1965 Mustang Fastback

[Alex L]

My 1965 Fastback in Poppy Red.

I’ve always hankered after a classic but for someone who is mechanically inept it’s taken me a while to bite the bullet.

I sold my Boxster S via Pistonheads in July and the search began for a tidy 65/66 Fastback while trying to understand what terms like A Code and Pony Interior meant. My search started at Classic American Cars in Essex where I went with the intention of looking at a red GT350 Clone but that was having new floors fitted so Peter encouraged me to look at this car.

It’s was manufactured on the 24th Feb 1965 in San Jose California and first registered in LA. It’s a 4 barrel 289 with a 3 speed auto box with disc brake conversion. I drove a drum brake car and the difference in stopping power is night and day. I had a good look around the car and can’t see any rust or filler and the only issues were a slight oil weep from the pressure sender and some white smoke under load, the latter transpired to be oil burning on the exhaust and this was resolved prior to purchase.

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Last Wednesday I went back to see Peter and test drove the car for the second time and was happy that it was as good as it could be for a 55 year old car and arranged for Jason from JRM Recovery to come and collect it and trailer it home. I can’t recommend Jason highly enough if anyone is looking to transport cars around.

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He’s got quite an impressive setup

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A couple of hours later the car was home and thankfully the sun was out so took a few photos on my lawn.

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Untitled by Alex L, on Flickr

Untitled by Alex L, on Flickr

Untitled by Alex L, on Flickr

Since then I’ve had a couple of opportunities to drive the car, the first resulted in it not idling properly so with the help of a flat head screw driver and a quarter turn of a screw head that’s now fixed.

I’ve never experienced so many thumbs up or people wanting to come and talk to me about the car. I can’t ever be in a rush at a petrol station as my first visit resulted in a twenty minute chat with someone and then a five minute conversation with the cashier.
So far classic ownership has been great, there’s a few rattles which I’ll try and source and rectify. The pads rattle as I suspect they’re missing their anti-rattle clips and it’s not overly happy about starting when hot. I’ve got the car booked into a local specialist who races Cobras and Mustangs to give the car a once over.

A Carcoon Veloce is about to be ordered and with any luck this will become a permanent fixture in the garage. I’m usually quite lazy about updating my threads but will try and be more proactive with this car and my first foray in classic car ownership.

I nearly forgot, it’s got an Arvinode exhaust and sounds like this…

[Alex L]

Meeten-5dulx said:

I'd love a classic, but also being inept at DIT this has kept me well away.#

I wish you all the best with this lovely car!!

Thanks, I always thought classics were for older people and maybe now I’m in my late 30s I’m classed as that too.

My parents have kindly purchased me a Haynes Manual but I’m hoping the car will prove me wrong and be as reliable as my Porsche...

Get one before it’s too late, prices are only going one way for good examples.

MetalMatters said:

That is lovely, truly lovely and looks in great shape.

I’ve got a 2017 with a Roush axle back and I much prefer the sound of yours, it sounds dirty for want of a better word.

Enjoy

Thanks and the best thing it sounds like this no matter what speed you’re going. I’ve been enjoying cruising around at well within the speed limit with the rumble behind me.

[Alex L]

Iwantafusca said:

Lovely looking car , great lawn too lol !

Is that how they are from factory underneath? Looks spotless.

I believe they’re the original floors as I can’t see any new welds. The car was re-painted in 2008 but still looks fresh.

Thanks, the lawn has got a bit greener this week with all the rain

[Alex L]

So far I've established the only accurate gauge is the speedo, which is handy. A full fuel tank the gauge indicates half, no idea what the oil pressure is and I'd like to think the battery is ok as it sits on trickle charge.

Reckon I've done about 25 miles in the car so far and used about £18 of petrol, somehow (most likely trial and error) I'm going to have to find out the range on a full tank rather than filling it up every time I use it for fear of running dry.

I've just ordered a Carcoon Veloce so I can put it into semi hibernation in winter, although it'll still venture out if the roads are dry.

Driving left hand drive takes some getting used to and I find myself a little close to the centre line. The milometer has just tipped over 10k which probably means it's done 110k...

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[Alex L]

SBF said:

Looks in great condition underneath. I have not long had my '68 Coupe and am looking into exhaust options, do you still have factory manifolds?

I believe so yes, although I've nothing to compare it to. Happy to take some photos but I don't have ramps so would only be what I can see from lying under the car or through the engine bay.

[Alex L]

Today I took the car out to a Classic Car meet near home and have now driven the Mustang about 75 miles in total.

Weather permitting I’ll be at Caffeine and Machine tomorrow evening as it’s close to home

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I also turned 39 today and decided to test whether my lsd worked, it did..

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Edited by Alex L on Wednesday 2nd September 15:16

[Alex L]

Took the car for a 4 wheel alignment today, wasn't too far out. I've racked up just over 200 miles so far and averaging 15mpg.

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Untitled by Alex L, on Flickr

Edited by Alex L on Wednesday 2nd September 15:21

[Alex L]

STO said:

Lovely car, was that you heading towards Banbury on the A260 this morning? If so I can confirm it sounds awesome to.

Thanks, that was definitely me, what were you in/on?

[Alex L]

STO said:

I was going the other direction, in a boring Peugeot boxer works van.

I’d just filled up at Baynards Green, I’ve not worked out the range yet as the fuel gauge only reaches the mid point when full. So far I’ve driven the car 4 times and every time have put £20 in it

[Alex L]

The Mustang is off for a once over next week as it's got a small oil weep from the pressure sender and now the rear axle is leaking too. Thankfully there's a place local to me that fettles Mustangs and Cobras for racing, so they'll be undertaking a compression test and generally making sure it's in good health.

It was ThunderBolt night at Caffeine and Machine yesterday so had to take the Mustang, not a massive turnout of Americana or Hot Rods but a great evening all the same. I was pleased to be ushered into a plinth parking spot on the bank and hopefully some decent photos will appear on social media soon.

The former photo I lazily took from my bench (note matching wheelie bin) and the second photo was courtesy of C&M from their Facebook/Instagram

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Untitled by Alex L, on Flickr

Edited by Alex L on Thursday 10th September 13:21

[Alex L]

The car was with Richard from https://rw-racing.com/ for a few days last week for him to give it the once over. Richard produced a comprehensive list of jobs that needed doing, most of which are now complete. I was expecting a few maintenance items as it's an old car and the list below was Richard's findings

1. Front brakes are the wrong ones for the car and will never work as they should I would suggest that we order some correct brakes and fit once here.
2. Rear Brakes the brake shoes have been fitted wrong easy fix we have to remove one side anyway
3. LH rear axle seal leaking we will replace the seal and possibly bearing as does sound slightly rough
4. exhaust has an internal rattle and also rear silencer on LH is hitting the spring we need to take exhaust off to see what rattling inside and then reposition it to clear spring.
5. there is a slight oil leak on engine we are going to clean it off and then run it to locate it
6. one front wheel bearing is noisy so we will check that out.
7. There is a lot of play in the steering idler arm I hope it will tighten up to cure it
8. various wires that need tiding up that are close to exhaust etc. in engine bay
9. heater fan needs looking at as very noisy
10. new bulb in reversing light
11. suggest bleeding the brakes as very spongy pedal.

Before I bought the car I was told it had a partial engine rebuild with new piston rings but for completeness I asked Richard to undertake a compression test. What I wasn't expecting was an email saying "The cylinder that is down on compression is approx 40psi down from others other 7 cylinders are around 170 psi which is what you would expect but one cylinder is 130psi"

Richard stuck a camera into cylinder one and appears that a ring had broken and scored the cylinder.

I informed Peter at American Classic Cars (who sold me the car) who was straight on the phone to Richard and discussed sending the car back to his engine builder to put it right. Clearly this wasn't something I was keen to do when they obviously didn't do a great job in the first place. Peter agreed and the next email I received was from Peter confirming he'd ordered a brand new crate 302 engine from Rock Auto. I've got to pay for the removal of the old 289 and fitting/setting up and dyno of the new engine which will probably be in the region of £2,500 but I've also got a new engine, so can't say fairer than that (assuming the fitting all goes to plan). The engine was ordered on Friday evening from Wisconsin and arrived with me today by Fedex!

Looks like the Mustang will be out of action for a couple of weeks but should be in fine health for spring when I get it out of the Carcoon.

Edited by Alex L on Tuesday 22 September 12:12

[Alex L]

8bit said:

Well done sir, this is beautiful! I love the colour, too. Looking forward to the updates.

Thanks 8bit.

I forgot to mention that it appears to not get out of 2nd gear, which probably explains why it's been rather thirsty. I'm told it's an easy fix.....

The joys of classic car ownership and I look forward to getting my 2 speed V7 Mustang back to a 3 speed V8.

[Alex L]

RBV8 said:

Was that Bicester Heritage? I think I saw you

It was indeed on the Mustang Owners Club Stand

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Edited by Alex L on Tuesday 22 September 16:28

[Alex L]

Krikkit said:

Painful, but sounds like a decent result by the sounds, I'm sure a crate 302 won't be cheap to get into the UK in the first place...

What a lovely car though, I bet it's great for woofling about the A-roads.

You'd be surprised, about $2,200! So far I'm really enjoying classic ownership, other than the bills. Hopefully once I'm on top of the major work it'll just be fettling.

Dick Dastardly said:

Perfection.

One of these has been on the Must Own One Day list since I was a kid and I regularly find myself perving over them in the classifieds. They seem to be one of the few accessible classic cars these days. Do you mind letting me know roughly how much it cost to buy one in this condition?

Thank you. I wanted a tidy car that I didn't have to do any renovation on and could just drive, so commanded a bit of a premium. It'll probably owe me about £47k once the engine is in.

[Alex L]

SlimJim16v said:

There's an expression amongst American classic car collectors, "numbers matching". Meaning the engine and chassis numbers are the same, which increases desirability and value.

If your engine is the original, I wouldn't be changing it. I'd sell the crate engine to pay for rebuilding it.

There is indeed but this doesn't apply to Mustangs luckily. My build plate shows the car is originally Poppy Red with black interior and 3 speed auto, so about as original as it's going to get.

Had it been a Shelby 350 then having the original engine would certainly add significant value.

[Alex L]

Gilhooligan said:

Mega car. I always thought the ‘65 and ‘66 fastbacks were the best shape of mustang.

Thanks, in my eyes they're the prettiest as they're smaller than the later cars which are probably more desirable as a result of Bullitt.

[Alex L]

I've just been to see the engine and speak to Richard at RW Racing about how long it's likely to take to fit and whether there's any other worthwhile jobs to do while it's out.

Firstly I expected the engine to be in a wooden box, but that's probably from watching too much Fast and Loud and guess it needs added protection when coming via air freight.

Looks like the existing engine will be removed in a couple of weeks time and the ancillaries transferred onto the new long block on a stand. That way the engine can be transported to set up the carbs, dyno it and bed it in.

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[Alex L]

I got the car back today with the new engine fitted, just got to run it in for 500 miles or so.

Richard also repaired the heater, found a crack in the manifold, re-wired the gauges so they now work, replaced the alternator, replaced the wheel bearings and half shaft and sorted another rattling baffle in the exhaust.

Last weekend I spent a couple of hours going through the file of service history which spans two owners in the UK since 2004 and the last owner in American who appears to still live in the same house in California who had the car since 1983. There's even a speeding ticket in the file from 1997 in Sacramento.

Even when you think you buy a sorted car, there's still plenty of things to resolve to bring it up to a decent standard.

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Untitled by Alex L, on Flickr

[Alex L]

SlimJim16v said:

Nice.
Maybe a K&N filter for added induction roar? I know I'd take the lid off the current one to see what it'd sound like.

I’ll get a video from inside the cabin at some point, not sure I want it any louder as there’s no sound deadening.

[Alex L]

Thought it was about time I did a small update. I don't have a huge amount to add thought. I have zero mechanical skills so can't try wax lyrical about improvements I've made to the car over the summer, however I can share what I've had done courtesy of RW Racing. The next addition are some 4 pot Willwood discs, however it transpires that at some point in its life the uprights have been changed to those from a 1967/68 car. As such these are still not fitted despite ordering them in January as additional parts have had to be ordered and machined.

At least it's nice and clean underneath

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There's also been a number of failures since the new engine went in, these include the alternator, the water pump and the distributor. All of which have now been replaced.

I've also totted up some of the invoices which may help people thinking about getting into classic ownership, if like me don't have the ability or inclination to do any work themselves. Some of the work has only been undertaken quite recently so I'm yet to receive the invoice but will edit this post as and when.

1) New crate long block engine - £2,192.67
2) Removal of old engine and ancillaries and fitting new engine - £2,671.18
3) Alternator - £100
4) Water pump - tbc
5) MSD distributor - tbc
6) Willwood front discs - pending

I've done fewer miles this year than I was hoping, a combination of poor summer weather and the car not running quite how I'd like it. The idle was quite rough and the fuel economy horrendous, hence ditching the existing dizzy and upgrading to the MSD. Since then my mpg has improved to around 16 to the gallon and it'll get taken away over the winter to be set up on a rolling road.

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I also managed to spot a milestone on the odo

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I was going to take it for a blast last weekend as there's probably not many days left before the roads start to get salted. Unfortunately I was greeted by a small red puddle beneath the car in the Carcoon, which I'm told will either be power steering or gearbox oil. At some point soon RW Racing will come and investigate and order the relevant parts to get this fixed.

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