1965
Complete Restoration
Finished
What makes this Mustang project particularly interesting is the owner’s commitment to authenticity. The car has an inline-6 engine and no power steering, making it a so-called "student model," but its charm lies precisely in that simplicity. No frills — just the kind of car Ford originally envisioned: simple, attractive, and affordable for a new generation that no longer wanted to cruise across America in six-meter-long land yachts.
The car’s history has been complicated. It had already been restored in Estonia and looked reasonably good. However, before completing the car, the owner turned to us as specialists, having doubts about the paint quality. Odd bumps had appeared here and there on the body.
Unfortunately, his concerns proved true — and even worse. Upon closer inspection, we discovered: Both the front and rear of the car were warped due to a past accident, the doors didn’t fit, and the driver-side fender was also bent and the rear wings and panel were practically built from filler.
After thoroughly examining the car with us, the owner made a difficult decision: everything would have to be redone from scratch.
What followed was hundreds of hours of Stripping the old paint, straightening the car in a Car-O-Liner body jig, installing a new rear panel and doors, repairing the front end along with all wings and fenders.
Finally, we removed the “old” paint from the roof, hood, and trunk using soda blasting — which revealed even more surprises. The edges of the rear window had through-holes filled with filler, and the hood looked like a volcanic landscape.
Moral of the story: Restoring a car costs a lot of money, and if it’s done poorly, that money is wasted. When a car isn’t repaired structurally and thoughtfully, the painter has to start straightening a warped body with filler — and nothing durable or worthwhile comes from that. Leave this work to experts. A price that seems high at first is ultimately far cheaper than having to rebuild the same car twice.
One interesting fact: the owner believed the car had originally been black because that was how it was painted by a previous restorer. However, after carefully researching the car’s history and factory codes, it turned out that the Mustang should actually be dark metallic red. The owner was delighted with this discovery, as plain black made the car look somewhat gloomy.
Today, the paintwork is complete: the car is back in its authentic dark metallic red, with semi-matte black on the inner surfaces and under the hood. The Standox paint system again ensured a perfect final result.
08 Aug 2012
