66 Coupe

I just bought a 66 that has not been drove since '93 and has been stored in a garage since then. It was sold about 5 yrs ago to a friend of mine who put it in his garage where it sat till yesterday and now it's in my garage. I have never tried to restore anything and have no idea where to start. I am sure there has to be books out there to help a novice like me and am hoping to get some help from some of you. I don't want to start pulling off pieces and later not know where they came from. Can anyone tell me where or what I need which will let me make the right decisions and in what order to proceed with the restoration of my 66?

Thx  

Define your ultimate goal. Concourse car? Clean daily driver? Weekend race/cruiser car?
Once you know what your paramaters are then you can form a plan. Is this car your only vehicle to drive or is this going to be a hobby car?
Take pictures of the vehicle from all angles inside and out and under hood/trunk. Label everything so you will know what goes where later. Put small parts in baggies or shopping bags and label when you bgin to tear into it.
Determine what works and what doesn't. Determine the condition of the body and undercarriage, rust damage, etc.
Then come back on line and you can develop a priority plan based on safety, need, finances and goals.  

Thanks JBirch,
I have decided that I want it to be a very clean weekend cruiser> I am keeping it garaged but want to take her out and turn heads and not worry to much about a speck of dirt landing on it and ruining my outing(if that makes since).I checked the code on the Classic Mustang Dataplate Decoder online and found out that it originally came with a 200 IV I6 and a manual 3 speed transmission. I was told that it came with a 289 and auto transmission. The guy I bought it from said that it currently has a 302 block with 289 heads and a "souped up" 4 speed manual transmission.
I lost my wife of 27 yrs last October from pneumonia and am just starting to see further down the road of life than today. I gave up all of my dreams for our dreams 28 yrs ago and now find that I am remembering those old dreams so I am going to fulfill some of them. One of them isthe66. I took plenty of pictures both on the trailer and in the driveway so I can post them to see if I can get some advice as to where to start. Is there a place to post on this site or do I have to post elsewhere and then give the location?  

OK Shooter273. Now we have established your goal and we know what you are working with to some degree. The dream begins now. But first let me say how sorry I am to hear about your wife's passing and glad to hear that you are moving forward again like I'm sure she would want you to.
I think you can post pictures here on this site. You might check with site coordinator to see how that is done to be sure. If a problem exists let me know and maybe we can work out an alternate method.
First place to start is to determine the condition of the body and undercarriage regarding rust and damage.
If the car was originally a six cylinder and now has a V-8 and a 4 speed manual tranny you want to be sure what rear end and, brakes, suspension, etc. are V-8 compatible. Do the wheels have 5 lug nuts or 4? Is the the car running? Is the tranny really a 4 speed or is it the old 3 speed?
What condition is the body on initial inspection? Any special features like deluxe interior, air onditioning, etc.
It looks like a white coupe from the picture on your post. The data plate will tell you what the original paint color and interior color was. Are you going to change color?
Lots of questions but will be worth it in the end to do your homework up front.
Glad to help if you want me to. I've personally done 5 ground up hands-on restorations of early Mustangs in my garage and have learned a bunch in the process. Glad to share to help you avoid pitfalls.  

OK, Thanks
I'm sure I will be asking tons of questions for a long time to come so I hope I don't wear you out. As for the 66, I need to push it back out into the drive and take a good look over it. As far as I can see I know when the 6 was changed over to an 8 the suspension was also changed over as I can see newer parts. And the wheels are 5 lugs.As for the tranny I am not sure yet, I believe it is a 4 speed.
According to the On-line Mustang Dataplate Decoder the car was originally shipped to Dallas from Michigan and came with the standard color scheme (aqua blue and white) interior. The original color was and I believe still (with oxydation) is Wimbleton White. As far as changing the color I haven't really decided yet. What are the pros and cons of changing colors? I have to replace all of the interior as it was removed by the previous owner. I know I have to replace the floor pans I can see cancer holes throughout the front and back pans. There seems to be no other areas of the vehicle which has cancer but I'm sure when I really get a good look at it I'll find more. When I get home today I'll make a better examination of the car and hopefully add some pics when I reply next. Again thx  

You are welcome. Glad to help wherever I can.
The interior is actually quite easy to restore compared to other things and should be done toward the end rather than the beginning. The body and undercarriage are your first priorities.
Good news the car was converted over to V-8 components. That will save you a lot of work providing everything is working (like the brakes )and the engine runs and tranny is good. You might try starting the car and turning everything on/off to see what does and doesn't work. That way you can prioritize your projects based on difficulty and impact.
Its easy to change car and interior color if you are going to repaint it anyway. Since you won't be doing a concourse show resto then you are free to choose. On a concourse car the paint and interior should match the data plate.In this case it doesn't matter.
Only drawback with going to a darker color over the original white is that if you get scratches the white will sometimes show through. The remedy is to strip the car to the primer and repaint. More work. If you like the white then you can prep it and paint over with the same color. Bottom line is to follow your dream on color. Once you decide then we can cross that bridge. In meantime need to get all the body work out of the way. How are the hood, doors, trunk lid, front valence, fenders , quarter panels etc.?
What level of auto skill do you have? What amount of work do you actually want to do yourself?  

When I got home last night i pulled the front drivers wheel and took some uncarriage pics. This morning I uploaded both sets of pics online at the below site. Please feel free to check them out and tell me what you think.

HTTP://picasaweb.google.com/shooter273/1966fordmustang#

HTTP://picasaweb.google.com/shooter273/1966mustangundercarriagepics#

Thx  

I was told by the previous owner that the motor and tranny are still good and strong but since it's been so long since it's really ran for any length of time I suspect that I will need to replace all the seals at least. I am going to see if it will turn over after I flush everything and try and replace the fluids. If you have looked at the pics I posted what do you think? Is it something I want to try and restore or should I look for something in better shape? I am not wanting to do it for show or to make a profit on ,I just want to have something to occupy my time  and my want for a Pony with.  

I looked at the pics and think you have what you are looking for. I've restored cars in worse shape and they came out great.
Good news is that you have an original rally-pac worth $500 on the steering column and from what I can tell you have some original Magnum 500 rims on the car that are worth bucks if in good condition. You also have a '66 GT 140 mph instrument cluser which is cool. If the motor starts and runs well and the tranny is good you have the basis for a fun cruiser 'stang once you get the rust under control.
Not sure how bad the floor pans are. I'd take everything off the car floor and remove the seats. really inspect the floor sheet metal. Is it just surface rust with a few holes that can be patched or sealed or is the metal thin and rotted through to a large extend? I'd scrape and wire brush all the floor panels to get a better feel for what you have. They might be better than you think. If not, you may have to replace one or two of them.
You will need a new tail light panel and rear valence. If you plan to make it into a mock GT then get the rear valence with the GT trumpet exhaust cut outs.
The dings and rust at each end of the doors can be repaired as well as the cracks at the roof line and rear 1/4 glass windows. That is fairly common on coupes.
A new front bumper is in order.
Most of your work will be in the floor pans and the rear end which isn't too bad in any case.
The undercarriage has normal rust but that can be wire brushed and sanded off. Then spay can rustoleum the clean surface, spray can some semi-gloss black paint over that. Once dry spray some rubberized undercoating. You are done underneath for now.
The main thing is to be sure the "frame" rails aren't too mangled up. If they look solid and not too deformed then you are good to go and ready to move on to body work.
Are you able to do the welding yourself if you need new floor pans? The tail light panel may have to be cut out and a new one welded in if it looks like that dent can't be fixed in the original. Hard to tell from the pic if that is the case.
Anyway, I think you have a car that will meet your needs as long as you are willing to put in the time and effort to complete it. The hardest part will be at the beginning.  

Pull up the carpet in the front feet areas and then again around the rear feet areas. Rust lover those locations. Then look in the rear fender inner areas where it also does lots of damage. Probably the battery tray and under it is history. Gas tank probably could use replacement, cheap anyway. Rear wheel wells take a beating from age and road salt. Wiring is just plain old and questionable. What's the first five of the VIN? So what neck of the woods are you in anyway?  

I appreciate the help and words of wisdom. I knew about the Rally Pac and the Magnums but I didn't notice the GT Cluster. I was thinking about the GT rear panel already and will probably do as suggested. I wish you lived around the Dallas area cause I'd sure like to hang out in your shop and be your Hey Boy...lol. I've been reading some of the other posts and I see you are a wealth of knowledge. Again I appreciate all the help and I hope you don't mind if I try to get in touch with you in the future.
As for welding I can burn a mean whole in things with a torch but thats about it. I have a brother in law who is a welder so I'll be trying to get him to help if possible but they live a good ways away.

again thx


Mike  

Thx dacofa,
The carpet was pulled along time ago prior to my purchase and oh yeah it looks like I will have to replace at least the drivers side pan. Take a look at the websites I posted and you can see it. The wheel wells re in good shape as well as under the doors. The battery tray is also in decent shape. I think it was replaced in the 90's when they put the 302 in. I live south of Dallas in Ennis Tx. and am looking for local help to learn from. Any suggestions?  

Contact me anytime. Glad to help. I live a bit further West than Dallas. Would help locally if I could but will have to settle for email. Your car will turn out great.
Talk to you later.
J  

BTW: Good luck!