A lady called me to help her move her late husbands Mustang. It's been parked in her garage and last started in 1987. It's a 1965 Coupe with a manual transmission and a 260v8. It looks complete overall and has boxes of parts inside. It's had some type of respray it's it's past but it's not a very good one with overspray etc but would probably present well from a few feet away.
I'm attaching some pictures. It has rust on the undercarriage and some seems to be coming out on the roof seams.
I'm not looking for a project but would like to lead this lady in the right direction and help her as I can. Do we pull it out, hose it down - take some pics and sell it? Do we go further and drain gas, clean carb and get it started ? What value could it have in its current state and what can we get with a little bit of further work? Any advice appreciated as I know nothing of these cars.
Sad side note: she told us she sent her other car to the scrapyard since her son hit a curb with it and she didn't think we would be interested in that one. We asked what it was - a 92 Miata. Ughhh that one hurt.
Where is the car located?
In reply to NOT A TA :
It's in College Station TX
With a 260 and a generator, it's a fairly early 64 1/2 . Ive seen much worse in New England asking for 4-5K.
I could be talked into coming and getting it for the right price. I first worked on these in college for other people when I had a 5.0. This would make a great resto family weekend cruiser.
Uggh. My first car basically only mine was ice blue metallic.
It's an interesting one as a resto will out pace the cost to buy a better example. Is the engine free and spinning and is there cowl rot? If the engine spins and no cowl rot the 6K range. If either of those, well a bit less.
A ten foot driver is mid to high teens.
Top photo shows hole in fuel tank. Sell as is.
The fuel tank should be the near thing in that shot (should be stupid easy to replace and very available). I am not sure what that rusty box like structure is next to the leaf spring is. Muffler?
Where early Mustang mufflers mounted like that?
Here in California I would think a 65 ,mustang V8 stick is a pretty rare thing ,
it really matters how much rust is in it ,
how are the bottom of the doors and trunk lid edge ?
and how good are the rust repair panels you can buy? We saw how poor they were for the Austin Henley the other guy is restoring.
Opti
Dork
8/24/22 2:01 p.m.
The early mustangs are all over the place. To most its in the needs a full resto camp. To a few it's in the "complete and all one color, I can get it running and start enjoying it quickly, while I work on it" camp.
Based on the way it presents In pictures id pay a premium for that over other resto projects, even not running. In fact I'd probably prefer it that way.
I like that it's an early car, I like the 260 and the manual helps.
Hosing it off and vacuuming it out may help, a jump box or battery to see if everything is ate up or works may be good info to give or show potential buyers.
I'd list it for 8-10 potentially higher but I haven't looked at prices in 6 or 8 months.
Around me, north tx, I see running and driving 6s in otherwise worse condition selling for 8-10.
Also they all have rust, if it's not terrible knowledgeable buyers will be prepared. The cowl, roof and driprails are supposed to suck to fix. Almost everyone I looked at needed floors and had problems by the gas tank. Even the nice shiny drivers had rusty cowls,, but that one looks decent around the cowl brace, so that's a good sign but the cowl is probably still leaking. If you dump some water into the cowl vent and it leaks into the floorboards the terrible air vent design in the cowl is rusty. If it doesn't leak into the cab, absolutely put that in the add.
The Miata was probably worth more.
That is a 64 1/2 Mustang, which are pretty darn rare. Looks like a 3 speed manual with an aftermarket AC. The thing with the rust hole in the first picture is the muffler, not the fuel tank, the top of which also serves as the floor of the trunk. The fuel tank is the thing in the upper right corner of that picture. Judging by the rustyness of the leaf springs it's probably rusty all over. If has always lived in TX I wouldn't expect that. The early cars ar going for pretty decent money these days after restoration. Whether you could ever recover the cost of restoration is hard to say, but it looks like most of the original bits and pieces are there, the external sheet metal looks pretty straight, could be a good launching pad fo a nice car.
You can see what other '64 cars have brought over the years HERE.
The condition of the frame rails and the torque boxes are critical to the value of those.
Ok I trailered the car home and will get the boxes out and vacuum out the interior. Should I wash it or leave it dusty to sell it? Figure next owner would want to start it themselves no?
Not bad. I'd definitely wash and vacuum it before selling.
A few easy fixes could really increase the value. Just buy a new fuel tank, they aren't that expensive. The overspray on the radiator support isnt a big deal, all the engine bays were satin black so fairly easy to rectify. The correct shade of black comes in a spray can from any Mustang vendor.
If you do any paint on the engine '64 1/2 and '65s V8s had a black block with gold valve covers not Ford blue.
My main concern would be how much bondo their is in the bottoms of the doors and quarters, as well as the condition of the cowl.
If those are all good the rest is easy. A running car would be worth a lot more...
Also, forgot to note that radiator looks a lot like the upgraded 4 row unit I had in my '65 years ago. Most cars originally had a 2 row that was pretty marginal, especially in hot climates.
Last post. Maybe take a close up shot of the roof rust and the underside rust? Could give us a better idea of cosmetic or structural.