Hello! Brand new '67 owners!

texansis

New Member
Jul 11, 2006
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HI folks,
Got the bug :) My second mustang (we had a '69 together yrs ago) and hubby's 6th (he was a bad boy before he met me, lol). Been married 19yrs.
Matt and I just bought a Brittany Blue special order '67 notchback, completely original with 74K original miles. Even the original owners manual, original maintenance card, and first 2 oil change receipts, plus a few other goodies in the glove box. Was tickled to find those. Been garage kept (rather, sat) for the better part of 13yrs, probably longer since there is not a spec of rust deeper than a surface smear. I'm a little horrified at the price tag for a 40yr old car, but hubby assures me it was a steal. Number "A" 289 engine, automatic, w/pwr steering. Obviously I've been doing some reading, lol, I tend to obsess.
She's got a couple of problems, overheating (naturally), and the idler arm is in rotten shape (guessing we need to replace front end components). Heater has an after market water valve (no biggie) and the a/c doesn't work at the moment (thrilled it even has a/c in texas). We've already replaced the vac advance (someone messed up the old one), spark plugs and wires, and gas float. While she doens't quite purr right now, it is a near thing until she heats up. Oh and hoses need replacing.
Body/trim in pretty good shape. Only minor dings from door bumps, chipped edges and stuff like that. Interior is amazing, vinyl is in great shape, mostly just dirty and discolored from age. Steering wheel is cracked though.
Prioritizing the restore is a bit of a nightmare, so any tips would be completely welcome. Also, "what" to replace, rebuild, etc seems tricky. Two guys told us not to paint, restore or touch her except to get her running smoothly. Other folks ask us what we're going to redo first. It's a dilema. We're trying to decide how far apart we want to take her.
I have one major question. Does the distributor have a number and would it be better to replace the housing or the whole thing with an oem part (one tab holding the vac adv is broken)?

Hugs, Dawn & Matt (plus 17yr old boy, 3yr old girl, 2 cats and 6 fish)
 
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Welcome to the forum.

If you still have the original distributor it should have a name (e.g. Autolite) and casting number (C60E or C70E) on the housing. A forty-year-old distributor probably has worn bushings/shaft and uses points which have to be adjusted or replaced.

Today most people have upgraded to an electronic distributor (MSD, Mallory, Pertronix, Accel, etc.). But, if you want to stick to the concourse route, they still remanufacture the old point style one ($50.00-100.00 for some Mustang catalogs). If you feel lucky, you can even try a junkyard for a similar distributor with the parts you need.