I've just returned from a long trip to find that my wife bought my soon-to-be 18-year-old daughter a '66 mustang for her upcoming birthday. It looks to be in nearly perfect condition from the outside. I'm embarrassed to say, however, that I cannot figure out how to open the hood, and I don't even know what kind of engine it has. Can anyone tell me how to get the damn hood open?
I should be pissed at my wife for not consulting me, but this this a very cool car. My best friend had one just like it in college, and we had the hood open a lot, so I know it's possible. :-)
Let's see -- drum brakes, lap belts only, no air bags, poorly protected gas tank... And you're giving it to your 18-year-old daughter? As a second car, I hope, although I can't imagine what any 18-year-old would need with two cars.
I used to have a '66 Mustang. I got it from my dad, who bought it new, in '74, and I drove it for most of the next 16 years. I loved that car, but I finally had to conclude that it wasn't really safe to be driving my two young sons around in it. I would never consider giving a car with such outdated technology and such primitive safety features to an 18-year-old.
Actually, Dead, you also need some speakers for your iPod.
I test-drove it today. The rumble of the dual-exhaust 289 sent me back into time. The only thing that gave me pause was the brakes. Geez, they suck. Is it just because I'm used to power assist, or are they really that bad?
Drum brakes do suck. The 66s brakes should be upgraded. You can retrofit some Granada front discs onto it yourself or buy one of the available kits on the aftermarket. At the bare minimum the single reservoir master cylinder should be replaced with a dual unit from a 67 or later for piece of mind.
I bought a 65 FB in Tacoma in 1970 (5 yr old in mint $1000). My runnin' partner a few months later was out looking and found a 67FB never sold by the dealer. Dealer got it as a stripped 6 cyl plain jane.... when Dale bought it it has 294 4v, custom paint, headers, dual exhaust, custom wheels and skins, custom sound and custom interior (not just upgraded to pony, but taken to a custome upholstry shop). Total price.. $2700.... and still under factory warrantee because all the upgrades were done by the dealer. Two weeks later Dale had orders to Vietnam... said it was going on blocks until he got back. Those specials deals are out there.... I just never seem to be the one to find them... LOL... The 66FB I sold a few months ago cost (rounded off) $14,000. The 65FB I later bought cost $9000 before restorations (estimate is around $26,000 by the time I have it all done).
But this owner has more luck than Henry Ford! Who wouldn't want to f>>
Hey! Spikey Likes IT!
1965 Ford Mustang fastback 2+2 A Code 289 C4 Trac-Lok Vintage Burgundy w/Black Standard Interior Vintage 40 Wheels 16X8" w/BF Goodrich Comp T/A Radial 225/50ZR16
What does age have to do with that? Technically no one needs more than one car, and many people don't even need a car at all.
Now I've never driven a Mustang, but my first car was a '67 Galaxie 500. That was a very safe car. I got it a couple years ago when I was 17. I drove it for two years then sold it and got a '68 Galaxie 500. That '67 stopped quickly, handled well, and accelerated quickly. It did well enough for what it was and was safe.
The only accident I ever got in with that car was when I was sitting at a red light, completely stopped. I was t-boned by an old hag who claimed that I hit her. Damage to my car was limited to cosmetic damage to the door. Had I been driving some econo-box my passenger likely would have been hurt and the car would have suffered mechanical damage.
So what if it doesn't stop like some fancy modern s**t-box car? It makes no difference. My Galaxie stopped very well, not quite as quickly as your typical modern car, but very well nonetheless. You drive accordingly to what your vehicle is capable of. I never had any trouble. Just like driving any car, you don't overdrive the cars handling or braking and you won't have any trouble.
Lap belts keep you in your seat. A good driver will avoid getting into an accident in the first place, so whiplash won't be an issue from no shoulder belt or head restraint.
The only significant thing a pre-68 Mustang would be down on safety with regards to is a solid steering column. That could hurt you in a high speed head on collision. Mustangs are compact unibody cars, same as the Falcon. They _will_ crumple in high speed impacts just like any compact unibody car. That and the single reservoir brake setup. A dual reservoir setup is a cheap and worthwhile investment. Yeah, it's a long shot it'll ever come in handy, but if one of your rear wheel cylidners ever blows a seal you'll be very happy to have front brakes instead of using just the e-brake.
Power assist does nothing to make the car stop more quickly. If you can't lock the wheels, or the back wheels lock before the front then there is a problem. Otherwise, as long as the pedal is firm and the brakes engage at an appropriate height on the pedal and you have enough 'reserve' pedal travel all is well. The limiting factor in stopping a car is usually the traction of the tires (hence if you can't lock the wheels there is a problem).
Personally I prefer the feel of drum brakes, and they can actually stop a car better than disks. The problem with drums, and why disks were adopted as standard eventually was because drums hold heat in and will fade and become very hard when decelerating rapidly from high speeds. Big drums or drilled/vented drums and the problem is significantly reduced. For example, on my '68 galaxie with 11"x2.5" drums I am good for one emergency stop from ~85 MPH and my brakes are just about done. Even then, slowing that last
10-15 MPH takes a lot of effort. Despite that the car still stops in a good distance for a full-size car weighing about 2 tons. My point is the brakes were good enough in '66 so they are good enough today. Drive accordingly and there is no problem. Leave an appropriate following distance (which most people don't do, but shoudl anyway), and basically just don't overdrive what the car is capable of.
But yes, a dual reservoir master cylinder is worthwhile. I wouldn't say it's something that 'must' be done with any urgency, but is definitely worthwhile for a daily driver. More than likely you'll never have a problem where you lose all hydraulic pressure, but in the event you do, you'll appreciate the dual reservoir system.
This is puzzling to me. I'm a bicyclist, and I know that on a bike if the back wheel locks before the front wheel it's no big deal, but if the front wheel locks first, your face will be on the pavement.
I'm definitely getting the dual reservoir master cylinder. Thanks to this newsgroup for suggesting that.
Finally, can anyone recommend a good vintage Mustang mechanic in the SF Bay Area? I used to be a shade-tree mechanic, years ago, but I don't trust myself to work on the brakes of my daughter's car.
Excellent advice. In addition to the Granada conversion, there are now companies that sell adapter brackets that utilize the original drum spindles and adapt later model Cadillac caliper and discs for cheap. Excellent mod. Larger rear drums can be easily adapted from late model Crown Vics to upgrade the rear to match the upgraded fronts.
In addition to the dual master cylinder, power assist can now be added to the dual conversion.
Make sure that every inch of brake line is replaced, or at least carefully checked.
There is one example of a theory involving "time shells" progressing in size and intensity around a gravitational point from all matter. The more massive the object, the larger and more influential the time shells around it (like an onion). Another offshoot of this theory is that kinetic energy is actually the conversion of stored energy in the atom as it passes through time shells in a gravitational field. John Titor spoke of this when he last visited.
A graceful taunt is worth a thousand insults.
When they needed a system to "debug" various legacy computer programs in 2036, John Titor traveled to 1975. UNIX has a problem in 2038.
-- Lady Chatterly
"None of you soc.men seem to recover gracelully when a class lady like Lady Chatterly smacks you around." -- Daedalus
Drive the Mustang, or any car without ABS. Get moving well and good, and in a safe spot decellerate rapidly, then lock the wheels. You will feel yourself stopping, the g-forces on your body, as the car stops hard. Then when you lock the wheels you will notice a difference, right when the wheels lock you feel the car move forward more quickly. That is to say, your rate of decelleration slows. The limitation of _any_ properly setup brake system is the tires. A tire has the most traction when it is rolling, and the least traction when it sliding. Therefore, a sliding tire (locked wheel) will move faster (decellerate slower) than a non-locked braking wheel.
Think about that for a second. What happens if you front wheels lock first? Well the car will take longer to stop if you keep the wheels locked. What about if the back lcoks first? If the back locks first the rear end of the car will not have the same rate of deceleration as the front, and will be trying to move faster than the front of the car and have little side to side traction. The end result is that the rear end of the car will try to move ahead of the front end of the car, which will manifest itself with the back end sliding out to one side or the other and putting the car into a skid if the driver does not know what he/she is doing.
On a bicycle I believe it's worse to lock the front wheel first because you onyl have to wheels. The front steers and helps keep your stability more than the rear. If you lose side to side traction on the front wheel it amkes the bike very unstable and much ahrder to control than when the back wheel locks.
Good. I drive a '68 Galaxie 500 (first car was a '67 Galaxie 500, a few years ago). In '67 Ford made dual reservoir master cylinders on all their cars standard. My girlfriend wants a '65-'66 Mustang (will be her first car). A friend from work has one he has had sitting in his garage for several years he probably sin't going to do anything with. So we may end up getting that car for her. If that's the case, since it's been sitting for nearly 10 years one of the things I'm going to do to it is to replace all teh wheel cylinders and the master cylinder. While I'm replacing the master cylinder I'll put in a dual reservoir master cylinder and distribution block from a '67 or later model car. Just one of those things that would probably never be a problem, but if I'm in there I'm definitely gonna upgrade it because I don't wanna take any chances with the girl I love over a relatively cheap and easy conversion.
Brake work is pretty easy and straightforward, but if you don't trust your work it's always best to have someone who knows what they are doing do the work. If you don't know for sure about the carb or something it's no big deal, the worst that happens is you won't go, but it gets real bad very quickly when you can't stop! Emergency brakes don't stop cars very quickly at all. Anyhow, I'm from the east coast, so I can't help you with a good mechanic.
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