1968 Ford Mustang

Manual

8R02J112002

I purchased this car about 8 years ago. It had GT accessories and I was going to do a complete restoration but had too many cars, too little time. During Hurricane Charley here in Florida, I had to move the car outside the garage. The neighbor’s shingle roof came off and scuffed up the paint. I ended up giving the car to a very close friend who had it painted and put some of his finishing touches on it like the bullet wheels and vinyl stripes. This is a nice 1968 Mustang Fastback with the rare “J” code 302-4V engine and factory 4 speed manual transmission. As I mentioned, the car was painted red a couple of years back and the vinyl stripes were added but can be removed. It is not a concours show car but looks very nice. There are a couple of small nicks in the paint that came from the car sitting in a garage which could easily be touched up. The pictures will tell the story of this car. The car is complete, solid and would be a great car to use for a high end project such as an Eleanor or just to drive it as it is. You can coax big power from these 302 motors quite easily. While the collector value does not rival a GT-350, the “J” code Fastback is somewhat hard to find. The VIN number is stamped on the rear deck of the engine block and I believe all of the driveline components are original. The engine may have been rebuilt to original specs and it runs very well with no smoke. The top loader transmission shifts fine. The driveshaft has no play and the rear end is tight. It appears that all driveline components are original and have not been rebuilt except for the engine. Sometime during its life the body was restored. It has no rust on it but the floors have been replaced. I think the front aprons may have been replaced even though they look original and I can find no signs of them being replaced. I say this because the VIN number is not stamped on the driver’s side apron where it is usually found. I don’t know how often, if ever, that the number is missing from this area but I do know it can also be stamped on the front and rear of the aprons on ether and/or both sides. I have not pulled the fenders to see if the number is stamped under the fender lip. Everything else seems to match the Marti report except that the report says it is an AC car but there is no AC in it now. I am not sure how much work was done when the car was restored but you cannot see any signs of metal panel replacement except for the floor pans. I knew what I was looking for but the work was well done. It may have been hit in the front or had rust that required replacement of the aprons but again, there are no signs that I can find and it looks original. The interior looks complete and unrestored except that the seats may have been redone because they look very nice. The radio is a cheapo that some hapless Blue Oyster Cult fan must have installed (no cutting was done) but I found an original old stock 8 track AM-FM radio that is new in the box. It is the one that is supposed to be in the car and I will include it with the car along with a new set of exterior door handles. The carpet is faded and could be touched up but I would recommend replacing it. It is much easier than re-dying the existing carpet. The doors have the speakers in the lower grill like it is supposed to be from the factory but there are two junk speakers sitting behind the rear seat. The interior, dash and headliner are all in good shape. This car is solid but like all old technology cars, it drives like a truck. It has manual brakes and steering so your arms will feel like Popeye if you want to parallel park. You can put a new factory power steering system in it for about $850 and there are all kinds of new technology power disc brake systems available for cheap money. This is a nice car that would be a lot of fun to take as-is to the shows for a long time. You will draw a crowd every time. I have owned many collector cars and have tried to give a very critical and detailed description of this car. Thank you for your interest.