Joe Ruggirello, Gapp and Roush Mustang II

BTW...the car did get a nice writeup in the June 2013 issue of Mustang Monthly.

Been working on small stuff this week...assembling a complete Accel BEI system as it had in the '77 HRM article. Much tougher than you would imagine, given that this system hasn't been made since the early 80's and Accel does not service any part of it unfortunately.

 
Hi Tom,
Amazing that you could get the ignition parts.
It's looking good ! ! !
Hope I can snag a copy of that June issue.
Thanks for the hint !
 
Here's a fantastic piece of history for this car. Norman Blake posted this photo on the Nostalgia Pro Stock Facebook page today of the Gapp and Roush shop in 1975.

Look closely and you'll see the Ruggirello Mustang II in the background under construction!

 
Found some additional history on the car today while talking with John Downing, legendary Ford Super Stock/Pro Stock racer.

Story goes, Downing saw the car in Jack Roush's shop, asked about it and what Jack was doing with it. Jack said "nothing", so Downing asked if it was for sale. Downing bought the car, told Jack to have it painted white with blue stripes (one of Downing's favorite paint schemes) and ...ready in 10 days. Then, had it picked up and shipped to Russell Hobson for his birthday in 1978 or '79, he wasn't sure of the year, to Satellite Beach, FL.

That certainly fills in some blanks between Ruggirello and when it left Detroit for Florida. Now if I can fill in the last gap in ownership around 1995 when it left Florida for Indiana, then we'll have the entire history.

As it turns out from Russ Hobson, Downing bought the car with Hobson's money, so Downing never "owned" the car. It was transported in Hobson's trailer.

Cool stuff to know!
 
Last edited:
SuddenDeath said:
Found some additional history on the car today while talking with John Downing, legendary Ford Super Stock/Pro Stock racer.

Story goes, Downing saw the car in Jack Roush's shop, asked about it and what Jack was doing with it. Jack said "nothing", so Downing asked if it was for sale. Downing bought the car, told Jack to have it painted white with blue stripes (one of Downing's favorite paint schemes) and ...ready in 10 days. Then, had it picked up and shipped to Russell Hobson for his birthday in 1978 or '79, he wasn't sure of the year, to Satellite Beach, FL.

That certainly fills in some blanks between Ruggirello and when it left Detroit for Florida. Now if I can fill in the last gap in ownership around 1995 when it left Florida for Indiana, then we'll have the entire history.
Click to expand...
Awesome!
 
Finally getting back on the car again! Had my daily driver break a crankshaft (my old 86 fox body Mustang), so spent the last month building a new engine for that car, along with trans, suspension mods, etc.

Finished the trans cooler, brackets, and valence bracket install. The original trans cooler was just trashed after 38 years, so I went with a new B&M and fabricated brackets. I think it was the right thing to do. Also finished the fan shroud restoration/repairs. Dan Neumann of Dan Neumann Race Cars in Ocala, FL fabricated the new front portion of the shroud, along with repairing the upper rear portion of the shroud. I spent many hours attempting to save the original front pieces, but they were just too corroded/damaged to bring back. These are an exact match for the original pieces, rivets are exact match to originals, holes exact off the originals and the rolled beads exact as original.

The radiator is the original 65/66 Galaxie piece with Gapp and Roush modifications to the side straps to fit the car.



 
I cant believe the level of work going into this resto. absolutely amazing the amount of info you can find on a car that had been written off, with spotty 70s documentation.

Its coming out beautiful
 
WOW ! Tom, it looks amazing. You did a great job. Considering how corroded those parts were, it looks brand new, now. You did the right thing about the transmission cooler, too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top