Ford T-5, German Export Mustang Content

Jessica and I went to Spring Carlisle over the weekend and picked up used bumpers and some other small parts we needed for the T5. We also May have a lead on the Fender badges for it. Have to see how that pans out. these are fairly hard to find pieces. I spent some time yesterday in the garage making it look like a car again. We hope to have it put together enough to drive/enjoy it this summer before w tear it apart in the fall for its first round of restoration. (probably floors and engine/bay) We also took it for a short drive. The origianl 289 feels strong, and it doesn't drive too bad. Once the Camaro gets picked up I can order an exhaust system for it. I imagine the neighbors dont appreciate the song of an open exhaust as much as I do...

We got the grill yesterday, not sure I am digging the Shelby style emblem. I may have to start looking for a factory horse and corral. ( though I've never been a big fan of the '66 grill, Ive always liked the '65 treatment much more.

What a Difference a month makes!

Nice! Looking like progress. How rough is the smurf paint job? is it save able with a wet sand and buff?

Looking good! I'm kind of surprised that you don't like the grill. I put '66 grills on both of my '65s. You'll never find a '65 grill that's completely straight.

'66 grills are also easy to make beautiful. I sandblasted mine, tightened up the original rivets, shot it with semi gloss black lacquer and then hit the edges of the grill bars with a sanding block to bring it back to bare aluminum. I'll try to find my old photos and scan them.

Is a T5 more valuable than a comparable Mustang?

84FSP said: How rough is the smurf paint job? is it save able with a wet sand and buff?

The paint isn't horrible. I'm sure a good wash and wax would do it wonders. The body is not in the greatest shape. the car looks good in pictures and from 20'. That's good enough for this summer. By next summer I expect it to be multi-color due to body work/panel replacment.

Thanks Woody! I think its more the horse and corral on the 66. Its like a blob floating in the grill opening. Would love to see some pics when you get around to it.

Enyar said: Is a T5 more valuable than a comparable Mustang?

I have heard that the T5 is about a 10-15% add to a comparable Mustang's value.

Woody wrote: ... You'll never find a '65 grill that's completely straight...

Unless he finds mine.

On my way home from work Friday I received a message from a friend in Germany. He is a Fellow T5 owner and an member of the First Mustang Club of Germany. They did a nice little write up on our car in their Club Magazine. I should be getting a couple copies via Snail Mail in the next couple weeks. Looking forward to translating it and reading it. Maybe we will catch a break and someone in the club will remember the car and we could learn a little more of its history. Either way, its cool to see your car in print. :-)

I never knew that these existed. Wonder how the stock one would be classed in autocross?

Im digging the driving resto.

Dusterbd13, Ive wondered that myself. This is taken from a Friends T5 web site:

"The transition of the name of the car from Mustang to T-5 for the German market is something that has been well documented, and I do not want to take away from the writings of others. However, one thing that is not usually emphasized is how these cars were indeed special. After the initial road test of the early 1965 T-5’s, the German press tore the cars apart for their ability to handle, while lauding them for their power. To reinvigorate the image of the T-5 for the German market, the export division of FoMoCo made numerous and inconsistent upgrades to the vehicles. The handling was improved on many T-5’s through the use of the Export brace, cowl reinforcement bar, shock tower reinforcements, stiffer springs, heavier sway bars, and GT steering boxes. Essentially, some of the T-5’s exported to Germany had bodies that structurally emulated the Shelby GT-350’s while allowing for coupes, convertibles, and lower horse power cars to reap the benefits of a more rigid body. Before any T-5 was permitted to leave the plant, the export division employees pulled the car into a special export inspection area where each car was hand blue printed, ensuring that each car was built with a strict adherence to the engineering specifications. Cars which were built out of tolerance were usually rebuilt by hand to ensure the car was a top of the line vehicle."

I guess its something I will have to look into as I am pretty sure she will see some autocross duty in her future. :-)

More can be found at Trustinrust

I got a few rare "during the week" hours in the shop yesterday and made a little progress on the T5. One of its issues was that it could not be started by the key switch. To start it you needed to turn the key to on, then get out and jump the starter solenoid to the battery. I found that the P.O. must have replaced the ignition switch and rewired it wrong. Once I found all of the wires and plugged them back where they were supposed to be it fired right up. A good wiring diagram helps, but the amount of black wire spliced into the harness makes it hard to follow the diagram sometimes. I also got to clean the air cleaner... now the rest of them motor looks even worse... :-)

Old "Starter Switch"

Hey, that's how it supposed to work.

I can almost see myself

Next weekend, its gets an exhaust!

I had the day off today, so I decided to bring the T5 home and Clean the interior. 1 full container of Lysol, Febreze, and Windex, 2 hours and 3 dead mice later, its not so horrible. All of my hard work was rewarded though, I found this hiding under the rear seat. I almost pitched it, as it was all black and tarnished.. I thought it was a penny.

With as many times as I believe the interior has been redone in the car I was amazed to find anything German left in it. I guess she decided to keep something from her trip overseas after all. I have a plan to keep her special coin with her.

Very cool!

After the Cleaning Friday, we washed the T5 and picked the Kids up from school with it. They grinned from ear to ear the whole way home. Got a chance yesterday to not only fab up the side exhaust, but also to teach Jessica to weld. Which is a good thing, because we will probably be replacing a lot of metal.. :-)

Blue tinted soap at the wash or is the paint washing off?

Looks like you have a little welding ahead of ya, but it will be worth it :)

Blue Soap.. freaked me out at first.. Planning on taking it slow and working front to back. We still hope that we can do it in sections and have a drivable car over the summers. Have to see how that pans out..

What was the original color?

The original color was silver blue.

Jessica HATES the Grabber Blue, and isn't thrilled with the silver blue. I think it will eventually end up a dark green.

yep, you should be able to do it in pieces and keep it on the road. Nice thing is they make new panels for everything on that car, should make it a bit easier.

Green is a nice choice, as you probably know, darker colors will be less forgiving of any flaws in the body work but its a great choice and a departure from the normal red.

I'm excited to start digging in to the body, but terrified at the same time. Once I get started it will be fine. This car is not going anywhere, so I have all the time in the world to get it finished. :-)

Got up early yesterday and headed to the garage to do a little work. I got the oil changed ( needed to replace the leaking drain plug ), reset the point gap ( I plan to convert to electronic ) and reinstalled the tachometer that was just sitting lose on the dash, and wasn't hooked up. The only thing holding it in place were the wires running through the defroster grill. I re-mounted it on the steering column. and wired it up. I prefer the steering column because it can be clamped on and no holes (damage) need to be drilled in the dash pad. Possibly off to a car show today. Its beautiful out... Time to drive, fall will come to soon and it will be time to take the T5 apart for phase 1 of her rebuild...

Before

After

Looking good but man does that tach stick out like a sore thumb. Is that a permanent thing or just temporary?

On my '65 Fastback, I mounted a small Mooneyes tach down low, hanging under the center of the dash, just ahead of the shifter. There is an existing hole where the bottom edge of the dash where it rolls under. It's not an ideal location for power shifts, but you don't really need a tach with an engine like this, and this tach in this location looked sort of period correct.

Woody: I love that tach. I may need to get one for my car. I love period looking pieces!

Chiodos: Its not a sore thumby as it looks (or maybe it is). I like the look, but when the interior gets redone it will get replaced with one of these...

And in other news.... We drove the T5 almost all weekend. I say almost, because on the way home from the grocery story yesterday it stopped running about 1/2 mile from the house. :-( Jessica ended up towing it the rest of the way home with a trucker chain and my Jeep. Bought a replacement set of points, threw them in and she fired right up. At least she made it back to the shop under her own power. Sometime this week (tomorrow I hope) I need to pull the plugs, set their gap, set the points with a gauge, re-time it and check dwell. Cant wait to replace the points with something electronic.. :-)