A 68 and a Noob

[chopmgw]

Was directed from another site to this one by a fellow member.
Thought Id post up my project and and would love to hear advice and suggestions.
The story so far is that i have always loved the classic mustangs but until this stage in my life ,I have never been able to afford one.
Would have loved to buy one all restored but cant afford one.
Decided to buy a project car and do it up myself.
I have no experience in doing up cars, hence the title of this thread.
I have only a basic understanding of mechanics and no paint/body restoration knowledge so forgive me if i ask a lot of dumb questions.
I bought a 68 coupe.
Car was imported and has been sitting around a dealers yard for the past 6 mths.
Car is californian and looks to be all original panels. The body looks to be pretty straight.
It has a supposedly rebuilt 289 v8 and the transmission is gleaming silver so I suspect that has been out and reconditioned as well. I was told the brakes have also been "done". Whatever that means.
The car is running and everything seems to be working but as I have only ever driven it up and down the drive, Im not sure what its really like.



There didnt look to be much rust in it.
That was until I got the vinyl roof off and i was a little taken back by what I found.
There was a lot of rust under the vinyl to and it resembled swiss cheese in a couple of spots.

After removing the drip rail mouldings, I also found this


The rest of the car is pretty good.
The floor pans






Im currently stripping the car while i save money for the roof repairs.
I have been obsessed with this car since i got it. I spend all my spare time in the mancave working on her.
I know it will take years to restore it but Im itchin to take her for a drive.
I dont wanna wait ! Feel like a kid again.
Looking forward to getting some good advice and tips from the rest of u guys.

[hybrid]

Welcome, and good luck!
you've got a decent base there.. I have seen a lot worse!

[ozbilt]

The roof will be the most difficult part as no one makes the drip rails or roof skin.

A few here would remember the last one I did. To fix it needs the roof skin to come completely off, new drip rails made & roof skin patched & refitted.

Another way is a good used roof, expensive here if you can get one. I will be in the US later this month so can look for a donor roof if you wish.

Have sent you a PM with the link to some pics.

[eri67]

Good to see you here mate, as I said elsewhere Kerry is the man with this kind of stuff.

[shane427]

Welcome aboard mate, looks like a nice project to learn on and turn into something nice. There is plenty of wise friendly people here, so ask away

[Nuts]

See you found your way here ok. Welcome. This is a new site but there's a lot of wise info here. Hope that floor section helps you out.

Darryl

[Kosa]

Welcome mate,
hope this place is as good to you as it is to the rest of us. remember no question is a "Dumb" question, well not when mustangs are involved! Hybrid is correct, u seem to have a decent base to work on, lets hope u dont find any nasties...
cheers

[scott66stang]

Welcome. As said all above looks like you have a good base , those floors look real clean and the paint looks thin and original so not hiding any nasties. Ok you have a roof problem and Kerry is the man for advise there but if thats all you find i think you are doing well. Look forward to updates and askl as many Dumb questions as you need because you wont be the only one who would be learning the answers.

[chopmgw]

OK.
Thanks for the encouragement and feed back but here is the first noob question.
How do u get this trim off ?

And are the fender badges pullout like the boot letters or do they have some kind of nut/clip behind them ?

Was also a bit disappointed to find out this week, that here in South Aussie,
to register it as a LHD, I would need to keep it absolutely stock standard , as it left the factory. That includes original paint options for 68.
That also means no brake, steering ,engine,exhaust.custom paint mods etc.
I mean, if I pay 10-15k for a paint job, I wanna choose the colour.
Not those 68 guys.
Im also thinking of not going back to the vinyl roof.
Im already thinking I might have to go down the RHD path.
Even if this means another 5-8k on the price.
Apparently I can do anything to a RHD vehicle if it passes the standard requirements.
I currently drive an AU2 XR8 stock standard which I love but I crave a hotrod.
Pros and cons for both ?
Somebody slap me and tell me this is not a midlife crisis
Anybody in the know, please enlighten me.

[hybrid]

That bottom trim if it's the same as a 66 just clips on.

At each end there is normally a special clip that will have a nut on the back, accessed through each inner guard. Once you undo those, you should just be able to pull it off.

The fender badges will have nuts on them I think.

[nassi]

Agree with hybrid except for the fender bades, i think you will find they are pressed in like your trunk ones were.
cheers

[Nuts]

On the 67/8's there's one nut only at the very front. All the other are large plastic clips that will require some jiggling. Don't worry if you damage they as they are inexpensive.

[hybrid]

Yep... its been a while, but I'm sure when I took mine off there was one nut on each badge.

[Shaunp]

OK.
Thanks for the encouragement and feed back but here is the first noob question.
How do u get this trim off ?

And are the fender badges pullout like the boot letters or do they have some kind of nut/clip behind them ?

Was also a bit disappointed to find out this week, that here in South Aussie,
to register it as a LHD, I would need to keep it absolutely stock standard , as it left the factory. That includes original paint options for 68.
That also means no brake, steering ,engine,exhaust.custom paint mods etc.
I mean, if I pay 10-15k for a paint job, I wanna choose the colour.
Not those 68 guys.
Im also thinking of not going back to the vinyl roof.
Im already thinking I might have to go down the RHD path.
Even if this means another 5-8k on the price.
Apparently I can do anything to a RHD vehicle if it passes the standard requirements.
I currently drive an AU2 XR8 stock standard which I love but I crave a hotrod.
Pros and cons for both ?
Somebody slap me and tell me this is not a midlife crisis
Anybody in the know, please enlighten me.

Mate I have converted my 67 which is a similar car to yours, but has air. Or you could move to Qld. If you do a search on RHD conversion ,and my user name on the club site you will find the details. Like i said I have to make some drip rails for my car so I can make 2 setts

[Shaunp]

Here you go I did it for you
http://mustang.org.au/forum/viewthread.php?tid=4261