Sun Visors

My first project was to fix the sun visors. It seemed easy. Hah! One thing I've learned--when it comes to my car, it is never as easy as it looks.

The visors themselves were in great shape, but the little plastic rods that kept them snapped into place by the dome light had broken off. Fortunately reproduction rods are available through SSC Enterprises (my go-to shop for reproduction Mustang II parts--owner Scott is a great guy who has really helped me out with parts and advice).

Here's where I ran into problems: after so many years of baking in the sun, the plastic had melted inside the visor sleeve so it was not so simple as slipping the visors off and installing new rods. The rods were stuck in there! I tried to remove them with needle nose pliers but they didn't budge and I couldn't get a grip on them with larger pliers without ripping the vinyl on the visors. I got my solution on Mustang II Net. A member suggested that I drill a small hole in the end of the broken plastic rod, insert a screw, and pull on that with pliers. It worked! After that I was able to replace both rods--without damaging anything! :) This was a huge boost to my confidence & I felt like I could move on to more involved projects.

After fixing my visors I bought a paper visor sleeve (seen above) that is a reproduction of the one that came from the factory that shows how to start the car in cold and warm weather, and how to use the seatbelts.

Around this time, I formulated my goal for the car. Lack of funds meant that I couldn't turn my car into a show car, so I decided to just make it as presentable as I could and enjoy driving it. I decided to use reproduction and original parts and stick to options that were available through Ford at the time, so keeping a stock look. My car was missing some parts, so I also decided that I would try and find these parts so that my car would be complete.

With that goal in mind, and a small budget, I moved on to the next project: the radio.

A Heavy Dose of Reality

The first thing I did was clean my new Mustang from top to bottom. I saw little areas of rust, especially around the trunk area. The window weatherstripping was dry rotted and the carpet was old and ripped. The exterior paint was chipped in places. The sun visors were broken and the steering wheel was cracked. There were parts missing. Worse, the engine kept stalling on me. Not good.

A condition of me getting the car was that it would not become a money pit, which meant that I had to get creative, do a lot of work myself, and that this would be a long term project.

Fortunately, my dad and brother are excellent mechanics. Plus I had other Mustang II owners to help me. I would have been lost without Mustang II Net. So many people there helped me, not only with advice and tutorials, but with hard-to-find parts and encouragement.

Obviously, my first order of business was just getting the engine to run better so I could drive the car without worrying about being stranded on the side of the road.

A lot of experts will say to work on the motor first, then the body, then the interior. The thinking goes that if your motor is in top shape, you can justify expensive body work and paint. But I had no clue how to fix my car's engine, so in between sessions with my dad and brother to work on the motor, I began tackling little projects that I knew I could do myself, starting with the trunk and interior.

18 years later...

Here's my Mustang II being delivered a week before Thanksgiving 2004. It was shipped all the way from Arizona to Virginia. Here's what I know about it's history: It was originally sold in South Florida before going to Texas and then Arizona. I have nearly all service records from the first owner--an elderly lady--and the third and fourth owners (but not the second...I learned more about them later).

If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't buy a car sight unseen on eBay. When it rolled off the carrier I was disappointed that it had some rust bubbling up under the paint and the motor kept stalling. That was when I realized that I was really in over my head.

Actually, it could have been worse. A LOT worse. The red and white interior, which I adored, was in great shape. The tires were good, there weren't any rust holes, and it did run. And it only had 68,927 miles on the odometer--really low for a nearly 30 year old car.

So yeah, I had some work ahead of me, but the car wasn't a basket case.

This new Mustang II wasn't as fast as my old one (it has a V6 engine instead of a V8) and it needed a lot of TLC, but I'll never forget how excited I was when the car carrier come down the street and I saw my new/old Mustang for the first time. The carrier caused quite a commotion on the street with the neighbors coming out to see it. One woman said, "I didn't know you could get a car delivered right to your front door!"

I Didn't Choose my II, It Chose Me

As far back as I remember I've loved Ford Mustangs, especially the classic ones.

My first car was a 1967 coupe. I took my driver's test in it--try parallel parking with no power steering! The car cost $575 (paid for in $25 weekly installments) and it was so rusted a friend put his foot through the floorboard.

On July 9, 1985, I bought this 1977 Mustang coupe with a 302 V8 for $900. Compared to the 67, it was a major upgrade. The interior smelled new (not like an attic), rust particles did not fall to the ground when I opened the door, and it was FAST. It even had a tape deck! I was in love.

I loved cruising around in my Mustang II. At the time, I had no idea that some Mustang "purists" didn't consider Mustang IIs to be real Mustangs. Actually, when I was away at college, my brother raced my 77 (without my knowledge!) and was only beaten once! Boys would come up to me at convenience stores and ask to see under the hood. I thought my 77 was the coolest Mustang ever!

Sadly, my 77 was damaged in an accident, so I traded it in for a 1979 4-cylinder Mustang, a move I regretted later. I've often thought about that 77 and wish I knew what happened to it. The VIN is 7F02F198840. If anyone sees it, let me know!