Recently my business partner and I found a 66 Plain Jane hardtop Mustang with 289 in a garage filled with a hoarder stuff we got the car out the motor spins by harmonic balancer all four brakes a locked up it's a Bondo buggy, the interior is completely shot he wants to keep it and try to get a lot of money out of it to sell I got an offer for $2,200 right off the bat I think we should unload it what do you think it's a money pit to fix up and we don't have the time or the money he's just hoping to get a lot more money out of a sale what do you think 130000 miles not the high output.
PS love the show new watcher I have learned a lot from you you're the shit man
UNLOAD IT.
I'm in the business of building those exact kinds of cars. If it is a bondo buggy already, you will spend a fortune on fabrication to get that car right. The engine will need to be torn completely down and who knows what shape it will be in from sitting who knows how long.
Good 1966 289ci Mustangs are not homeruns in terms of profit. There are a lot of them out there, and a lot of guys just see "old" and "Mustang" together and assume they have a gold mine.
I can tell you, the amount of time, labor, material, etc. that you will likely be looking at to restore that car to A1, pristine, Concours condition will be tremendous.
You're a business man. I can appreciate that. So bottom line, let's talk business for a second:
Here is what the average, fully restored 1966 Mustang 289 is selling for at a dealership that specializes in classic cars:
https://classiccars.com/listings/view/1468392/1966-ford-mustang-for-sale-in-gladstone-oregon-97027
And I know you don't have this caliber of car, but just to show you where the market is, this is a high end, nut and bolt restoration, high output 302 V8 fastback:
https://classiccars.com/listings/view/1466859/1966-ford-mustang-for-sale-in-rockville-maryland-20850
As you can see, these are not six figure cars. Based on your description of the car and my experience building cars like that, I would put a full restoration cost of that car, sight unseen, easily far more than the car is actually worth.
So I agree and again say sell it and consider it a bonus check. Yes, it can be built into a nice car, there's no arguing that. But it can't be done quickly or cheaply, and most people I restore cars for realize they are spending above and beyond what the car is actually worth. They do it because they have no plans of selling the vehicle. Going into it with the opposite mindset of restoring it to try and flip it......you'll lose money. And not a little.
I just bought a plain jane 69 impala sedan. Passenger floor pans front to back had already been replaced from a window that was open, trunk and frame are rust free. So are the areas around the windows and the back window where the vinyl top used to be. The only cancer I have are at the very bottom of the rear quarters and it’s minimal. The engine was already tore down and I have all new stock parts that came with it to put it back together once the block is cleaned and honed and I get the heads worked. I paid 1500.
In my shopping around I came across another one, it was together and running, but in far worse shape. Needed floor pans, trunk pan, rear quarters, and the engine although running didn’t have much life left. Guy was asking 5,000. So I know what you mean by people thinking it’s worth alot just because it’s old.
Sounds like you got a good find on yours! Shopping around you can find things like that. But I'm always hesitant about "barn finds" like the Mustang discussed here as there's no info on how long it has been there. And if he can just look and tell it's full of bondo.....I don't get good vibes. Lol.
Yea I wouldn’t either. I’ve seen some people get projects, they think aren’t that bad and when they get to grinding their stomach knots up as the holes just get bigger. Sounds more like a parts car candidate than a restoration project to me.
Dump it. The bondo buggy will eventually reveal a nightmare underneath. Not worth as much as he thinks it is.
