Last weekend I went to my late uncles place with a few of my cousins, one of whom is his only heir, to help take care of his property and sort out his personal affairs. None of us have been to his farm for a better part of 20 years so we had a great time checking out the property. As you may expect, the "Back 40" had a few cars in various stages of disrepair and condition. It was determined that really only 4 or 5 cars could even be salvagable and the others we could get rid of for salvage.
My cousin decided that each of us could have whatever car they were interested in. Of those 4 or 5 cars, there are 2 Mustangs. one, my uncle's pride and joy as I was told, was in the upper portion of the barn well protected and out of the elements....a 1973 GT500. Of course there is no way that my cousin Dave plans to part with it. The other was in the lower area, outside but still under 3 or 4 tarps and under somewhat of a crudly fashioned lean-to. It was still well protected, but at some point a few varmin look to have resided in it. That car is a 1980 Notchback with a barely recognizable 2.3 Turbo 4 cyl. The body is in relativly good shape but the interior is pretty much toast. It is by far in better condition that the others that were in the field and far more work would have to be done to make them remotely desirable. In my opionion they are really nothing more than parts cars. Given this I took the car and have it in my garage.
My question is this:
This Mustang looks very generic and from what I have read in the past few days about it, not all that in demand or desired. My son and I still figure to restore it and make a street rod. I really can't see keeping the motor as it's more than likely toast and has far too many missing elements. The areas that we have determined that need to be replaced are, motor, tranny, the majority of the interior, and a few body parts. What motor will fit? I assume a 302 but can I get bigger without a major recontruction of the front-end??
I assume a new rear-end would be in order with a bigger motor? Am I correct?
Where can I get the best info on the capabilities and possibilties for this car?
Should we forget about the street rod idea and restore it to stock?
Should we forget the idea all together and sell it or scrap it for what we can get?
I appreciate any feedback you guys are willing to give. It is absolutely in the beggining stages and I would appreciate some advice before going too much further.
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New guy with many questions!!! - 
