Joe Ruggirello, Gapp and Roush Mustang II

Here's one of the doors. They weren't rusty thankfully, but had their share of small dings and some factory defects, all of which have been corrected. Still have to clean the bottoms and hinge areas, but those skins sure look good now!

SDFirstPrimerCoat13.jpg
 
Rear hatch/tail light panel pic. Last week I media blasted the entire inside rear upper floor area, inside the quarters, then we got some primer on the rear half of the car. We still have to work the wheel openings.

SDFirstPrimerCoat14.jpg
 
This photo is a bit deceiving...given how nasty this area was when I got the car! After cleaning off 4-6 layers of paint/primer, rust, and seam sealer that looked like it was applied with a trowel by the factory...this is how it looks now.

SDFirstPrimerCoat15.jpg
 
A lot of time spent on cleaning up the door jamb areas of paint, rust, seam sealer. Looking better than new now!

After cleaning:

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In primer:

SDFirstPrimerCoat17.jpg
 
Lots of accomplishments coming in the next 2-4 weeks on the car, so I'll keep everyone posted on progress!

All of the window moldings are shipped off for re-anodizing as well.

Planning on starting engine work over the holidays.

I'm getting anxious about silver paint going on it!
 
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Gotta say that I don't care for the body style, however I really appreciate what you are doing here. Well done!
 
Damn Tom shes gonna be better than NEW ! I better get the First Ride when you bring her up here !!!!!
 
if you had it done in time for thre Autorama it would be real cool
Ill bet you would get a spotlight spot in the show with how nice your redoing it
 
Doors are now completely in primer, including ends/bottoms.

Inner portions of the cowl are now in color and clear. We're taking the car over to a TIG welding pro tomorrow to seal it up for good. Can't wait to have this behind me. The color is awesome.

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Here's the lower cowl. The odd colors here and there is light reflection. Hard to believe how nasty it looked only a couple of months ago.

Before:

LHCowlRepair1.jpg


NOW:

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Thanks! Its definitely come a long way in the last month or so! Should make some good gains over the holidays, since I have some vacation time coming.
 
I was thinking today that as many cars as I've restored over the years, I can't recall having put this much effort and emotion into any single one of them!

As of today, the cowl notch modification has been TIG welded. I'm so relieved its done. That one repair has nagged me since getting the car, as to how much it was going to take to replicate it all. I think it turned out great.

Before after cutting off the top, exposing the nasty rounded area someone cut into the original piece..oh the horror!

CenterCowlnotchtriming4-1.jpg


As of today...

Cowlnotchfinalwelding7.jpg
 
SuddenDeath said:
I found some previous owner history today...turns out SD was at one time (1997) owned by Mark Martin (NASCAR). I spoke with someone who worked on the car that year while he owned it. I don't know when Martin bought SD, but could have likely been when I saw it at the Fun Ford event in 1995. It was delivered, enclosed truck, to a place in Indiana for cosmetics and tuning in preparation for auction at Auburn Auctions (now RM Auctions) in Auburn, IN and sold by Martin to someone.

I sent email to RM Auctions asking for any record of sale. The guy who worked on it has photos while it was there, so is going to send those to me.

Now, if I could only talk to Mark Martin!

If anyone can help, please pass on my info!
Click to expand...

UPDATE on this info..the guy I got that info from must have made it up. I've been able to talk to one of the former owners of this car...FINALLY. The car was owned by a gentleman named William Thayer during the late 1990's. He bought the car and took it to Fort Wayne, IN where he owned a company there. He then took it to New Jersey. The car did go to auction there in Atlantic City around 1997, but did not sell. He then had another guy, named Joe Dawson, work on selling it for him. The car finally did sell to the guy I got it from about 1999.

Now, it gets interesting...Mr. Thayer bought the car in the mid 90's. From what I learned, a gentleman named Russell Hobson owned the car for many years which would mean he got it back in the 80's. I have not been able to talk to him yet, but am trying to contact him. Does anyone know if this is the guy who Joe Ruggirello sold the car to back in 1981?
 
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Another 8 hours on SD today. No update pics, since all I did today was clean, weld, grind, clean again...all the spot welds around the cowl. Finished that today, so Friday (my next day off) I'll weld on the apron to cowl brackets. Then we'll do final prep of those areas for primer/seam sealer. We really want to begin the rear quarter wheel opening final work this week. This past week I ordered all new, AMK original bolts for the intake, water pump, oil pan, timing cover, thermostat housing, so when I perform final engine assembly, I'll have all the correct original hardware ready. The goal is for the engine to look exactly as it did in the '77 article photo.
 
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