After the Suburban got wrecked (thank god) I fixed my mother's Explorer and she drove that for the summer. Until the tranny went again in the fall. She had no vehicle, and was borrowing a '92 Toyota Camry which was the worst car in the world. December 2nd 2005 she found and purchased a 1989 Mustang LX Convertible for $200. When she first told me I was ecstatic, my mom with a 5.0L Mustang convertible.

Boy, was I mistaken! She told me it was a 4 cylinder, my heart dropped. Before that day I didn't even know there was such a thing as a 4 cylinder Mustang. I saw the car that Friday night, it was beautiful. The seats were like heaven on the ride to New Hampshire. I loved it more than any other car I ever sat in.

So with it's 88hp we were good to go all winter with almost 30mpg. I installed new speakers in the dashboard and a Pioneer CD player. Sounded alright, not the premium Ford audio just 4 speakers.

Rust became a huge problem and half way through winter we touched it up with some self-etching primer and white paint. By summer the rust was back in full force. There really wasn't anything we could do at the time with the lack of tools and money.

Still cruising with the top down, and driving back and forth from Maine. With the summer heat we overheated a couple times to the point where the car would not run. The radiator was junk, and I'm pretty sure the TFI module was overheating and malfunctioning.

Late june my mother bought another Ford Explorer and she no longer needed the Mustang. So following her intentions on July 8th 2006 we drove back to Maine and she signed the car over to me.

At this point it needed bodywork, a radiator, and a gas tank. Other than those few things the car was fine. My father and I did the bodywork in September 2006. This consisted of bondo, filler, and some sheetmetal. Since I liked the way his Bronco looked in flat black primer that's how I wanted it painted.

It came out really nice, now I just need a new top.

Before

During

After

Some side moulding's still need to be put back on. Other than that the bodywork is done.

July '07

I started taking the interior apart. I'm putting some gauges in, a tilt column from the Turbo Coupe, clutch pedal assembley (requires the steering column to be unbolted). There are also plans for a rear seat delete made from MDF wood. It will hold two Pioneer 10" subwoofers and a 1000w Sony Xplode 1/2/4 channel amplifier.

Removing and replacing the ciggarette lighter and ash tray was a must. Nasty stuff. I cut a piece of aluminum and made three holes for the trunk release, gas door, and line locker. Also added a lighted switch for rear wheel bleach sprayers.

October '07

Rust, rust, and more rust. It's there and making me mad! Turns out my radiator support, passenger fender, and rear quarter panel are rotted bad!

Wonderfull....

Got my gauge panel back together. Added a few lighted rocker switches to where the dummy lights would be in a GT. They look alright. I'm not going to go with the gauge idea above.

Here are some new pics: