Poster: Keith Stem
(see this users gallery)
VIN # 8FO2R185596
Crown Ford in Nashville, TN ordered this car to be race in SS/EA. The car was delivered to the dealer with a 4.30-limited slip, disc brakes, and the C6 automatic transmission. The car was radio delete, no power steering, no windshield washer, no starter delay, no console, no clock and no fold down rear seat. At the end of the 1968-racing season the dealer returned the car to street-able condition.
I bought this car in December 1968, with some spare parts. I was able to get the dual point distributor, PI aluminum intake, a 4.11 Limited Slip rear-end, Sun tachometer (Ford Hi-Po Accessory) and a set of 180 deg Doug’s headers.
About 3 weeks after I bought the car I made some changes, off came the smog system, the PI intake is installed, the Sun tachometer was mounted on steering column and the dual point distributor is in place. I left the 3.55 gear in the rear end, since I was driving the car on a daily basis. In 1970 I rebuilt the engine and stuffed in some 12 to 1 pistons a Reed Hydraulic Cam the engine was balanced and blueprinted. The headers were installed and the 4.11 gear took it’s rightful place. Then around 72 or 73, with about 32,000 miles, I put the car in the garage where it stayed until 1994.
In 1994 my 16-year-old son said he needed a car to drive to school for his senior year and he wanted to drive the CJ. So, the fenders came off, the engine removed and a Krylon overhaul was accomplished on the under hood area and suspension. The headers were trash so back on went the cast iron exhaust manifolds, TRW stock pistons +. 030 went in and my son drove the car for two years, while out running most everything in three counties. In 1997, my son goes off to college and back in the garage goes the CJ. Then one fall day in 2001 I come home and the car is scattered all over the driveway, he tells me that we need to fix-up the old car and this time do it right. Two years later the car is in a concurs condition, back to it ‘s 1968 state. The car today, looks exactly like what the car looked like three week after a 19-year-old guy (me) buys is first Mustang. The smog system is still removed, the PI intake is still installed and the dual point distributor is still in place, and Comp Cam (268H) is now lifting the valves. The 4.11 is still turning the rear wheels and the Sun tachometer is back on steering column. Since I don’t throw away anything, I have the cast iron intake and the smog pump and several boxes of other miscellaneous junk sitting away in my storage building, but they haven’t been on the car for 35 years and I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
I may not know a lot about Mustangs, but I do know something about this one. I have made changes in the car to meet MCA judging. Some changes were made to just avoid having to explain, “this is the way the car looked when new”. I also may have a philosophical difference of what a restored car can also be. This car is 95% original, some of the parts may not be as new looking as a reproduction part, but the parts I have chosen not to replace are in good condition. I feel that an original Ford part in good condition is as correct as a new gleaming overseas built replacement part. I sometimes wonder why some cars I have seen, that have so many replacement parts, why the Ford name has not been removed and replaced with Honda or Toyota. This car has all matching numbers and the original interior except for the door panels. Judging should be flexible enough to allow concurs cars that are close to thoroughbred to be competitive with cars that have had to replace large numbers of parts. At every show I have attended I spend a great amount of my time with people who want to talk about the car. These are the Mustangs that they really wanted. These are the Mustangs that they have heard about, but never seen. These are the Mustangs that they would love to find and restore.
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