Between the 82 Econoline, the 79 CJ5, and the Champcar, the last thing Mrs Logdog and I needed was to bring another project home.
So what did we do? We went down to the DC suburbs and bought the 1976 Mustang II Brake_L8 posted last week. We didn't even KNOW we wanted a Mustang II until we saw the ad. It quickly earned the nickname Baby Blue. Its 1 better than a regular Mustang, how could we NOT buy it?
It was every bit as good as it looked in the pictures so we loaded up and left sunny Virginia-
and 4.5 hours later we were back in the Pennsylvania winter wasteland-
Unfortunately my wife lost her garage spot, but we got it unloaded and stashed inside.
So far the reactions from people have fallen into 2 categories. "What is wrong with you?" and "That's Awesome!!!"
Its a 2.3 liter (Google tells me factory rated at 88 Horsepower) automatic. So I *SHOULD* be able to handle it when leaving Cars & Coffee and not take out any crowds. We currently have no intentions of upgrading anything. The plan is to keep it the time capsule it is. Which is hard because its a Mustang and its a law you remove the stock exhaust and put on a "BorlaMaster Noise X-Treme Beast All Smoke/No Fire" system
I want to drain the gas tank and check it for rust, replace fluids, belts /hoses/filters, rebuild the carb, inspect the brakes, and anything else that pops up. Im keeping the 13 inch wheels and will replace the tires with some fresher ones (these are pre-date codes). I also want to give it a deep cleaning, inside and out so if anybody has recommendations for vinyl cleaners and conditioners, I'm all ears. The front air dam has clearly been run into a few curbs over the years, its taped together and in the trunk. I will see if I can repair it but they do appear to be available aftermarket.
Obviously I will be replacing all my T-shirts with ones that have Mustangs with eagles and flags on them, I will be revving the engine at any Camaro I see, and will get one of those Calvin peeing on a Bowtie stickers. I will also only refer to it as "My 'stang" when I am slamming White Claws in the Sheetz parking lot on Saturday night.
It will take a backseat as I wrap up the bodywork on the van, but the goal is to have it ready for the Rust Belt Ramble Lemons Rally in late July.