Custom 1965 Correct Craft Mustang build

Hey guys, new to the forum and new Correct craft owner! Just won the ebay auction tonight!!!

Not sure if this is the correct place to post a build thread so mods, feel free to move it.



What we have here is a 1965 Mustang with a 351w in it! Interior looks to be junk, stringers prob have some rot but the engine runs well and the hull is in ok shape.



My career has been restoring interiors and hulls on all sorts of old boats, now I finally get to do my own!

Anybody know how to pull pictures off of Ebay?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649&item=130638411374&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

proper link

Cool find, I think you got a good price but have a long way to go. Sounds like you need to start with the stringers, a big job you will want to do yourself but it sounds like you have the skills. Read up and ask questions. There is lots of experience, so no need to re-invent the wheel and no excuse to not do it right. Welcome and enjoy your classic boat.

looks like a good start to a project for the right money , good luck with it and dont be afraid to ask questions on here.

Thanks for the welcome guys!

As far as "original" goes that ship has long since sunk for this boat. The engine is out of a cris craft, all of the interior guts are trashed/gone and generally will need a everything tweaked to make it fully functional again.

My current thoughts are:
-New glassed stringers front to back
-New 1/2 glassed floor attached with SS screws
-Respray the engine Old ford blue, make the wiring nice nice, replace any ugly components
-Bright red carpet
-Full length dash facia overlay 3/8 ply wrapped in red vinyl
-Tastefull aftermarket gauges
-Looks like new steering box and a new mid 70's mastercraft style steering wheel in order.
-Gas tank facia, red vinyl
-Seats, prob full length front bench, maybe 3/4 bench with port isle way red.
-Full width rear vinyl seats, red
-Exterior chrome, keep all original, rechrome/replace the junk with OEM.
-3M the windshield (prob hazed plexi, hard to tell)
-Get rid of all the blue

Suggestions are more than welcome!

Welcome! If you're gonna make a road trip all the way down here to FL, then you might want to postpone another week and drive a few extra miles for the SJRR event. Kick off your introduction to Correct Crafts in style:

SJRR

Plus one on the SJRR pickup plan.. I would do whatever possible to make that happen if I was you.

She is gonna need a little work to be sure. Interesting engine though. I started with worse and paid more.. if you are anywhere near the fingerlakes area let me know and I will be happy to get together and tell you all the stupid things I have done over the years so you can avoid them.

Talk with Joe about coosa (sp?) stringers. He is the expert on cossa and horsepower. He has the fastest correct craft on the site to date, despite having a hull generally believed to be slow. With his guidance you can smoke that 302.

   A few pics were already in here.

Thread: 1965 Mustang Project


I have lifting rings.

Looks like someone put some Seacast on the stringer in front of the motor mount. That's what that pinkish-beige color looks like. Take the Fram oil filter off and put a FL-1A on it. Does it still have the number ID plate on the stringer? It should be about where the water hose is laying on the stringer.

Jim.
Great choice on the Napa Gold or Wix. Best ones out there!

Thanks for getting your profile filled in.

Use the search feature and you will have plenty of reading to do with stringer jobs. Most are Doug Fir, some are composite non wood and I know of one that is LVL because he was in an area that he was having a hard time finding the Doug.

... Congrads to hussler on the purchase of my boat, "CC & Water" I have had this boat for 22 years, since 1990, and put a lot of hours on other engine, (302 LH) I was really looking forward to rebuilding it and keeping it forever, but life changes and it's better off going to a Cat like hussler, someone who has the skill to finish it right. After talking to him a few times on the phone I feel really good about the direction he's going with the boat as I was very attached to it and really wanted it to be lake worthy once more. I totaly respect some member here that think all boats can and must be restored to show level, but time has made that harder though the years, so hopefully hussler can do boat in his own style, use and enjoy this boat for 22 years like I did.....as far as what he paid, I can tell you that anybody that's bought a complete engine knows I lost money, but it's cool with me knowing hussler's going to keep this boat going.....I have loads of pics, but will forward them to hussler and let him decide what he wants to broadcast on the www...

But I feel safe telling the history of the boat as far back as I know.
The boat was purchased new by someone in north Georgia(name unknown to me), a close friend I knew in high school bought the boat around 1980, it would not crank and when he got it home to Tallahassee Fl, I went over and helped him get it running, had stuck points, and exhaust manifods rusted though. We replaced points and manifods/risers and skied on Lake Jackson Florida for the next few years....In 1985 or so, My friend took a job in Tampa and moved to an apartment where he could not park boat. It was covered and stored behind a shed in my backyard for the next 6 or so years. Neglected and out of sight, cover rotted, boat filled with pine straw, and rain water, trailer rusted, and boat eventully boat fell though tailer onto ground. In 1990 I sold my home and moved boat onto present trailer, cleaned out hull and covered it, stored at lot where i worked. Around 2000/2001 I got the itch to get it running, discovered orginal 260 engine block was cracked and replaced with LH 302 I bought and rebuilt. Boat was skied and run pretty hard for the next 4 or so years as I had a home on a large river near Tallahassee. However after 3 summers, engine developed a rear main seal leak that, while not pouring, should have been addresed. My then 16 y/o son ran it a few weeks on summer vacation and (you guessed it) ran it low enough it spun a rod bearing. I removed engine in spring 2005, then in July engine was lost in flood during hurricane Dennis (only a mounth before katrina) but boat was not at same location. (it was safely stored at my home in Tallahassee......

Tim D wrote: Looks like someone put some Seacast on the stringer in front of the motor mount. That's what that pinkish-beige color looks like. Take the Fram oil filter off and put a FL-1A on it. Does it still have the number ID plate on the stringer? It should be about where the water hose is laying on the stringer.

TimD, Not sure about the seacast, and there's none on the stringers but the entire hull inculding under the floor, & all the stringers are that same pinkish-beige color....stringers are no means rock solid, and are orginals, but don't seem to be an issue, hussler's got that on his to do list.
The yuky blue insides was painted on later....

Also Todd, I'm very thankful for your openness and honesty. It makes me very confident in my purchase. I have to drive a 15 year old Ford 1,400 miles for this thing, its best to get the idea in my head that there's nothing sugar coated about this craft. A engine that runs and no fist sized holes in the hull and it will be worth the trouble haha

Sweet, can wait to hear her rumble.

Stinger thought, I was walking through lowes and was eyeballing their composite decking, what do you guys think about using that stuff for stingers? It has a nice texture to it for the glass to grab, seams like it has good structural properties and should never, ever deteriorate.

Not very interested in putting in any fir. I'm looking for max . Not really interested in that coosa stuff, they only sell it in big boards and I really dont want 400 bucks worth of scrap left over after this job. Ill make the floor out of ply but I really want the stingers to be composite. Never had a customer request composite stringers so this is all new to me.

Where in the adks are you? Good luck with the project.