This is the 1965 Mustang, that I’ve owned for at least five years. I had not been looking for a first-generation Mustang, but l did have a 1990 Chevy short bed pickup for sale. The truck was pretty neat, but had not sold in over a month of trying. I saw the Mustang in a New Mexico Craigslist ad and thought it looked very straight and rust free. Bottom line, we did a trade deal that worked great for both of us, he loved my truck, and l had never owned an old Mustang. This car has a great running 289 V-8 with power steering and C-4 automatic three speed transmission and almost perfect Pony style interior. What’s so amazing about this MY ‘65 MUSTANG… cool little Mustang, is that in these five years,

I’ve probably only driven it less than 50 total miles. I prepped and painted it red about three years ago. It looked great from 10 feet, but up close you could see the dozens of areas around the car, where l had not done the proper paint and body preparation. I mention all of this, because I’ve painted several vehicles in between and feel confident that my newfound experience will lead to a much better result this time. Even though, the engine ran great, in the last six months the starter stopped working. I have no idea why it went from starting every time, to now the starter won’t kick in to the flywheel. As I’ve mentioned many times on these pages, I am not a good mechanic.

With that said, l drug my feet for several months before buying a replacement starter. The new starter sat on my dinning room table for another few months,  as l dreaded the seemingly simple starter swap. That dread comes from the reality of so many minor mechanical jobs that never seem to be minor in the actual mechanical process. This Mustang has headers and when l finally jacked up the car and crawled under there, all l saw, was a nightmare looming, because those headers completely blocked access to the starter and to make it even worse, there are also two transmission lines in the way. The easy solution was to take it to the shop and let them do the work, and hand the Mustang back to me all repaired. But, in my retirement days l plan to have project vehicles in my garage and changing a ‘65 Mustang starter certainly feels like a challenge I can accomplish. I’m writing these words on April 23rd and last night l managed to unbolt the header and exhaust pipe on that passenger side. Six of the eight header bolts came out like butter, the last two required some colorful language and walking away a few times, and l reminded myself, that a human being at a shop would be dealing with the same challenge. The long-tube header is now hanging loose, but next l have to figure out how to actually remove it and the starter. More later!!