Past Mustangs
Here is some information about my past Mustangs.
1979 Cobra, 2.3 Turbo, 5-spd
As stated on the first page my first Mustang was a 79 Cobra. I bought it in high school with my parents help. I was driving the family 72 Blazer which was pretty cool, but the rust really took hold of it and it was on its last leg.
I think I paid $800.00 for the Cobra which was a great deal. I bought it from the original owner who had too many cars in his driveway. It had a few minor rust spots, but every car in Hawaii did. It was loaded with leather, sun roof and even the sunroof cover (the glass was removable).
I tinkered with the car a little bit but at that time I really didn't know anything about cars. I ended up blowing out the turbo and clutch and sold it to save up for a 5.0. My mechanical drawing teacher had a stable (or yard) full of classic Mustangs and he was heavily involved with the Aloha Mustang and Shelby Club. I knew I wanted a "5.0" so the search began.
I only have three pictures of the car and this was the best one.
1983 GT, 5-spd
After saving up for a bit I found the 83 GT. The owner had done some work to the car and was selling it because he bought a crotch rocket. If I had known anything about cars I would have moved on to the next one as this turned out to be a mechanics nightmare. But this is the car that really got me into Mustangs.
I blew the engine up racing a Camaro in Waikiki one night. I literally smoked him and all the other traffic when one of the pistons blew out. My dad was friends with the owner of Pele Bug, a famous VW engine shop and he was able to get me a part time job working there. The deal was I traded labor for my engine to get rebuilt, which turned out to be a great experience.
After a summer of work I got my engine back and into the car. By this time I thought I had a good grasp on how things worked but of course the engine wouldn't start up. Of course I had the non HO firing order set up and it only took me a few hours to figure it out. Then on my maiden voyage I ran out of gas and had to push it to the nearby Chevron (what a day).
I had fun with the car and made some good friends with the club. I really wanted to enter a car show and the 9th Annual Autorama was coming up. A guy in the club helped me repaint the car and off I went. I ended up winning my class of Altered-Restored. That was a huge deal for me and I was really stoked.
Well then the gremlins started in on the car and I had all kinds of issues. Around this time crotch rockets were getting popular and a few of my friends had bikes. I ended up selling the car of a 89 GSXR-750 and I was out of Mustangs for a while.
Here is the 83 out front of our house in Kailua.
86 GT, 5-spd
A few years had passed and I was moving out of Hawaii to Washington State. My girlfriends father bought us the 86 GT when we moved. He knew I was able to work on Mustangs and we wouldn't have to worry about breakdowns etc. The car was in pretty good shape and it actually was pretty quick. Being out on my own I didn't have the money to do much to it. I bought the American Thunder Flowmaster cat-back system and I think that was about it.
We never had any issues with the car but being from Hawaii and trying to drive in the snow and ice with a Mustang was a real treat.
One day I was driving past a local Ford lot and saw a cherry red 93 LX 5.0 sitting out front. The car was immaculate and I was somehow able to come up with the money (and credit) to trade in the 86. The previous owner had just returned it as his grandmother thought it was too fast for him (thanks granny).
Here is a picture of the 86. Notice the passenger window is really dark, I had to photoshop out my ex wife haha
93 LX, 5-spd
So I'm trying to think what year we bought this one. I think Curt Cobain had just died (we all know Courtney did it) so that would have been like 94. Anyway this was my first "newer" car and I spent countless hours keeping it clean and detailed. I again bought the Flowmaster cat back and added minor things here and there. The original owner had put 3.55 gears in it.
About this time I decided to join the Army and I put the car in storage before I left. Little did I know it would sit there for almost a year and a half. Luckily we put it on jack stands and prepped it pretty good for storage. Of course theres always a hiccup and in my fear that someone would break in to the storage unit and steal the car, I forgot where I put the distributer rotor when I got back.
I had all the fluids changed and drove from Washington to Texas without a single issue. Although I should have bought a bra for the front as the big rigs really did a number on the front bumper paint.
93 in Bellingham WA
95 GT, 5-spd
I drove the 93 in Texas for a while. The weather was much better than Washington and one day I saw the 95 GT convertible sitting at a local ford dealership. The next day she was in my driveway. Of course I had to add a Flowmaster exhaust. I added the little things like plugs and wires but it stayed pretty stock.
After a few deployments with the First Cavalry I went through a divorce. We fought over the car and since my soon to be ex wife was not living there I went and traded the 95 on a Honda Civic. Yes, yes, I know your cursing me (I am too) but it solved the car arguments.
Out of all the Mustangs I've owned I wish I would have kept the 79 or the 95. Oh well you live and learn right.
Here is the 95 topless at Ft Hood
04 GT, 5-spd
A few years went by and I traded that POS Honda for a Nissan Frontier. Having a truck was nice but I always had the Mustang itch. I saw the 04 in a local BMW lot while driving around town. I stopped in to check it out and ended up taking a test drive. I have to say the 04 was a great driving car. It really handled nice and didn't have all the gitters of the past Fox platform. The modular motor had nice power through the RPM's and I was hooked.
Turns out a woman had traded the Mustang for a BMW and only put a few thousand miles on it. It had leather, Cobra rims and a 5-spd,, that was enough for me.
I bought the car and started on the mods. Flows of course, X pipe, Eibach sportline springs, and a few other things. With the Flows and X pipe this thing was LOUD. But that was just fine with me.
Now I think everyone with kids has a story like this:
Hotrod car that wont fit the child safety seat, too loud, too unpractical, no way its gonna work.
Well there I was with a new baby on the way. I tried everything I could to fit that baby seat in the back while being able to fit my wife up front. It wasnt going to happen!
My daughter arrived and after a few months it was painfully obvious we needed a bigger car. I ended up trading it in on a 05 Crown Victoria Sport. It was as close to a four door Mustang as I could get (I really wanted a Marauder).
04 GT looking mean
So that's it, all my past Mustangs. I hope I am able to keep the project in the family and maybe get my son and girls interested in hot rodding.
1979 Cobra, 2.3 Turbo, 5-spd
As stated on the first page my first Mustang was a 79 Cobra. I bought it in high school with my parents help. I was driving the family 72 Blazer which was pretty cool, but the rust really took hold of it and it was on its last leg.
I think I paid $800.00 for the Cobra which was a great deal. I bought it from the original owner who had too many cars in his driveway. It had a few minor rust spots, but every car in Hawaii did. It was loaded with leather, sun roof and even the sunroof cover (the glass was removable).
I tinkered with the car a little bit but at that time I really didn't know anything about cars. I ended up blowing out the turbo and clutch and sold it to save up for a 5.0. My mechanical drawing teacher had a stable (or yard) full of classic Mustangs and he was heavily involved with the Aloha Mustang and Shelby Club. I knew I wanted a "5.0" so the search began.
I only have three pictures of the car and this was the best one.
1983 GT, 5-spd
After saving up for a bit I found the 83 GT. The owner had done some work to the car and was selling it because he bought a crotch rocket. If I had known anything about cars I would have moved on to the next one as this turned out to be a mechanics nightmare. But this is the car that really got me into Mustangs.
I blew the engine up racing a Camaro in Waikiki one night. I literally smoked him and all the other traffic when one of the pistons blew out. My dad was friends with the owner of Pele Bug, a famous VW engine shop and he was able to get me a part time job working there. The deal was I traded labor for my engine to get rebuilt, which turned out to be a great experience.
After a summer of work I got my engine back and into the car. By this time I thought I had a good grasp on how things worked but of course the engine wouldn't start up. Of course I had the non HO firing order set up and it only took me a few hours to figure it out. Then on my maiden voyage I ran out of gas and had to push it to the nearby Chevron (what a day).
I had fun with the car and made some good friends with the club. I really wanted to enter a car show and the 9th Annual Autorama was coming up. A guy in the club helped me repaint the car and off I went. I ended up winning my class of Altered-Restored. That was a huge deal for me and I was really stoked.
Well then the gremlins started in on the car and I had all kinds of issues. Around this time crotch rockets were getting popular and a few of my friends had bikes. I ended up selling the car of a 89 GSXR-750 and I was out of Mustangs for a while.
Here is the 83 out front of our house in Kailua.
86 GT, 5-spd
A few years had passed and I was moving out of Hawaii to Washington State. My girlfriends father bought us the 86 GT when we moved. He knew I was able to work on Mustangs and we wouldn't have to worry about breakdowns etc. The car was in pretty good shape and it actually was pretty quick. Being out on my own I didn't have the money to do much to it. I bought the American Thunder Flowmaster cat-back system and I think that was about it.
We never had any issues with the car but being from Hawaii and trying to drive in the snow and ice with a Mustang was a real treat.
One day I was driving past a local Ford lot and saw a cherry red 93 LX 5.0 sitting out front. The car was immaculate and I was somehow able to come up with the money (and credit) to trade in the 86. The previous owner had just returned it as his grandmother thought it was too fast for him (thanks granny).
Here is a picture of the 86. Notice the passenger window is really dark, I had to photoshop out my ex wife haha
93 LX, 5-spd
So I'm trying to think what year we bought this one. I think Curt Cobain had just died (we all know Courtney did it) so that would have been like 94. Anyway this was my first "newer" car and I spent countless hours keeping it clean and detailed. I again bought the Flowmaster cat back and added minor things here and there. The original owner had put 3.55 gears in it.
About this time I decided to join the Army and I put the car in storage before I left. Little did I know it would sit there for almost a year and a half. Luckily we put it on jack stands and prepped it pretty good for storage. Of course theres always a hiccup and in my fear that someone would break in to the storage unit and steal the car, I forgot where I put the distributer rotor when I got back.
I had all the fluids changed and drove from Washington to Texas without a single issue. Although I should have bought a bra for the front as the big rigs really did a number on the front bumper paint.
93 in Bellingham WA
95 GT, 5-spd
I drove the 93 in Texas for a while. The weather was much better than Washington and one day I saw the 95 GT convertible sitting at a local ford dealership. The next day she was in my driveway. Of course I had to add a Flowmaster exhaust. I added the little things like plugs and wires but it stayed pretty stock.
After a few deployments with the First Cavalry I went through a divorce. We fought over the car and since my soon to be ex wife was not living there I went and traded the 95 on a Honda Civic. Yes, yes, I know your cursing me (I am too) but it solved the car arguments.
Out of all the Mustangs I've owned I wish I would have kept the 79 or the 95. Oh well you live and learn right.
Here is the 95 topless at Ft Hood
04 GT, 5-spd
A few years went by and I traded that POS Honda for a Nissan Frontier. Having a truck was nice but I always had the Mustang itch. I saw the 04 in a local BMW lot while driving around town. I stopped in to check it out and ended up taking a test drive. I have to say the 04 was a great driving car. It really handled nice and didn't have all the gitters of the past Fox platform. The modular motor had nice power through the RPM's and I was hooked.
Turns out a woman had traded the Mustang for a BMW and only put a few thousand miles on it. It had leather, Cobra rims and a 5-spd,, that was enough for me.
I bought the car and started on the mods. Flows of course, X pipe, Eibach sportline springs, and a few other things. With the Flows and X pipe this thing was LOUD. But that was just fine with me.
Now I think everyone with kids has a story like this:
Hotrod car that wont fit the child safety seat, too loud, too unpractical, no way its gonna work.
Well there I was with a new baby on the way. I tried everything I could to fit that baby seat in the back while being able to fit my wife up front. It wasnt going to happen!
My daughter arrived and after a few months it was painfully obvious we needed a bigger car. I ended up trading it in on a 05 Crown Victoria Sport. It was as close to a four door Mustang as I could get (I really wanted a Marauder).
04 GT looking mean
So that's it, all my past Mustangs. I hope I am able to keep the project in the family and maybe get my son and girls interested in hot rodding.
