1965 Ford Mustang Fastback 289 2bbl 3spd

In 1983, my mom and I went on a 'road trip' to find a roof for my (fake) Shelby GT350, which had been rolled at one time. During this journey, we found a roof - but we also found this '65 Mustang Fastback in a salvage yard field nearby. We felt sorry for it and when we saw it, we knew we had to save it.
In full disclosure, we weren't supposed to put this car back on the road. The old cranky salvage yard guy said that the car was for parts only. He had the title, but he wouldn't give it to us. In hindsight, we probably paid too much for it ($1,000) and probably should have bought that factory black k-code sedan that was sitting next to it instead, but we wanted the fastback. We offered him more for the title, but he would only give us a bill of sale. We weren't deterred and went to get a UHaul. We got the lecture again when loading the Mustang, but I just kept loading and we didn't give him much more time than that. By the time we got to working on the title, the old man was gone and his field had been turned into a subdivision. Bottom line though, this car has a salvage title (or at least, that's how we titled it).
Exterior
OK, so by now you know that this car needed everything. I spent my summer between Junior-Senior year stripping the paint off the car, and the bondo. Thankfully, the car did not have any cancerous rust (being in a dry part of Texas). The bad part, however was that it sat in a field. We replaced the front floor pans, channels and seat tracks. The car then went to a body shop where the bondo was re-applied. (sigh) Like I said, this car looks like a 10 at 10 feet. up close however you can tell that there are areas where the metal could have been straightened but was instead filled in. This is my mom's favorite color. I believe the original color was a blue-gray metallic.
There are things that need to be fixed. antenna needs to be replaced. window regulators suck. rearview mirrors are cobra talbot-style that I bought in the 80s. panels aren't perfectly lined up. If you sight down the car, you are going to see some flaws. The hood has bondo in the front lip. I found part of the upper lip of the lower front fascia that was painted silver (why, I don't know). The window moulding is original, and has dents. This is not a perfect car. I am sure I have bumped the paint, and there are probably several 'nics here and there. I'm not talking this car down, but I expect a picky person to judge the car as a 6 at 3 feet and 10 at 10 feet.
Engine
I believe this car was originally a 289-4V. The car did not have an engine when we bought it. We subsequently found a '65 Falcon Sprint 289 engine for $150 and had that professional rebuilt/blueprinted. It has a stock cam and stock manifolds with dual exhaust. The goal was to run it on unleaded+ gas without too much problems, so its a great cruiser and sounds great. And the engine is about as correct as you can get. I don't know the block number. I'd love to put a mild cam and vintage 4bbl intake/carb on it, with tri-y's - but I don't have the time to do that.
Transmission
3 speed was rebuilt by Kendrick in San Antonio. He's an old racing guy - not sure he is in business anymore. He put a Hurst shifter on it. So, it is a manly experience. A little better than stock clutch. The clutch mechanism sticks a bit. We had a shop replace the fluid recently. Other than having the stigma of being a 3 speed - who cares. The car is light enough that if you put a mild cam and 4bbl, as light as it is, you'd easily put this car into 7 seconds and have easy highway cruising.
Rearend is an 8" - but was redone. Driveshaft was balanced. Rear has 4-leaf springs.
Suspension is stock. Brakes are stock drums. Everything checked out fine on a recent inspection at a Mustang-enthusiast shop. We replaced the sloppy original steering box with a Flaming River unit, so turns are nice and quick, which makes you forget that you don't have power steering. Wheels are stock. Tires are Toyo - very few miles, older but no cracking.
Interior
We replaced or resurfaced everything. So seats are resurfaced, replaced carpet, painted surfaces, redid headliner, replaced dash pad, instrument panel, steering wheel and on and on. We added three point seat belts, which frankly they work ok - but they aren't the best aftermarket belts out there. Stock AM radio works (when the antenna is replaced).
OK, so the bottom line here is that if you want a car you can get in and drive across the country, go for it. You'll get thumbs up and waves all the way. If you want a car at the show just for fun, and not expect to be best in class - this is your car. You don't have to apologize for it. And you can light up the tires and not worry about dinging the paint in the garage.
How it drives
We have probably put less than five hundred (driving) miles on this car since we replaced pretty much everything - over the last fifteen. Just enough to keep it going, but have had to replace things like the oil sender switch, fuel pump, carb kit (got gummed up) and new hydraulic lifter on #3. We probably drive it once every other month and then we take it out for 10 miles or so.
I'm a bit partial, I love driving old Mustangs. The only power on the car is under your right foot! My wife loves cruising along with me in this car - like as if we were back in high school. She commented that young men look at this car like they've just seen a hot chick in a bikini I've turned the neighborhood corner, and had guys come out of their garage to see what's coming down the street. It sounds cool, it looks cool. As my friend said, after driving the Mustang home from the muffler shop, "My balls dropped."
What's on the to-do list? (Or, things I'd love to see you do)
This car has the original single-circuit manual drum brakes. They have been redone and work well. They are not modern brakes. (Before making a car faster, you should always make it stop quicker. Enough said.)
This car has a stock cam, 2 bbl carb and stock manifolds. The engine is WAY overbuilt for this combination. I'd put in a mild cam, and vintage low-rise Hi-Po manifold, 715 CFM Holley.
The front ride height is stock. The hood is metal. I'd lower it and put a matte-black fiberglass hood on it.
Wheels are 14" and whitewall tires. Give me some more modern 15-16 Magnum repros with black sidewalls in front and Rear street-drags.
I'd remove the rear seat and put a Shelby fiberglass tray in there. I'd replace the stock gas tank for a custom smaller fuel cell.
I'd put in a basic (real) roll cage and get some nice seat belts, get some stock-looking, but modified side-bolstered seats.

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