[C Gauch]

This '66 289 coupe was my wife's 1st car. My father-in-law & I are restoring it as a joint project, as this has always been his dream. He's in charge of the creative side, I'm the technical guy. Basically a concours resto with a safety upgrade to manual front disks/dual bowl master, some additional underhood chrome, the basic Eddy performer upgrades, & GT duals.

This car got the full ECI treatment, and the plan WAS to bring it back from the body shop & re-assemble ourselves. BUT, we got busy with our move to MA & so my body man will re-assemble instead. It s/b done by the fall.

My boys & I took the engine & stuff there last Sat, and I snapped a few cell phone pics.

To illustrate how long this project has been in the works, the attached pic is from when we first stripped the car down to kick off this fiasco. My oldest is in the pic - now he's the guy in the maroon shirt in picture 2.

 

[68PUMA]

Chris, the car looks very nice. My first car was a '66. John

 

[Smith Brother]

Not to get into the dollar DETAILS, but doing a car like this, did the shop give you a NOT TO EXCEED price? Since originally YOU TWO were going to assemble and finish the project, DID that change require that the shop give you TOTAL PRICING info?

I have done, and will in the future do some work for a builder here in Indy, and last year he built a truck for George Poteet, well, it was TOTALLY on an HOURLY rate, ended up at over $400,000.00. Just wondered how some of the other shops SPELL out pricing?

I'm NOT asking for DOLLAR amounts, that's none of my business.

Thanks for hearing me out.

Dale in Indy

P.S. The truck ended up as TRUCK OF THE YEAR in many folks minds, awards to prove it too. www.stingershotrodshop.com

 

[C Gauch]

Dale, the short answer is that the billing is on a time & materials basis. Since he buys a lot of Mustang parts, he often gets better deals on parts than I would & passes that along to me.

The long answer is that I've known my "body man" for over 20 years, and we've done quite a bit of work together. He's really a noted restorer specializing in Mustangs & Shelby's, and did much of the work on my R code.

The rest is in a PM, brudda.

 

[Local Hero]

Not to get into the dollar DETAILS, but doing a car like this, did the shop give you a NOT TO EXCEED price? Since originally YOU TWO were going to assemble and finish the project, DID that change require that the shop give you TOTAL PRICING info?

I have done, and will in the future do some work for a builder here in Indy, and last year he built a truck for George Poteet, well, it was TOTALLY on an HOURLY rate, ended up at over $400,000.00. Just wondered how some of the other shops SPELL out pricing?

I'm NOT asking for DOLLAR amounts, that's none of my business.

Thanks for hearing me out.

Dale in Indy

P.S. The truck ended up as TRUCK OF THE YEAR in many folks minds, awards to prove it too. www.stingershotrodshop.com

Around 8-10 years ago, Foose was getting $75 an hour shop rate. That was during the build which he won his last Ridler Award. That particular car took his crew 6 YEARS to build too. It's gotta be well over a "Benjamin" nowadays.

I've seen that truck in person several times. I admire the craftsmanship by Stinger and the guys at Trepanier's place. I even admire how a "theme" was chosen and carried out to the "enth degree." But It's just plain U G L Y IMO.

 

[Smith Brother]

Oh, I agree it is UGLY. If/when you visit Stinger's site, and go to gallery you will see that ORIGINALLY it was to be a VERT truck. It would have so cool as a Vert. IMO. George, said NO, I want a top on it, so such made it UGLY.

I did the bed wood flooring, LACE WOOD, and some of the aluminum trim pieces on the exterior of the truck. The reason it was finished at Troy's was that a dead line was fast approaching, so Brian being a one person shop need MORE HANDS. It was totally Brian's design and work.

Dale in Indy

 

[C Gauch]

Reconciling the $400k on this truck to the $25-30k we'll have in the 'stang: $ wise, there is no comparison between a basically concours resto of a relatively common, mass-produced vehicle with a VERY active reproduction industry surrounding it & a custom one-off vehicle, made up entirely of custom, one-off parts.

I'd go a step further & say there is huge difference, pricewise, between restoring a '67 Cougar & a '67 Mustang. Cougar parts are silly expensive vs. Mustang parts.

 

[Local Hero]

I did the bed wood flooring, LACE WOOD, and some of the aluminum trim pieces on the exterior of the truck. The reason it was finished at Troy's was that a dead line was fast approaching, so Brian being a one person shop need MORE HANDS. It was totally Brian's design and work.

[/I]

Yeah, I know the story why it was finished at Troy's. When I saw it in Detroit I was really surprised to see it parked in his display. It is so unlike anything he's ever done. I know Stinger was the designer and all the ideas were his. I don't think lack of a roof would have helped. Wish I had taken a closer look at the bed now.

 

[dmac]

Are you guys refering to the Miller Special truck. I have never seen the truck in person or even before now. Its kind of ginger bread-eee but I like the high roof. Its is different( I know that different is not always a good thing). If it was chopped or a vert I think it would dissapear in to a sea of others similar! Its kind of geeky but in a good way, geeky- but will kick your ass- geeky!

 

[Smith Brother]

If you go to www.stingershotrodshop.com and click on GALLERY, then click on the YELLOW VERT TRUCK IN LOWER RIGHT, it will show you my 24" miller steel HAND FORMED race car. I made the wood track, it is banked like the old wood tracks of the 20's-30's. Brian made and gave to me the art piece. It is a real TRICK TO ONES EYES PIECE. Note the stainless steel welding rods formed as the wind over the wheels. He did three different versions of this piece, one for George Poteet, one for himself, and one for me.

The vert truck would have been a very low slung piece, and very racy looking.

He is a real artist, and can do it all.

Dale in Indy

 

[C Gauch]

Between Mark & Dale - you've totally jacked my thread. I guess it's fair since I've jacked a few myself...

 

[Local Hero]

Your welcome! LMAO

 

[Cougrrcj]

Between Mark & Dale - you've totally jacked my thread. I guess it's fair since I've jacked a few myself...

Man, let me tell you... I tend to speed-read which tends to put words out of sequence. Normally that isn't a problem, but what I saw there... :eek7: :uhoh: :evil:

 

[Sal]

Chris, love your wife's 66, takes alot of patience to restore even with the right people on the project. My first car was a 65 mustang and then the 70 Cougar. At the time there was no loss to trade up from a Mustang to a Cougar but I often think about building another Mustang. Sal

 

[C Gauch]

Man, let me tell you... I tend to speed-read which tends to put words out of sequence. Normally that isn't a problem, but what I saw there... :eek7: :uhoh: :evil:

I didn't see that one comin'...aww man - I did it again...

 

[C Gauch]

Chris, love your wife's 66, takes alot of patience to restore even with the right people on the project. My first car was a 65 mustang and then the 70 Cougar. At the time there was no loss to trade up from a Mustang to a Cougar but I often think about building another Mustang. Sal

Thanks Sal, it has been a long time to get to this point. There is a tendancy among some these days to feel that if it didn't happen online (with tons of pictures & a lengthy blog) that it didn't happen. Fact is that's not my style, and lately I don't have the time to do a whole lot of car-related stuff.

I get my fix & inspiration vicariously from a lot of ya'lls projects. The inspiration & focus for this one was all my father-in-law. He's a great guy & if I needed to shovel 10 yards of $hit he'd be right there alongside of me. Having this car done the way he wants it has been his dream ever since he & my wife teamed up to buy it back in the late 80's, and I'm just happy to help make it a reality for them. Someday, it will mean a lot to my kids as well (it already does, actually), to care for and drive the very car their mom drove. All that family history stuff means a great deal to me.

This poor car though, once we tore it down, it was clear that it needed a TON of panel replacement work. It was a true Rustang. Now, the only original body parts are the roof, cowl, 3 front inner fenders, the rad support, & three of the four frame rails. It's a concours resto in some ways: detailed undercarriage, with paint dabs, chalk marks, etc. (it's just not a concours car because of the Eddy "Performer" equip, some extra underhood chrome & the addition of the pass side torque box).

I hope when it's done my wife & father-in-law drive it 'till the tires fall off.

 

[68XR-7Cat]

Nice project, Chris! I'll have to stop by and see it in person sometime soon. Plus, I'd love to see the blue '67 again (I want dibs on that car if you ever decide to let it go!).

 

[C Gauch]

Nice project, Chris! I'll have to stop by and see it in person sometime soon. Plus, I'd love to see the blue '67 again (I want dibs on that car if you ever decide to let it go!).

Done Bill. You are welcome at my house anytime, and you have dibs on the blue '67.

All of my Cougars are at my in-laws right now, until I: 1) get a big shed, 2) turn the basement into a family room/home office, and 3) put down an attic floor. THEN I can get all the boxes & extra furniture out of MY garage (which is a 25x25, 2 car under the house).

 

[Cougrrcj]

I didn't see that one comin'...aww man - I did it again...

Ooops, you did it again! :evil: :toung: