When we do a Mustang write up here at Barn Finds, the word rust comes up every single time.  Floor pans, torque boxes, quarter panels, fenders, and on and on.  You name the parts, and they likely rust on a Mustang.  I suspect that even the tires can rust on a Mustang.  However, the styling and performance of Mustangs so overshadows the problems, that rust is often considered an issue to be dealt with, not a deal killer.  Many Mustangs have been offered for sale lately, some in pretty rusty condition, but prices for all but fastbacks seem to be going down.  That’s a shame, because examples that exhibit a manageable amount of rust are always nice to have, and can be fixed without too much fuss.  This garage kept 1966 Ford Mustang coupe, advertised on Craigslist in Williamson County, Tennessee, has been attacked by the tin worm in a few places.  However, it is a really nice car that is just a handful of repairs away from being a great car.  Does the rust and the needed engine rebuild make this one too expensive at $5950, or is there hope yet for this blue beauty?

This one is kind of a de ja vu all over again moment for me.  A few years ago, a Mustang almost exactly like this one appeared in the driveway of a house that I passed regularly in my travels.  Being a car nut, I got excited and stopped to take a look.  The car was for sale, and it had been sitting in that garage for over a decade.  I had never seen the car before, and it was only outside because the owner of the house had died and the estate had to be settled.  It looked great from about twenty feet away, but the closer I got the more I determined that I needed glasses.  The whole car, despite being cocooned away for so long, was covered in bubbles of rust.  Most were still held back by the paint, but the whole car would obviously need a costly restoration.  Dejected, I just walked away without investigating further.

The car we are looking at here has also been cocooned away for over ten years without even being started.  The seller believes that most of the car is original, including the engine, and that it was treated to a re-paint years ago.  The car was not equipped with air conditioning, but it is a three speed car with a V-8.  Besides the obvious spots of rust you see on the fenders, the seller also claims that the floor pans and frame are not rusted.  They have what the seller calls “freckling.”

The biggest disappointment, other than the surface rust, is the engine.  It seems the reason the car was parked so many years ago was that the “bearings rattled” on the last drive.  After that, the car was parked with what I am sure was an intent to fix it later.  We must be still waiting on later.  It would be interesting to find out if a bearing failure was the damage the seller heard, or if it was some other malady.  Perhaps our very knowledgeable Ford fans who follow the site can give us some ideas of what the noise might have been.  No matter what, this 289 will likely require some wrenching time to get it back on the road.

While the price might be a bit high for a Mustang with a questionable engine and some ugly surface rust, the car seems to be extremely well kept otherwise.  If the rust we see is all that the car has, then this may be a bargain for someone who knows how to do some paint and body work.  The profile of the car we see in the picture above explains why these cars are still popular years later.  Everything about the Mustang was right when it debuted in the mid sixties, and they still look great today.  Hopefully, this one will find a new owner who can fix the problems and have it back on the road soon.  A car that looks this good will make you put up with rust.