so, when i bought my mustang II, it didnt run. it had alot of rust, in the doors, above the doors and where the front window meets the sides, two wheel wells, the hatch is really rusty, the hood was really rusty, the rear quarter panels as well, alot of rust holes. the bulk of the rust, however, was on the frame. i did not know to look at the undercarirage of a vehicle(first car ever).
how much would you have paid?
i bought the car for 2,000.
i was in the passeger seat, and i made a hole wit my feet. long story short, i made new floorpans with some aluminum, a BFH and some sheet metal screws. eventually, i had the frame reinforced.
the reason it didnt run was because they reinstalled an inline fuel pump backwards. by the way, it has a FI 5.0 in it, from a 88-93 mustang. dual exhaust, but stock manifolds, and a mild cam. its got a roll bar, and no back seats, t-5, and 4.10 gears. cragar s/s rims as well.
i did the bodywork myself with bondo(first time using it, ad going by the directinos on the can) you can tell. rust is already coming through on some areas, and almost every area that i bondoed, you can tell.
i painted the car myself as well. its now silver with black stripes. i never painted before, and going by what i could find on the internet, i did it, however, i didnt read anything about paint hardener...
there are now imperfections in the paint.
how much do you think i could get out of it? imagine yourself not as a well knowledged mustang II driver, but as a person wanting some cheap speed?
If thats your car on your myspace it looks OK in THOSE pictures. I guess ask for 3,000 but if they know anything about cars... well...
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1998 3.8L, K&N air filter, Silencer removal, True dual exhaust flowmaster 40s. Two kicker 12s. Magnaflow X-pipe. Done with the v6, saving up for the LS1 this summer.
Don;t feel so bad about the car. We all have to have a learnign point for everythign we do. My bother had a few experimental cars, they didn't look so good when he finished them, but now he turns out real good work.
As for the Value of the car... well I am not a big fan of almost anythgin from the 70's era automotives so I am going to keep my mouth shut.
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2006 Mustang GT in Torch Red
C&L Intake, Evolution Performance Tune, Borla Axle Backs, Hurst Shifter, 4.10's, JBA Long Tubes, Prothane Engine Mounts, Steeda UDPs, FRPP Charge Motion Delete Plates
so, when i bought my mustang II, it didnt run. it had alot of rust, in the doors, above the doors and where the front window meets the sides, two wheel wells, the hatch is really rusty, the hood was really rusty, the rear quarter panels as well, alot of rust holes. the bulk of the rust, however, was on the frame. i did not know to look at the undercarirage of a vehicle(first car ever).
how much would you have paid?
i bought the car for 2,000.
i was in the passeger seat, and i made a hole wit my feet. long story short, i made new floorpans with some aluminum, a BFH and some sheet metal screws. eventually, i had the frame reinforced.
the reason it didnt run was because they reinstalled an inline fuel pump backwards. by the way, it has a FI 5.0 in it, from a 88-93 mustang. dual exhaust, but stock manifolds, and a mild cam. its got a roll bar, and no back seats, t-5, and 4.10 gears. cragar s/s rims as well.
i did the bodywork myself with bondo(first time using it, ad going by the directinos on the can) you can tell. rust is already coming through on some areas, and almost every area that i bondoed, you can tell.
i painted the car myself as well. its now silver with black stripes. i never painted before, and going by what i could find on the internet, i did it, however, i didnt read anything about paint hardener...
there are now imperfections in the paint.
how much do you think i could get out of it? imagine yourself not as a well knowledged mustang II driver, but as a person wanting some cheap speed?
i'd like to sell it for 2500 OBO.
Well, the EFI 5.0/T5/4.10s make it an attractive buy for parts at the very least, as well as the Cragars.
Did you get ripped off? Well, that depends. If you had some idea of what you were getting into, knew what to expect, etc. well, then no, you just made a bad buy. But if you were clueless as to how ruthless, destructive, and hard to fight rust is, had no idea of how extensive it is, and the owner made no attempt to clarify the damage for you? Then maybe you did.
$2500 isn't out of the question based on your description, but the $2000 you paid for it is more likely. A really nice stock II will only fetch in the $3-4k range with a 302 and a 4spd, and a rusted one is only likely to see $1000-1500.
I know what you're going through, I've got two projects right now that come from the "rust-bucket" category. My Mustang II is NOW virtually rust free except for some surface rust here and there underhood and underneath, I've got two rust holes at the rear quarter panels about a half-dollar in size, but I just sanded the rust away, sprayed a zinc-rich primer and then a primer sealer to keep them from growing (has worked for over two years, I'll cut and weld-in patch panels in the future, but the holes are hardly even noticeable anyway) and eliminated all of the surface rust slowly but surely with a lot of sandpaper, followed by the two different primers (one to inhibit rust return, the other to seal the metal form moisture)..
In the future, remember that Bondo and rust don't mix. If you don't get every single microscopic spec of rust out of an area before you bondo, the rust will come back, and often much worse than it originally was, that's the lesson of my 1975 Chevy, where my grandfather and I bondo-ed in over a dozen rust spots and painted the truck, it looked good for about 18 months, now she's got worse rust problems than ever, but I've been expecting them and tackling each as they reappear. Also seal the bondo in immediately after it dries with a pimer-sealer, on BOTH the inside and outside, so it can't start absorbing moisture which will later form more rust.
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1976 Ford Mustang II Ghia: 302 with a 600cfm Edelbrock carb, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Dynomax Blackjack headers, 2.5" exhaust with Flowmaster Super 44s. RJS 11-gallon fuel cell, C4 tranny, chrome 16" pony wheels, fuzzy dice, brown vinyl half-top, and painted in the tackiest color ever (harvest gold, that's why I call it "The Goldenrod").
Also have a 2003 Dodge Ram (lightly modded daily driver/tow rig/office/dining room/home away from home/workshop... I call it "The Big Blue Dawg".)
Well, the EFI 5.0/T5/4.10s make it an attractive buy for parts at the very least, as well as the Cragars.
Did you get ripped off? Well, that depends. If you had some idea of what you were getting into, knew what to expect, etc. well, then no, you just made a bad buy. But if you were clueless as to how ruthless, destructive, and hard to fight rust is, had no idea of how extensive it is, and the owner made no attempt to clarify the damage for you? Then maybe you did.
$2500 isn't out of the question based on your description, but the $2000 you paid for it is more likely. A really nice stock II will only fetch in the $3-4k range with a 302 and a 4spd, and a rusted one is only likely to see $1000-1500.
I know what you're going through, I've got two projects right now that come from the "rust-bucket" category. My Mustang II is NOW virtually rust free except for some surface rust here and there underhood and underneath, I've got two rust holes at the rear quarter panels about a half-dollar in size, but I just sanded the rust away, sprayed a zinc-rich primer and then a primer sealer to keep them from growing (has worked for over two years, I'll cut and weld-in patch panels in the future, but the holes are hardly even noticeable anyway) and eliminated all of the surface rust slowly but surely with a lot of sandpaper, followed by the two different primers (one to inhibit rust return, the other to seal the metal form moisture)..
In the future, remember that Bondo and rust don't mix. If you don't get every single microscopic spec of rust out of an area before you bondo, the rust will come back, and often much worse than it originally was, that's the lesson of my 1975 Chevy, where my grandfather and I bondo-ed in over a dozen rust spots and painted the truck, it looked good for about 18 months, now she's got worse rust problems than ever, but I've been expecting them and tackling each as they reappear. Also seal the bondo in immediately after it dries with a pimer-sealer, on BOTH the inside and outside, so it can't start absorbing moisture which will later form more rust.
i really do wish i was a little smarter and looked online for advice from everything from what to look for when purchasing an old vehicle, to how to primer it and the bodywork.
Hey, we've all gotta start somewhere... trust me, a rusted '74 Ghia wasn't my dream Mustang II, but she was the only one I could find, and after five hard years of work, she's a fun little booger to cruise around in!
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1976 Ford Mustang II Ghia: 302 with a 600cfm Edelbrock carb, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Dynomax Blackjack headers, 2.5" exhaust with Flowmaster Super 44s. RJS 11-gallon fuel cell, C4 tranny, chrome 16" pony wheels, fuzzy dice, brown vinyl half-top, and painted in the tackiest color ever (harvest gold, that's why I call it "The Goldenrod").
Also have a 2003 Dodge Ram (lightly modded daily driver/tow rig/office/dining room/home away from home/workshop... I call it "The Big Blue Dawg".)
i know a guy who is selling a cobra II, its green with black stripes. he says he wants 1500, i haven't looked at it all that much, for its wedged between another mII and a van. you can tell its been sitting outside for a while.
if anybody areound ypsilanti MI, or is willing to travel a little bit, ill be glad to go enquire more about it. i dont even know the engine size.
if anything, it could be a parts car, i want the front valence and rear bumper from it.
What you ask for the car is really up to you. The best thing to do is be honest when you try to sell it. But to tell you the truth, I have already bought three of them here. One for a $300.00, one for $150.00 and the other for a C6 transmission. Maybe you should invest another $1000.00 in it go all fiberglass doors, hood, front clip or go direct replacement from CJ ponys or Mustang Unlimited.
Hey Brodie,
I might be interested in the Cobra you found....I am looking for a complete V8 donor car. I don't care if it runs or not and is just a rusty shell...as long as the engine, trans, radiator, alt brackets wiring harness are all there. Let me know what the guys wants for it?
John
Hey Brodie,
I might be interested in the Cobra you found....I am looking for a complete V8 donor car. I don't care if it runs or not and is just a rusty shell...as long as the engine, trans, radiator, alt brackets wiring harness are all there. Let me know what the guys wants for it?
John
i jsut read this, so ill let you know ASAP. hopefully tuesday.
Does the car run nice now? I think you did pay a bit much for the car, especially since it wasnt running at the time. Anytime I buy a vehicle, if it doesnt run, regardless of what the owner says about the motor, I assume the worst, and I will only pay a parts car price. But it your car is running ok now, you lucked out, so that's a good thing.
As for the work you did on the car; you're young, so don't feel bad about any mistakes. I screwed up a bunch of stuff on my cars when I was your age, even though I'd been raised around a garage and tons of Fords.
Unless you want to pay big bucks to have somebody else build your vehicles for you,(and they might make bigger mistakes than you did, even though they call themselves "professionals") you need to learn how to do all this stuff yourself. The car provided you with knowledge and some experience, and you can probably get most of your money back when you sell it.
Just next time you buy a used car, try to look at it from a worst case scenario, and keep that mindset as you haggle the price, regardless of how good the owner tells you the car is.
Learn and remember any particular model's rust patterns, so you know where to look on the body when you go to buy one. Each car has its own "rot" areas. As a rule of thumb, mechanical damage is better when buying a car than rust damage, because it's a lot easier(and generally cheaper) to fix. Plus, mechanical damage will knock the price of a car down more than hidden rust will, even if the hidden rust is incredibly severe. This is why as soon as I hear about a car with a blown motor or transmission, I know I can probably get it really cheap, and I'm on it.
My Mustang II had a blown V6 motor when I got it, and so my brother paid only $200 for it when he bought it for my birthday.(That was in 1989) We dropped in a stock 302 2bbl motor shortly afterward, and the rest is history. (Damn I've had fun building that car over the years.)
Next car you look at buying, take some pics and post them on this site, and if you want I can give you some pointers on where to look for hidden issues.
I Think I Got Ripped Off? 
