What The Hell Happened To This Forum?

Very nice '65! My dentist has an '65 coupe basket case that he and his (at the time) teenage son and he started to restore then abandoned. He's been making suggestions that he's getting rid of it and would like to see it finished. I'd love to have it just because it would be a fun project now that my son is old enough to help but my wife's not so sure. Speaking of which, I don't know when it happened but at some point I quit working on our daily drivers. I'll do some stuff, like changing out the wheel bearing on the '02 Mustang, but for the other stuff, I take it to a local garage that's treated us well. I don't even change oil anymore. But last weekend was beautiful and I took my '68 to work Saturday and Sunday. I noticed it seemed to be running a touch "off" plus it had yet another header collector leak. So yesterday after work, I went to the local parts store, got a pair of collector gaskets and a set of plugs and went to work. Since we bought our house a couple years ago, I really haven't done anything to the '68 except clean it. I actually forgot how much fun it is to work on the car. It only took an hour or so to do everything, but as I was under there I remembered all the stuff I need to do in the next couple months. Today I'm ordering the radiator I've been putting off, then I'm swapping on rear discs, then a new throw-out bearing because it's making noise. To me that's half the fun of owning an older car.
 
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I think it went downhill after a site layout change hid the Tech section. You had to know Tech is there and navigate to it. After that there was no real difference (tech is posted in talk) and we have 2 subs splitting the chats. VMF also got off it's high horse about modding and a lot of traffic went over there. And lastlly there are just less 1st gen Mustangs.
 
Forums in general are losing traffic to FaceBook and the like and it's been noticeable for that last several years.

Apparently I joined Sept 8, 2000. I can't remember if i still had my '65 notchback at the time or had the '89 GT by then. Don't have either anymore, but got my '68 in April of 2004 and 13 years is the longest I've owned a car.

It's been neglected since I got a '72 Pinto about three years ago, but not forgotten. Honestly, I think the Pinto gets more attention.
 
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I know what you mean about the Pinto getting more attention. My '68 is my baby and it's always clean and I personally love it. A couple years ago, my daily driver was an '88 GT. It had a decent (50 footer) black paint job on it, Cobra R wheels and looked nice when clean. But it was rarely spotless and I never liked the way it sat, but since it already rode terribly I was afraid to drop it. But it seemed like every time I stopped for gas I would get people hovering around it like it was the Holy Grail, mostly young girls. I had a young kid follow me for miles in Palo Alto, Ca just to check it out. By comparison, my '68 goes largely ignored although guys at work seem to like it when I drive it to work.
 
When I stop for gas, I almost always get the comment "I/someone I knew had a Pinto when I was a kid/in high school/college/the past!" Then I tell them mine is actually fast and what's been done to it and their eyes glaze over.

There aren't any gear heads where I work. A few that like cars, but none that know anything about 'em. :shrug: There was a guy that had a mostly restored '66 notchback, but he didn't do any work himself. :doh: (on the car or on the job.)
And lastlly there are just less 1st gen Mustangs.

They've also climbed out of the casual hotrodder's price range. Good for those of us that have one, I suppose.
 
The story of '67 actually starts over 20 years ago with a '66.

I was in high school when my dad bought my mom a '66 coupe. It was rusted out in the usual places and the engine was blowing smoke. It was a 289 with the 3 speed. Dad had the rust cut out and new metal welded in and had it repainted the original color. The original spare was in it, with the trunk mat, cover, and tools. I would often steal it when they went out of town. My buddy a '67 fastback and another friend had a '67 Camaro. I ended up joining the Army and leaving for a bit. While I was gone my folks sold the '66 to my sister and brother-in-law. He had the engine bored .030 over and a mild cam put in it. I begged him to sell it to me. After a couple of years he finally did. It was the first car my wife and I owned after we got married in 1997. I drove it from Montana to Alabama. My wife and I were both there for schools that the Army sent us too. I was supposed to go back to Ft. Bragg when I was done. So, commuting to Alabama to see my wife while she finished her course wasn't a big deal.

Plans changed. The Army sent me to Germany instead. I had the '66 shipped over to join me. That was in early 1998. Then I got deployed to Kosovo, right after Christmas 1999. I put the car in storage while I was gone. A retired E-6 saw it in storage and tracked me down while I was deployed. He begged me to sell it to him. When I got back from Kosovo in 2000, I sold it to him. I cried. I paid off bills. I cried some more. My wife and I agreed that we would get another one when the time was right.

April 2016, a new girl was hired on in my office. She had a '67...almost the same color as my '66. She was not good at driving a 3 speed so the 'Stang sat a lot. However, her husband had the car repainted and was slowly restoring it. I told her I wanted it. She wouldn't sell. Then she said her husband wanted to sell, then he would change his mind. That lasted a year. Early April of this year he sent me text and offered it to me first, saying it would go in an auction if I said no. A few days earlier we had gotten the official test results saying my wife did not have cancer. Our 20th anniversary is this year. It took all of 2 minutes to decide we would buy it. It is our 20th anniversary/ celebration that my wife does not have cancer gift to ourselves.

Life is too short to not buy that dream car when you have the chance.
 
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Great story! Now how about some pics?
Thank you. image7.jpeg image7.jpeg image6.jpeg image5.jpeg image3.jpeg image1.jpeg
 
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They've also climbed out of the casual hotrodder's price range. Good for those of us that have one, I suppose.

My personal take on this is that Mustangs (yes even fastbacks) are still well within most hot rodder's budget. In this day of $60,000 diesel pickups and $30,000 pony cars, none of which hold their value, I think a $20,000 fastback Mustang is a bargain, especially considering it increases in value every year. At least that's how I sold the idea to my wife...
 
I am. I didn't change anything between pics. They don't always post that way.

One thing changed: How you held the camera. The first shot was taken with the camera held in "landscape" (sideways with the button on the right), while the others were take with the camera held straight up and down.

If that's not the case then I'd suggest that the orientation sensor in your phone has failed.
 
I posted this same answer in other thread on the board here, but it's just the way my life has worked out. I am spending most of my time trying to finish my 69 Cougar, drive my 68 at least a little bit, and get the 71 mustang ready to sell. I need the money now to help cover the cost of my wife moving from NY back here to Co.
I used to visit this site much more often, but I had my own life to deal with, as is so common among we classic car folk. I retired from the military in October of 12, ended up spending a couple years in NY, and finally was able to get a job back out west, where everything I own sat in storage, and suffered some damage, from the non climate controlled facility. The cars suffered obvious sun damage, and the indoor storage stuff also suffered!! Anyway, I was able to buy a home, with a garage, and so now I am unpacking, and trying to remember where I was at, in the process, of my Cougar's and the mustang restoration process!
 
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I posted this same answer in other thread on the board here, but it's just the way my life has worked out. I am spending most of my time trying to finish my 69 Cougar, drive my 68 at least a little bit, and get the 71 mustang ready to sell. I need the money now to help cover the cost of my wife moving from NY back here to Co.
I used to visit this site much more often, but I had my own life to deal with, as is so common among we classic car folk. I retired from the military in October of 12, ended up spending a couple years in NY, and finally was able to get a job back out west, where everything I own sat in storage, and suffered some damage, from the non climate controlled facility. The cars suffered obvious sun damage, and the indoor storage stuff also suffered!! Anyway, I was able to buy a home, with a garage, and so now I am unpacking, and trying to remember where I was at, in the process, of my Cougar's and the mustang restoration process!


Glad you are finally getting settled. I recall your screen name from a while back. I retired in 13', moved, returned to school and exhausted my GI Bill. We have a house but no garage to speak of. :cry:

I'm waiting for one of my neighbors to burn down his abandoned house so I can get the lot from the state, cheap. :D

Welcome back!... I smell project threads coming. :O_o:

Do you miss having the hobby shop??? :fuss:
 
Woodsnake, I think you bought one of the shifters I made a while back. I still get occasional requests for those, but my present situation doesn't really allow it. Like lots of people on here I changed jobs, changed states, etc and cars got put on the back burner while life happened. Glad to see your name on here again!
 
I poke my head in occasionally but I haven't been able to do any work on my 67 in quite some time. I moved to Washington and left my 67 back at my parents house. I still try to jump in and help people out with tech questions occasionally. The forum certainly does seem slower than it used to.

The last thing I did with any of my Mustangs is pay to have the AC system in my 03 Mach 1 diagnosed. I have a bad compressor so I ordered a new one along with a new liquid line and a new receiver drier. I will be replacing said parts this coming weekend, hopefully.
 
Let's see now....

I bought a '66 2+2 in 1985 and loved the heck out of it. That was fun. Sold it in '88 and bought a Mazda pickup. That was not fun.

Bought a '90 LX 5.0 in 1990 and had a rip roaring time. Had that one repo'd in '93 then got a Sentra. That was not fun.

Now I am on fire to get a '69 Sportsroof and build it up into a clone of either a B9 or a Mach 1, with updated suspension. Now THAT's gonna be fun!!!