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Tcoat · 08-10-2015, 08:19 AM

Although personally not a fan of any year Mustang I have an intimate knowledge of the very early ones. My mother had a 64 1/2 coupe for a few years when I was a kid (it was well used when she got it) and a 64 1/2 convert when I was a teenager. The convert was bought and semi restored by my sister and I spent 100s of hours working on it.

Right up front it is important to know that the early Mustang coupes were intended to be a cheap throwaway import fighter. They were never built to last and frankly it is amazing that so many have. It wasn't until 68 that Ford figured they were popular enough to up the quality of the parts and start to upscale the whole line (there were exceptions in the earlier models but the bulk were the throwaways).

Some key points:
Check the frame behind the rear axle very closely, especially where the exhaust crosses over it. This is a huge rot area and both my mom's and many others I have seen actually had about 6 inches of frame completely missing there.

Check the rear bumper mounting bolts at the frame. This was another problem area.

Check the rocker panels and rear wheel arches closely for bondo. I know that this is probably a CA car but those things rusted if they passed too close to a salt shaker. The steel they used in these was about 80% made of scrap (remember all those WW2 ships? They all went somewhere) and had a very high oxide content even when new.

Check the headlight pots and mounting hardware closely. These things can crumble to dust and are hidden behind the bulbs so you don't know.

If worried about maintaining or increasing the value keep the original engine. The 289 is a very easy engine to work on and still has great aftermarket support.

The stock diffs on these sucked balls. I don't remember what raio we swapped to but it made a huge difference.

Odds are that the suspension has been reworked by now but if not then upgrade it or stick to skinner tires. These cars were designed for very narrow bias ply tires and you can have all sorts of shit go wrong by just slapping wide radials on them.

There are many pluses to having one of these old Mustangs and even though not big on them myself it sounds like $2K is a great deal (I could probably flip that for about 4 times that here). They do hold value well but the top prices go to the special models and even they can fluctuate wildly some times. Parts are very easy to get with both repros and new OEM being quite inexpensive. If a fan I don't think I would hesitate buying that one if all the things I mentioned are OK.

I am currently also looking for a weekend car but am going the MOPAR route and casually shopping for a late 60s Dart or Duster.

08-10-2015, 08:19 AM	#2
Tcoat Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Drives: 2020 Hakone Location: London, Ont Posts: 69,841 Thanks: 61,656 Thanked 108,295 Times in 46,456 Posts Mentioned: 2499 Post(s) Tagged: 50 Thread(s)	Although personally not a fan of any year Mustang I have an intimate knowledge of the very early ones. My mother had a 64 1/2 coupe for a few years when I was a kid (it was well used when she got it) and a 64 1/2 convert when I was a teenager. The convert was bought and semi restored by my sister and I spent 100s of hours working on it. Right up front it is important to know that the early Mustang coupes were intended to be a cheap throwaway import fighter. They were never built to last and frankly it is amazing that so many have. It wasn't until 68 that Ford figured they were popular enough to up the quality of the parts and start to upscale the whole line (there were exceptions in the earlier models but the bulk were the throwaways). Some key points: Check the frame behind the rear axle very closely, especially where the exhaust crosses over it. This is a huge rot area and both my mom's and many others I have seen actually had about 6 inches of frame completely missing there. Check the rear bumper mounting bolts at the frame. This was another problem area. Check the rocker panels and rear wheel arches closely for bondo. I know that this is probably a CA car but those things rusted if they passed too close to a salt shaker. The steel they used in these was about 80% made of scrap (remember all those WW2 ships? They all went somewhere) and had a very high oxide content even when new. Check the headlight pots and mounting hardware closely. These things can crumble to dust and are hidden behind the bulbs so you don't know. If worried about maintaining or increasing the value keep the original engine. The 289 is a very easy engine to work on and still has great aftermarket support. The stock diffs on these sucked balls. I don't remember what raio we swapped to but it made a huge difference. Odds are that the suspension has been reworked by now but if not then upgrade it or stick to skinner tires. These cars were designed for very narrow bias ply tires and you can have all sorts of shit go wrong by just slapping wide radials on them. There are many pluses to having one of these old Mustangs and even though not big on them myself it sounds like $2K is a great deal (I could probably flip that for about 4 times that here). They do hold value well but the top prices go to the special models and even they can fluctuate wildly some times. Parts are very easy to get with both repros and new OEM being quite inexpensive. If a fan I don't think I would hesitate buying that one if all the things I mentioned are OK. I am currently also looking for a weekend car but am going the MOPAR route and casually shopping for a late 60s Dart or Duster. __________________ Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar, because Racecar.