Thread: Last of my Mustangs

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Cade was over yesterday so it was time to dig out the 77 Mustang II coupe for him. It had been sitting in the back shed for the last 5 years or so and I want the space to put the cargo trailer in so I figured it was a good time to move it down the road (or at least get it out of the shed.

First stop was to get it close enough to the shop to hose it off.


77 Coupe-1 by M Patterson, on Flickr



It actually cleaned up pretty well, although the clear coat has about had it. I actually suspect he could probably blow the rest of the clear off with just a good high-pressure washer and call it good or scuff it and re-clear it for now.


77 Coupe-2 by M Patterson, on Flickr


It shouldn’t take too much to get it back on the road; drain the tank, probably go thru the carburetor, and throw a battery in it. There are a few minor issues that won’t keep it from running (exhaust leak and AC line) that Cade can take care of when he gets it home.

I had pretty much detuned it when my wife started driving it, it still has the 351W and RV cam but I changed the 4 speed for a C4, pulled the 3.0 geared Posi for a 2.79 open, and replaced the aluminum Edelbrock heads for a set of cast iron stockers. All that stuff was sold off years ago but I suspect as time and money allows Cade will be adding a few parts back.

Anyway it will be interesting to see what the future evolution of this car will be, glad it’s going to Cade so I can watch it.



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Sounds like a real sleeper to me! Bet it's a boat load of fun.

I'm sure Cade will enjoy it. I would have if I had been given something like that at his age. My folks would have had strokes (multiple, actually) if my grandfather had given me a car like that.

I agree, that would be a fun build for a sleeper! I'm happy that Kate is still interested in this stuff!

Well Mike, I've never shared your enthusiasm for that generation Mustang, but that doesn't matter. For Cade it's a car grandpa built and cared to pass along...................makes it the bestest car ever!

“……Sounds like a real sleeper to me! Bet it's a boat load of fun.

I'm sure Cade will enjoy it. I would have if I had been given something like that at his age. My folks would have had strokes (multiple, actually) if my grandfather had given me a car like that.
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“……..I agree, that would be a fun build for a sleeper!.........”


Seth, Mike……… yeah this was one of my favorite builds and there was a reason Cades’ first car was the 4 banger 74 Mustang II and not this one LOL.

I’d ended up with a tired 351W and started hunting for a body to stuff it in after I got it built. I narrowed the choices down to either a 61-63 Ford Ranchero or a Mustang II coupe. Mustang IIs were a lot more plentiful than Rancheros and eventually I ended up with 6 of them (mostly parts cars).

The white Coupe I eventually bought was the ideal candidate for what I had in mind, in part because it had recent paint job and interior and was a factory V8/automatic car. The original 302 had a terminal rod knock so it was pretty cheap to buy.

77 Coupe by M Patterson, on Flickr


I’ve always been drawn to sleepers, probably from the time I spent on Hall Street in St Louis in the early 70s during my miss-spent youth. The body part was simple, leave it the way it came from the factory (with the exception of removing the V8 emblems from the fenders), keep the tire size as large as possible but not so large as to give the car away, and in this case keep the exhaust reasonable quiet.

The exhaust was probably the biggest place that some more HP could have been gained. In keeping with the sleeper theme, I went with stock exhaust manifolds (port matched to the heads), built a 2 ¼” Y pipe and ran a single 2 ½” exhaust pipe to a good turbo muffler. It does OK but gets restrictive at higher RPMs. A set of headers and dual exhaust would probably go a long way on this car.

I especially wanted to keep the sleeper look under the hood. The Edelbrock intake had the Edelbrock name ground off and it and the Edelbrock aluminum heads were painted engine color. The RV cam let me use the use stock valve covers and I even left the factory emissions decal on them. I built the dual snorkel air cleaner from a stock single snorkel unit. The factory V8 mustang II picked up cold air passenger side of the radiator and the V6 cars picked it up from the drivers’ side so even the ducting to the core support is factory. Basically the engine bay looks just as crowded and ugly as when the car was new and stock. Hell I even ran 302 air cleaner decal on it for a while.

351 by M Patterson, on Flickr

There’s just something about the look on the guys face you just beat when he sees what looks like a stock motor under the hood.

The 4 speed was fun and pretty much a bolt in. I suspect Cade may turn it back into a manual transmission car eventually. A T5 would probably be a good choice.

Anyway Cade’s ready for this car now. He’s learned some of the lessons we all did (like when you break it you’re walking till you fix it, and that usually costs you money).

It’s Cade’s car now, I built it the way I wanted it and it’s his turn now to turn it into what he wants.

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“……..Well Mike, I've never shared your enthusiasm for that generation Mustang…..”

I know Bob and most people don’t. I’m first to admit they were/are glorified Pintos (did I ever mention my V8 Pinto street racing days?).

To a certain extent that’s one of the reasons it was a perfect candidate for a sleeper, and it sure wasn’t the cop magnet this one was.

cobra back by M Patterson, on Flickr

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Mike, that is awesome Cade is getting the Mustang II coupe and will be making some changes back to how you had it when you built it. That has got to make you feel warm and fuzzy.

Great job on pulling off the sleeper theme! I'm sure it left a lot of folks that thought it was an easy mark with their mouths open and most likely cussing like Yosemite Sam!

Yeah I've always had a soft spot for sleepers Mike, the Mustang II was probably the one I went the farthest with.

A couple of honorable mentions though would be the 65 Biscayne with the Dual Quad 350 and 4 speed.

65 Biscayne 2 by M Patterson, on Flickr


The 68 El Camino flat hood, bench seat, 307 marker lights and 402 Big Block, 4 Speed and 12 bolt.

68P by M Patterson, on Flickr

And of course the Ram 50 with the 283 and T5.

87 Ram 50 by M Patterson, on Flickr

That being said your Healey sure fits into the sleeper category, and if I hadn’t followed the build, it probably end up hurting MY feelings



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The 77 Mustang went home yesterday and became part of Cade’s growing fleet. It has some minor issues but they're all well within Cade’s capabilities.


cade fleet by M Patterson, on Flickr


I think the current plans are to take the black 74 pretty much off the road pending a later model V6 swap and paint job.

Daily driver duties will probably be split between the white 77 and the 98 GT.

We spent some time talking about what I had done to the drive train prior to detuning it and letting Grandma drive it for a few years. My parting comment to Cade was “DON"T BE GRANDPA” but I wonder if the warning is a little too late.



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Probably.......................................................................yeah.........