I bought the '67 Mustang as a really sunburnt and bog standard C code in 1998. In love with the classic Mustang shape since watching Steve McQueen, buying this car was the fulfilment of a childhood dream. Transforming a tired classic into a fair dinkum street machine is the culmination of that dream.
After driving her as a left hooker for a few months, it became obvious that the wheel had to go the right side for safety's sake. So in she went for a mirror conversion, had disc brakes put on the front to make it stop and a set of extractors and twin exhaust to release the V8 rumble. The engine was stuffed, so it was rebuilt as a warmed over 289 by Jack Jones in Newcastle. The interior was refurbished but we left the rubbish Yank enamel paint job alone, which meant we were not paranoid about where the pony was parked. Moving to Queensland's Sunshine Coast, the car was the perfect family driver, frequently full of sandy feet and boogie boards as the kids grew up.
Finally the time came to give the forty-something a face lift and a little nip 'n tuck. The body was blasted and stripped down, to reveal just how poorly she was treated back in the US. Kilos of bog were removed and the body twisted straight. Several prangs had been glossed over, these were skillfully beaten out and primed. The saving grace was the lack of rust, in fact the inner panels had a factory perfect gal finish, as if rain had never traversed the crevices beneath the guards. To give a more sporty look, we fitted a fibreglass Shelby bonnett with flashy aluminium lock pins. The colour was done old school, several coats of clear over a gorgeous red base. To add a little glitz, a layer of gold pearlescent was laid between the clear, over the red. The result is a high gloss colour with stunning gold dust highlights wherever the sun strikes.
Once we started work on the refurb, I was possessed with the urge to give it some go to match the show. After weeks of research, I sourced a motor from Cobra Engines in New Jersey back in USA. The motor is a balanced and blueprinted 347 stroker with roller cam, forged internals and all Edelbrock go gear from the camshaft, alloy heads, right up to the carby. They claim 450hp at the flywheel, delivering it all pre-run in, crated with empty boxes, receipts and paperwork ready to drop into the engine bay.
The old 2.79 diff gave way to a 9" with a 3.55 ratio, the trusty C4 dropped in favour of a beefed up AOD box, the overdrive dropping the revs to just 2000 at 110kph.
We smoothed the engine bay, hid the wiring, sorted myriad set up problems with the fitting of the new drive train, slammed the body down over the rubber and fitted the RRS power steering rack.
The low street fighter stance was a real problem for the first exhaust guy who built, fixed, adjusted and rebuilt it trying to weave through the chassis. Finally I took it to another shop who trashed the whole job and did it right, another expensive lesson learnt.
The Mustang is a totally new beast, no longer the mild cruiser, but a real bad-ass that cries out "Hey look at me" and "What are you f%$king looking at?" at the same time. Everywhere we drive pedestrians give us the thumbs up and every driver on the street wants to race us. The tyres smoke with ridiculous ease and the note is gob smacking.
We take every opportunity to drive the Mustang on weekends, in good weather of course, believing these cars are built to perform, not hide in garages. My favourite quip to all the guys in their hot holdens that challenge us at the lights is, "Mate, even if you beat me, it's still a Commodore".
Fords forever baby!
