Little Blue Coupe

[franklinair]

Marty;

Don't know if I can offer advice in 'flipping' cars, as that has never been my intent. To me that would mean doing it with a profit motive in mind, which is not what I do. My pleasure in this hobby is the actual rebuilding/refurbishment of Mustangs, not necessarily the driving aspect. I've lost count of how many '68's I've done over the years (since 1973+/-). GT/CS's only came to my attention in 2007 when I bought one through an estate sale.

When I do find a viable candidate for restoring I just save all my receipts so I know my total expenditures/cost. If & when I sell it, I only attempt to recoup my costs (not counting labor- that's the hobby aspect). I consider it as a hobby that pays for itself. No profit or financial gain intended. (Just mental therapy.):smile:
I am loath to take on a project FOR someone, as then it becomes a job instead of a hobby.

As far as your project goes, I would only suggest being aware of current market values versus costs- and hopefully make a profit.

Neil

 

[Ruppstang]

Marty;

Don't know if I can offer advice in 'flipping' cars, as that has never been my intent. To me that would mean doing it with a profit motive in mind, which is not what I do. My pleasure in this hobby is the actual rebuilding/refurbishment of Mustangs, not necessarily the driving aspect. I've lost count of how many '68's I've done over the years (since 1973+/-). GT/CS's only came to my attention in 2007 when I bought one through an estate sale.

When I do find a viable candidate for restoring I just save all my receipts so I know my total expenditures/cost. If & when I sell it, I only attempt to recoup my costs (not counting labor- that's the hobby aspect). I consider it as a hobby that pays for itself. No profit or financial gain intended. (Just mental therapy.):smile:
I am loath to take on a project FOR someone, as then it becomes a job instead of a hobby.

As far as your project goes, I would only suggest being aware of current market values versus costs- and hopefully make a profit.

Neil

Thanks Neil It would be nice to get a little for my time but mainly do not wish to loose the dollars invested in it. What I really gain from each car I do is the opportunity to learn some more concours details. If I can not at least get My investment I'll drive the good out of it. What is tough is there are so many fun things I could do with it but worry about getting too much in it. Rob does not make it any easier with all his cool ideas!
I have always admired your work and hope some day I can retire and do the same.
Marty

 

[Ruppstang]

Little Blue Coupe Restoration part 1
Last month I introduced you to my latest project the 67 night mist blue coupe. Shortly after bringing it home and giving it a thorough once over and finding small amounts of rust and a paint job that could not be saved I decided to disassemble it to a shell. As the parts were removed they were tagged and stored in totes. Proper marking and organized storage is key to a successful restoration. When the body and paint work is being done you can work through the totes, cleaning and restoring each part. Doing that will greatly speed the reassembly process.
After disassembly was complete the body was placed on a body cart for transportation to Allen Moore’s body shop in Crete NE. Once at Allen’s shop we move the body to a rotisserie. My first task was scrubbing every inch of the undercarriage. I started with a spray engine degreaser then used Dawn dish soap and Scotch bright pads. The original plan was to spray the undercarriage with a black truck bed liner. The more I scrubbed the more original red oxide and over spray appeared. At the end of the day 90% of the red oxide was still there with the overspray and sealers.



There still was some surface rust that needed to be dealt with. I just could not cover up all of that originality with bed inner so the plan changed to use a clear POR 15. The Paint Over Rust product converts the rust and protects from future rust. My son Craig used sponge brushes to apply the POR 15 and it took 2 hours to cover the undercarriage. It was glosser that the original red oxide but will be great to clean and detail. The best part is that the originality was preserved.

Some rust was found in the LH quarter flare and the bottom of the front fenders, spots where you usually find rust. Allen repaired the quarter and sanded off the poor paint job then applied a primer filler.

I worked on repairing the rusted fenders. Here is what the damage looked like. I am not a professional welder, just do what I can. Here is the repair process that I used.

I marked off the damaged area to be removed and then fitted a repair patch.

After the patch fits it is important to make stitch weld to hold the patch in place and not to warp the metal from excessive heat.

I then finish welding the rest by moving around, again to control the heat and not warp the metal. The welds are carefully ground flat.



You can see a poor fiberglass repair from the past. These type of repairs never seem to last. The brace on the back was rusted so a repair part was purchased and sectioned using the same welding procedure as before.

That is all for this month. I am looking for a 67 4 spd shifter and some 15 X 7 mag wheels . Let me know if you spot some.
Marty Rupp
I had all of the pictures imbedded in a word document but could not copy and past it here so posted the picture as attachments.

 

[robert campbell]

Marty,
Great stuff! I have never had a car on a rotisserie before. Sure makes under carriage cleaning easy. Both my cars have had the slow wipe down underneath on the lift. I finally can work on them without getting much in the way of grease. I hope the purchaser can equate this quality to the price of the car. Few cars out there (Neil excluded) have been taken down and all issues addressed. Great you have pictures as they will equate to a better selling price to the right buyer.

Are you looking for a used 4 Ford 4 speed shifter? I may have a friend that has one. He has tons of parts and is very reasonable. I can call him? He may also have some wheels.

Rob

 

[Ruppstang]

Yes Rob I am looking for a used Ford Shifter. Just the stalk, it does not need to be show quality but should not need to be rechromed. I would like 15X7 wheels if possible but a good price may change my mind. Thanks for checking.

 

[Ruppstang]

I found some used Torque Thrust Ds that cam off a race car so they never saw bad weather and luckily not a wreaked either. Now I have to decide on tires. I am partial toward BF Goodrich Radial TAs. As far as size I am thinking of 60R15 215 on the front and 60R15 235 on the back because the back rims are 8.5 inches wide.
Do you think I will have any rub issues with stock suspension?
I am also undecided whether to have black walls out or the raised white letters.
All of this is so much easier on a concours car, not so many decisions.
Help Rob!

 

[Ruppstang]

Here is the May article and progress.

 

[p51]

I found some used Torque Thrust Ds...
... I am also undecided whether to have black walls out or the raised white letters.

I am usually a big fan of raised white letters. However with the Torque Thrust Ds you have (I *really* like those wheels), I think black walls are the way to go especially if the car is red with black striping or is forest green - I think I've may have watched Bullitt too many times :wink:
If you stick with the blue color I'm not sure which would look better. Time to do some photo-shopping what-ifs...

If you go black walls you'll also have a larger selection of tires. IMO Firehawk Indy 500's are a better tire than the BFG Radials. The BFG's look slightly more like the stock tires (with letters out) but from personal experience they do not stick as well in wet conditions (I've tried both).

[Update]
Oh, although you didn't ask, if you decide to repaint the car a different color... IMO..
(1) Red with black striping, blackwalls
(2) Black with gold striping (but not sure how the wheels would look with this color combo... white letter out on this combo??)
(3) Forest Green with white striping or no striping, blackwalls

 

[Ruppstang]

I am usually a big fan of raised white letters. However with the Torque Thrust Ds you have (I *really* like those wheels), I think black walls are the way to go especially if the car is red with black striping or is forest green - I think I've may have watched Bullitt too many times :wink:
If you stick with the blue color I'm not sure which would look better. Time to do some photo-shopping what-ifs...

If you go black walls you'll also have a larger selection of tires. IMO Firehawk Indy 500's are a better tire than the BFG Radials. The BFG's look slightly more like the stock tires (with letters out) but from personal experience they do not stick as well in wet conditions (I've tried both).

[Update]
Oh, although you didn't ask, if you decide to repaint the car a different color... IMO..
(1) Red with black striping, blackwalls
(2) Black with gold striping (but not sure how the wheels would look with this color combo... white letter out on this combo??)
(3) Forest Green with white striping or no striping, blackwalls

Thanks for the tip on the Firehawks. I am a fan of the simple look of the blackwall too. No question about it, it will be nightmist blue. The body shop started painting this week and the color is awesome. I love the look of the dark colors and the optional chrome trim parts.

 

[Ruppstang]

She is back from paint and starting to look like a car again.
Marty

 

[stangfan]

Nice!! :grin:

 

[slimt]

I found some used Torque Thrust Ds that cam off a race car so they never saw bad weather and luckily not a wreaked either. Now I have to decide on tires. I am partial toward BF Goodrich Radial TAs. As far as size I am thinking of 60R15 215 on the front and 60R15 235 on the back because the back rims are 8.5 inches wide.
Do you think I will have any rub issues with stock suspension?
I am also undecided whether to have black walls out or the raised white letters.
All of this is so much easier on a concours car, not so many decisions.
Help Rob!

Okay.. Nice wheels... now with 15" tires going on a 14" tire car.. anything have to be changed for the speedo ?

Nice Job on the Mustang.. looks real nice..

 

[Ruppstang]

Okay.. Nice wheels... now with 15" tires going on a 14" tire car.. anything have to be changed for the speedo ?

Nice Job on the Mustang.. looks real nice..

Thanks I am excited about the Night Mist Blue color, I have never restored a dark blue Mustang. The chrome trim looks great on it.
Yes wit 15 inch wheels you must change the speedometer drive gear. Only takes five minutes.

 

[Mosesatm]

As long as you remember there are right-hand-drive and left-hand-drive gears! I think Tim's odometer in his black car is still running backwards (he bought it that way).

There are also free speedometer apps that can be used to test the accuracy of speedometers, just to make sure.

 

[Ruppstang]

This is a 4spd so it enters the transmission on the passenger side so it uses a LH rotation gear. 3spds, C4 and C6 all enter on the drivers side and use a RH gear.
Putting in the wrong gear would only chew up the teeth.

 

[CougarCJ]

Marty, is that the Dagenham transmission or Top Loader 4 speed?

 

[Ruppstang]

Scott it is a RUG-E top loader

 

[Ruppstang]

The 67 blue coupe project got it first wash yesterday. It cleaned up pretty well. I have just a short list of fixes and adjustments and she will be ready to sell. Boy is it fun to drive with that 4speed!

Marty.

 

[robert campbell]

Marty,
She be pur-dee!! I love dark blue and 4 speeds!!

Rob