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Is It Worth Saving? 1969 Mustang Convertible

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This 1969 Ford Mustang convertible is a puzzler. Said to have been stored in a car port most of its life, the amount of rust towards the nose on the front fenders is truly frightening. Looking under the hood as best one can with the poor pictures, however, shows the vulnerable shock towers to be in pretty decent shape, and other spots known to rust like the edges of the trunk lid and hood look solid too. The angle and placement of the left front wheel lead both the seller and myself to question the condition of the front end, and obviously the top and interior will need full replacement. The price is right, though, with the auction here on eBay starting at $450 with no reserve. Sometimes I have to remind myself that even though I would prefer to pay a little more and start with a more sound restoration candidate, there was a time when I couldn’t, and the only way I could get into a car like a ’69 Mustang was to start with a car like this and put a lot of work into it, and add money little by little. In case you are interested, the car is located in Gloversville, New York (despite the seller’s California address) and it sounds like they need to move the car quickly!

Comments

  1. Avatar MH

    It needs everything but it’s not to far gone. Buy it and spend 10 years fixing it up. You’ll have a nice car when done if that what you want to do. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

    Like 1
  2. Avatar jaygryph

    I’ve never seen one rust out like that. I spose if the nose was sticking out of the carport it could have done that. On the other hand ‘most of it’s life’ is not ‘all of it’s life’. That part that it wasn’t under cover probably did decades worth of damage in short order. Maybe ‘under cover’ was under a blue tarp, which in a great many cases is far far worse than if they’d just left it sit out in the elements since the tarp makes the car a sauna inside, and tin worms love a good steamy car sauna.

    We had a 58 Buick that was bought from a guy who proudly whipped the tarp off it to show my dad the car and how nice it was, then about cried when he realized the tarp it had been under the last few years had made the car’s floors rot and paint bubble away to nothing. It still wasn’t a bad car, but was not the cherry he had thought. It’s hard not to get caught in the tarp trap, particularly in wet places like Oregon where it just rains so damn much.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar JW

    At $710 it’s already over priced, $200 parts car since I have to figure a way to get it on a trailer with frozen brakes.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Stang1968

    For being under a carport a carport most of its parked life it sure has sunken into the ground. Unless that carport didn’t have a concrete pad.
    69 vert is a little more challenging to build as not as many NOS or repop parts are out there like there is for 65-68’s.

    Like 0
  5. Avatar The Chucker

    Probably not too far gone, but there are way too many of these out there for a restoration of this one to make sense…unless you just want a hobby.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar Texas Tea

    Don’t believe your lying eyes.

    Like 0
  7. Avatar That Guy

    That’s a really strange rust pattern on the front fenders. The rest of the car looks better than I would expect though. It’s just possible this car is better than it seems. But no way would I bid a cent for it without a whole lot more pictures, and better ones than these.

    Like 0
  8. Avatar DENIS

    Great father/son project if the father is relatively young so he will be around a long time…..

    Like 0
    • Avatar Jason

      lol

      Like 0
  9. Avatar MikeW

    Just by looking at the door gaps, I would guess the frame rails are rusted through and if you opened both doors, the middle would hit the ground or if you pulled on it, it would break right in half.

    My group https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/classicmustang/info

    Like 0
    • Avatar RickB

      Mustangs don’t have frame rails they are unibody which means that, other the small subframes front and rear, the frame rails are actually the floor pans themselves (which are probably mostly gone now). I do agree with the rest of your statement though, opening the doors at this point would be a bad idea untll the car was at least temporarily reinforced. Honestly too many of these still out there to bother with this one. Plus the only good 69 mustang is a fastback, we all know that :-)

      Like 0
      • Avatar MikeW

        @RickB- Mustang convertibles do indeed have a extra frame rail just inside the door sill, otherwise they would fold in half when the doors are opened. When it gets severely rusted, same thing happens.

        Note, it did sell at double the scrap price.

        Like 0
  10. Avatar Randy

    No, it isn’t worth saving. Parts car only.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar randy

    It might be a good deal for the “next door neighbor” no shipping costs.
    A great father and son project if the father has lots of money!!

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Bruce E

    Living about an hour away, I popped a bid of $550.00. Was outbid by an auto bid..went to 625, same thing. I’m thinking he might have a second account & he’s trying to get the price up. Not worth any more to me…

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Mike

    It said under a carport for years, I am guessing what he is not saying is that the carport fell on it some years ago!!!!!! LOL

    Like 0

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