Parts that are harder to source, more expensive than you would have thought.

[mmb617]

My son recently bought a '67 Mustang project car. It's a roller that was completely disassembled before the seller lost interest and decided to dump it. The car is amazingly rust free IMO, but it sure is going to take a lot of time and money to get it back on the road.

Here's a pic showing it's current state:





I'm donating a 351W and T5 I had left over from my bracket racing days and he's getting the parts he needs to install the drivetrain since it's not going to be warm enough to do any paint work for months. Things like headers and front sump oil pan were easy to find and not too expensive.

One thing he needs that I thought would be cheap is a bellhousing. A new one is $230 shipped but I told him I thought I could find one a lot cheaper than that. I posted a WTB ad here thinking that a lot of guys probably have them sitting around, especially guys who've switched to a scattershield, or (gasp!) an automatic. But no joy.

He checked on ebay and the cheapest one he could find there was $150 + $30 shipping. Some fools are asking $300 for them used, which is considerably more than they go for new.

Since the price difference between the cheapest used one he could find and a new one was only $50 he went ahead and ordered a new one.

Parts prices are weird. Something like the bellhousing which fits many years and of which there must be millions around command high prices, yet some of the more specific '67 Mustang parts are actually pretty reasonable. He bought a new stock type hood with the turn signals built in for under $300 when I thought it would be more. It's a repop but he's not doing a Concours restoration.

He's doing all the work on this project and I'm just an observer or helper when he needs two people. I'm also sometimes asked for advice with some of the old school stuff that he's not familiar with as he's 28 years old. He's an auto technician but has no real experience with carburetor fuel systems. He seldom sees a car at work that's more than a few years old.

[wraithracing]

Congrats to your son on the 67 Mustang. That will be a cool car once you are finished with it.

In regards to the bellhousing costs. I believe part of the reason for the high prices is that too often guys tore up the T5, found a good replacement but didn't need the bellhousing so the grabbed/ bought just the transmission. Then later the broken or repaired transmission might be sold to someone else, but again without a bellhousing. This happened time and again so now there are a ton of T5's out there but many don't have the original aluminum bellhousing. Years ago you could pick them up for $50 most any day, but now they are often hard to find and guys are charging more for them. Just the good ole' supply and demand issue going on. I probably have a spare myself, but I would have to count up my transmissions and bellhousings to 100% on that right now.

I will say that in my experience with the first gen Mustangs there are a lot of reproduction parts available for the 64.5-68, the 69/70 are getting better and the 71-73 are still lagging behind. In general that helps keep the costs down on the 68, but there are still some parts that seem to get a good quality part is Expensive! I am surprised about the hood. I have a near mint condition 1965 hood that I tried to sell several months back and couldn't get any takers at a price less than the Repop hoods. Oh well, I will hang on to it awhile longer and someone will need it someday. Good Luck!

[STL79Coupe]

If you need special parts check out my old man on ebay. His store name in Mustang*Mick and deals mostly in 65-68 NOS and refurbished parts. If he doesn't have anything listed send him a message and he might have it. He's 83 and has been in the game since 1974 or so. As for repopped parts I would look int0 NPD and Dennis Carpenter Mustang. GL on the project and if you need any help finding parts send me a PM and I'll see what I can help you with.

[KevinVarnes]

I remember years and years ago when my dad and I needed a specific bellhousing to fit a larger clutch for our '67 Biscayne project. We sorted through a pile of bellhousings at the junkyard for a couple of hours until we found the right one. I guess those days are gone.

I find that ebay is mostly full of junkyards listing simple parts for ridiculous prices. I don't know if anybody every buys that crap or not. There are still some good sellers and good deals out there, but it isn't like it was 15-20 years ago.

[NAVYCAT]

When I was building me aussie clone falcon GTHO Coupe (that they never built) from my crazy brain cost me 3 trips back to sydney (where I grew up) to get all the parts I needed. Its a little different now, it has real aussie falcon GT rims amd new lic. plate that says (GTHOPH2)

[gr79]

Very cool looking cars. Smooth lines reflect paint better. Simple construction. Space to work on it.
Compact but plenty of uncluttered room inside. An automatic would be fine for me after 40 years of clutching.
Wish Ford could follow up repoping cars like that. It can be done.
FCA does it with Jeep, Challenger, Charger. VW did it with New Beetle.
Pickups sell well even having almost the same roomy layout over the years.

Had a 67 Mustang verti. One of the cool features was the in hood turn signals.
At least now, can custom build one with new stock and updated tech like disc brakes, electrical, drive train.
For less than a million dollars.

Will shotgun ranchs, bungalows, cottages, small ranch houses with garages and lot, priced under 100,000.00, ever be built again?

[mmb617]

If you need special parts check out my old man on ebay. His store name in Mustang*Mick and deals mostly in 65-68 NOS and refurbished parts. If he doesn't have anything listed send him a message and he might have it. He's 83 and has been in the game since 1974 or so. As for repopped parts I would look int0 NPD and Dennis Carpenter Mustang. GL on the project and if you need any help finding parts send me a PM and I'll see what I can help you with.

I'll keep that in mind. Tony Branda's shop is real close to our house and it's an excellent source of early Mustang parts. That's where Bob (my son) got his hood. I'm sure there will be more parts that are hard to find as the build progresses.

The car he bought is pretty complete minus engine and transmission, it's just that everything is in boxes and some of it's not in good enough condition to reuse. It worked out well that I had a mostly complete 351 sitting on a stand in the corner of the garage which I no longer need, and also a freshly rebuilt T5 that was my spare when I was racing. At least he doesn't have to buy those two relatively expensive parts.

[STL79Coupe]

Tony Branda is a great source. A lot of the companies I was use to back in the day have been sold off or closed. You'll be surprised how easy some parts will clean up, or polish out. Then again the repopped parts are pretty good today and aren't crazy expensive. well the majority of them. lol

[webestang]

Cool project.....!

And I tell ya....finding a decent used stock hood cheap for my 99 Mustang is like hen's teeth. All the have way nice ones are $250-500 while I can still find hoods for 87-93 Mustang's for under $100. Heck in 2012 I bought a used hood for my 88 for $25.