Another Messed Up Mustang !!! 

I've been a MoPar guy for 50 plus years, came over to Kiwi's channel from Uncle T's recommendation. The Ford folks have the same problem we MoPar guys do. The 'low information' owners keep falling for Video Hype on 'improving' their classics. It's so sad.... I've seen countless MoPars that were 'improved' right into the Scrap Yard with THOUSANDS of dollars invested in janky aftermarket parts. I learned early on, if you want your classic to LAST and be Dependable, leave it as close to 'stock' as you possibly can.

Hack job. Stock parts would have made it a dream to drive. All those “upgrades” not only don’t improve the car, they don’t even do the minimum correctly nor safely. Good luck and good eye you have.

If anyone can fix it--Kiwi can!😎

Seeing how they swindled a female buyer makes me think of a phrase I use: “…I just want to go and smack the seller’s mother” because it’s a matter of conscience to rip a fellow human off!! They should be ashamed of themselves for making a new owner buy, and then drive such a dangerous car! Thanks Kiwi for being an honest man and for your awesome skills.

I helped install one of those Flaming River kits once, it was a real pain. Basically gives you the shafts, joints, and a hanger bearing and you figure out the rest. I mocked the shafts up with wooden dowels, cause once you cut the metal shafts you are done if you cut too short. In all it was a real pain to clear the exhaust, and not bind etc, nearly impossible.

Definitely needs the kiwi touch !

Thanks for the insight on removing the resistor wire on a points replacement kit, Kiwi! I bet that explains most of the ~20% giving one-star-failures seen on the Amazon purchases. She's not a Rustang-On-The-Rack, but she needs the Master's touch. The owner brought it to the right man for the job. The minute I saw 1965 quarter panel trim chrome on a car that Kiwi tells us is a 1966, I thought, "California shop doesn't do Mustangs like Kiwi does Mustangs."

Your on to it Kiwi, amazing how so called custom shops can put out this type of work and the demand top dollar🤦‍♂️

Kiwi sure knows his stuff. 😊Gotta say that I am always amazed that people still mount the electric fuel pump in the engine compartment. This is not new technology at this point.

I have a 68 and it is a made up of a hoard of different parts. It has manual steering, 5 speed, and power front disk brakes with large 73 montego drums on the back. I used a fox body proportioning valve to control it. All junkyard parts and it has no problems stopping. Now I am going with a borgesson steering box in the near future. I am glad you recommended it. 😊

Kiwi - when you were sawing the steering wheel back and forth you reminded me of the old time movies when actors pretended to drive. That mustang pretended to steer!

I like how you go over all the stuff and help a person that’s thinking about getting a classic car what to look for I don’t know where you’re located, but it would be nice if you were closer to me in Kentucky. I’m actually on my way tomorrow to Wisconsin to pick up a 1961 Oldsmobile dynamic 88. I originally bought it about 25 years ago down here and then sold it to my buddy after it was in storage for a while and his barn because I was gonna buy a 1970 rallye 350 but that didn’t go through and so my buddies had it in Wisconsin and his barn so I’m happy to go get it back.

Nice looking car! It seems to be suffering from the "let's buy aftermarket stuff we don't need and make it better" syndrome and usually has the opposite effect.. That car would be better in every way making it closer to stock. I'd restore the steering box and linkage, lose the headers, and any other bit I could find. The unneeded electric fuel pump is always a bad sign of aftermarketitus. I think the person that did the wiring must have gotten butt splices by the pallet load.

Keep your hands on the wheel your eyes upon the road.... LOLLL

Those brakes are a nightmare , and the entire front suspension setup is possessed. That would be a frightening car to drive. Good luck!

Master class, excellent knowledge. Thanks

Wow, that looked pretty spooky on the road.

The Folks got one new off the lot in 66 … Midnight Blue , 289 , automatic. Mom used to whip that thang around like she was autocrossing … I was a kid in the back seat sliding around 👌🏼⛽️…. Fo Mo Co fever 👍🏼

Another great video. Thanks

The Pertronix explanation was valuable. I had one go bad on my 66 Coronet and I was running the stock coil and ballast resistor. When I bought the replacement, I bought the Pertronix coil and bypassed the ballast resistor. So far so good. I run it with the factory setting of 10 degrees advanced.

Trying to out smart the factory boys there with the steering.

Hey kiwi, you finally got one in the shop that has frame rails 😂 amazing what people do with "upgrades" during install...zip ties, cobbled up wiring, ect...That rack would scare the shit outta me, had a bad experience with one locking up at speed and scared me for life 😂

These are interesting videos especially for those buying Mustangs for the first time. Keep it up. I hope there is a follow-up video for this car.

Thank you for what you do sir. I had a teacher in the 6th grade that had a 1st generation Mustang and she was so happy when she left the yard in her Mustang, Red and must have been in 1965 as I graduated in 1967. In Yonkers NY. I would buy her a restored one by your standards if I could meet her again. I guess it is called life. SOME NEVER FORGET! ALL THE WAY SIR!! Blessings.

Nice job Kiwi 👍

Sweet car in the best of hands!

For some odd reason I've heard of more people getting tires rotated or changed on Mustangs and the shop leave the lugs loose. When the tire came off it warped the frame on my Aunt's 67 and never was right, until the frame was put through the test at a body shop. The right front wheel came off and pulled to the right under braking from then on. Drove straight as an arrow any other time until you pushed the brake pedal.

nice paint job!

I just retired from the vintage car repair business and the things you see are really scary. Hardly any of the rack & pinion conversions work correctly, besides bump steer most of them don't have the turning radius of a regular gear box, and if it's a manual rack you feel every crack in the road. Flaming River sells a lot of poorly engineered junk but their fancy advertising sucks the unaware in.

Thanks for pointing out the resistor wire issue. Have a pertronix I in the maverick... one more thing to look at!

Real interested to see what you do with this one. Need to un-do mistakes I did on mine years ago.

I fixed the aftermarket rack on my '64 Jag, by going to small CV joints. nz.

It amazes me how many hack mechanics are out there. If I couldn't do it any better than that I wouldn't do it at all.

It is wonderful the 'improvements' people make to older cars when they already work pretty good to start with.

My rack & opinion on the situation is what is wrong with an old school American steering box.....

Found ya just in time, Lady's got a nice Mustang, in the end .

looks like a great drive. Not as bad as you make it.

Here in the UK, where we have those odd things called "corners" the precision offered by a rack and pinion is a valuable and useful improvement. In the US, corners don't really exist in any proximity to each other, so a steering box, especially a fresh one, that doesn't have a couple hundred thousand miles under it's belt, is probably more than adequate. The car also needs some attention to brake balance control. Is it my imagination, or camera angles, or is that thing actually toeing out about 5 degrees? Judging by the way you were sawing away at the wheel, it looked like it didn't know where straight ahead even was! A sure sign of bad alignment. But at least it's not rotten and the paint job is magnificent, I wish I could paint that good. This looks like a car that was built by a body man. The body is lovely, the mechanical bits were done by a guy who was a little outside his wheelhouse - and it shows! Me, i'm the other way round, it'll run and drive perfect, go like s**t off a shovel and be sound underneath (Brit rules, like Kiwi ones are a LOT tougher on rust) but it'll never win any cups for paintwork!

people have this "upgrade" mentality that is not better then what was designed into the car as a whole.. some time yeah it works but its applied on too many things just because its this idea its "better"..and ill stick to points as i was stuck in the desert when the electronic ignition died on my 62 and i found old dusty points in the trunk that got me home ..

All older cars should be bought with your eyes wide open to the fact that no matter how nice everything may look, that you have just bought a project car at some level of completion. The sobering reality is that there are very few Kiwi’s out there who can sort through the soup of factory and mis matched aftermarket parts to make the car pleasant and safe to drive.

I have owned two 66s over the years. Both were stock suspension and manual steering, but solid drivers with no issues. I am a firm believer that these are nice enough to drive without a bunch of upgrades. I also live in northern Calif, where even our highways have lots of curves.

That's not a Mustang....it's a Tennessee walker....walking all over the road! That 'California special " just needs a little Kiwi TLC. I was trying to get out for a visit, convince you to 2 tone green Large Marge but health intervened, on the mend now.

I'll say it again, it is a good thing this car found you

Seems like it’s got some good bones so that’s a positive. So far anyway. lol. Take care

That color is nice

Pretty clean. Just needs some tlc, and maybe a slight diff gear change since it looks like the rear is in need of welding?

All that cash invested in “upgrades” and the oil drain plug is held in by RTV! Not to mention the gob welds on the diff. People spend a bunch for their dream car and have no idea what they are buying. At least it’s a west coast car so everything structural isn’t weakened by rust. By now the junkyards in CA must be picked clean of classic cars

I thought the wiring was the worst of it until I saw the suspension. Probably got wrong master cylinder for the disks.

I love the tranny lines zip-tied to the lower rad hose. Chef's kiss! High grade mechanical work there. Your test drive was much like a 68 Camaro SS convertible I rented in Las Vegas about 20 some odd years ago. Thing looked beautiful, but what an f-ing nightmare to drive. The rental company had the timing so far off (probably to deter shenanigans) that the thing ran like crap and I was almost ready to buy a screwdriver to advance it a bit, the brakes would do nothing until the rears locked up, and the steering had about a half turn before anything happened, which made driving the 2 lanes out to the Hoover dam a fun experience.

Something that I have learned...if you are having someone else install and maintain you need to get their opinion and assurance that they will do it. E.g. I wanted two sommer garage door openers, not exactly common in my area.I did buy them I found an installer that was familiar and let them get them Also learned they don't sell a 1 piece rail like most other manufacturers do.

I have a 68 Mustang that I'm having to tear it all down again because my son wreck it. Plus, other things. I installed the Borenson power steering system, which I am very satisfied with it. It was worth the money.

Those rack conversions are terrible. On most cars they created a terrible turning radius and the binding of the universe joints are both a problem. A nice full power Borgeson box is the way to go.

Given how the exhaust is baking the steering shaft (and grease in the ujoints) you'll always have notchy steering problems with that setup.

Have you seen the RRS rack and pinion conversions? They still use standard style inner and outer tie rod ends.

The yokes going to the rack need to be out of time a 1/4 so you’re not fighting with both unjoints when turning

I can't stand how sweet that thing is.

Man that car is a death trap, it's going to kill someone. You're a brave man taking it out on the road mate. This car would never see the road legally in NZ .

I would like it even better if it had a 4 speed or even a 5 speed, but that's a nice looking Mustang... You can tell by some of the "improvements" that she was convinced to waste a bunch of money on crap she didn't need, and to top it off they didn't exactly do stellar work . They should change the name of that front suspension to "Flaming Garbage". What a POS.. I don't know what that thing cost installed, but I'm sure it wasn't cheap. If a reputable and knowledgeable shop installed that suspension, they would have test drove it and never let it leave the shop that way.

well...@ least it wasent a rot bucket 4 a change...cant belive the drain plug,,,!..looks to me the banjo could be the biggest hit cost wise...unless...it can be welded...or u can find a good used one...!..?..u should change your name to "mr. mustang"..😉..i have never seen the banjo leak on the weld on an 8" or a 9" ford...the vent is on the drivers side,top..so cant see it b'n that..?...love this videos...since i dought i will ever have the coin to buy an older car with the coin they r get 4 them...!....thanks Kiwi...look'n forward to part 2...!..

Speaking of brakes, hopefully you got her to buy a new rubber pad for the brake pedal - it would suck to have your foot slip off at the worst possible moment.....

It sounded nice on the audio, but the binding in the steering was plainly visible. I guess the front discs are not working correctly if at all. I fixed up and drove a64 and it was just fine stock. I do remember it stalling out in deep twilight on an interstate in West Virginia, no flashlight. I was pretty sure the points had closed up and managed to gap the points blind with a scrap of cardboard. Fortunately I was right. Having to do tuneups so often back then made sure you knew exactly where things were in the distributor, so no big deal in a pinch.

You can see it wondering like a mental patient. White knuckle driving 😅

At least the sheetmetal is solid. Now for the mechanical! Scary business buying or having a car rebuilt when you don’t know much about them. 😬

Good video, if you work the kinks out of it i’m sure she’ll really enjoy it!👍🏿

I've run into the leaky axle housing quite a bit. Mostly on the 9" in trucks.

THEY SAY BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP. But leave it to KIWI to make the whole car functional and beautiful.

3.50 gear would work great with the AOD Trans. 👍

Some of those Mustang steering wheels say Falcon Sprint underneath the center piece.

WHY? does everybody who has one of these think they have to have a rack & pinion?..just leave the stock steering box, or if you want power steering, get a donor from a car from the same time period!

Look at all of those downgrades.

Yea that steering would have to go .Seems like it could be a pretty nice car once the mechanicals are sorted out properly.

Good luck getting the oil out of the diff housing crack so it can be welded.

That second U-joint, coming from the rack, needs to be up further toward the column, in my opinion.

How about some videos on that sunbeam in the background.

The classic Mustang is probably the most hacked together car in history. People do the worst things to them to make them presentable enough to sell. The sellers think every Mustang ever made is worth a bank full of cash.

We need to call this man Dr kiwi. After all UT Dr Art have 2 names..

I'm just watching the test drive and I was nervous. Chris, you CANNOT give this car back to the owner with that Flaming pile of crap steering linkage. Please do your best to persuade her to spring for steering system upgrade. No doubt you will have cleaned up the rest of the funk you've showed us, most critical being the piss poor brakes. Brake fluid not properly distributed? Looking forward to your usual top flight work getting this old pony performing like a spirited young colt again! How's Marge doing?

Great video. But you called it a 66. Its a 65. Lol.

I'm not a fan of heim joints on the street. It's metal to metal with no protection from water and dirt, requiring constant lubrication that attracts even more dirt and accelerates the wear.

Btw, NO MORE than 30° ON OUR UNIVERSALS!!!.my shop sticks with 20° in general.....they are NOT designed to withstand that 30° shot, time after time.....steering geometry/layout, MUST be proper........dudes with welders and wrenches.......................scary!!!......

The number of hacks out there stealing money from people is unbelievable. They wind up giving reputable businesses a bad name. Unfortunately it's easy to be taken when you know nothing about cars and especially restoring older cars. If you don't now anything about cars do yourself a favour and pay someone who does to go with you if you're looking at buying or restoring and old car like this. The money you spend will be save you time, money and a ton of headaches down the road. Nice job Kiwi. 🤗

Terrible for someone to pay 10-15000 to do all that work. Then spend how much again to fix it all.

Ditch the headers for steering linkage, and then chase the other gremlins.

With the rears locking up its literally set up for drifting😅

i applaud your use of the mechanical fuel pump but I don't think I would change the alternator unless it was broke. the front end on that is outrageous. there's a good reason why ford built them the way they did.

Dang! This is the quietest car I've ever hardly heard on the youtube!

I don't know why so many think they need all these "upgrades". I'll sometime take a customer out in my '79 bird to show em how well it drives, they're always impressed, and then when I tell them it's all mostly bone stock, they're surprised lol

Note to cameraman: It won't ruin the video of you take kiwi out of the scene for a second or two to maybe show us a closer look at oh I don't know, the wrlds he points out and other issues that could use a little zoom in. Unless kiwi is so arrogant he needs to be in the frame at all times. Just a suggestion from someone with bad eyes!

A double jointed steering U joint would help in this situation.

On the brakes wouldn't that mean that the proportional valve is wrong or maybe the master cylinder is wrong for the size of wheel cylinders on the rear brakes.

Looks like they left the apprentice to finish it off! without checking his work!

OH GOD THAT EXHAUST LEAK!!!! ARGH!

That sucks because its nice and im sure they paid big money for it grrrrrrrrrrr

Looks like they almost spent Casper money without the result,maybe should have converted to manual steering to offset the power gain of those bogus headers

It’s unreal to see the molestation that out there and people are paying through the nose for this crap. Another Rescue for Kiwi

Looking at the quality of the installation it seems as though it is a common theme with installing these aftermarket modifications, in that the technicians that get these jobs way underestimate the amount of things that need to be done and of course this business being a flat rate business, the more time you put in a job the less you make so we get these shortcuts in detail. It is OK to upgrade these cars to some more modern features but we also have to realize that we are re-engineering the vehicle as well. I have posted in the past about Revology motors down in Orlando Fl and the Mustangs that they actually manufacture and design to use the latest drivetrain technology. One can get a Mustang done any way they want to suit their tastes, but of course the price tag is quite expensive (into six figures). I have also seen advertisement for this Kindred motor outfit which provides a restomod vehicle but it is EV powered and the price tag on those vehicles are six figures. But the point here is that these vehicles are engineered to work. My experience (back in the eighties) with aftermarket stuff is that it is just not a simple bolt in arraignment and there has to be more work done to have a reliable installation. Of course this lady has acquired a vehicle that has all kinds of issues and although as you pointed out some of the modifications were acceptable, there are some that are downright dangerous especially the steering. One thing about it you will never run out of business to take care of this stuff. But it is sad that most people are just not educated about this stuff until after they have spent good money. Your post are direct and to the point and it is a very good attempt to educate folks as to what to expect and to be able to judge with their reasoning as opposed to making decisions with their heart strings.

All minor stuff. The body isn't a hack job>>THAT is what is most important.

The ride needs to be safe and work properly, this Mustang needs Kiwi's help!

This one looks more doable then some of the others.

I thought all older Fords just came with that little exhaust tick stock from the factory?