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Reviving Eve’s 1967 Ford Mustang Barn Find!

Reader Greg W recently emailed us about a Mustang Coupe. You see, he had recently heard from his cousin Eve that the time had come to get her 1967 Mustang out of the barn and sold. She has owned the car since new but parked it a few decades ago and that’s where it has stayed. Greg restores Jaguars, so he knows his way around a classic car, but he wasn’t sure if he should clean it up or leave it covered in the dust. He’s done a great job detailed the experience of extracting Eve’s Mustang, so we just had to share it. I’ll let him take you on this journey in his own words below!

From Greg – My cousin “Eve” purchased her 1967 Mustang 289 3-speed coupe new from Wolf Ford in Lancaster, PA in August 1967 for a little over $2,500. After 11 years and 85K miles, she purchased a new Datsun pickup truck for her daily driving and parked the Mustang in her Baltimore suburb garage where it would live for the next 40 years. We’ve talked about the car for several years, and this year she made a firm commitment to extract the car, and clear out the house – time to sell.

She prepared me for the likelihood that the tires would be flat, and that I’d need a bolt cutter to remove the lock, so I brought the necessary tools, air tank, and a spare set of Mustang wheels/tires just in case. What neither of us considered was the fact that over time, the driveway heaved up and blocked movement of the carriage house swinging doors. We had to use a sledgehammer to break up the blacktop and remove the weeds blocking the doors. I had my boys take pictures of the big reveal since this is really a once in a lifetime opportunity – to extract our very first Barn Find together – as a family.

After removing old lawn equipment and gaining access to the car, all four tires were indeed flat. The front tires accepted air and remain inflated today. The rear studded snow tires would not take air, so we installed the 2 “rollers”.

Unfortunately, the real work commenced when we couldn’t budge the car. The right rear and left front tires (drum brakes) were frozen so we had to pull the car out to the street using a tow strap. Then we loaded it on the trailer by winch and by spraying WD 40 in front of the sliding tires.

When we got home, we jacked up the faulty wheels and cleaned the inside of the brake drums and now the wheels rotate freely – we will need a complete brake system overhaul from Master Cylinder to the drums for safety and peace of mind. New parts are on order.

For the engine, we lubed up the spark plugs and removed them (a little tough). I sprayed fogging oil into the cylinders, placed the car in neutral, and the engine turned over by hand. After several rotations, I connected a fresh battery and turned the car over on the starter. Now that we know the engine is free, we’ll move on to draining/inspecting fluids. If everything is good, I’ll install a spare carb and see if it runs/smokes.

The following day we took the car to the local Burtonsville, MD Sunday morning car gathering (Church of the Holy Donut) and it drew quite a bit of attention and a handful of offers. It seems everybody loves getting their hands on a virgin Barn Find.

Eve did not find the keys, so I removed the rear seat and reached in to unlock the trunk by hand – a new key/lockset is on order. There were a few huge mouse nests under the seats and in the air cleaner, so we have to presume the seats will need all new stuffing.

Overall the car is completely original and unmodified, however, I did note replacement panels on the left rear quarter, the rear tail lamp panel, and gas tank. She told me she was rear-ended at an intersection but couldn’t recall the details of the repairs. There is rust in the right rear lower quarter panel and a smaller patch on the right front fender. The left side looks solid. Until I get the car up on my lift, I can’t really comment on the chassis.

The electrical system seems to work except the radio. I’d want to inspect the whole wiring system for rodent damage before really operating the car. Now that I’ve taken several photos of the As-Found condition, it’s time to start cleaning it up and see what we really have here. Enjoy the pictures and let me know your thoughts.

What an awesome experience to share with the family! And I’m glad he decided to share it with us as well. Now that he has it out of the barn, he’s going to get it cleaned up, running and sort the brakes out, but that’s a story for another day. Our thanks to him and Eve for sharing the story with us! Stay tuned as Greg gets Eve’s Mustang back up to speed.

If you have a barn find, we would love to see it, so send us an email with photos and the story at mail@barnfinds.com.

Comments

  1. Avatar Michael

    A real barn find. Great story!

    Like 1
  2. Avatar Beatnik Bedouin

    Thanks for sharing!

    Like 2
  3. Avatar Classic Steel

    Nice my mustang convert was in a pole barn with the doors open and stored on plastic .

    I replace torque nieces, rails floors and gas tank. I repacked Quarter skins and got rid
    of this green color and interior to deep blue and black interior 👍👀

    Now Shelby tail lights and trunk with scoop 👍

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Joe M

    Nice barn find, like the untouched two tone interior.

    Like 2
  5. Avatar Paul

    Very cool hopefully it stays in your family…just fyi- if you ever have to load a car with the wheels stuck again use a cheap dish soap, lots easier to clean up! Best of luck!!

    Like 2
  6. Avatar JW

    Geeez I never run in to things like this, most people in my family treated cars like Bic lighters when they don’t work throw them away and get a new one.

    Like 1
  7. Avatar skagit340

    Very nice write up. Letting us b/f regular’s,heck anyone enjoy finds like this is what this site grabbed me from a few years back.

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Barzini

    It would be nice if Eve got to drive her car again once it became road worthy. Not many of us get to drive our old car 40 years later.

    Like 2
  9. Avatar Charlie

    A good locksmith or vintage car guy would have keys for that Ford, There were only so many variations. I have never ran into a Mustang or Ford from that era that I couldn’t match a key with and make copies from the collection I have….
    Easier and cheaper than replacing all the locks.

    Like 1
  10. Avatar CATHOUSE

    Wolf Motor Co, I remember that dealership very well. They are gone now.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar craig

    Very cool find. I hope we see an update on it.

    Like 1
  12. Avatar Greg Weldy

    I’ll provide an update once I get it roadworthy. I like the idea of getting Eve behind the wheel once again – she can still drive the heck out a stickshift car. Great tips in these comments for future problem solving – Thanks.

    Like 2
    • Avatar Mike R.

      Great story! There might be a key code on the ignition switch to get a set of keys cut from. Same for the rest of the car. Good luck.

      Like 1
    • Avatar David Ulrey

      Very, very good write-up.

      Like 1
    • Avatar Joel S

      Greg that’s for taking the time to add more of the story. That is what makes the old cars really interesting. I do agree that you should be able to take the locks into a lock smith (your going to remove them to change them anyway) and have keys cut by figuring out the codes from the tumblers.

      I have a 69 Corvette that needs to be brought back to life and your story will help with the motivation.

      Best of luck with the project and would love to see the entire story as it unfolds.

      Like 0
  13. Avatar OIL SLICK

    Now that’s really cool! What a thrill getting it going again, that’s always the fun part.

    Like 0
  14. Avatar Pete

    I bought a 57 Belair that had the wheels locked up. I burned out the clutch trying to move it onto my car trailer. Had to have the front drums cut off with a torch they were rusted on so bad. I like finding cars in that condition, some spit and polish, some basic maintainance and your in business. I am curious as to what it is going to sell for when it gets going again.

    Like 1
  15. Avatar LAWRENCE

    Cool………

    Like 1
  16. Avatar Chinga-Trailer.

    Engine compartment looks blue to me, yet door jambs are same color as exterior – was it color changed at one time?

    Like 0
    • Avatar Jeff

      The engine compartment on Mustangs were painted semi-gloss black. What a cool find and it’s great that the car will stay in the family. The closest to a barn find for me is a 1966 German export mustang (T-5) convertible that I bought back in 1990. It hadn’t been sitting in the garage long before I bought it but it has sat in my garage (untouched) since then. I bought the car for my wife but life got in the way and we never got to restoring it. Now it’s time to finally restore it for her so we can take it to events along with my 65 Mustang Fastback 2+2.

      Like 0
  17. Avatar Donnie

    I have a 67 Mustang that was painted black and I can see through the rough paint job that is has the same original green as this barn find. It still has the same interior 2 tone green which is very cool. This is the first time I have seen the original green color here at this great barn find. I think this barn find 67 mustang is an original color.

    Like 0
  18. Avatar mike

    Put it on the trailer and take it to a Locksmiths shop and they can “impression” a KEY and usually do it for less than $100 and takes thirty minutes or less. Call the shop get the price and set a time….shop around

    Like 0

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