The CS was complete but had been hit lightly in the back, enough to break the tail light panel and trunk lid. It had been repainted black with white stripes at some point in it's past and the work was so poor you could scrape your fingernail along the body and the black paint would flake off. I was originally going to do the body and paint repairs, and drop a rebuilt 302 and auto in that I had sitting around just to get it going again so I could drive it and enjoy it. That changed when I started getting into the car more.

        Even though it only had 52,000 miles on it, the car had been sitting since '79, so the brake pistons and calipers were all frozen, the power steering gearbox was full of rusty metal powder, every rubber bushing crumbled to the touch and there was a hole where the battery tray used to be. I decided that if I had to replace or rebuild almost everything anyway, I might as well do it right and tore the car down for a 2 year long restoration.

       Along the way I found out that just because someone can repair fiberglass boats doesn't mean they know anything about car parts, it's really not that hard to do your own fiberglass repair, aftermarket sheet metal doesn't even come close to fitting, some Mustang parts places don't like taking parts back-even if they send you two different tie rod ends with the same number on them, and there is a website where people will help you identify a part you found in a box that you don't have a clue what it was. Like any restoration there were good days and bad days, and weeks at a time where you just had to walk away so you didn't put a screwdriver through your door skin.

        When it was all done though, it was worth it. When people pull up next to you on the freeway at 60 mph and roll down their windows and start yelling questions at you or sit through their light at an intersection staring at your car, you know it was time well spent.