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II TOUGH
Think Vintage Mustangers Have Difficult Restoration Jobs? Try It on a Mustang II
by Rob Reaser
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Unless you're farming out all of the work, restoring a classic Pony is never an easy job. Even though you can practically rebuild an early Mustang from reproduction parts, the assembly process represents an intense and often protracted labor. Now imagine going through this entire process without the benefit of stem-to-stern reproduction components or any new old
stock parts to speak of. That's what owners of Mustang IIs face. Little wonder, we see so few of these cars on the concours showfield. That's why when we saw Steve Tonkin's '78 King Cobra at the '01 Carlisle All-Ford Nationals, we swooped down on it in less time than it takes to say, "Fords rule!"
Steve, a senior Ford auto technician from Wilkes-Barre. Pennsylvania, located the car in Virginia, where it was originally sold on September 30, 1978. The first owner had the King Cobra for about 15 years, then after it failed a state inspection, sold it to a salvage broker. It was purchased by the second owner as a "mechanic's special" in September 1994, then by Steve two years later.
Steve had a rough go of it the moment he purchased this T-top beauty.
"After driving to Virginia and purchasing the vehicle," says Steve, "I found it had a broken fan blade. This was going to be a problem, since it had to be driven back to Pennsylvania. This proved to be the only thing that didn't give me trouble! After about 30 miles, the car started to run quite hot, and by the time I was halfway home, it was in the 'extreme melt-down' mode. I pulled into a rest area, only to find what looked like espresso coffee in the radiator. I refilled it with water and continued on.
"Shortly after that, the rear U-joint started chirping, then vibrating. The rearview mirror fell off, and miscellaneous interior screws started falling out one by one. The car was shaking itself apart, but made it to Pennsylvania on a wing and a prayer."
Once safely home, Steve immediately set to work on a complete back-to-stock rebuild. The 302 V-8, C4 tranny, and 3.00:1 open rearend were removed and rebuilt, then the body was treated to a thorough sandblasting and fresh coat of Bright Red paint. Inside, the interior was stripped, cleaned, and everything that could be repaired was fixed as well as possible. One of the biggest problems encountered here was with the rear seats. Being unable to locate the original pattern cloth inserts, Steve installed seats from a '75 Mach 1 for use until the proper covers could be acquired.
Another tough job was restoring the original aluminum Lacy Spoke wheels.
"The wheels were all hand-buffed and the orange accent paint had to be restored," says Steve. "This was done by hand with masking tape and an X-Acto knife in order to cut out each diamond-shaped hole before repainting to original color.
"The Targa belt just behind the T -tops also had to be restored and refitted. The black vinyl material used came from a custom cover shop. I cut and glued it back onto the fiberglass backing and reinstalled it on the vehicle.
"The most difficult problem with the entire restoration was locating replacement parts for just about everything except the engine and driveline. Since the popularity of this era of Mustang has only just started to increase, very few aftermarket companies offer parts. What can be found is very limited and very expensive. New old stock parts are rare, and the junkyards have long since crushed what they had."
Fortunately for the hobby, there are a few folks out there like Steve who are willing to invest the time and the creative restoration talents necessary to bring these uncommon pieces of Mustang history back into the fold. It's a tough job, but their hard work is appreciated by all.
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