My three '79 Mustangs - from France

[SuperDuty455]

Hello,

So here are my cars. I was looking for a cheap and easy project last June. At first I wanted a Fiero but these aren't very reliable. Then I looked at random american cars around here and found this ad for three early Fox Mustangs. I've always loved them, not the prettiest but I love their sharp lines. So I immediatly went to look at them and was very pleased. They had been stored indoors since the early 90's, so some work was needed but it was a gamble I was ready to take. And I'm glad I did ! I took delivery two weeks after finalizing the payment. :





The white Ghia hatchback is the best of the bunch, it's has a 2.8L V6 and an auto transmission, and besides some body damage, is very very nice and the interior is pretty much mint :



The copper notchback has a 2.3L L4 with a four speed, it features the original sunroof but it does have quite a bit of rust :



The red notchback had a very nice red interior, but has an aftermarket sunroof. It's also equipped with the base 2.3L L4 and the four speed manual :



The plan is to get them all back on the road, and good looking again. Interiors will be stripped and cleaned, I will paint them and make sure everything works.

[Mack]

What's the white car behind the Mustang in the last picture?

[SuperDuty455]

It's a Matra Murena, there were a couple. One as completely trashed and half burnt, the other one was fine.

So I'll start with the red notch, which is the one that had the most work done to it so far. A few days after getting the cars home, I tried all the engines. The white started right off, the red required a little more effort but it ran after all. The Vaquero wouldn't start, we'll find out later why.





No it is not a Ghia :


First thing, I stripped the interior to clean the filthy seats and carpet and check for rust. And I found some :



Cutting the rot :



Welded the cracks and repair panels :





With seam sealer and covered in Brantho Korrux (excellent product) :





Seats and carpet were pressure washed :



I added some sound deadening material :



Carpet went back in :


I then rebuilt the front brakes and replaced the sway bar links (ignore the paint on the surface of the disc, it was removed afterwards) :


Early '79 models issue revealed after a few months outside...


Then I proceeded into dying the pinkish interior with the proper color. I used an excellent product called Vinylkote by Plastikolor :





And painted the ABS parts with a normal paint :


The end result :






Here she is, lately :



I also freshened up the engine bay by rebuilding the alternator and power steering pump, and painting the engine bay (I still need to do the firewall) :


The carburetor before rebuild :


Yes, these are factory headers ! If someone has a good explanation for these...I have looked at a few belgian 2.3L '79 Mustangs and all had the iron exhaust manifold.

[SuperDuty455]

Next is the white htachback, my favourite of the bunch. I wish it had a manual transmission, but at least the C4 works perfectly. I haven't done much to it so far, mostly because it doesn't need much more than good straight doors and a fresh coat of paint. :













I even found an intact build sheet under the carpet :


I replaced the driver side tail light housing to get rid of the ugly fog light. I also painted the interior with chrome paint, hence why it looks brighter than the other side :

[SuperDuty455]

Last is the Vaquero glow, by far the worst of the lot. She has some rust issues, but nothing that woul lead her straight to the crusher in my opinion since it's mostly cosmetic.
I tried starting it but couldn't get more than a few pops here and there. I replaced the ignition with no improvement. I moved the distributor, no change.
So I took a look at the timing belt...and well in time it wasn't ! The belt didn't look too good either. So I put it back in the right order, gave a try and the timing belt broke...so I haven't tried again since then but I have a new timing kit ready to install.

Lately, in a sorry state :





The quarter panl had been partially replaced in the past, it was probably badly prepped and rust found its way :


Cracks on the floor as well :


Rust and pitting on the roof edge :



Engine :



Oh look, headers again !

[1967coupe]

Not my favorite model but respect for the work being done.

Good luck with the rest

Rene

[Neko-]

Lots of work, but you're definitly being thorough with it. Keep it up!