1969 Mustang Coupe Price Range?

[LipRipper3006]

Looking to buy a project Mustang to bring to tech school with me. One of my neighbors has a 1969 Coupe sitting behind a fence.

Asking Price: $2,000

Original Equipment:
Body: 65B 2 Door Hardtop, Luxury Interior 
Color: M Wimbledon White 
Trim: 5WA White Vinyl with White Knitted Vinyl with Black, Luxury Interior 
Date: 23L November 23, 1968 
D.S.O: 24 Jacksonville 
Axle: 3 2.79:1, Conventional 
Engine: 302 2v V8 
Trans: W C4 Automatic 

This car is in pretty rough condition. I would say that about 30% of the panels have at least one rust hole. Rust around where the windshield and rear window go. Car currently has a 289 H.O. engine and C6 Transmission. At one point in its life, it had a 3 speed on the floor because it has a clutch assembly. He has a few new parts like the grille, door panels, gas tank etc. I would like to replace the c6 with a 5 Speed T5 or TKO. Maybe get a 347 Stroker or a 351 Windsor to replace the 289.

What are your thoughts on bringing back this coupe to a better condition? You must set page zoom to 30% or open images in a new tab in order to see the entire picture.

[Mustangmike]

        Looking at the pictures I can see there has already been some amateur quality bodywork already done to the car.  For example, there should be a seam between the quarter panel and the rocker panel and it is smoothed over with bondo.   Even the quarter panel ornament trim was put on backwards.  The engine looks ok from the but picture but pictures are always misleading. 

What I can't see in your pictures are the important areas such as frame rails, torque boxes, floor pans, cowl panels, wheel wells etc. so it is difficult to assess just how much more work would be involved in this car.

My friend just bought a 69 Firebird and he did not look underneath the car.  Unfortunately it was in bad shape. I was over his house yesterday welding in rocker panels and section of his A-pillar.  Next I have to repair his frame rail.  Lots of work! I have attached a picture.


Personally, I think $2,000 is a little high for the car from what I have seen in your pictures.  If you really want a Mustang project for school I would offer $750 and take the other $1,250 you saved and invest it some of the parts you will need.

I hope this helps.

[1969_Mach1]

Now this is simply my opinion.  Almost all unrestored cars of this era need a lot of body panel replacement and most of us understand and accept we will not recover what is invested in a restoration.  But with that said, coupes generally do not have near the value of any Fastback (Sportsroof), Mach 1, or Boss model, regardless of condition.  There is a very small following for the 1969 and 1970 coupes.  The earlier years have a greater following (mostly by women).  Nothing wrong with that and sorry in advance, I don't mean to offend anybody.  But truth be known, Ford's demographic for the earlier coupes were women and they were marketed towards women.  You don't see that now.  But, I guess back in that era it seemed okay.  Some coupe models, like the Grande for 1969 and 1970, and the GT or GTA for earlier years and are more desirable and valuable than the basic coupes.  In a round-about way I guess what I'm trying to say is if you are looking for a project car, keep looking and try to find something a little more desirable.  Try to avoid a coupe unless it's simply too good to pass up.

[LipRipper3006]

Looking at the pictures I can see there has already been some amateur quality bodywork already done to the car.  For example, there should be a seam between the quarter panel and the rocker panel and it is smoothed over with bondo.   Even the quarter panel ornament trim was put on backwards.  The engine looks ok from the but picture but pictures are always misleading. 

What I can't see in your pictures are the important areas such as frame rails, torque boxes, floor pans, cowl panels, wheel wells etc. so it is difficult to assess just how much more work would be involved in this car.

My friend just bought a 69 Firebird and he did not look underneath the car.  Unfortunately it was in bad shape. I was over his house yesterday welding in rocker panels and section of his A-pillar.  Next I have to repair his frame rail.  Lots of work! I have attached a picture.


Personally, I think $2,000 is a little high for the car from what I have seen in your pictures.  If you really want a Mustang project for school I would offer $750 and take the other $1,250 you saved and invest it some of the parts you will need. 

I hope this helps.

I ended up getting the car for $1,750. There's some rot here and there but it seems to alright. He said that the motor had been gone threw and rebuilt, but it runs. That seam that your were metioning may just be covered with layers of paint, but that is the correct orenitation of the ornament. I plan on replacing both quarter skins as well as the passenger side trun floor. The rockers felt solid but I did not have a magnet on me at this time. One of the rear torque boxes had a hole but looks like a bead on a mig/tig will fix that up. The dash (metal) had rust holes on both sides so I assume the cowl need to be replaced. I am not a fan of the unoriginal engine or trans mission and I would like to sell those for close to what I have in the car. He had a couple parts to go along with the car like new door panels, carpet, and a grille along with the old parts. I was wanting a mustang that I could learn most of the ropes on since that is really what I would like to specilize in. 

[1969_Mach1]

I don't know what to say.  You saved a little money.  But, that general model of car in that condition should be closer to Mustangmikes suggestion. 

Anyway, that is done.  So moving forward go with a 351W instead of a 347.  Just my opinion.  I'm partial to the 351W and it seems that everybody that has made the change from 289 or 303 to a 351W are always surprised by the increased torque.  It's a completely different running motor.  I've never been a big fan of stroker motors.  Yes, they make more power, but the bore to stroke ratio's just seem out of whack to me.  And stroked motors have larger "rod angles" which isn't good.  Basically, that is the angle wrt the bore centerline that the connecting rod swings through as the piston travels up and down.  Now that 347 stroked 302's have been around for a while, they are discovering they have a shorter life than stock stroke motors.

As far as trans.  There are small block C6 trans that Ford started to use in I think 1970.  I'd double check to see if yours is a C6.  Most wouldn't bother to put one behind a 289.  TKO's are nice and very strong.  But they are big so it takes a lot of work to get them to fit correctly.  T5's are a fairly easy swap but are not very strong.  They typically won't hold up behind a 351W or a 347 if it's driven hard.

[Mustangmike]

Looking at the pictures I can see there has already been some amateur quality bodywork already done to the car.  For example, there should be a seam between the quarter panel and the rocker panel and it is smoothed over with bondo.   Even the quarter panel ornament trim was put on backwards.  The engine looks ok from the but picture but pictures are always misleading. 

What I can't see in your pictures are the important areas such as frame rails, torque boxes, floor pans, cowl panels, wheel wells etc. so it is difficult to assess just how much more work would be involved in this car.

My friend just bought a 69 Firebird and he did not look underneath the car.  Unfortunately it was in bad shape. I was over his house yesterday welding in rocker panels and section of his A-pillar.  Next I have to repair his frame rail.  Lots of work! I have attached a picture.


Personally, I think $2,000 is a little high for the car from what I have seen in your pictures.  If you really want a Mustang project for school I would offer $750 and take the other $1,250 you saved and invest it some of the parts you will need. 

I hope this helps.

I ended up getting the car for $1,750. There's some rot here and there but it seems to alright. He said that the motor had been gone threw and rebuilt, but it runs. That seam that your were metioning may just be covered with layers of paint, but that is the correct orenitation of the ornament. I plan on replacing both quarter skins as well as the passenger side trun floor. The rockers felt solid but I did not have a magnet on me at this time. One of the rear torque boxes had a hole but looks like a bead on a mig/tig will fix that up. The dash (metal) had rust holes on both sides so I assume the cowl need to be replaced. I am not a fan of the unoriginal engine or trans mission and I would like to sell those for close to what I have in the car. He had a couple parts to go along with the car like new door panels, carpet, and a grille along with the old parts. I was wanting a mustang that I could learn most of the ropes on since that is really what I would like to specilize in. 

I am glad to hear you saved some money off the asking price and my bad with the quarter panel ornament.  For some reason I thought the car was a 67/68.  Apologies extended.

Anyway, $1,750 for the car is not that bad plus you picked up some extra parts.  It will be a good project for you and the guys at the Tech school to work on.  If you can share pictures of the restoration work and progress it would be fun to watch the car transform back to new. 

Everyone at the club is here to answer questions and provide guidance.  Don't be afraid to ask.

Mike