Thread: 1974 Mustang II Build

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I don't know if you've tried buying a iron bumper Vega, but from what I've seen they bring a lot of money, especially the station wagons. Same with the Chevy luv pickup, I thought I could buy either one of them for a couple hundred bucks but I guess not anymore

The iron bumper Vega's had very similar styling to the spit bumper Camaro's. A friend of mine had a GT station wagon in high school. I always thought I wanted one to put a small block in. It would have been a very fun car. Now, an aluminum 5.3 LS would probably be perfect. Too bad they've all been used up and/or scrapped. Like you, Seth, I remember the days when you could hardly give one away.

My late mother in law had a 76 Astre. It was a neat little car though a gutless wonder. It would run down the interstate all day at 65 mph even though it took it a couple of miles to get going that fast.

Originally Posted by Hotrod46

The only Vega motor worth having was the Cosworth, though. I remember stopping by the local Chevy dealer to drool on a Cosworth Vega when they first came out. What can I say, American performance cars were pretty thin back in those days!

Thin??? Darn near transparent!

Well it's been a while and it's been a long road but the big day was yesterday.



done by M Patterson, on Flickr



Two and a half years give or take from when it got pulled from the shed the 74 is officially back on the road.

I'm pretty darn proud of my grandson, he did a lot of work to get it roadworthy again and a bunch of work to earn the money to buy the parts (and hopefully learned some stuff along the way).

Cade just turned 17 a couple of months ago and is now a licensed driver. There was a big push over the last month and a half to get the car done, plated and insured so Cade can hopefully find a part time job. With the current situation that might not happen for a while but he is looking and who knows.

He still struggles in school......he'll be a Senior when school starts in the fall but if he puts the effort into graduating that he did on the car, he'll make it.

Yesterday he drove the car for the first time (actually out on the road instead of doing laps in the arena) and actually got to use 3d and 4th gear. This is him and the car leaving the property for the first time.......


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nedUVjCoQqo


so ends one chapter and begins another.



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Congrats to Cade. Another milestone achieved. Good to see the Mustang living another life. Hope he enjoys it and cares for it.

Mike, not sure about your area, but in the food stuffs/supplies business; grocery stores, Wally World, and so forth, they're hiring around here. Probably short term stuff to keep up with cleaning commitments and restocking. But it might be hours and skill level stuff ideal for a young lad starting out. There'll be way lots of competition though too...……...

Yeah Bob that's pretty much what we're thinking and Cade's been putting applications in everywhere. The car also lets him now hit some of the other smaller places that aren't taking applications on line or possibly doing delivery work.

The big thing is to get that first job under his belt no matter what is.....if nothing else it's a line on a future resume.

It's a heck of a time, but a small silver lining is the traffic volume has dropped off considerably even in out small area, making it a little easier for Cade as he gains some more driving experience.


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Wow time passes fast these days. Seems like just yesterday he started this project! Great to watch his progress and your teaching and support!

Congrats to Cade! Car looks great. Hope he gets many safe and happy miles out of it.

Its good to see completion of another project. He should be proud as you should be too. Congratulations.

Good for you and Cade! If all grandpas' were like you, the world would be in much better shape right now ! I'm guessing it's not done, I'm sure he's thinking about that 302 transplant right now

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

! I'm guessing it's not done, I'm sure he's thinking about that 302 transplant right now

Stroker 347!

Congrats to Cade and Grandpa, good to see a Mustang back on the road!

So do remember your first car ? Do you remember the first time you gave a ride to your girlfriend in your own car? Do you remember removing all the friction material from one side of the clutch disk on that ride? Do you remember the first time you had to change a clutch by yourself?

I bet Cade will.


Clutch change by M Patterson, on Flickr


From my own misspent youth I kind of figured the first clutch would be sacrificial (actually figured it would last a bit longer though). Anyway after a couple of days in the shop it's back on the road and Cade got a couple more pointers on driving technique .

Now that he knows what a clutch costs and what it takes to put one in I suspect this one will have a longer life.



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