Possible Owner - 72 Coupe

[Gonzo1970]

Worked on a few cars in the past.. 78 Trans Am, 68 GTO, 72 Cutlass Supreme.. helped a friend with his 67 Mustang.. Always turned them around for a buck or three..

In the spirit of full disclosure, I've never been a huge Mustang Fan.. (or for that matter, a Ford Fan). The only Mustang I would consider owning is the 71-73 series..

I havent worked on a car in awhile.. I bought a motorcycle, and my free time has been taken up on Two Wheels instead of in a garage tinkering..

I still peruse the ads and such.. and I came across something...

1972 Mustang Coupe

302-2V

C4 Auto

A/C

Light Blue

Medium Blue, all vinyl interior

This car is basically stock except for 1966 Mustang Style Hubcaps (easy enough to get a set of Correct hub caps from Ebay... $40) and Aftermarket Dual Exhaust (Quiet)

The interior is Immaculate. Everything is present.. no cracks in the dash.. no butcher-job on the radio bezel... factory radio.. no sags.. rips... tears... Its like the damn interior was never even used. Even the carpet is clean...

The Ultimate Question here is this:

Since its so damn... Stock, should I just keep it Stock?

If I dont keep it stock, I should keep the parts to "put it back" right?

Im a tinkerer/modder naturally.. probably because Ive never come across something.. This Stock... I would almost feel bad modifying it, but if I kept the stock stuff, would that be ok?

Examples:

Radio Bezel bought aftermarket and a "New" radio put in... keeping the stock bezel and factory stereo stored.

Keep the Steel Rims and the Ebay Hub Caps stored and run Magnum's or Keystone Classics.

B&M Shifter replacing the stock one storing the stock shifter..

Dash Instruments (newvintageusa.com - the 67 series)

Cruise Control.

Alarm System with remote start.

all that could be "put back" so to speak..

The heart-breaker (especially for the "Purists") would be if I put a front chin spoiler (black) on it, a rear spoiler (black), and put black hockey stripes on it with a pair of black stripes on the hood and replace the grill with the Mach1 Grill..

I think, along with the rims, that set-up would look good..

Would it be correct? Absolutely not.. But I think it would look good.

Do you think it would destroy the value (if it has any to begin with being just a coupe) if I did the spoilers/stripes? The rest I can put back...

Anyhow, Ive been around long enough to know threads are useless without Pics, so I attached some..







-Gonz

 

[OLE PONY]

Welcome to the site from Virginia. Looks like a really nice coupe. While I keep my 73 convertible stock, I see no reason not to do the mods you have in mind. It's apparently not a special edition coupe or rare engine trans setup. The Mach 1 grill (honeycomb grill) side stripes, etc, were options for the coupe and would not look out of place.

 

[Don65Stang]

Welcome from coastal Alabama. that's a nice looking coupe. I'd mod it with period correct type mods. In 71 Ford offered a Spring Value Package where they took a coupe and put Mach 1 type features on it like the front grill, etc.

Be sure to drop a pin on our member map under the fun stuff tab at the top of the page.

 

[MechEng]

Very untouched indeed! I don't think anything you've describe is really terrible in terms of modifications or hurting the value. Just don't describe it as "All Original" when you go to sell it and I think you'd be fine!

 

[jbojo]

Welcome from TriCities WA.

-jbojo

 

[will e]

Welcome from Phoenix. It's a super nice car but do with with it as you will! With rare exceptions we are not at a point where stock correctness means much in the way of value. THere isn't much that you can put back to stock if you want.

I would add to the list a set of sports mirrors, I just think they look better.

 

[goodnigh]

Welcome from northern California.

mike

 

[Kermit 460]

::welcome:: from Maine

 

[wwhite72]

Im guessing you bought it already? Did you get close up looks at cowl area and trunk for rust? Under side?

 

[Gonzo1970]

I'm going to lay eyes on it on the 5th of March. The guy selling it has sent tons of pics to my phone, and answered every question I've had, sometimes even with pictures.. It's around 100mi from me or I would have already gone and looked. Our schedules conflict a bit and I'm crazy busy at work.

Hes had some crazy low-ball offers, and is pretty tired of trying to sell it. Ive talked to him a lot, and honestly, I think its worth the asking price ($4,500) barring anything serious being wrong with it. I wish I could get down there sooner so no one grabs it before I can, but hes said "Don't worry about it.. its not going anywhere".

Cowl and trunk are absolutely on my list, along with the shock towers and frame rails... floor boards.. I pretty much know what to look for having experience with GM's 30+ years old.. I found this place for hints and tips on what to expect, look for, etc. as well as any "quirks" the car may have.. (most do have their own "quirks" - The GTO's rear window's design led it to rust at the bottom of the rear window because the water had nowhere to go... things like that)

Looking at part cost, its a bit cheaper than the Buick/Olds/Pontiac prices I'm used to... just as a quick example, an Intake Manifold for a 350Rocket (Olds Motor) is around $250-$300 versus the 302's intake being $150-$175.. So, that's good..

Thanks for the welcome's!

-Gonz

 

[mach71351c]

::welcome:: From San Diego. 4,500 Is a good price if the car checks out. I say do what you want with the car. At the end of the day you want a fun car to own and drive.

 

[caspianwendell]

Welcome from Arkansas

 

[luxstang]

Hi and ::welcome:: from Luxembourg, Europe.

Our usual standpoint is that unless it's a very rare car or combo there is no need to keep it all original. Besides, all the things you mentioned can be reversed without any problem.

I'd only advise you to keep everything that you remove because maybe one day you will change your mind. I never thought I would but now I wish I still had all the stuff I removed from mine and threw in the trash thinking I would never ever need it again.

 

[whitesoc]

Welcome from Ontario Canada. Lots of good advice from the guys, the changes I've made to my car are all things that were available in 1973, with the exception of my rims. I've kept the parts I swapped out so that if I decide to sell the car the new owner can change things back to the "way it was".

 

[coreysvt]

Welcome from SC. Your lucky to get that car for 4500. Around here any people want $5000 for any old rust bucket. Being honest, I like the way it looks as is, minus the hubcaps. But I don't think you'd catch any flack from us as long as you don't cut corners with your mods.

 

[71_resurrection]

::welcome:: from San Diego! It's a coupe, so do whatever you want to it! I love my coupe so much that I am on my second restore, and nowhere near stock. Whatever you do, just make sure you have fun with it!

 

[D-Maxx]

The Ultimate Question here is this:

Since its so damn... Stock, should I just keep it Stock?

If I dont keep it stock, I should keep the parts to "put it back" right?

Im a tinkerer/modder naturally.. probably because Ive never come across something.. This Stock... I would almost feel bad modifying it, but if I kept the stock stuff, would that be ok?

The heart-breaker (especially for the "Purists") would be if I put a front chin spoiler (black) on it, a rear spoiler (black), and put black hockey stripes on it with a pair of black stripes on the hood and replace the grill with the Mach1 Grill..

I think, along with the rims, that set-up would look good..

Would it be correct? Absolutely not.. But I think it would look good.

Do you think it would destroy the value (if it has any to begin with being just a coupe) if I did the spoilers/stripes? The rest I can put back...

-Gonz

In the end - it's your car. What you are describing are mostly bolt-on and can be changed back if so desired by a perspective buyer in the future. It is not a highly collectible car, nor are you going to show it in a Concourse class it sounds like. The other side is that restomods have come up in value over stock in the past couple decades. Meaning, the market is more forgiving of deviations from stock than it used to be. If you look at appraised values of restomods vs stock, with bolt-on mods and period correct finishings, you will find the difference is not that much. My opinion is that you only live once and if your desire is to drive the car, than do what you want with it and ENJOY IT!

::welcome:: From San Diego. 4,500 Is a good price if the car checks out. I say do what you want with the car. At the end of the day you want a fun car to own and drive.

+1

Welcome from Ontario Canada. Lots of good advice from the guys, the changes I've made to my car are all things that were available in 1973, with the exception of my rims. I've kept the parts I swapped out so that if I decide to sell the car the new owner can change things back to the "way it was".

Ditto

 

[mach71351c]

Coupes can look pretty sweet! Here is my 71 Grande I built back in the late 80s.

 

[Gonzo1970]

My list keeps growing and I dont even own it yet.. And Im like a person with OCD when it comes to cars.. I dont do a little at a time, I do it all and Im done.

Magnum 500's w/Cooper Cobra's

Front Chin Spoiler

Rear Spoiler

Black Side Stripes

Pair of hood stripes (73 mach)

B&M Starshifter

Front Sway bar

Rear Sway bar

Shocks all around

New Vintage USA Dash

Stereo System

Intake

Carb

Distributor

Tune Up

There, I already spent $4k..

-Gonz