Need Help, Advice, Information - Possible purchase of '65 Mustang

Essentially I'm looking for

Then get a V8. The I6 Stangs are substantially different than the V8's. Four-lug wheels, a different rear axle, more light weight front suspension, smaller radiator. It's not worth it to change a coupe over when there are so many V8 coupes. A fastback or a vert, maybe, if the price was right. $6000 would be the right price for one of these, but it's too high for a coupe.

Um, ick.

Most of these things are pretty easy, cheap bolt on type stuff. The "new quarters" and 2-year old paint are revealing, suggesting a heavy rust problem. If the quarters rusted out to the point of needing replacement, the cowl vents, floor pans, doors (both corners, inside and out), and front fenders (just ahead of door opening) are suspect too. Yes, check those door corners and front fenders with a magnet. It's very common just to slap on some bondo and paint it. The rust will come bubbling up two or three years later. (Funny he's selling on the two year anniversary of the repaint, huh?)

About the cowl vents, the hood just in front of the windshield is a louvered panel, right? That panel is welded on with many dozen spot welds. Beneath that panel, on each side, is a "hat," a cylinder of sheet metal intended to admit air into the car and keep water out. Ford did not paint these cylinders. So they rust out around the bottom, admitting the water. The water runs down into the floor pans, where your feet go, and soaks the carpet and sits there. The floor pans rust out. The way to check for rusted hats is to run water into the cowl vents and check for water inside. You will see it, or at least feel it in the carpet. You can also check visually under the car, at the point where the floor pan goes from horizontal to a diagonal slope to join the firewall. It's called the Flintstone car condition, you know, how Fred and Barney had to propel their cars by sticking their feet through the floorboards and running on the pavement.

This requires the removal of the windshield and backlight (although some claim to have installed a headliner without removing the glass).

Available repro, cheap, although the repros never fit as well as OE.

Ditto.

He probably means the OE frame around the vent wing window is pitted.

Who cares? A 6 cyl will NEVER be a collectors item.

offering

$3000. What a guy has in a car has NOTHING to do with it's value to you as a buyer on the national market. I've got $8000 in my '70 Cougar; it's worth $4000 on a good day. I've got $21000 in my '65 Mustang; it's worth $12000 if I'm lucky. Boo hoo for me, but that's the way it is in the old car hobby.

A bad one.

Get the Ford shop manual, the four Osbourne assembly manuals, and a 200 piece Craftsman tool set.

I just sold a '65 I6 coupe for 6000. It had fresh paint and interior and only needed a complete detail of the engine compartment. Everything was either restored rebuilt or new. Pretty and clean but not a show car. I think the one you're looking at is too much unless it looks almost new inside and out. Just my opinion. Look at some other mustangs for sale in your area and compare.

Hey guys,

Thanks for the feedback. Based on your comments I decided against the purchase. However, in looking for advice a friend of a friend has spotted a 65' Coupe in Virginia that has a 289 and a 3speed manual for a little over $3K.

Supposedly it needs some work, but with a 289 out of the box and (hopefully) minimal work needed, it might be worth it. Anything I should look out for?

Thanks again,

Willis

Rust, rust, and rust. Any car driven in the snow has a potential because of salt on the roads and also cars near the ocean. If you're looking at buying a car from a far, buy a california car.