1968 Introductions - And bringing one back from the dead

Hi everyone,

Today I joined the ranks of California Special owners. I have always loved the GT/CS since I first laid eyes on one. I come from a long line of Mustang owners. This is my first vintage Mustang, however I did own a 35th Anniversary Edition GT that I bought new.

The CS was found high up in the foothills of California. The car may have been kept in a garage since about 1993 or so. It has a ton of potential, but it's in pretty rough shape right now.

It was originally purchased in Sunnyvale, so I like to think that it's coming full circle and kind of coming back home since I live in San Jose.

The bad:
I need to get the engine, transmission, read end rebuilt. All of this is under progress.

The paint is done, gone, kaput. It's been worn down or something, and metal is exposed on the hood. It has a good deal of the original Highland Green paint and the white striping.

It's missing the original grille, as this one has the Mustang affixed to it and the screw holes are in the grille, so it's obviously not correct. Also, it has the stock 1968 Mustang rims on it. It may have come with those.


The good:
The body is in amazing shape. There isn't a single spot of rust anywhere on the car. Not a single bubble. Top to bottom...it's just wow! The only damage to the body is that it has a single silver dollar sized dent in the rear fender.

The all original interior is the best you could possibly hope for from a survivor car, as is the black vinyl top (which might not be original, no way to tell).

It has factory installed AC, Power Steering, and Power Front Disc Brakes. It has a standard 289, with a 2v Carb. 2:79 gearing..etc.



My intent is to bring it back to it's former glory one step at a time. I also intend to keep it as close to the original as possible.

I really look forward to getting to know y'all and sharing my progress on the car as well as pick your brain on how to do things right! It has so much potential and I want it to shine like it did in it's former life!

Sorry for the low res pics. I will post better ones once the car gets the drive train completed and I get back down to San Jose.

You did well finding the GTCS. Lots of good people and info here. Enjoy the resto. Love the Highland Green cars.

Welcome

Congrats on your new car. Is this the one from Paradise, Ca. formerly owned by an pilot at Beale AFB. Could you send me the VIN and door Data Plate info for the Registry? The Previous owner was suppossed to send it to me but never did. Very nice car.

Great looking car and I concur that you did well in finding a very nice unrestored GT/CS. Post some pics of the grille so we can see what might be missing, does it have the light brackets? I really like the colors on your car, the green and white really stands out!! The good news as you stated is all the rare CS parts seem to be there. Looking forward to see more pictures of the car in the future.

Doug

Welcome to the fold.

Steve

somethingspecial said:

Congrats on your new car. Is this the one from Paradise, Ca. formerly owned by an pilot at Beale AFB. Could you send me the VIN and door Data Plate info for the Registry? The Previous owner was suppossed to send it to me but never did. Very nice car.

Click to expand...

Hi Mike,

This is exactly that car. I sent you an email with the Data Plate. I also input what I know about the car to be factual on the website here.

There is a conflict with someone who previously put the information on here and the story I was told about the original owner. I may never know...

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome. Here is the best pic I currently have of the front grill...



As you can see it has a Pony on the grill when it shouldn't. Also, the grill obviously was meant to have the Pony on it...so it tells me that it's not original...not sure what happened...but there it is. Also, it has the Lucas fog lamps.

I hope this can help.

welcome

very nice car... and welcome

tell me

tell me did you guys notice that he had the Convenience Control Panel...look at the interior pic and look at the white console.....very cool and rare

Ah heck, I bet she will buff right up!!! May have to lean on it a bit on the hood and tops of the fenders!! What a great color combo!!! Looks like an easy restore to a fun show and shine car!

Rob

What is the "convenience control panel?"

And nice to meet you Cool68

If the grille was changed it's possible the hood was also replaced. The best way to tell is to open it and look at the holes that were drilled for the hood locks. The underside holes should be huge.

Manchu,
It is the little lights in the front face of the console. You have air conditioning and the lights would normally be above the radio where your cent ducts are. I have this option in my car. But it is not air cond.

It is a door ajar light, a seat belt light, a low fuel flight and an e-brake light.
Very cool! You have a special fuel sending unit and tow little switches in your door latches. Lots of fun to get to work if they don't.... The door switches are way fun to get to.... Not....

Rob

Thanks Rob! Given how long the car has been sitting, I am sure not much is still going to work. I need to get it back on the road first and then start my laundry list of things to fix.

Congratulations!!

I decided to research the person on the original pink slip that I received at the address on it. I found a number online for who I thought was the owner’s daughter.

I called and a gentleman answered, I explained who I was and why I was calling and he said, “I am the original owner of the car. I bought it off the lot in 1968 from Sunnyvale Ford. I had just returned from overseas and used the car to drive from Santa Clara to Edwards AFB.”

He went on to tell me more about the history of the car. He said that he loved it and it was “his dream car.” He noted that it had been in an accident in the front, which explains why the paint is the way it is, and the original grill had been changed to an incorrect one. The car was always garaged and he ultimately sold the car due to a lack of being able to keep it garaged, so he sought out someone who would continue to keep it garaged. This explains why the car is in such beautiful shape with no rust.

We also discussed the driver side arm rest. He claimed that it was due to Ford not providing enough strength and that he had already replaced it once before. I asked about it having the convenience panel and he remembered that it did have it.

The original top of the car was parchment colored vinyl, and not black. This also cleared up another question I had about the car, as I didn’t understand why you would have a Highland Green car, with Parchment interior and a black top? I am actually really stoked about this. As I really don’t care for vinyl tops at all, if I was going to have one, I would much rather have a white one. Also, the hubcabs, which are the standard 1968 Mustang issue, are original to the car. I plan on updating these to the 68 GT rims.

Another thing he noted, that even though the guy I purchased the car from had dismantled the engine, it was to rebuild it due to the car having 109000 miles on it and not because it blew up or threw a rod. So that’s very, very encouraging.

I am so happy to know the original history of the car. I let the original owner know that I am going to keep him posted on the car and when it gets road-worthy and mean, I will bring it by for him to see and go for a ride.

I couldn’t be more excited about this car than I am now.

That is very fortunate that you found the original owner Manchu. You should ask him if you can copy any pictures he might have of the car.

He said that he had one, and will try and dig it up for me.

How cool to find and talk to the original owner. Most of them are long gone.

Welcome. Very impressive interior!