Looks like I'm partially replacing my wrecked SRT6 vert with a mustang coupe which will serve as my weekend drive.

Anyone here has one or had one and can share their experience as to what I should and "must haves" to look out for? My budget is $6-8K for a mechanically good condition car and spending another 2-4K to fix either interior or mechanical parts.

I'll be joining up the mustang forums as well to get more 411.

 

Sure you wouldn't like a 1980 red Corvette LT-1....new paint, lots of new parts, and a new interior ready for install....for $5k.....?????

 

My first car was an old 64 1/2 Mustang vert. Great car and easy to work on. I'm sure you'll find a good one for sell in the Mustang forum.

 

Bring a bucket/bottle of water and dump it on the windshield, then check under the glove box to see if the water is gettting through. The lower cowl panels tend to rot on the older mustangs, and fixing it (which I'm doing on my car) is a pretty big job. It really depends on what you are looking for in order to determine what to look for. I'd lean more towards the 69, just because its my favorite year, and had more potent engine choices (70 is the best for engines though).
For performance applications, I'd look for a 351C 2V- usually you can tell just by checking the valve covers, but you may have to count the valve cover bolts, also there will be a 2 or a 4 on the corner of the head. The 2v heads are more streetable, with better low end charicteristics. A 351W is also a good option for performance, as the aftermarket is much stronger than that of the cleveland, but the C has legendary heads also used on the boss 302 and Nascar. And a 9" rear is nice to have, and can be identified by the removable carrier and extruded rear face (8"'s also have removable carriers, but have a round rear face). Other than that, check for a straight body, rust under the car and all the other standard pre-purchase checks... And I'd ask as many questions about what has been done to the car as you can to really get a feel for what kind of mechanic the previous owner is.
-happy hunting

 

thanks man... this is the kind of info i was looking for.