The What, Why, Who, and How of it...

Cars are a lot like people. They may look like they’ve got it all together on the outside, but there are often deeper seeded issues going on that aren’t visible from the exterior. To quote one of the great intellectual minds of the 80's, Bruce Hornsby, "That's just the way it is." We're all a little messed up in our own right.

When my wife and I first discussed purchasing a classic Mustang to function as a secondary car, people around us encouraged the dream, perhaps because the notion that someone they knew owning a vintage Pony was pretty rad. I suppose there was also the hope of getting to ride in it or possibly even drive it.

They reminisced about having a muscle car of their own back in the day, or pondered aloud how they wished they'd had the money to buy the classic car of their dreams and fix it up. But when the time came to actually purchase the vehicle, those same people questioned if we’d lost our minds. “It’s so old,” more than one person said. “What if it breaks down?” I have to say, the men's jockstrap my mom mistakenly bought me to wear in Little League was more supportive.

We weren’t blind to the fact that whatever used car we bought was going to need some work. All the nostalgia in the world can’t replace the simple truth that something is going to go wrong on a car this old. In fact, A LOT of somethings are going to go wrong.

As you can see from the photo, the car looks great…but she’s a ten-footer, meaning that she may look great from ten feet away, but the closer you get, you can tell that she lied on her dating.com profile.

I know what you're thinking, that some people are just incorrigible. If you're not thinking it, you should be. I am. But back to my story...

“What about a new car?” we were asked. “They come with warranties.” Sure, but a new car also comes with a hefty monthly payment leaving the owner paying more for the car than it is actually worth. We didn’t want to do that. We couldn’t afford to do that. Dave Ramsey wouldn’t want us to do that. My wife and I needed a cheap(ish) used car that would get me from home to work, back to home, and then to the University of North Texas in Denton two to three nights a week.

More importantly, the reason behind purchasing a 1966 Mustang, and the reason I’m writing a blog, is this: I’m going to spend the next four years restoring it for my daughter’s 16th birthday, and I’m going to use Google to tell me how to do it.

Stop laughing. I’m being serious. If you’re not laughing, you probably think that I’m barking mad. It’s okay – I’ve considered it myself over the last several days.

You see, I know next to nothing about cars or restoring them. I’m able to put gas in the tank and air in the tires, and I have a working knowledge of where certain integral pieces of the engine are located. My first car was a 1969 Chevrolet heavy-half pickup. It was a disaster on wheels and looked like crap, but it’s where I gained my basic knowledge of cars. Other than that, I’m pretty much Average Joe who takes the family car to the local tire store to get the oil changed. Actually, that’s not true. My wife takes the car in to get the oil changed. I stay at home and watch football and play video games from the comforts of my living room.

So in the interest of full disclosure, I should mention now I won’t be restoring every aspect of the car myself as there are just some things I don’t have the time, patience, or capability to work on, but everything outside of paint and body, major engine, and transmission work I will try to do myself or with the help of friends or family (Shane, I will be calling you, so don’t dodge my calls. You either, Matt).

Oh, and my 12-year-old daughter, Kacie, will be helping me. Did I mention that yet? I don’t think I did.

We want Kacie to be part of the process from beginning to end. She should have a say in what kind of tires, wheels, interior options, and paint this car will have. After all, it’s going to be hers in less than four years, provided she maintains an acceptable grade point average and doesn’t get into trouble with the law. (Who am I kidding? She can still get into trouble with the law just as long as her GPA is good. A criminal record might keep her out of an Ivy League school, but there’s always community college.)

You see, I’m writing this blog (that you’re hopefully bookmarking and planning to check regularly, whatever that is) because I want to document this experience in a way that my daughter and I will be able to share during our adventure (or debacle, for you pessimists) without keeping a diary and losing points on my man-card - which I've been told is in danger of happening due to long time mancrushes on Tom Selleck and John Cusack.

For those of you hardcore restoration enthusiasts, I apologize in advance. We won’t be doing a total strip down and rebuild. This process is more about a daddy getting to spend time with his baby girl than anything else, while giving her the one material possession she’s never wavered from wanting. She’s had to sacrifice a lot as a child for my mistakes as a parent, so I want this experience to be a good one for her.

We can only fix things on the car when we have the spare cash, so the process may seem painstakingly slow at times. Perhaps you’ll be entertained by my incredible writing skills and superb wit. If that doesn't work for you, then consider this a fantastic way to kill time on the company clock - provided you can get past big brother. I’ll also try and post pictures when the opportunity presents itself and links to sites where I pull my directions/info on the particular project we’re working on at the time in case anyone wants to "try this at home."

Hopefully you enjoy this experience as much as we hope to. Now, I’m off to get a box or seven of bandages to keep by the keyboard. I have a feeling that this will be my one and only post without skinned knuckles…

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