[gazza75]

Hi to everyone out there. I live in the UK and am pretty new to the whole classic mustang scene and am still to buy my first car. I've joined to try and get as much knowledge and advice and to talk to as many people as possible about what is the best way to approach getting my first mustang. I've wanted one for a long time and am finally getting to a point where i can actually consider seriously looking. One problem is that i am very clueless in terms of mechanics and so don't want to end up with a bad buy. I'd like to be able to have the knowledge to know what i'm looking at and to also be able to learn how to look after my car when i do get one. Obviously living in the UK makes the whole thing that bit more difficult as a good mustang is not that easy to find at a reasonable price but there are some out there. If any of you guys especially anyone from the UK, has any good advice then I love to hear it. Cheers

[Veronica]

Hello. : The big thing on these cars is rust. If you can find a car that is pretty solid, it isn't very hard to get it to run right.

[andrewmp6]

Two things you should find first a mustang car club close to you and a old mechanic that knows American fords well.After that they can help you find a good car good luck and welcome to the forum.

['65 Dream]

Originally Posted by andrewmp6

Two things you should find first a mustang car club close to you and a old mechanic that knows American fords well.After that they can help you find a good car good luck and welcome to the forum.

This is one of the best tips!! plus Veronica is right, look at rust (floorpans/trunk, pretty much everything under the car and pay close attention to the frame rails) we got our car thinking that the rust was very min only to get it home and up on jackstands and discover that the guy had painted using that under body textured stuff! we are going to have to replace atleast a quater pan, so watch out for rust hidden by paint! and of course look to see if there have been major replacements indicating that the car has been in a serious wreck (gaps between body panels should be uniform, glass should have the same stamps, use a cloth to cover a magnet to search for excessive use of body mud/bondo, look under/inside to see if a panel doesn't match the other side indicating that it has been changed) a replaced windshield or fender is one thing, but a replaced windshield and fender and quater panel and door could indicate that the car has been in a major accident.

good luck on your quest!!

[Claybone]

Ok, the best advice i can give you is kinda long. You have to decide why you want a mustang. Do you want a mustang that you can completly restore yourself? Or do you want a mustang that looks good with minimal work so you can look good driving it. For someone with limited mechanical aptitude i suggest socking away a few extra dollars and geting on that someone else has restored already. But if your really serious about restoring it yourself and learning all the tricks of the trade id suggest socking away a few extra bucks and expect a long drawn out process. not trying to scare you off from it but ive seen too many people decide to tackle a huge project with limited experience and give up. and they usually end up disliking the car for it. If you just want it for the looks, buying a restored is the best way to go. If you want to spend the time and learn and really make it "Your" car, then make sure you have patience and that this is really what you want.......Im pretty new to this forum also but one thing i can tell you about it is that these guys (and women) here will not steer you wrong. there are mountains of experience here and they are all willing to help. just ask away.

[andrewmp6]

Most mustang club members are like us on here and since they are there they can help them in person.finding a good older car is like a good woman hard to find but worth all the looking.If you just want a mustang and don't care about the door tag a inline 6 car can be cheaper and if you can switch everything over yourself its not so bad.

[gazza75]

Thanks for the friendly welcome and advice. In answer to the question of why I want one it all stems from first seeing the film Dazed and Confused really! Sounds a bit stupid I know but seeing the old muscle cars in the movie really got me interested. For me it's the thought of having a great looking car that is very individual, not for the fact that I want everyone to look at me but rather for my own pleasure. Plus I just love the awesome growl of the engine! Since then I've seen them at a few club meets and shows and that made me want one even more. I'm not really looking for a full resto project as my mechanical skills are no way up to that but I want to be able to buy a good condition car and be able to look after it well, fix any small problems and also be able to improve it as time goes on. So basically I'm looking to be able to at least try and learn as much about the workings of the cars and the general do's and don'ts of buying and owning one as possible so that when I do find the right one I can go into it with some good knowledge.
If anyone has any suggestions of and good reading material to get me started I really appreciate it. Thanks