fact had 2 broken leafs.
The car handled much better after this, but there was still a lot of roll when cornering ... a new set of Torque Thrust 2 wheels and tyres didn't sort this out so I fitted a set of Koni shocks ... these helped a lot. Lets face it though ... the Ford Mustang wasn't really designed for going round corners !!
Now I had it handling better I wanted more power. I fitted a set of Edelbrock Performer RPM heads with 1.7 roller rockers, an Air Gap RPM intake manifold, Performer RPM cam and lifters, MSD 6AL with MSD pro-billet distributor, Barry Grant Speed Demon 650 double pumper. This combo really worked .... but I needed to fit a new clutch, a Centerforce heavy duty model to get all this power to my 4 speed top-loader.
Next I had too keep it cool ... it gets pretty hot here in Spain. I replaced the stock radiator with an aluminum one from Summit Racing. I had to do a bit of metal cutting to get it to fit and had to relocate the battery to the trunk as well, but this cooling setup is really good for over here ... I'm on the second fan now which is a Summit *S blade* model and really works well. I have replaced a lot of other stuff too ... 100 amp single wire alternator, Summit hi-torque starter Flowmaster *American Thunder* exhaust system (I can vouch for the 2000rpm "Flowmaster drone" !!) and lots of other stuff.
The car gets used quite a lot over here and the Spanish love it ... they don't know what it is exactly ... I get everything from *Starsky and Hutch* to *is it a racing Ferrari?* Whenever I stop, out come the phones and the local folks are happily snapping away. People have asked whether I worry about getting it vandalized when it is parked ... I think the Spanish really like the car and don't see it as something to scratch or whatever ... I'm sure that their attitude is different to the likes of a 911 or M3 ... which seem to get marked here.
I was wanting to do more to the car, but it wouldn't make sense just spending money on items which wouldn 't really make it worth any more such as rear discs, Tremec 5 speed box etc. So I decided my money and time would be better spent on something else so I bought an AK 427 Cobra kit from the UK and had it shipped over here and now have built it ... ready to move on to something new now.
I was contemplating selling the Mustang and buying another project, but have now decided against it and am planning next year (or when funds permit !) to fit rack and pinion power steering, air conditioning, rewire and respray the car ... in Wimbledon white with Guardsman blue stripes.
I am no expert on Mustangs, but will try and help anyone with advice if I can ... just mail me.
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