Tearing It Down, Building It Right with David Wallace

Introduction

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Episode Preview

0:36Coming up today on this episode of Ford Mustang, the Early Years Podcast. So I bought the car. I put two more grand into it to make it look pretty, but I didn't really do anything. I had painted, you know, just some stuff myself. I put the carpet in. Not a big deal. And I thought, I'm going to sell this at Holla, I guess, Nights for nine or ten grand, right? I'm thinking, I've got a really good deal here. Because my wife and I have three sons. Well, in the back seat, there are two seatbelts. So that does not work in the state of California. Right. So I couldn't sell it, though.

1:07Nobody in Holla, I guess, wanted to buy it. So I was driving by a used car place. The guy was selling a van. I thought, I need a van. I drove my car and I said, I need your car. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you. So I got a van for my car. And I always sort of wanted one. Right. I was born in 1964. And so the idea of a 64 and a half was always just sort of out there as a dream. Never had the money. Never had even the opportunity. But then the money came. Then the opportunity came. It's a perfect match.

Podcast Introduction

1:43Welcome to the Ford Mustang First Generation The Early Years Podcast. Every week we will have conversations with collectors, experts, weekend warriors, and those in the know when it comes to first generation ponies. Start your engines and let's go. All right, Ford Mustang community, welcome back to the podcast. On is today's guest, David Wallace. A 1964 and a half. Looked like nut and bolt restoration all done in his very own garage with his very own skinned

2:16knees, burnt arms and legs, ripped clothing and everything else. If you are into restoring your own classic Mustang, whether it's a first gen or any other classic car, this is the episode for you to listen to because we're about to hear the entire, not only the origin story, but the pain and anguish that he has gone through

Guest Introduction

2:33in order to make it happen. David, I'm excited to chat with you. Welcome to Ford Mustang. Thanks, Doug. Thanks for inviting me on the show. Yeah. So for those of you that are watching this on video, which is no one because we are doing an audio podcast, but still David's got this amazing looking, is that like grabber blue? I mean, what is that? It's actually called true blue fire mist. My favorite color is cobalt blue. And that was what I got when I told him what I wanted. So David, have you always been a car guy? No, actually.

3:04I mean, I always loved cars. I always had cars, but never been like a wrench turner or grease monkey or any of that before. Now, I remember when I got my Mustang, this is going back a handful or so of years ago. I bought it from a guy in San Francisco, and I know that those that are listening to the show have heard this story before, so I'll be very brief. But the only thing I knew how to do is pick the bucket color that I was going to watch my Mustang with. I knew nothing about it. Fast forward these many years, and now I find that every project that happens is like a new adventure for me. Oh, very much so.

3:35I love getting my hands under the hood, under the car. I love doing all the stuff that gets to get done on it, which could be plentiful. But then when you sent me the photos of you and your restoration project, and then all of the burns and rips and scars and things, I was thinking, that's even a little bit further than I'd be willing to go. So why don't we start with when you decided that these were going to be projects that you took on rather than giving them to somebody else? And then we'll talk about a little bit more about the Mustang, too.

Restoration Decision

4:04Okay, so I've always had a curious mind. I was sort of mechanical and engineering, but none of that real background. When I went in the Air Force, they made me a jet engine mechanic. So I got my way, learning tools and learning how to wrench. But this particular car came up because we had sold a house that I actually completely restored from the ground up and made a really good profit. And so my wife said, you know what? You've always wanted a Mustang. Why don't you just look and see? So I started looking at new cars, redone cars, and I felt like I can't really trust

4:35anybody else. So I found actually on Facebook Marketplace, a guy was selling a 64 and a half, right? I'm thinking, sure, for a couple thousand dollars, not about 100 miles from here. So I called him up. We talked, got a trailer, went down there, looked at it. What's it, the numbers? It was legit, 64 and a half. So I put it on the trailer. Everything for this car was in a rubber made bucket. There was nothing in the car. It literally was just a roller. Wow. So start with where do you even begin on a restoration of that type?

5:09So I'm assuming you had to trail it home. Yeah, flatbed trailer, pushed it in the garage. I think I had my oldest son help me push it in the garage and put it on blocks. Then I just put it up on jack stands and tore everything that was left on it off. Suspension, rear end, everything. So it was like a little hovercraft in my garage. Yeah, so it looked like, I mean, from the picture that I saw on the trailer, the front and left fenders were taken off. The hood was already taken off. You took all the body panels off. It looks like the interior was completely, you had a shell of a car.

5:41I really literally did and didn't know where to start. So I thought, I'll go down to the very beginning. So I got a grinder and some wire wheels at Harbor Freight. And I just went to town, taking all the paint, everything off down to bare metal and found a lot of rust. And I had my work cut out for me. Yeah. So was that the intention when you originally bought the car? Because those in our community that have taken on projects, not that they meant to get into them to begin with. You know, they buy the car and then they discover, oh, how much body filler was put on the car.

6:11And so they start doing the rear quarter panel or whatever they're doing on their own. Rare is the, or it is the exception where somebody actually plans on doing that from the very beginning. Was that what the plan was? Yeah, I knew that it was going to be a process and I didn't really care how long it would take. I just, I knew that I'm very tenacious. When I get on to something, I stick with it till it's done. And so this was actually just four years ago, this last December, that I began stripping it all down. And that was the intention, just go all the way down and then slowly build it back up.

Restoration Process

6:42I had nowhere even idea where to start. I only vaguely maybe heard about NPD as one source. I got on Facebook. I joined a couple of the different Facebook sites for Mustangs and just started listening and watching. Okay. And so where did you begin? So it looks like after you took off the, whatever body panels were remaining, whatever stuff that was remaining on the car, out of the car. Yeah. Was there no engine? Was there an engine? Oh, this is kind of a cool thing. So there was an engine in it. Don't know if it was running or not.

7:12It was just in there. It was a 260. And after I pulled it out and I pulled it out the hard way because I didn't have hoist, I actually pulled it out the bottom of the car, lift the car up over the engine, let it on a creeper and pulled it out. I mean, we're talking really, really backward. That's amazing. Now look at the serial numbers. It was from a 1962 Ford Fairlane. It had been pulled out of based on the serial numbers. So this is cool. It's period correct because the 64 and a half, the largest motor they had in it was a 260. So I'm thinking this could be really cool.

7:42So I decided I'm going to save this motor if I can. Okay. So it was the original engine for the car. Maybe. I'm hoping. I mean, the car is a U model, which means it was a grocery getter, six cylinder, three speed automatic. Got it. Got it. I mean, maybe they cannibalized it. I'm hoping, right? Maybe. But I don't know for sure. At the factory, you think? Or you mean? Yeah. Or maybe right after. Because this engine has been in there a long time. Well, it seems like, at least in having some conversations with people, I can't remember if any on the show, but I know that it, like Carson Coffee or some of the places, it's like, you know, those early on 64 and a halfs, they would take Ford Falcon parts.

8:21They would take all the different parts. It was a conglomerate of a whole bunch of different things. And that could be what you have. Now, we don't know that. But you said on the door plate it said it was an I-6, did you say? No, 260, which is the smallest V8. Oh, got it. Got it. I'm sorry. Maybe I confused what you said. I thought you said that somewhere along the way in the original. Yeah. The numbers on the fender, say it's a U-model. A U-model is a straight six with a three. Got it. Got it. Okay.

8:51All right. So, engine, interesting story. Transmission, was that in the car or not in the car? You know what? It had three speed. I didn't even want to bother with it. I just pulled it out with the engine. And then I used that as sort of my core deposit to get the T5 I decided to put in it. Nice. Okay. Cool. And when did you start to run into any, what I would call, any of the bottlenecks in getting the work done? Was there certain parts that you're like, I just can't figure this out no matter how many Facebook groups or YouTube videos I'm watching?

9:22Let me say what. Everything else, everything came together pretty easily as far as all of those different things. The engine gave me the biggest headaches. I mean, I had to teach myself how to weld. So, the body work was one thing, but that wasn't too difficult because it's forgiving. I mean, if you're not a good welder, you can be a good grinder. And I became a very good grinder. That's cool. For the engine, oh my goodness, I had so much trouble with the engine. What were some of your snafus there? Okay. Well, first of all, when I took it to the shop to have it honed, 30,000 to over, right?

9:53I got it back. I had paid my money. It took forever, though, for the engine shop to finish, like eight months. I took it to the mechanic, originally, for the mechanic to build. I met a really cool Mustang expert mechanic. He builds race cars and all that. And he says, this engine is not good. There's still a ridge in some of these cylinders. It's going to have to be 40 over. I'm like, okay. So, they would not give me my money back at the other place. So, I went to a different shop and got it reborn. So, that was the very first one. Had the crank balance and then had it put together.

10:24Once I got it in the car, got it running, 1,500 miles only, just past break-in, right? Right. I hear this loud bang and I lose all power. And I'm thinking, what has gone wrong? So, I troubleshoot everything that I can. Number one cylinder, trash. Number six and number four, not great. The pistons just shot. Apparently, I had a, what do they call it? A detonation. Timing was off or something was off. And so, I'm back to square one and I got to rebuild the engine.

10:54And so, the mechanic that put it together the first time says, I'll cut you a deal. If you want, you can build the engine in my shop with my tools and I'll look over your shoulder. And then that way, I won't have to charge you to rebuild the engine because I'm sort of kind of partially at fault. You won't say that, but that's what you're saying. Right. Okay. All right. Go ahead. No, you go. You keep telling me the story. Interesting, though, we were at that place where I decided I would go with roller lifters instead of just flat tappets because I was going to give me some more horsepower and be a little bit easier on the engine.

11:28Right. Well, we talked on, I think it was a Wednesday afternoon. He died that night. No. Yeah. So, my engine's in his shop. Obviously, it's all, everything is up in the air now. And this is just like six months ago. Well, the machinist that bore out my engine the first time, it was actually in his shop and he was getting ready to examine it and see what he needed to do with that number one cylinder. Right. Get it to sleep. Well, he called me and said, I'm willing to offer you the same deal.

11:58I'll let you build the engine yourself. I'll babysit you and give you guidance, give you torque crunch or whatever you need in my shop. So, we built it in the day. At what point would you have thrown your hands up in the air and say, you know, I should probably just get a, make a coyote swap out of this or go with a crate engine? I cannot tell you, everybody, my friends, my guys on Facebook, they said, just trash that engine. It's never going to give you anything but trouble. Just go coyote swap or go into a crate motor. And it was really interesting. The machinist said, you know what, David, you could do all that.

12:29You've already got a lot of money into this, though. He said, here's the thing, I have worked on blueprint motors that blew in the same way. I mean, it's just one of those weird, odd coincidences that happen. Yeah, you don't want that weird, awful coincidence to happen to you if you're in our community either. David's already been through it. Okay, so you got past the engine problems, it sounds like. How about like the body work? Did you do all of that yourself as well? I did the rough body work. Really strange.

13:00I had my garage door open and was working on my car nearly every day. So there's sounds and there's sparks right from and from my house. And people would drive by and somebody would give me a thumbs up. Well, one guy stopped and said, you know what, I used to paint cars. I'd like to paint yours. And so we just talked for a little bit and he gave me a really good quote. And I'm thinking, okay, I know what a paint job in California costs. We're talking $30,000 minimum, which I don't have. And so he gave me a really good number. We said, let's do that. He said, you know what, let me finish the body work because I don't think you're going to do it right. Well, hindsight is 20-20.

13:31I wish I had just finished it because it doesn't look bad. But up close, if I'm going to try to win anything, I might not get there because the paint is what's holding me back. I mean, it looks really nice with the lights on or in the sunshine. But you can see where he didn't feather out all the Bondo and things like that. Did you reinstall the body panels on your own? Oh, I did. So you put the car back together. So you took the car apart. You did all of the work that you were going to do on your own. And then you put the car back together and sent it to him for painting.

14:03Actually, I had him paint it with it all apart. Doors off. Because I wanted paint like factory. I didn't want it to be at the edges. So, yeah, very literally put it all together while the paint was still fresh. And so that was a little precarious too. What about wiring? How did you do that? Did you redo the entire, all the wiring in the car as well? I did. In fact, when I got it, the wires were in that Rubbermaid bin. So I didn't know what was going on. There was broken wires because they were dried out. They were really old. So I bought a painless wiring kit.

14:34And I followed the very intimidating instructions. And I just thought, I'm just going to swallow this one page at a time. And I did. Very literally just went through one page at a time and got it wired. I remember when I did AC on one of my F-250s, the 67, which did not have AC in it to begin with. All of the, it was about 30 to 40 hours of man hours to put into it. But I really enjoyed every bit of it. But only because I had the support of all of those YouTube videos and instructional videos that Vintage AC had sent over.

15:08And what's great is that when you're able to do that, following instructions, as long as you can follow instructions, you just take it slow and steady. I mean, that wins every time. Yeah, it really does. Because I, I, that was the most intimidating part for me was like, oh my gosh, this wiring. But everything's labeled. It says to the rear, to the front, through the, you know, everything was pretty straightforward. If you take your time, you just, you can't rush through it and think, I know how to do this. All right, so the same way the engine went out, it did not go back in, right?

15:38So how did you put the engine back, or did it, how did it go back in your car? Oh, it went back in. This is, we're talking maybe three months ago. Guy across the street had a buddy with an engine hoist. So he loaned me his engine hoist. But I'm, this is me by myself, and I'm not a big guy. So I've got this engine on the trailer that I've, I've got a little bit of trailer from the shop. And I got it on the engine hoist. And I've got a driveway that's a little bit of an angle. Not terrible, but a little bit of an angle. And I'm trying to fight this thing to get it in my car, or out of my car.

16:10And just as it's done, the engine hoist begins to lean. Oh, no. And it hits the right fender of my car. And it looks like somebody with an iron fish grabbed my fender. So I've got a little bit of body work on there. Oh, no. So that, after everything was said to you, I guess, what, maybe painting should be the last thing that you do. You know what? In hindsight, I may have to have it redone at some point, because everything in the car is brand new now. Right.

16:38And the paint job's new, obviously. So it doesn't look horrible. But I would just, if I had the money, I would do the paint over. All right. Talk to me about interior, dashwork, all of that brand, every bit of that is brand new as well. Yeah. I taught myself how to do the upholstery. I mean, all the different parts stores sell the kits. So I wanted to go with a black and white pony interior. And they sent brand new foam out, so I didn't even have to use any of the old stuff. The scary thing to me, though, was for the rear seat, you had to cut out some of the wire, you know, the spring wire.

17:10In order to fit the foam, so I'm thinking, if I do this once and do it wrong, I'm stuck. Right. But I did, and it went together, and it looks really nice. You know, it's interesting, because I'm dealing right now with three of my four classics. They have the old-fashioned frames and springs in the seat. And the question that I had for a number of people that I've talked to is, do I pull out the springs to put in this new foam, or is it springs underneath the foam, even the new foam that goes in? What's the answer to that? So it's yes and no.

17:41It's both and. So some of the springs, like the main frame with some of the springs stayed, but there was part that were actually in the way of the foam, and that was the part I had to cut out. Got it. It was the scary part. I'm thinking, oh, my gosh, I can't put these back in once they're out. All right. Headliner in those coupes sometimes is a little bit difficult. How were you able to get through that? Initially, I thought I was going to go with the 64 1⁄2 style headliner, right, with the moon texture or whatever. But you've got to have those spars, and they've got to be the exact right shape and size. And apparently, they're color-coded.

18:12I didn't know any of this. So I got some spars used and tried to put them in there. I could not make heads or tails. So I thought, you know what? Scrap this idea. I sent the old headliner back, and then I got the one-piece fiberglass headliner. Went in like a dream. I would suggest that to anyone. Oh, it's good. It's good. It's interesting that you say that because now the Mustang I have is a convertible, so I don't have to deal with the headliner. Just a replacement of the top if it ever gets a rip in it. But on each of those trucks, I have the option of doing the cardboard, or I believe there's a fiberglass that's inserted, and then there's cardboard that's got all the perforations in it, too.

18:51I wasn't sure which one to do, but it sounds like if there's a fiberglass option, that's the way to go. Yeah, that way you never have to worry about moisture ruining the cardboard or anything like that, deterioration over time. It's one and done. It was so easy. And I was even intimidated by that, thinking, how am I going to do this? I've never done it before. You get the windows down, it will go right in there. Pop it in place. It's super nice. All right. Talk to me about wheels, suspension, all of the framework, any of that stuff that you've done underneath the car.

19:22Okay, because it was originally a six-cylinder, it had the smaller suspension as far as the sizes and diameter for the sway bar and all of that. So I replaced all that with the old-school 64 1⁄2 style for the V8. So all of that suspension is brand new. I did the Shelby drop. You drill the holes. You bring it down an inch and then a quarter inch back. I put GT springs on it. I went with Willwood brakes. Are you a four-wheel disc, or are you two and a half?

19:52You drum in the back and two. I talked to a lot of guys, and they said, well, I tell them, I don't want to race at all. I want to go to some shows or some cars and coffee, but I don't really care to race. I said, then don't waste your money on rear disc brakes. Go disc in the front and just drum in the back. So that's what I've done. I had a rear end built, a nine-inch rear end with 3.55 gears. Nice. And then was built. I'm trying to remember who it was. Well, I'll remember. That's okay. Anyway, so a brand new rear end in it, too.

20:23That's cool. And what did you decide on the wheels? So I went with, what have we got here? The Cooper Cobras, radial GTs. I mean, they barely fit in there. I don't remember the size on it. I think they're 15-inch, but I went with the stylized wheels, but I went with mag instead of steel. So they look just like the old 65 steel wheels, but they're mags. All right. And how about cooling system? What did you decide to do with the radiator up front? So it's got a three.

20:54It's aluminum. So yeah, it doesn't look like old school. I thought, that's okay. That's okay. I think it can be forgiven on that. So yeah, it's aluminum and beautiful. So you've taken this car, I mean, literally apart and put it back together.

Lessons Learned

21:08Give me some valuable lessons that you've learned along the way, because I know that you've learned a lot, especially in that you were doing first time in many of these. Okay, so the biggest one, number one, don't try to take the hood on or take it off or put it on by yourself. I actually gave myself a hernia trying to put the hood back on. It's not easy. It's unwieldy. I mean, it's not that it's overly heavy, but the leverage that you need to put it on to end the springs are up when you're trying to put it on. So you're trying to deal with all of that. It's like you're bending over. You're putting all that strain.

21:39So that was number one. Let's see. What else? I think the old measure twice, cut once analogy probably works. I can't tell you how many times I've made, whether it's my Mustang or any of the classic trucks, how many times I've had to make the same repair three times within that, you know, that first seven days of putting it in. I'm like, no, that's leaking or no, that belt doesn't fit or no, that's not right. Or what I put that in backwards or no, I put the left side thing on the right side thing. That's not right.

22:09All of that stuff has happened many times to me. So the funniest and scariest thing that happened is the steering wheel. I mean, I bought a Bordeson power steering unit, so it looks old school, right? And it just locks in with one Allen wrench screw, the shaft, into – so I am driving it home from the shop at one point. I don't know, I guess it was when I had my engine tuned or something, and as I'm driving, I pull, and the steering wheel comes out while I'm going down the road.

22:40Oh, no. Like, holy crap. So I push it back in, and I'm able to steer to the side. Is that the right setup? The right setup is just one Allen wrench? I believe it actually has two, now that I looked at it again. So the one that I saw was loose, though. But it does have two opposite each other. And that's it, though. It's just two Allen screws. It seems like that would be something else. I mean, even with the standard steering wheel, it's got the – you need actually a wheel puller in order to try to get that off. So for the – yeah, but for the end shaft into the power steering, that's all you get.

23:14Oh, I got you. The shaft is – the steering wheel didn't come off. The steering wheel came out of the steering wheel. Oh, the whole shaft shifted up. Boy, there would seem like there would be a – I forget what they call them, but like a pin. Not a pin, but like a C-clamp or something. Yes, a stop. A stop. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Okay, so some valuable lessons that are there. Were there any repairs except for the engine? It sounds like you've had some fits and starts on that, but none of those sounded like were your fault. It sounded like there was a health issue with the guy died, and the original shop, they probably did some work that wasn't quality work.

23:53Any of those repairs that you made that you're like, oh, I just couldn't get that to fit right, or I just kind of rigged that to make that work, and I had to undo it? You know, like me, two or three times oftentimes as a repair. Right, right. You know, I had a hard time fighting with the seat backs on the front seats because, you know, they've got those little spring pins that are supposed to go in the holes, but the back is just cardboard. I mean, it's not really – it's cardboard, I guess. But so I ended up just after probably a dozen attempts and fighting it, thinking, I'm going to ruin these things before I get them in because they were just not lining up.

24:31I just got some silicone, black silicone, and I put straps around it and tighten them up and let it dry. It's fine. It's fine. Send it. Send it. Did you replace the windshield also in all the glass? That wasn't me. It needed to be replaced. I did put the windows in myself and had to learn all of that, so that was interesting because I came, like I said, in a box. They were not in the car. I remember doing the dash on my Mustang and with the windshield in, of course, and, you know, you have to remove the instrument panel.

25:04You have to take out the glove box. There's a bunch of stuff that has to get done in preparation. I think – I can't remember if the radio had to come out too, but there was so many things that had to get done. Was there an easy way for you to do that dash? Well, I was very fortunate. The windshield in the rear window was not in, so I didn't do that first. Now, I did have to replace the upper and lower cowl, though, because they were leaking, so I had to teach myself how to remove spot welds. Didn't know how to do that. Didn't know there was a special drill, and then I was scared to death because I have never operated a spot welder before, so I went to Harbor Freight and bought one, and I'm thinking, I don't want to electrocute myself.

25:41I mean, I felt like I was a guy in a suit of armor out there trying to be protective. It's no big deal. You know, the little clamp, you hear it go brrr, it's real hot, and you're done. And I thought that really wasn't that big of a deal. But the nice thing is because the glass was out, I could do the whole thing with no trouble. Nice, nice. And I'm assuming you did a new heater core and all the other stuff that was in the temperature and climate control? Yeah, brand new. That was so much easier. I didn't even have the box. There was none of that. No heater core, no box, no fan, so I had to buy all that new.

26:12Oh, my gosh. So I hate to ask the question. Feel free to answer it as arbitrarily as you want to, but all in, any idea where you are? I mean, do you save receipts and do all that? Yeah, everything from the car, all of it, with even the stuff I had to pay to the shop, we're about $30,000 into it, which I felt is not too bad for what I've got. I mean, you basically do have a brand new car. I do, yeah. I think about that. It's an old shell with a new car. Old shell, new car. If you had to do it over again, any things that you would decide to either take on yourself or give to somebody else that you did on your own?

26:49Good question. I would actually – I really enjoyed building the engine, and it wasn't as difficult as I thought. I was very intimidated by it, and I wasted a lot of money and a lot of time waiting on a shop to build my engine, and then it blew anyway. So like that, I would just take on myself and save probably $3,000 or $4,000 just doing that. Yeah. I mean, from an equipment perspective, though, and again, I'm just asking this out of complete ignorance. Can one do one's own engine rebuild? I know that you could tidy things up, but can you actually mill an engine and bore out cylinders?

27:25That part, no. I would definitely take the block to have it honed and polished and all that. But as far as physically putting the components in myself, anybody could do that. It's just – it's following the right sequence. I mean, we even had an issue where one of the rocker studs pulled out after it was rebuilt. And then there's clacking noise. Well, I pull the valve cover off, and it's cocked. So now those are push-in style. It has to be – have threads traced in it and a different kind of stud put in.

27:56So I had that done rather than do it myself. Right. But in the process, it bent the lifter rod. It bent the valve. So I had to have that redone. Right. Again, that's after a rebuild. You can't foresee those things. You really don't know. I mean, it's really hard to determine. And I remember one of the engines on one of my trucks, it needed the – there was a head gasket blue. And so the symptom of that is you're going to have a bent push rod possibly, and you're going to have a – tap it?

28:27Top it? Top it? Yeah. Yeah, the seat, wherever they're sitting. Right. And both of those things were disintegrated. And not disintegrated, but they both broke apart. I had to pull out each one of those pieces. But the symptom was that. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that I had this blown head gasket that I didn't realize. And so I took it to – finally took it to a mechanic, and he's like, you could fix this 1,000 times. You're going to get the return of the problem too. The symptom is the bent push rod.

28:59Anyway, I'm sure you've experienced a number of those things through the time. Were you always a Mustang guy, or was Mustang just new to you in this whole experience? Great question. So when I was younger, not a Mustang guy, a friend of mine had one, and I felt like that's way too much car for me. I drove it once. He wanted to try to sell it to me, and I probably wish I had bought it. But about 25 years ago, a friend of mine from church had one for sale for two grand. So I thought that's a pretty cool price. So I bought the car.

29:29I put two more grand into it to make it look pretty, but I didn't really do anything. I had it painted. I did some stuff myself. I put the carpet in. Not a big deal. And I thought, I'm going to sell this at Hall, I guess, Nights for nine or ten grand, right? Thinking I've got a really good deal here because my wife and I have three sons. Well, in the back seat, there are two seatbelts. So that does not work in the state of California. Right. So I couldn't sell it, though. Nobody in Hall, I guess, Nights wanted to buy it. So I was driving by a used car place. The guy was selling a van. I thought, I need a van.

30:00I drove my car in there and said, I need your car. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you. So I got a van for my car and always sort of wanted one. But I was born in 1964. And so the idea of a 64 and a half was always just sort of out there as a dream. Never had the money. Never had even the opportunity. But then the money came. Then the opportunity came. It's a perfect match. You and I are birds of a feather, born in 64 also, December of 64. And I thought I really wanted to get a car that was built in 64.

30:34I really wanted a Mustang. I've always wanted a Mustang. Guys in high school had them and the classics. And I'm like, there was just never a point in my life that I could afford to have it. And when I moved to California, I'm like, the quintessential California car, a 65 convertible Mustang. I'm like, I'm definitely getting this thing. Haven't been enjoying it ever since. That's awesome. I want to leave you with the final word. Share some advice for those that are in our listening community, either thinking about getting a classic Ford Mustang or have one right now, making the repairs, maybe thinking about doing it themselves.

31:07What words of wisdom can you impart upon them? Okay. Watch a lot of YouTube videos. Talk to a lot of Mustang guys. And I'm not getting any money or any sponsorship. But Classic Industries is based in Southern California. They actually put out about an inch and a half catalog that you can get delivered to your house for free. And it's like the Sears catalog. You can just go through and dream. And you don't have to buy from them, but you can see everything that's available. You could actually, I think, build your own Mustang if you had a core Mustang with parts you could buy from them.

31:41Yeah. I know there are lots of other manufacturers, but I really like them. There's tons of parts available for these Mustangs. There is a world of help and support on Facebook Marketplace, and I 100% agree with you, David. I so thank you for sharing your wisdom and your story and your experience because, hey, look, we're not too many hours apart from each other. I know I got to have a meetup at some point with all of our Southern and Central California Mustang drivers.

32:13We've got to do something like that. Thanks for being on the show today. Thank you. Have a good day. Hey, for all of our Ford Mustang community, thanks for sharing. If you have an idea for the show or you want to be a guest on the show like David and have your own Mustang experience to share, just send me an email. I'll leave a link in the show notes for that. Also, there's another link in the show notes, not only for National Parts Depot, our fledgling sponsor, our sponsor for the show. But also, if you want your car to be, if you're in Southern California and you want your car to be rented out for photo shoots, for movies, for any type of prop, for weddings.

32:43I mean, it is really fun to go and watch all these experiences that I've had a chance to have. Just check the link in the show notes for that as well. Keep it safe, keep it rolling, and keep it on the road. Until next time. Thanks for listening to the Ford Mustang First Generation The Early Years Podcast. Please subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen to your podcasts. Ideas for the show? Click the link in the show notes. Thanks again for tuning in. Create a great day. Hold on to the show notes.

33:14I'll leave a brief while listening to the Tase Fair. Let's go. Reddit takes place, receive, and,by treading me.

33:21See you, David. And now, it's always gosta like it or not. author leaves. You can see some names. You can see it as a bonus link. I'll let you learn the link again.