1968 Mustang Coupe - My entry into the world of classics

[TheLoraxxZeus]

Welcome to my thread on my 1968 Mustang Coupe. Hope you enjoy the read .

So what do we have here? A base 1968 Mustang Coupe with the 289 engine, 3 speed manual and finished in a classic (although an acquired taste) Lime Gold. Lets get some pictures out the way first, I've not taken many because I'm not the kind of person that takes a lot of photos in general but I think for this adventure I'll probably make an effort.

Someone snapped this at ste in the Park on Sunday just passed.



Here she is parked up just behind my favourite coffee shop, Unorthadox Roasters up at Kinross.




I promise I'll take more photos throughout my ownership but that's all I got for now. A little background from what I know about the car.

• Imported into the UK in 2020 where it had a body restoration, I have the photobook of this work
• It's done at least 100k miles as the odometer has rolled over
• Seems to be mechanically sounds, confirmed by Clydesdale Classics over in Glasgow whom have been servicing this car since the previous owner bought it
• It was build in Michigan but was imported from Idaho, no history prior to import
• It has a straight pipe H exhaust that is loud AF, sounds ridiculous on the rev match. Love it, neighbours probably not so much
• It has some aftermarket headers but I'm not sure what
• 4 barrel Holley carb with eletric choke
• Some electric ignition system that I don't know

I'll try to update the thread every so often with any work I'm carrying out or drives I take. I plan on daily driving this car, I WFH so most of my travels are out shopping and what not. The only time I won't be driving this car is when I look at my bank balance and realise it's going to cost me a literal fiver to do a Tesco round trip in fuel, despite it being 5 miles away.

Edited by TheLoraxxZeus on Tuesday 27th May 15:43

Edited by TheLoraxxZeus on Tuesday 27th May 15:46

[TheLoraxxZeus]

I may as well put my first post in right away, wanted to keep OP as a time capsule of what it was at the time of purchase. Expect more info to flesh out the OP but any updates to be in comments.

The issues

None of the gauges work except fuel and alternator, previous owner said fuel was working so this is probably a new thing. I've already got a spare temperature gauge as previous owner said it's 100% broken.

Parking brake doesn't work, cable snapped. Makes really steep hill starts interesting, well, loud mostly.

Rear diff is leaking at the seal where the driveshaft connects, which I knew prior to purchase. I've already requested a quote to get this fixed because I can't be bothered having to put something down to deal with the drip whenever I park it up. Unless it's crazy expensive to fix of course, then I'll just put down some cardboard and ignore it....

Exhaust rattles constantly, it's like a constant ticking noise as it clangs off whatever it's touching. I want to deal with this first because it makes the car sound st.

Everything inside rattles loose. I'm not joking, the shift boot surround rattles the screws loose, the rearview mirror keeps moving, the window rollers rattle. I want to go through all the loose and shaky stuff and just replace any little bits I can to reduce cabin noise.

There is probably more but I'm going to feign ignorance since I have unlimited breakdown cover with my policy.

[Darren390]

Looks lovely. My first Mustang in the late 90s was a 68 coupe with a 289.

Don't worry about things rattling around, my 67 fastback has rattles galore, I fix one and another one appears!

Enjoy the experience and the attention you will get, you can't be shy in a 60s Mustang! Will be interested to see how you get on using it as a daily driver.

[Mr Tidy]

Lovely, I think that colour really suits it!

[TheLoraxxZeus]

Mr Tidy said:

Lovely, I think that colour really suits it!

You will be upset to know that I intend to get the exterior resprayed in a dark green with a Lime Gold stripe then lol.

[swanseaboydan]

Bloody lovely !!! Nice !

[jeremyc]

There's another Readers' Cars Lime Gold one here.

Keep the colour, I say.

[TheLoraxxZeus]

Darren390 said:

Enjoy the experience and the attention you will get, you can't be shy in a 60s Mustang! Will be interested to see how you get on using it as a daily driver.

I've yet to not have someone ask about or comment on it. Defo stands out compared to the usual classics.

If fuel consumption is anything to go by it seems the biggest issue with driving it everyday is going to be the cost. It's pretty eye watering and appears to be getting just shy of 8mpg after a full tank and a 31.8 mile trip. So around 120 miles to a tank and being honest, that's with a fairly heavy foot and rev matching from 3rd to 2nd for the noise haha. I reckon I could get considerbly better mileage if I behaved.

[TheLoraxxZeus]

jeremyc said:

There's another Readers' Cars Lime Gold one here.

Keep the colour, I say.

Will follow with great interest! Importing a shell/tatty example was something I had considered as it was the only way I could afford to get into a fastback but I was afraid it would take years to even get it driving.

[TheLoraxxZeus]

So the car is going to the detailers on Thursday to see if they can get the smell of...whatever the smell is. Hard to describe but there is certainly an after-smell of cigarettes on your clothes

Previous owner never smoked, so whomever smoked it it must have been over the pond.

[fttm]

Paint looks good , you gotta keep it otherwise unless you spend a fortune it'll look messed with and unoriginal IMO. Spend the money on getting the drivetrain and other issues sorted . Sweet looking car as is

[Jhonno]

Lime gold is a fantastic colour.. Nice purchase.

[TheLoraxxZeus]

Garage has gotten back to me with a quote, £300 for replacing the seal on the rear diff and I've opted for a mechanical inspection just so I can get an idea of what's going on. The car makes a lot of noises a modern car does not and I'm not sure to what extent those can be ignored. I'm pretty sure I hear some bad lifter tick, it also bogs if you go WOT so appears to be leaning out. Has a backfire on the overrun but that's less of an issue.

[TheLoraxxZeus]

Thought I would have a look at the seatbelt situation. The car comes with 3 point seatbelts that are fitted using the factory mounting points, it seems at some point someone has just purchased 2 lapbelts and attached those to the 3 belt end and the other to the buckle end.

Turns out you can't untension the seatbelt when it's at the natural sitting angle (about 45 degrees) so I took the belt out and attached a cable tie so there was always a bit of slack to remove the tensioner.

The belt is about 30cm too short to reach the buckle. Should I buy a new buckle that's longer (you can buy 15/3060cm ones)? Anyone had this issue before? Seems most people on USA forums either just run a lap belt, no belt or they go the whole hog and fit a rear cage to open up some better mounting solutions. I'm not even sure a 3 point is going to make a different because it seems if you're hit hard enough to need a 3 point you're probably going to die anyway.

[stang65]

TheLoraxxZeus said:

Garage has gotten back to me with a quote, £300 for replacing the seal on the rear diff and I've opted for a mechanical inspection just so I can get an idea of what's going on. The car makes a lot of noises a modern car does not and I'm not sure to what extent those can be ignored. I'm pretty sure I hear some bad lifter tick, it also bogs if you go WOT so appears to be leaning out. Has a backfire on the overrun but that's less of an issue.

That lifter tick is likely to be an exhaust blow, the two are often confused. As you have unknown headers and an exhaust that is constantly hitting I would go out on a limb and suggest it is an exhaust blow.

If you are getting 8mpg out of a 289 it is likely to be really rich rather than lean, backed up by the fuel getting into the exhaust for a backfire on the overrun. My 302 (and previous 289) often got 17-20mpg and I have never heard of a well set up one getting single figures, so it would be worth looking at the carb early on. Do you know what carb you have, you want a 600cfm at the most, and putting too big a carb on will hit economy with no actual gain to performance whilst hurting throttle response. What does it actually drive like? Do you know what gearing you have as stupidly low gears would be the only other way to get the mpg that low (assuming no leaks)?

[TheLoraxxZeus]

stang65 said:

That lifter tick is likely to be an exhaust blow, the two are often confused. As you have unknown headers and an exhaust that is constantly hitting I would go out on a limb and suggest it is an exhaust blow.

If you are getting 8mpg out of a 289 it is likely to be really rich rather than lean, backed up by the fuel getting into the exhaust for a backfire on the overrun. My 302 (and previous 289) often got 17-20mpg and I have never heard of a well set up one getting single figures, so it would be worth looking at the carb early on. Do you know what carb you have, you want a 600cfm at the most, and putting too big a carb on will hit economy with no actual gain to performance whilst hurting throttle response. What does it actually drive like? Do you know what gearing you have as stupidly low gears would be the only other way to get the mpg that low (assuming no leaks)?

Thanks for the reply. I also do think there is a slight exhaust blow, I done the whole wood to the ear thing and I couldn't really hear any lifter noise. The actual smell of exhaust into the cabin appears to have all but gone now though, except when running cold.

I'm not sure exactly what to expect when driving, I'll try to describe it but some info first.

It's a holley 4 barrel carb, no idea on the cfm. It's running 3 speed with stock 2.79.

So driving it, one thing I've noticed is it seems to be driving better and better everytime I go out in it. It hesitates less under heavy foot and seems to be backfiring less, however it still does backfire if you take it to like 4k+ (In think, no tac) and quickly change gear. So driving it in general it feels fine once you get going, take off from hills and what not the engine does struggle a bit and you have to let off the throttle to stop it chugging. First time ever with this type of car so not sure what to expect.

The only thing leaking on the car is the diff seal between the housing and the driveshaft.

The car is defo much much happier to accelerate if it's running at higher RPM, I have to guess that at 1.5k or so it just pulls with full throttle no problem. Going from near idle to full throttle from a flat standstop? Yeah it wants to stall out.

[some bloke]

Nice looking car, but you don't buy these for economy. A new set of plugs, leads, rotor and dizzy cap might make a difference as well as a tune up by someone with an o2 sensor set up. Welcome to the dark side.