Grandville Trailer Blog

I know some of you have been looking forward to this. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about this Mustang restoration and the process that it’s been through. Thirteen years and eight blog posts later, the final product is here!

If you want a recap or if you haven’t seen the original car, catch up with the first seven parts. Each section is full of pictures from this decade long project.

Part 1: Acquisition
2: Dis-assembly
3: Media Blasting
4: Sheet Metal and Bodywork
5: Paint
6: Interior
7: Final Assembly

Mustang Restoration: The Test Drive

Remember this old thing? (The car, not the people.)

Here it is again.
The 1967 Mustang Coupe, Fully Restored:

Dave and Andrea have been having a lot of fun with the Mustang this year. At this point the coupe has over 1800 miles on it and I’m sure it’s visited several ice cream shops. They even took it out on Christmas Day to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather.

It’s been a great joy to have finished the car after so long, but there are still a few improvements to be made. As mentioned in the video, there are some small leaks that Dave will have to chase down this winter. He also never got around to installing the center console shift indicator. Once he gets that done, he’ll  hook up the reverse lights and clean up the wiring under the hood.

The Finished Mustang Restoration

I imagine this car will never truly be “finished.” By the time Dave completes these final touches, he’s sure to come up with further improvements. It’s in his blood. But for now, Andrea is thrilled to have her very first car back and more beautiful than ever! So I leave you with a final picture to wrap up this love story. A tribute to the past thirteen years and the journey that Dave has been through with this car. The 1967 Mustang Coupe lives on as does the love of this special couple.

Aren’t they cute?

Are you working on a restoration project? Check out these step by step instructions from Ford on how to start a Mustang Restoration project!

**Update** This post was originally posted in 2016. Shortly after this post, the car was parked in the pole barn at the Tosh’s when a tornado came through. A tree fell on the barn and damaged it severely, but the car survived without a scratch! It’s been over 3 years and they are still enjoying this car! The restored mustang continues to bring joy to many! Thanks for reading!

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For everyone who has been following along with this story. To those who have known Dave for any period of time. For anyone just joining us now, I have wonderful news for you today:

The car is finished.

Hallelujah and thank you, Jesus! Dave has finished this insanely long project and she is absolutely beautiful.  He is still fine tuning the car and working out a few kinks, but as of right now, he has put over 400 miles on the classic mustang. And now we are playing catch up to give this car the full, proper story that it deserves. This is part seven out of eight parts. If you’d like you can catch up on the first six parts, or at least browse through the pictures.

Part 1: Acquisition
2: Dis-assembly
3: Media Blasting
4: Sheet Metal and Bodywork
5: Paint
6: Interior

Classic Mustang Restoration Part 7: Final Assembly

After Dave finished adding the sweet details to the interior, he went on to put the car all back together. First he had to make sure that the body panels all lined up, which took him a long time. It took a lot of adjustments, but he got them just right and put them back on along with the bumpers.  He installed the windshield and rear glass as well as the glass windows in the doors.

Restored Engine in Classic Mustang

He also did the electrical work and made sure everything was hooked up properly. This included headlights, tail lights and back up lights. Thankfully they went together fairly easy. He had the engine rebuilt at CD’s Engine Service where the guys did  great job. He opted to install an electronic fuel injection instead of a carburetor. The EFI’s computer was all plug-n-play which was pretty simple.

The front of the engine took a lot of adjusting. Dave went through two different alternator brackets, three sizes of alternator belts and three different radiator fan spacers.
Underneath the car was asking for some serious upgrades, too. He installed an automatic overdrive transmission along with long tube headers and a MangaFlow exhaust. The headers took some bending and tweaking in order to fit just just. The work was well worth it, though, the car sounds awesome!

Polishing the Exterior

To give the car a nice glow, he wet sanded the exterior and buffed it out. Now, everything about this Mustang is amazing! It has been turning heads, widening eyes and dropping jaws for about a month now.

Well there she is! I told you she was beautiful!

Now you’ve got to see our final post so you can hear it and see it move! We’re wrapping this story up with Part 8: The Test Drive.

Thank you for following along with this story! Dave and Andrea are so excited to be driving their new car and we love having it parked outside of Grandville Trailer from time to time. Come and see us soon and share this post for your car-fanatic friends!

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We’re excited to show you the interior of this 1960’s Mustang in this post. But if you want to see the full progress of the car, get caught up real quick with the first five parts. Each one includes a lot of pictures to illustrate every step of the restoration.

Part 1: Acquisition
2: Dis-Assembly
3: Media Blasting
4: Sheet Metal and Bodywork
5: Paint

1960’s Mustang Restoration Part 6: Interior

Dave wanted to keep as many original parts as possible. He kept the old seats but did quite a bit of work to them.

The original car only had lap seat belts in the front with no seat belts in the back. The front seats also had no head support.

Because of the years of sitting in storage, the interior had a tremendous need for a face lift.

After adding new padding, side support, higher backs and headrests to the front bucket seats, Dave went on to re-upholster all the seats.

There was an obvious safety issue with the original front seat belts and lack of seat belts in the back. Dave had looked forward to taking his grand kids for rides, so of course, safety is important. (No complaints here!) He installed 3 point seat belts on all the seats making them much safer (and legal.)

Restored Dashboard for the 1960’s Mustang

Then he restored the original factory center console and added a stereo from Custom Audio Sound to jazz it up. The stereo looks like an old fashioned radio but has more modern electronics.

He installed a new gauges set from a Michigan company called Classic Instruments.  They went well with a one-piece molded headliner from Mustangs to Fear.

Because of the black interior and the plans of summer cruisin’, Dave opted to install an air conditioning unit that he purchased from Classic Auto Air.

He also got a custom steering wheel and new floor mats that add a lot to the interior!

Dave contacted our trailer light supplier, TecNiq to get some LED lights for the interior. Then he upgraded to a modern wiring harness from American Autowire to make everything run properly. The result is pretty awesome! I guarantee you will want to take this car for a spin when you see the finished product!

Jump over to our next post to see the FINISHED CAR! Part 7 has the final assembly and Part 8 is where you get to see the test drive.

This post is full of resources for anyone else that is working on a car or looking for upgrades. Would you please share this post on your Facebook so that your friends can see Dave’s project and use these resources? Thank you!

Thank you so much for reading along!

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If you’re just joining us, take a moment to catch up and see the pictures in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

Ford Mustang Restoration Part 5: Paint

We left off last time when Dave had just gotten all the pieces of the car back from Spankys Collision Repair. Per request by Andrea, the skilled body shop had painted the car Phoenician Yellow. And here is the beautiful paint job on the car shell:

Dave anxiously and carefully brought the pieces home and put the body back together. It was so rewarding to see the mustang starting to come together!

Then he dressed the car up with new fenders, lights and an antique license plate.

Ford Mustang Paint Job

Doesn’t it look great? We all got pretty excited at this point to see the car with a beautiful new paint job.

Maybe now  Dave will actually get it finished?

For 10 years now, Andrea had been dreaming of cruising through town on a warm summer’s night to go get an ice cream cone. Thankfully, her dream was about to come true!

The inside of the Mustang was looking just as good as the outside. So check out our next post in Part 6. You’re going to love those pictures!

To all of our loyal readers: Thank you for following this story! This car is very special to our family and Dave is thrilled to be able to share it with you all.

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60’s Mustang Restoration Part 4: Sheet Metal and Bodywork

Catch up on this awesome story with Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. You really don’t want to miss the shorts that Dave is rockin’ out in Part 1.

After getting the car sand blasted at Kremers’ Painting and Graphics in April of 2010, Dave continued with the sheet metal and bodywork for the whole next year. Like any car restoration, this is the most labor intensive part. He spent an immeasurable amount of time in this phase, in order to get the perfect outcome and not a Bondo Buggy.

60’s Mustang Sheet Metal Work

First, he cleaned up the few rust spots. Then he replaced the floor boards, and patched up the fenders, doors and quarter panels. This involved hours of cutting, pounding, welding and grinding (and probably quite a bit of beer.)

Body Work

As the car was still on the rotisserie, he sealed up all the welds and painted the bottom of the car.

Once he got the car back on the ground he went ahead with installing the new suspension, disc brakes, shocks and springs. It was nice to be able to move it around again and keep it out of the way when he needed the space for something else.

Taking a Break

In May of 2011, Dave’s finances were required elsewhere as he needed to pay for a wedding (sorry, Dad!) At the same time, he was going through a major career change. Dave had already been interested in buying Grandville Trailer for a couple years. After Kevin (previous owner) passed away, Dave spent more time working at Grandville Trailer and eventually went on to purchase it. During this time he was still running his counter top business, Tosh’s Tops. When the opportunity arose to sell it, he made a rather quick sale. It was then that he was able to focus solely on Grandville Trailer and devote all his work energy to making it the business it is today.

Tosh’s Tops is still thriving and now goes by the name Rush Creek Surfaces, check it out!

After three years of intense business changes, it was time for Dave to get back to work on the car. In the spring of 2014 he continued the body work. He spent many nights and weekends block sanding so the car would be ready for paint. He then assembled everything together to make sure it all lined up. When it was as close to perfect as he could get it, he disassembled it to be painted.

Next step: Paint

When it was ready for paint, he brought the 60’s Mustang to a local body shop: Dekker’s Collision. Although we all tried to talk her in to red or black, Andrea’s choice of color was Phoenician Yellow. Being a labor of love, Dave followed her request.

Once the pieces of the car were painted, Dave carefully brought it all back home to his barn. The car shell, fenders, doors, trunk, hood and all the other pieces were ready for the reassembly process.

Check out Part 5, where you can see some of the beautiful paint job and something that is starting to look a bit more like a car. And don’t forget to share this with your car enthusiast friends!

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Old Ford Mustang Restoration Part 3: Media Blasting

But first, have you read Part 1 and Part 2?

We left off in 2005 when Dave took apart the old Ford Mustang. A whopping 5 years later he picked up where he left off. It was April of 2010 when he continued his work on the car.
  

Dave brought in the ‘Stang to be sand blasted, with no idea what shape the car would be in when he got it back. He didn’t know if he would have to deal with a bunch of hidden rust holes before continuing. When he got the car back from Kremers Painting and Graphics, he was very pleasantly surprised! The car was in remarkable shape, especially after decades of sitting in storage.
  

After further inspection, he did find there was some rust on the corners of the doors, fenders and quarter panels. The floor boards needed to be replaced because of several pin holes, but that was the extent of the damage and better than he expected.

Once he got the car back, he borrowed a rotisserie from a fellow classic car enthusiast. He was able to place the old Ford Mustang on the rotisserie and turn the whole thing over with just one hand. This made it much easier to continue his work. What an awesome invention!

While the car was on the rotisserie, he was able to do all the sheet metal and body work. Continue reading with Part 4 to see those awesome changes!

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Mustang 1967 Restoration Part 2: Dis-Assembly

Did you miss Part 1? No problem, catch up right here!

After Dave got the pole barn built, he was ready to start the Mustang 1967 restoration project.

The summer of 2005, he began the process of taking the car apart. Being the family man that he is, he tried and failed to get the kids involved. (Sorry, Dad! If I could go back in time I would choose to be of much more help!)

Despite the decades of sitting in storage, the car was overall in good condition. It had plenty of mouse droppings, but not a whole lot of rust. After the summer, though, Dave got busy again with Tosh’s Tops (the counter top business he had at the time. Now called Rush Creek Surfaces) He lost time and interest and left the old pony to sit in the barn.
    

Dave labeled all the parts and hardware and put them aside. He still frequented his barn on nights and weekends. Putzing around on his truck, fixing the go-carts that we continued breaking, and cleaning out a deer or two every year. Meanwhile, Andrea began to wonder if she would ever get to cruise into town for ice cream in her shiny pale yellow Mustang.
There was still a lot of work ahead of him and- spoiler alert: he finished it and it’s absolutely stunning! You’ll love the finished product!

Keep reading with Part 3: Media Blasting!

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