1965 Mustang GT Coupe Restoration Complete – San Diego, California

After a year long restoration, the 1965 Ford Mustang GT Restomod is now complete. The customer was all smiles when he said “it’s fast.”  The freshly restored A -code coupe was entered in it’s first car show, and received 2nd place in the 1965 Modified Class at San Diego Mustangs by the Bay. I believe it was due to the finger print I forgot to wipe off of the door handle. It was still a great show, and all the hard work from JBA Performance Center, Custom Autobody & Paint, and Ar-Jays Upholstery paid off.

Project Highlights

• Complete Rotisserie Restoration
• JBA built & Tuned 302 Block Stroked to a 331
• 438 HP @ 6300 RMP 400 FTLB @ 4400 RPM at crank
• Tremec TKO 600 five-speed
• Modern Driveline hydraulic clutch kit
• Currie Enterprises 9-inch posi rear end with 3.83 gears
• JBA ceramic-coated headers and Exhaust
• Global West Sub-frame connectors
• Borgeson integral power steering system
• SSBC dual aluminum master cylinder with brake booster
• 4 Wheel Willwood 13″ brakes
• Polished Torque Thrust II 20×8-inch wheels
• Pony Interior Conversion
• Stock appearing AM/FM radio with Focal sound system

The Crew
JBA Restoration Specialist – David Toth
JBA Engine Builder – John Elderhorst
JBA Lead Mechanic – Tim Naylor
JBA Mechanic – Steve Fenn
JBA Exhaust Fabricator – Scott Case

Special Thanks To
Ar-Jay’s Upholstery
Custom Autobody and Paint
Al & Ed’s Stereo

Follow the progress of the restoration:

Restoration Part 1

Restoration Part 2

Restoration Part 3

Custom Instrument Gauges and restoration

Air Conditioning Box Restoration

1967 Ford Mustang Coupe Restoration

This is a 1967 Ford Mustang Coupe that I did a mild restoration on a few years back while at John’s Mustangs and Classics. The customer wanted a good exterior paint job, and all the exterior chrome replaced. I had completely disassembled the car for paint, and then sent it off to a body shop of his choice. While at the paint shop, I had the bumpers re-chromed, and purchase all the smaller chrome pieces from Scott Drake. I did a complete interior restoration on it as well. Including a Custom Autosound stereo with concealed rear package tray speakers. He left the engine compartment and under carriage for a later date. He wanted all of this done while on a business trip, and then shipped to his hometown for storage.

Custom Autosound Radio Install On A 1966 Ford Mustang

At JBA Performance Center, I just installed a stereo system from Custom Auto sound. The customer wanted to have a modern stereo system, but wanted it to look factory. The old stereo was a Clarion Unit, and the dash was cut up to fit the head unit. Cutting the dash to fit an aftermarket stereo is very common. Unfortunately, the stock radio openings on 1965 – 1966 Mustangs are a part of the steel dash, so a new radio face has to welded in when damaged. The radio face repair was performed by John Guilmet from Hotrod Hell at JBA. Custom Autosound offers a radio (USA 66) that looks just like the AM-FM stereos offered in 1966. The all new units have USB, iPod, CD, and Sirius Satellite options built in. They offer the cable interfaces separately for each option. The customer opted for the iPod kit. Speaker kick panels (160w Pioneer) and in-dash speaker (140w) from Custom Autosound were installed, and flush mounted rear speakers from Pioneer (300w 6×9)

Jon Guilmet from Hot Rod Hell helped by welding in the new radio face plate. Since the dash had to be re-painted, the customer wanted to replace the dash knobs, heater control panel, and the cardboard glove box insert from Scott Drake Automotive Group. After the radio face was finished off, I re-painted the dash and steering column to the original semi gloss finish. I like to dry sand before the final coats for a smoother finish.

I then pulled the 5 1/2 inch speaker and the old rear package, and carefully placed them in the garbage can. The old speakers were not even screwed down. I like to mount the speakers from underneath, so they are completely flush. Then, I covered the package tray with matching speaker material, so the speakers are heard but not seen. Lastly, I ran the iPod interface cable under the console. There was already a hole on the side of the console, so it was a convenient to run the cable out from there. That’s it! Modern sound without the modern look.

Parts List:

Custom Autosound – Radio – USA 66
Custom Autosound – In Dash Speaker DVC 3001
Custom Autosound – Speaker Kick Panels – PIO-KMC-1
Pioneer – 6×9 Speakers – TS-A6972R
Scott Drake – 65-66 Dash Knob Kit – C5ZZ-10852-K
Scott Drake – 65-66 Heater Control Plate – C5ZZ-18A651
Scott Drake – 65-66 Heater Control Knobs – C5DZ-18519-K
Scott Drake – 65-66 Radio Face Patch Panel – C5ZZ-6504360-PP
Scott Drake – 65-68 Rear Package Tray – C5ZZ-6546656
Scott Drake – 65-66 Semi-Gloss Black Laquer – L-946
Scott Drake – 65-66 Glove Box Insert – C5ZZ-6506010-A