Well, with the restoration basically complete after just under 5 years (which is what I predicted), here are some random thoughts on the process.
Costs: Outside of paint, the cost to restore Midlife and repair rust damage and replace worn parts came out to only $7914.17, exclusive of paint and consumables. Pro-rated over 60 months, that was only $130/month...quite achievable for the hobbyist.
Time: I basically only worked on the car weekends, holidays, and vacations. I don't know how folks can restore a car in 4-6 months, unless it is in great shape, they work 60 hours a week on it, and get a lot of assistance (painting already lined up, etc.).
What I enjoyed most: the rust repairs! I found I had great skill in cutting out bad rust, cutting patch panels, and welding them in and grinding the welds down so that one could not tell there were patches. This was a big surprise to me, as I had never done this before, and just learned to weld prior to starting the restoration.
What I enjoyed the least: Painting. I'm a lousy painter, period. Whether a rattle can, spray paint, or finding a decent painter, everything turned sour. I can count on one hand the number of parts that I painted that didn't have to strip and re-paint. Air cleaner lids are the worst: my first one I painted 4 times; the second now three times.
Burn-out: Yes, you can easily burn-out working on these cars. Once during extensive trunk work, I walked away from the car for a couple of weeks. Re-assembly was quickened with burn-out, as I just wanted it back together and on the road. Forget about refurbishing fasteners that can't be seen: let's get with the program!
Injuries: Several. Despite using masks, full face shields and safety glasses, I had to go to the hospital twice for grinding debris in my eyes. At least I got a tetanus shot during the first trip when tetanus boosters were in short supply and they were not available upon request. I managed two cases of tendonitis in the elbows, due to grinding paint off with die grinders that were out of balance.
Initial Fire-Up: very disappointing, actually. The car ran lousy, the carb had a major backfire and a plastic part fell down, burning up and caused moderate damage to the carb. It took 5 weeks before the car was truly back in tune, partly due to a harmonic balancer that was not re-assembled correctly by a vendor.
Current Feelings: Sorta glad its over, but not really wanting to take the car out on jaunts just yet. I still have to get it aligned, and the car is temperamental, to say the least. I figure another six months before I would feel comfortable taking it out on a long road trip, mainly because it is too hot to work on the car here in FL. Summer time is not the time to be working on cars in the South. I wanted to make it a good daily driver, but after 5 years of near concours restoration, it'll probably be a garage queen. It simply is worth too much money to bear parking lot dings and road rash.
Best Tip from VMF: Bag and tag, then place into plastic tubs. I put nearly everything in plastic baggies, using 3x5 index cards to mark what the part was. I only had two parts that I couldn't find: a screw for the glove box wire and the screw for the grounding wire that goes to the firewall. I ended up listing all the parts in a notebook to make it easier to find what tub the part was in.
Do It Again? Well, not for a couple more years. This restoration took a fair amount of effort, time, and energy, but I did learn a tremendous amount. Would I tackle another Mustang? I dunno...
Pro's: Learned a bunch about hydraulics, welding, mechanical stuff, design philosophy of Ford, etc. All of this is worthwhile for working on stuff around the house. Learned what my limitations are, and what I am good at.
Con's: Restoring fasteners is not fun but tedious at best. The final product is not as much fun as the work getting there; in other words, the journey is more fun that the destination. What to do on the weekends now that I don't have to work on the car anymore (I really don't want to go back to cutting the grass every weekend).
Final bit of advice: If I can do a car restoration with only a modicum of mechanical abilities, so can you! Good luck!
Costs: Outside of paint, the cost to restore Midlife and repair rust damage and replace worn parts came out to only $7914.17, exclusive of paint and consumables. Pro-rated over 60 months, that was only $130/month...quite achievable for the hobbyist.
Time: I basically only worked on the car weekends, holidays, and vacations. I don't know how folks can restore a car in 4-6 months, unless it is in great shape, they work 60 hours a week on it, and get a lot of assistance (painting already lined up, etc.).
What I enjoyed most: the rust repairs! I found I had great skill in cutting out bad rust, cutting patch panels, and welding them in and grinding the welds down so that one could not tell there were patches. This was a big surprise to me, as I had never done this before, and just learned to weld prior to starting the restoration.
What I enjoyed the least: Painting. I'm a lousy painter, period. Whether a rattle can, spray paint, or finding a decent painter, everything turned sour. I can count on one hand the number of parts that I painted that didn't have to strip and re-paint. Air cleaner lids are the worst: my first one I painted 4 times; the second now three times.
Burn-out: Yes, you can easily burn-out working on these cars. Once during extensive trunk work, I walked away from the car for a couple of weeks. Re-assembly was quickened with burn-out, as I just wanted it back together and on the road. Forget about refurbishing fasteners that can't be seen: let's get with the program!
Injuries: Several. Despite using masks, full face shields and safety glasses, I had to go to the hospital twice for grinding debris in my eyes. At least I got a tetanus shot during the first trip when tetanus boosters were in short supply and they were not available upon request. I managed two cases of tendonitis in the elbows, due to grinding paint off with die grinders that were out of balance.
Initial Fire-Up: very disappointing, actually. The car ran lousy, the carb had a major backfire and a plastic part fell down, burning up and caused moderate damage to the carb. It took 5 weeks before the car was truly back in tune, partly due to a harmonic balancer that was not re-assembled correctly by a vendor.
Current Feelings: Sorta glad its over, but not really wanting to take the car out on jaunts just yet. I still have to get it aligned, and the car is temperamental, to say the least. I figure another six months before I would feel comfortable taking it out on a long road trip, mainly because it is too hot to work on the car here in FL. Summer time is not the time to be working on cars in the South. I wanted to make it a good daily driver, but after 5 years of near concours restoration, it'll probably be a garage queen. It simply is worth too much money to bear parking lot dings and road rash.
Best Tip from VMF: Bag and tag, then place into plastic tubs. I put nearly everything in plastic baggies, using 3x5 index cards to mark what the part was. I only had two parts that I couldn't find: a screw for the glove box wire and the screw for the grounding wire that goes to the firewall. I ended up listing all the parts in a notebook to make it easier to find what tub the part was in.
Do It Again? Well, not for a couple more years. This restoration took a fair amount of effort, time, and energy, but I did learn a tremendous amount. Would I tackle another Mustang? I dunno...
Pro's: Learned a bunch about hydraulics, welding, mechanical stuff, design philosophy of Ford, etc. All of this is worthwhile for working on stuff around the house. Learned what my limitations are, and what I am good at.
Con's: Restoring fasteners is not fun but tedious at best. The final product is not as much fun as the work getting there; in other words, the journey is more fun that the destination. What to do on the weekends now that I don't have to work on the car anymore (I really don't want to go back to cutting the grass every weekend).
Final bit of advice: If I can do a car restoration with only a modicum of mechanical abilities, so can you! Good luck!
irate: 
