Progress Thread Vin Number issues :(

Hi Everyone
I live in New Zealand and I've just Bought a 1969 Mustang project car, it was the subject of a very messy divorce 10 years ago and came with no paperwork, engine or transmission, it has got a very good body tho, and it was really cheap :)

Now here's the problem, I have found the original stamped vin on the inner Guard under the front drivers Fender, its 9R01F10#### which decodes as a 69 Mustang built in San Jose Hardtop 302,
now heres the problem its a Fastback with Green Grande interior trim that looks standard, the body has never been welded and is all original, apart from paint.

I'm seriously confused?

A friend of mine says it looks like a special order car, that an employee has ordered and fitted with extras, like the Mach 1 hood scoop and side scoops, and power steering which look factory. The vin is definitely factory.

Can anyone help???
Many thanks
Ben
 
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The valid VIN for a 1969 is stamped into a stainless steel plate on the driver's side of the dashboard visible through the windshield.

Don't believe the special order employee stories. They just are not true.
 
is the door tag there ? look at the color code single letter such as w ,that would be wimbledon white for instance ,or is it two like w 5 ,the 5 is for the blacked out hood.
could be a mach 1 or even a G T they were both available with a 2 v 302. i have a 69 fast back GT with a 302 2 v that was special orderd with the under hood ram air and mach 1 hood scoop the color code was j 5 for gulfstream aqua with a black out hood
the hood is factory punched out for functional ram air.
 
Hi there is no door tag as the car was repainted all over and the tags were removed, and not replaced! The car was undergoing a full resto just prior to the divorce.
The car was stripped to a bare shell, repainted and had an interior kit put in, it had the interior put back in and the body was just being re assembled, then the divorce stopped proceedings and the car was quickly thrown together and moved out of the workshop and hidden for a couple of years, after the divorce had been finalised and the Mustang was awarded to the wife, the husband sold the motor and box, destroyed the paperwork and dumped the car back at the wifes.

Fast forward 10 years, my company sent me around to pick up an old Mitsibushi Gallant and I spotted the Mustang in the yard, jokingly I said I'd be interested in buying the Mustang as well (I'm a scrap dealer!) and the lady said "great, I'm sick of the thing and its time to move on!" She told me the back story but doesn't really know too much about cars, so its a bit patchy, and I went around with a pocket full of cash the next day and towed it to my shed.

Its a really rust free car and the shell has not been welded or had any replacement panels, there's no engine and gearbox and I'm guessing there might be a few missing nuts and bolts, but its a really good start to a project, it needs a little work on the body, minor rust, but nothing through!
mustang 001.JPG
and a repaint.

It looks as it had a functional hood scoop and factory cut outs, I'm not too sure what they look like tho as its my first classic Mustang and it has the wiring for turn signals in the hood.
A couple of more knowledgeable restorers have had a look for me and have said its a really weird spec. 69-70 Mustangs are really rare over here and very expensive.

I'm looking forward to getting stuck in and getting it back on the road, I've included a couple of pictures.
Any help appreciated :)
mustang 004.JPG
mustang 003.JPG
mustang 005.JPG

p.s sorry for the poor pics, I just snapped off a couple when I picked it up
 
actually, now that i look at it further it appears the only twisters were built in 1970. so i guess it could just be a repop sticker. the marti report will tell you everything about it.
 
very nice, marti report will not help you .that is a san jose car ,marti report only covers east coast cars .the hood apears to have the ram air cut out although the center of the opening is cut out. i see it has the dash plack below the clock ,what does it say? the interior is standard black interior in my car but a lot of GTs were plain interior the deluxe was optional. yours could very well be a GT .same as my car it is a 2 v 302 and does not have the reinforcement plates in the rear floors because it was not a duel exhaust car. here is a couple pics of my hood showing what the cut out should look like.it must be a fairly rare option ,i have only seen two of them .the second was on a 428 GT fast back i owned several years ago . i was offerd $1,200. for my hood but i turned it down. the air cleaner was the cougar type under hood ram air with vacume flapper plate lid and rubber seal to the bottom of the hood. looks like you have a very nice start there.
IMG_2576.JPG
IMG_2577.JPG
IMG_2578.JPG
 
Hi The Marti report has not arrived yet, but it says that it will give me the full spec for a San Jose car, I think they might have just started being able to do that though?
The hood does appear to have exactly the same cut out but with the center also cut out, its got the same bonnet pin holes too, maybe its original, maybe not, I'll take some better photo's soon and you can see what you think.
It says Grande on the dash plaque, and I have no idea if its original or not, its wood grain tho, the rest of the interior is in really good shape, but the door cards are standard I guess as the deluxe cards had wood grain and were a full fit not the short ones like mine.
I'm quite confused as to the fact that my car has 01 (hardtop)stamped into the vin, not 02 (fastback) any idea why this could have happened? I've had a few people over to take a look and everyone says its original and its definitely an original fastback, mistake on the line perhaps?
Thanks for helping :)
 
The Grande cars were not fastbacks, so something changed. The Marti report will be interesting to see, as it looks like the car has been through several modifications.

Be cool if it turns out to be a real Twister though!:nice:
 
I would like to see the apron you are reading the vin number off of. You say it does not apear to have been welded. My guess is that someone had a 69 Grande coupe they were using as a doner car to put parts into this car. I bet that VIN you gave us will come back as a Grande Coupe that donated its apron to this fastback. Have you had a chance to look for the stainless steel VIN plate that should be visible through the windshield on the passenger side at the back of the dash? If it matches, you may have a 69 Grande that has had a sportsroof grafted to it. If you disassemble the interior in the back, we may be able to confirm or rule that possability out.
 
Hi I'm going to guess that its not a real Twister, sadly :( I think the sticker may have been added after it was painted, and maybe the dash too!
I guess the car has quite a story behind it, pity I don't have any of the history.
I'm dying to see the Marti report too, just a couple of days to go!

I had a the same thought about the car starting life as a Hardtop Grande, but it does not appear to have been altered structually all the welds seem factory to me and the other people who have checked it out, I 'll strip it out and add some better photo's and maybe one of you guys will see something!
I'll be down at my shop this weekend so I'll check out the dash tag then.
 
Aha, at last! I've been down my workshop and after a lot of stripping I've got some news!
The dash had been recovered in green vinyl so I stripped that off and pulled out a load of interior and stripped back the inner guard (apron?) paint and have discovered the following.
1. the door data tag (in the astray!)
2. the dash tag vin
3. the front apron/inner guard has been replaced (well) due to accident damage

So my car is a 1969 Sportsroof built in Deerborn with a 250 6 cyl and a 3 speed manual in New lime with a Ivy gold kiwi vinyl standard interior and it was sold in Memphis.
not quite the 302 boss I was hoping for :) But man does it have a good shell virtually zero rust.
 
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hey that's great, finding the door tag was very lucky. when i bought my 67 fast back, Johnnys car. i found the door tag the motor tag the rearend tag and carb. tag all wired together with the 390 motor mounts and the trans. mount burried in the bottom of the quarters .
 
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Yeah, yeah, yeah :)
It was a really good job, they finished the welds in body sealer on the inside of the fender, I had to dig it out after stripping the guards off, then it was obvious ;)
Dammit I was hoping I had something a bit special, however i still bought the cheapest 69 Mustang over here, I only Paid $3000 for it. Its got an awesome shell.
 
when you completely restore a car its best to remove every thing. especialy if you sand blast. if the tags were still on the body blasting would destroy them. you still got a great deal, the body looks like a nice one .$3000 is a good price ,even here in the states. now get buisy and put that poor car back together:rlaugh:
 
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