This car was borrowed from my best friend, Terry Rann, and used as our wedding car over 12 years ago (July 24th, 1999), and I purchased it from him in Christmas of 2007. Sadly, our friend Terry passed away in July of 2008 after losing his battle with cancer. We miss Terry very much and I think of him every time I take this car out for a drive.
The car has the original matching number 390 cubic inch 4V "S" code engine (rebuilt and warmed over) with a 4 speed. The car was rebuilt and repainted before Terry purchased it in 1997, and although they were missing, he never bothered to re-install the GT/CS stripes. For whatever reason he seemed to prefer to keep the car in "stealth mode" rather than restore it back to stock with the side stripes. I re-installed the stripe kit immediately, and opted to put on a white stripe kit for a more striking contrast, although we're not certain what colour the original stripes were.
This car was originally sold out here on the Canadian West Coast in Vancouver, B.C., (DSO code B7, Western Canada) and it has managed to remain in this area to date. We ordered a "Marti" report to confirm all of the production details and it's original factory supplied options, which is posted on the Marti report thread here on the forum. Our Marti report confirms that our GT/CS was supplied as an actual "GT" equipment model with an "S" code 390 4V engine and a four speed, with a set of factory optional headrests (the only set installed on black standard bucket seats in the 27 cars produced in our colour of Candy Apple Red), a set of optional deluxe seat belts, a driver's side remote control mirror, and a lower console.
We'd really like to thank all of the folks from this website that have been so helpfull by supplying us with valuable GT/CS reference info.
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We installed a new "Painless" wiring harness to eliminate some of the nasty little wiring 'gremlins" that we had been experiencing related to a 40 year old car with an original harness that someone had "sliced and diced". We installed a new vintage looking stereo system with an MP3 adaptor to use an iPod rather than take up the space needed for a CD changer, and it has been an excellent choice. We have a huge selection of music available without sacrificing the space needed for a number of CD's and a disc unit. I had a set of 14" B/F Goodrich T/A's mounted on a restored set of 5 factory GT chrome wheels, replacing a set of non stock mags with 15" tire that were causing some fender clearance issues.
Thanks to our website member Ron (ClubPro), we've replaced a number of parts on this car, including a replacement wood rimmed Cobra steering wheel, a set of Cobra Le Mans aluminum valve covers, some new tail light lenses, and some custom floor mats in black with red GT/CS logos, which really help to finish off the interior. Thanks again Ron!
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One of our local newspapers run a regular feature article called "Reader's Rides" in the automotive section, and I submitted some photos and info this GT/CS. It was published and this website was included as a link at the end of the article. Neat!
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Apparently all the work we've done over the last year and a half has been worthwhile. Recently, when I drove up to the pumps at a local Chevron station to gas up (they are the only local source of 94 octane super premium for this thirsty big block), the clerk at the counter inside turned on the intercom and loudly stated: "Mister, that is a very NICE old Mustang!"
The car recently received some more needed upgrades. We installed the missing dash clock after it was rebuilt with a quartz movement kit, we installed the new pair of Cobra Le Mans valve covers to match up with the oval Cobra air cleaner, and the Cobra wood rimmed steering wheel kit. We'll also replaced most of the front end components such as lower A arms, tie rod ends, ball joints, shocks, etc.
I've added a few new photos showing the latest additions.
We barely managed to finish the latest round of improvements in time to drive up to Kamloops for their annual "Hot Nites in Kamloops" show and shine and Poker Run. We got the car running late Wednesday night and headed out early Thursday morning to drive up to Kamloops, returning Sunday evening. The show was a blast and we received many great compliments on the car.
The weekend after Kamloops my brother Harry and I took our GT/CS to the "Blethering Place Collector Car Show" in Oak Bay. The weather was blistering hot, but we had a great time and received a lot of wonderful compliments on the car. They even parked us next to a class act ... a white 1956 Rolls Royce sedan!
We'll keep you posted as to the next round of clean up and repair work on the car ...
Woo Hoo! We've now received over 8000 "hits" on our gallery photos!
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Well, we made the calendar this year thanks to the efforts of our awesomefriend, mechanic, and part time photographer, Chris McCabe.
This year's major restoration and repair work will include a new set of custom Tri Y headers fabricated by Stan at FPA in Puyallup, Washington, which will allow us to re-install the missing power steering. While we're at it we're planning to upgrade the cooling system with a new radiator and shroud to overcome the overheating problems we experienced last summer.
At that point we should be able to just drive, enjoy, and maintain the car for several years to come. (... and get back to finishing my 65 Mustang Fastback project too!)
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Well, we got too busy this year and didn't get time to do the upgrades we had wanted to do on the car, but we've attended several car shows during our bout of good weather. We even managed to pull a "Best in Show" out of the hat at one of our local events!
Well, the Mustang is sitting in the garage waiting out the rainy spring weather. Hope it clears up soon so that I can justify putting it back on the road for the summer! :cool:
Wow! As of today (January 18th, 2013) we just hit 12,000 hits on our photo gallery pictures! Never ceases to amaze me how many folks come and look at the pictures. Appropriate timing too, since we just got the permits for your brand new 2 car garage yesterday and my contractor buddy came this morning and drove in a few measuring stakes and chain sawed down our old cherry tree that would have been smack in the middle of the new driveway! A banner day all around!
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