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302 Project: 1969 Ford Mustang Fastback

This 1969 Mustang Fastback was parked in 2007 due to a flat battery. Its current owner has revived the car, and now it needs someone to return it to its former glory. It should be worth the effort because it is an original and unmolested classic with no rust issues. If a straightforward Mustang restoration is on your bucket list, then you will find this one listed for sale here on eBay. It is located in Nevada, Texas, and with the bidding sitting at $17,449, the reserve has been met.

The fact that the Lime Gold Mustang has spent its life in Texas is a harbinger of good news. That means discovering that it has little more than surface corrosion to address is no great surprise. The owner supplies photos of the underside, and while there is a dusting of corrosion, plenty of the original paint remains visible. There are no external issues, with the panels all appearing to be clean and sound. The paint is tired, and a repaint will be on the cards. There are also a few minor dings and marks, but none of these are bad enough to justify panel replacement. It looks like most of the exterior trim is present, although I think that a couple of badges might be missing. The bumpers might require a trip to the platers, but the glass looks to be in good condition.

The Mustang’s interior is a mixed bag, with equal amounts of both good and bad news. The driver’s seat will need a new cover, while the dash pad is cracked, and the carpet is faded. The rear seat looks to be in good condition, and the dash itself doesn’t appear to have any issues. I think that new front seat covers, a new carpet set, some armrests, and a dash pad would transform the interior. An aftermarket radio/cassette player is fitted in place of the original radio, but the interior does come equipped with factory air conditioning.

The Mustang is a numbers-matching classic and features a 302ci V8 and a 3-speed manual transmission. This combination should be capable of propelling the vehicle through the ¼ mile in a neat 16 seconds. The previous owner purchased the car back in 1970 and used it regularly for decades. He went to start it one day only to find that the battery was dead. This was back in 2007, and he never quite got around to buying another battery. The current owner purchased the car and went through the process of coaxing it back to life. He flushed the fuel system and replaced the rubber hoses and filters. He also treated it to new plugs, plug wires, hoses, oil, and a few other components. He then slipped the long-awaited replacement battery into place, and the 302 is said to have kicked into life immediately. The owner says that the engine sounds perfect, and the transmission seems to select gears okay. The car isn’t roadworthy, because the brakes will require attention. However, it doesn’t sound like it will take a lot of work to see it back on the road again. The engine wears a set of aftermarket valve covers, but the original items will be included in the sale. Also included is a comprehensive set of service records that look like they date right back to 1970. This is a great score in a classic like this.

As restoration projects go, this 1969 Mustang looks like it is a real beauty. It seems that I’m not alone with this opinion because the bidding to date has been spirited. With the reserve now met, a new home is beckoning to this classic. I hope that whoever buys it can return it to the road fairly quickly. A dud battery seems like such an insignificant problem to sideline it, and the time has finally come for it to find its rightful place on our roads.

Comments

  1. Avatar Steve Bush Member

    Looks to be a mostly rust free complete Mustang that could be very nice without a lot of major work or cash invested other than for a paint job. But don’t understand why the seller didn’t go ahead and fix/bleed the brakes when he had the car up on the lift, especially considering it will likely sell for $20k plus.

    Like 6
    • Avatar Johnny

      More then likely he bought it cheap and is to cheap to have any work done on it . He or she probably buys cheap and sale high like alot of people. For the asking price and the 56 Caddy they have on hear. I rather have the Caddy. That Caddy would look really sharp with $17,000 put in it. Plus that ride. The Mustang is nice and I like the 641/2-70 fastbacks best, The Mustang would definitely get me in trouble and I,d probably loose my operators. I wonder if the 3 speed is original on that car or did it come with a 4 speed?

      Like 0
  2. Avatar FordGuy1972 Member

    Definitely a good Mustang to start with though it will need significant work and money to bring it back to an acceptable level. Some will be disappointed in the 302 but speed parts abound for these small blocks. The 4-speed is a big plus as is A/C though we don’t know whether it works or not. The seller spray-bombed the engine and air cleaner without much prep work so that will have to be addressed. I’d be inclined to pull the motor, replace some gaskets and clean up what I could under the hood. The brake system could use an upgrade along with fresh lines and probably some front end work considering the mileage. New paint and some new interior bits should have this Mustang looking pretty good. It’s a desirable body style and the 302 along with the 4-speed should provide a pleasant driving experience. Love to have this one, it’s definitely got potential.

    Like 1
    • Avatar MorganW

      It’s listed as a 3-speed stick. Still, I think it could be the basis of a fun and relatively affordable car.

      Like 12
    • Avatar Mark R.

      3 speed

      Like 5
  3. Avatar Chillywind

    Engine recently BALANCED AND BLUE-PAINTED!!!

    Like 11
    • Avatar JMB#7

      Or maybe, “the balance of the engine was blue-painted”????

      Like 5
  4. Avatar 71Boss351

    I think this is a 3 speed not a 4 speed. The current bid price is getting high for a non Mach 1 with a 302 2V. Too much work for me.

    It appears to have a few oil leaks other than the dipstick tube.

    Wonder if the seller has a Marti report on this Mustang.

    Like 3
    • Avatar Steve R

      Whoever buys this car is bidding on the body, not the drivetrain.

      Steve R

      Like 11
  5. Avatar JMB#7

    A car is not parked that long “due to a flat battery”. If you want to run it, you grab a battery from another vehicle or go buy one (even Walmart is an option). When “bidding sitting at $17,449, the reserve has been met” no-one in their right mind would try to skimp on a $150 battery. Sorry, but statements like this just make me question everything!

    Like 9
  6. Avatar AnalogMan

    The third car I owned (way back when in the mid 1970’s, when I was in high school) was a 1969 Mustang Sportsroof (which is what I think the ‘fastback’ was officially called back then). Pastel grey with a red interior (it started my life-long love of the grey/red color combo, though I’ve never owned another one since). 302 V8 like this car, but with an automatic. I absolutely loved that car.

    I desperately wanted a 1969 Mach 1, but there was no way I could afford one with my part-time job. Not even a clapped-out high mileage one. The 1969 Sportsroof was the closest I could get. The only way I could barely afford it was because the car had been in a hard accident. It was totalled, and patched back together by a body shop with lots of aluminum body tape and more bondo than you could possibly imagine. The passenger side dash had a massive basketball sized indentation where someone’s head impacted it in the wreck, a constant not-so-subtle reminder of the car’s past, and a warning to me to not drive like too much of a jerk. I also wanted a stick, but this car came along, I could (almost) afford it, and I was in love with the styling (at the time I also saw a 1969 Mustang Sportsroof with a 3 speed stick but a 6 cylinder engine, a rare combination even back then, but of course as a 17 year old had to get a V8 to protect my fragile manhood).

    To a teenager at the time, the 1969 Mustang had some one-year only styling details that were massively important. Like the rear quarter side scoops. They were totally non-functional, but that didn’t matter. It just screamed ‘race car’. The quad headlights were another, maybe not the most beautiful, but different from other years. Both the scoops and the quad headlights disappeared for the 1970 model year. Likewise, the hood scoop was also as phony as a an honest politician, but who cares? What says ‘race car’ better than a hood scoop? Exactly!

    I couldn’t afford a Mach 1, but that didn’t stop me from the usual 1970’s teenager’s bag of low-budget ‘mods’ to try and make it look like one. I didn’t want to go so far and engage in what was even for me over-the-top fakery by buying ‘Mach 1’ side stripes from a Ford dealer (and couldn’t afford them anyway). I did my standard (at the time) car customization technique, went down to the local ‘Rocket Auto’ store and bought a rattle-can of semi-gloss black spray paint and went to work. I painted the hood scoop, the rear tailight panel, and in my proudest artistic achievement, carefully outlined the side scoops in black. Even the Mach 1 didn’t have paint-trimmed side scoops! I finished my ‘hot-rodding’ with a used Cherry Bomb muffler I bought from a friend (who found it on the side of the road, after it fell off another car), customized the interior with a tiny little 10 inch diameter foam steering wheel meant for a dune buggy, and presto! Instant hot rod, and I was done.

    Of course I realized it was just a base 302 with ho-hum performance, so I didn’t mix it up with the other kids in school and their hot mothers with the big-blocks, Chevelles, Road Runners, Mustang GT 390’s, etc. But I still felt like the king of the world driving it.

    Especially when I would take out my love of my life, girl of my dreams, genius intelligent, interesting, fun, most amazing and drop-dead beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life girlfriend at the time (did I mention she was traffic-stoppingly model gorgeous and brilliant?).

    Her mother always absolutely HATED me. My long hair and the ZZ-top grade beard I later grew were a big factor, and the ‘hooligan’s car’ (as she called it) didn’t help either. She never liked the idea of her daughter getting in ‘that car’ with it’s socially irresponsible too-loud exhaust and the look-at-me paint details.

    For whatever reason, my rattle-can paint job really rattled her mother. Something about it pushed her over the top, and she ratcheted up her anti-me campaign by several notches. She somehow barely tolerated the car with its grey paint, but when I went thug with the paint, she lost it. I guess it just confirmed for her that I was a behaviorally disruptive miscreant (can’t argue with that), but I was totally head-over-heels madly in love with her daughter, and would have done anything and laid down my life for her without hesitation.

    (About a year later, after a string of other cars in between, I had a 1969 VW Camper – with the fold-down rear bed. My girlfriend’s mother really went totally nuts over that!)

    My girlfriend was WAY out of my league (as later experience and a broken heart would prove), but for a short time, I couldn’t imagine how anything in the world could possibly be better than driving my tarted-up 1969 Mustang to pick up my love of my life dream girlfriend after school. Life just couldn’t possibly ever get any better than that.

    In so many ways, it’s all been downhill since then.

    A few years ago, I bought a 2015 Mustang GT as an early retirement present for myself. In large part because I think the styling is reminiscent of the 1969 in many ways. But nothing can ever take the place of that 1969, or of the long-lost love of my life girlfriend.

    Like 9
    • Avatar TCOPPS Member

      You could/should write a book!

      Like 2
      • Avatar AnalogMan

        LOL!!!!! Thanks TCOPPS, but I think I’d be the only person in the world who would read it.

        Like 1
    • Avatar Steve Bush Member

      Nice story, Analogman! I think you get the award for the longest post ever. Hope you ended up with a nice girlfriend/wife eventually. Stay safe!

      Like 1
    • Avatar K Gun Offense

      Personally, I would like to have the red70 or 71 Dodge Challenger in the next bay over and another long story from Analogman. Don’t know what’s in 5be Challenger from the pictures, but that is way more my cup of tea!!!

      Like 0
  7. Avatar gaspumpchas

    Rocket auto store, Poughkeepsie NY?? Might know you.
    Good luck and stay safe.
    Cheers
    GPC

    Like 1
    • Avatar AnalogMan

      Yes indeed, Rocket Auto in Poughkeepsie NY!

      Like 1
  8. Avatar Tom

    AnalogMan, I think you should bite the bullet and buy it, looks like you have sellers remorse that has yet to heal.

    Like 3
    • Avatar JMB#7

      Indeed… Restoring that Mustang would take less of his time, and be far less expensive than if he every ran across that beauty queen again! Cars are expensive hobbies, but there are more expensive “hobbies” out there.

      Like 2
      • Avatar AnalogMan

        Ah, she was a once in a lifetime person. Not only a beauty queen, but genius intelligent, a warm heart, and not at all high maintenance. She was more careful with my (limited) money than I was myself. She was the whole package, but, waaaayyyy out of my league.

        Like 3
    • Avatar AnalogMan

      If it wasn’t a project, I’d be tempted. I’d do it in Pastel Grey and Red. But I’m too old to get into such a major project at this point in my life. I keep searching the classifieds for one that’s done. But the funny, amazing, ironic, and sad thing is, even 50 years later, I still can’t afford a nice 1969 Mach 1.

      Like 2

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