I bought the little six-cylinder 1965 fastback 10 years ago as a future project. I have restored several cars over the years for many other people, and my wife and I have owned several already restored Mustangs, all the while Lil Blu, as we called it, sat waiting.
A few years ago a friend was talking about making a trip to the Mustang’s 40th anniversary celebration in Indiana and invited us to go. We had just sold all of our Mustangs except Lil Blu. I talked to my wife and family about it, and they said they were all in.
I stopped all other work in my shop, brought in Lil Blu, and completely stripped it to the shell. We all worked in the evenings, weekends, holidays, and any other free time we could find. We stripped and sandblasted the bottom, replaced both floor pans and both rear quarter-panels, added subframe connectors, primed, painted, and undercoated the whole bottom side. Then we added a completely rebuilt 9-inch rear with 3.25 gears for good highway use.
We replaced all the front suspension with heavier, V-8–style parts with disc brakes. For the color I decided on Ford’s Sangria Red top with a Granite Gray bottom.
I sent out a 1965 289 I had for a full rebuild with roller cam and rockers. When it came back we added an Edelbrock aluminum intake and carb and Tri-Y coated headers, followed by a Flowmaster exhaust and a new C-4 transmission. We replaced the wiring harness with one from American Autowire, and added a gauge set from Dakota Digital and Vintage Air air conditioning for hot summers in the south. Inside is a Sport II interior from TMI and a Lokar shifter.
We got the car running and driving ahead of schedule. I started driving it around and got about 300 miles on it, but before we left for Indy I noticed something under the car. The pinion seal had blown. With no time left to repair, I called my dad, and he let me borrow his Shelby G.T. 500 for the trip.
Since then, the pinion seal has been repaired and we have been enjoying the car. Thanks go to my family for helping me take all of the ideas I kept stored in a folder for so long and making them a reality. We spent a lot great time working, laughing, talking, and making great memories with my wife, kids, and grandkids. I might need to rename Lil Blu Pawpaw’s Hot Wheel, because my 4-year-old grandson was in the shop working on it with us and started calling it Pawpaw’s Hot Wheel.
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