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Stable Found Pony: 1964 Ford Mustang

In a world of so many cars, and not enough time, there are always sad stories you hear about someone finding a car that they were restoring, or intending to restore, but passed away before completing the project. That is the story with this 1964 Ford Mustang. The owner found this car tucked away in a barn, and decided to restore the car as it was complete and in good solid shape. He dismantled the car, and striped the paint off of the body panels in prep for body work and paint. Unfortunately he passed away before completing his vision, and the current seller is trying to move the car on his behalf.  Although dismantled, this Mustang looks like a solid and relatively complete project. This Pony has a $6,000 price tag and can be found here on craigslist out of Boise, Idaho.

Covered in dust, dirt, and who knows what else, this Pony looks pretty solid from the interior. All too often rot can be found in the floors of these cars, and this one has no rot to show. There is some superficial surface rust in some various places but otherwise the floors look awesome in this car. In the sales ad there are no photos of the interior components, but I would assume the car was complete, so I would think there is an interior, but the condition is unknown. One thing that can be seen is the manual transmission shift lever! This early Pony was powered by a 260 V8, which is included with the car. The past owner managed to get the engine running, so at least the engine is probably in serviceable condition. Many of the parts and body panels are labeled to aid in reassembly. Several of the parts are in card board bins, or in labeled plastic bags. Although there is a dreaded “bolt bin” that is a bit of a catch all.

Studying the pictures of the body reveals a very solid and straight roller. The seller mentions that there is no major rust and only surface rust is present. This is believable as some of the key areas rust likes to form on these cars is rust free on this one. The rest of the body panels can be seen in the sales ad either hanging or laid out within this barn. It is easy to see why the owner chose this car, as it appears to be a very solid early pony car with a stick shift. Would you complete the previous owner’s vision and take on finishing this restoration?

Comments

  1. Avatar Mike Williams

    Maybe worth $1000 in parts. It would cost more than it would be worth to restore it.

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  2. Avatar Djs

    True good for parts, but can get most after market on line , 1000.00 sound fair,

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  3. Avatar Glen Riddle

    BTW there was of course no such thing as a 1964 Mustang. 1965 was the first year. There were differences that set apart the early 1965 cars(such as this car’s 260 cid V8), built from Spring 1964 until the traditional start of the 1965 model year. These early ’65s are typically referred to as 1964 1/2 Mustangs for convenience(they are never referred to as 1964s), but all were technically 1965 models.

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    • Avatar kman

      They were titled as a 1964 1/2. Ran on generators instead of alternators.

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      • Avatar Glen Riddle

        kman, what it says on a title is irrelevant. I’ve had cars with make and model names on titles that were not the actual car names and with VINs that were wrong. A title is printed up by a government flunky and they are wrong all the time. What controls is the VIN from the manufacturer. People can inaccurately call it a 1964 1/2 or a 1964 or 1904 for all I care, but the VINs of these early Mustangs ALL start with a 5, for 1965. They are all 1965s. Yes the early 1965s built before the August 1964 factory shutdown period had generators and a number of other differences from the regular 1965s, like the mentioned 260 V8, but they are still ALL 1965 model year cars.

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      • Avatar OJM

        All early Mustangs were titled as 1965’s. Only known as 64 1/2 by enthusiasts.

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      • Avatar don clar

        No Mustang was titled as a 1964. The 1st year of title was 1965.

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      • Avatar Al D

        Never. They were all 1965s with 1965 VIN numbers. The 1964 1/2 designation is not Ford’s, but hobbyists who use it to delineate the early cars from the later versions. Fact.

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    • Avatar Rick

      Actually mine was registered as a 1964-1/2 in the state of connecticut

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      • Avatar OJM

        Ok I stand corrected but Glenn is right.
        All VIN’s are 1965.

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  4. Avatar CCFisher

    There is one important area to inspect for rust on an apparently rust-free Mustang: inside the cowl vent. The only paint that this area sees is the overspray that makes it through the vent slots. The drain holes get clogged with debris, which compounds the situation. Once holes appear, water trickles down the kick panels and onto the floor. The rust on the right floor of this one suggests a leaky cowl.

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    • Avatar Glen

      That is great info. keep it coming.

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    • Avatar ags290

      I agree. You can see the rust behind the glove box opening and coming down the right kick panel and where it is forming on the right toe board and inner rocker. This one had a water leak for a while. It could be from the windshield, or the wiper transmission pass through gasket or even the radio antenna cable grommet. All of these are on the right side but more than likely from the dreaded cowl top hat.

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  5. Avatar johnj

    The $6,000 may be a little high, but if you figure what you are going to save in rust repair I think you would be way ahead to start with a solid car like this. To really do a rusty car rite takes way more time, money and effort than most people realize. More of a bolt together project compared to a reconstruction, a project much more likely to get finished instead of abandoned.

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  6. Avatar Fred W.

    It took me about 10 seconds to find another $6000 Mustang on Craigslist in slightly better condition…

    https://huntsville.craigslist.org/cto/6019888018.html

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    • Avatar TBall

      Fred – nice find indeed, however I would counter that a 1964 1/2 with a 260 V8 and stick is leaps and bounds ahead of a 66 coupe with straight 6 and auto trans. I’ve had and sold two, not much of a market for them (although I now wish I had kept the 2nd, bench seat with factory air. 64.5 in far lower numbers, there is a market of folks looking only for that year.

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    • Avatar ccrvtt

      This is a pretty nice car. I’m not sure, but I believe that Ford made quite a few 302’s with 4-speeds that wouldn’t be too difficult to swap in.

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  7. Avatar Pete

    My uncle restored a 1964 convertible Mustang that was robin egg blue in the 70’s. V8 4spd car to boot.

    I like to have one like that!

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  8. Avatar 55chevy Chuck F Chas Foster

    I had a rusty 65 red with factory white vinyl top 4bbl 4 speed, it was a fast car for $150, I sold it to buy a 68 fastback Impala. This price is ok since it looks so solid, parts are very plentiful and not expensive compared to other muscle era cars, would make a great first time restoration project.

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  9. Avatar NotchNut

    Doesn’t 1964 1/2 mustangs have slightly different headlight buckets and hood than the 1965?

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    • Avatar TBall

      Yes they did, small, overlooked difference, yet it makes the 641/2 unique and different from 65 – also believe the grille was a little different, but have to check my background data – Brother-in-Law more schooled on those two than I.

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    • Avatar TBall

      NotchNut – This link should help…

      http://www.mustangandfords.com/news/mustang-1964/

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  10. Avatar leiniedude Member

    Bullitt clone.

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  11. Avatar Joe Haska

    The gentleman who designed most of the Mustang (Gale Halderman), told me face to face there is no such thing as a 641/2 Mustang, as stated all were titled as 65’s , no matter what. And I think he would know!

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  12. Avatar Wayne S.K.

    I’m just sorry that the man never got to finish his project. Death sux. It can jump up and bite you on the ass at any given time…

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  13. Avatar Glen Riddle

    Joe Haska,
    There seems to be some interchanging of year identifiers on Titles vs. Registrations vs. VINs going on here so it should be clarified that per Ford officially these cars were 1965s and all the VINs start with a “5”. But of course car title and car registrations are issued by state DMVs, so of course there will be examples of states calling these 1964s, since of course all the other titles and registrations they were doing at that time would have said 1964 on them, so it is no big surprise that they might put 1964 as the year on these docs out of habit. But of course the VIN is really the only one that matters. I believe it is most appropriate to refer to these cars as “early 1965 Mustangs” rather than “1964 1/2 Mustangs”. Hopefully this can be put to bed at this point. Hope this car gets restored and enjoyed.

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  14. Avatar Al D

    If you are not put off or over your head buying a disassembled car, this is the way to buy them, for the right price, of course. Nothing is hidden and there are no surprise as far as rust goes. Not so good for the seller because there’s a much smaller group of us willing to put it back together. As is, it’s going to be tough to get even half that asking price. Would be a fun car if it ever gets to be together again. Hope that there’s another bunch of bolts and such. Most of the ones shown never came from that car.

    Like 0

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