My car came with the standard AM radio, but around here, there aren’t any music stations on AM, just talk shows, so I needed to upgrade.
I wanted a 70s look and feel, so I bought a working 8-track AM/FM from another Mustang II owner. I also bought a new antenna off eBay because the one I had was all rusty.
My dad and brother weren’t available to help on this project and back then I wasn’t confident enough to attempt it myself, so I took everything to Best Buy and asked if they could do it. You can imagine their reaction when I showed up with a 77 Mustang and an 8-track player and one in-dash speaker! But they were up to the challenge (and promised to be careful) and they did an awesome job. Looking back, I can’t believe I want to BEST BUY, but it all turned out OK. Whew!
Eventually I was able to track down on eBay a sealed Ford demo 8-track from 1977 that came with the new models for that year that showed people how 8-tracks worked. It’s a neat piece to have with the radio.
Update: The one speaker in the dash has started to go out on me, so I’m hoping to replace it this summer (2010). I’ll try this project myself, so if you have any tips for me, let me know!
In November 2004, on a whim, I purchased a 1977 Mustang II off eBay. I don’t know the first thing about restoring old cars. But I had one of these when I was a teenager and it’s always owned a piece of my heart.There have been times when I’ve thought to myself–What were you thinking! I’m a mom of twin 6-year-old boys, with no extra money, and no mechanical experience! But I just love my car. Whenever I’m stressed, I drive it around town and I feel better.
Restoring my old Mustang–just keeping it running–hasn’t been easy. For a girl who never even
changed oil before, I had a LOT to learn. Progress is slow and I’m not quite ready to rebuild an engine, but I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished so far.
A Girl Gets In Over Her Head Restoring a 1977 Mustang II
Pretty soon after getting my car, I decided to switch out the spoke-y hubcaps for some cooler looking wheels. Looking through an old Mustang II brochure, I saw a white with red stripe Cobra II with white lacy wheels and liked the look. Matching wheels to paint is not a look that appeals to everyone, but I thought that white wheels would be unique and add some personality to my otherwise ho-hum coupe.
I bought a set of 4 vintage white lacy spoke wheels from another II owner, along with four chrome center caps. As you can see from the pic, above, the wheels needed a lot of work. They’d been sitting in someone’s garage for years! I had them stripped down to the metal and powdercoated white. The picture below shows the powdercoated wheels and new tires mounted on the car. They look SO weird without the pinstripe! At this point I was thinking, hm, maybe this wasn’t such a great idea.
Locating someone to paint the pinstripes was more challenging than I thought. Apparently pinstripe painting by hand is a dying art. But I did eventually find a guy who owned a sign business (Shane’s Signs) in Manassas, VA who could do it. When I saw the final product I knew I had made the right decision about the wheels.
I might change them down the road but for now, I think they add a lot to the overall look of my coupe.
As it turned out 1977 was one of the lower sales years. The average since 1974 was around 180k or more. For 1977 the sales number fell a bit short @ only 150K. (Believe it or not that was more than Mustang sales for the 1971, 1972 and 1973 models!!).
There was some excitement for the 1977 Mustang. For one thing the Cobra II could be had in white with red stripes and if that doesn’t stop your heart the options chrome luggage rack for the ’77 hard top coupe will.
You might be thinking, “Hey wait a minute!!! Did he say ‘hard top’? ‘Hard top’ as in there was something else? Like a CONVERTIBLE? THE CONVERTIBLE IS BACK?” Well YES, if you spell it ‘T-TOP‘.
That’s not a bad-looking car!!! Agree?
The huge option for 1977 was the T-Top. Frankly, I like T-Tops. I had a Camaro with a T-Top and loved it.
Engine line up was the same as the previous years with the V8 302 (in the Cobra II package) producing 139 hp.
The Cobra package also include honeycomb wheels (or I think they were referred to as ‘lacy’).
Yeah..I guess they are more ‘lacy’ than ‘honeycomb’.
Thanks for reading and check out this blog. The owner overs some of her issues when restoring a 1977 Mustang.
I was told it would happen when I upgraded my Mustang from a 6 cylinder to a V8. I was told it would happen when I got my first Corvette (1984 C4 with 205 hp). I was told it would happen when I got my second Corvette (07 C6).
And I was sort of told that numerous years ago by an Air Force pilot. I didn’t believe it each time.
No one can fault me, except some “car purists”, for taking the 250 straight 6 motor from my Mustang and replaced it with a V8 302 bored .030 nor when I attempted to increase the HP in my C4 Corvette from 205 to 245 with a new fangled intake (never actually took place). Those were pretty understandable upgrades considering the 250 in the Mustang had no get up and go (more like lay down and won’t) when the AC was on. For that matter why would ever limit a Corvette to 205 hp?
Now the C4 is gone but the Mustang puts out about 300 hp and the C6 is at about 420. I remember saying, “400 hp? That’s plenty for me!!!” when I bought the C6. And it should be. I’m certain that this SHOULD be ‘true’. But why then, do I have a set of 351 Cleveland Cobra Jet heads sitting in the garage for the Mustang. And why am I pricing superchargers for the Corvette?
I started thinking about this driving the C6 on my way to work today, recalling back when the Mustang was 195 hp and the 84 Vette was just 10 more than the Stang and wishing I had more. As I stepped on the throttle entering the Interstate, I thought to myself, I which I had a bit more power now. That’s just plan crazy talk!!! Just a year ago I was happy with the C6’s power and now its like… yeah its powerful, most powerful in the HOA I bet (why didn’t I just say “neighborhood”?). What happened?
What has happened is that I drive the Vette daily and it as become common place to have that power at a bend of my right ankle. I am sure that if I drove a Toyota Corolla every day and took the Vette out on the weekends, I would still be in awe of the power. I’ve just come so accustom (not complacent, mind you) to driving the car that it doesn’t seem extra ordinary (although intellectually I know that 400 plus hp is no joke).
That doesn’t explain the desire to upgrade the Mustang though, does it? So what does? I think that rational here is more rooted in my own attachment to what the last 60’s and 70’s muscles cars should be. But still when I’m driving it I wish for more power. You understand that don’t you? When you look at a 1969 Mustang and it has its original 6 cylinder in it, you say…”That’s nice. Its all original.” However when you see a 1970 Mustang Mach I with its massive engine…you say…’WOW!!! F-ing A that’s what I’m talking about!!!!” So it’s some of that for sure.
So here is where I am with my cars and thinking about it took me back to one of my military supervisor. He was a LT Col and was one of the few that flew the SR-71 for a living. He shared a story with me about flying a mission and on the return trip received a warning light on the instrument panel. This required him to have to slow the aircraft down bit. He said to me, “…and I thought GREAT it’ll take forever to get home at only Mach 2. I realized how relative speed it was.”
Thanks for reading and keep it under Mach 1. (Yes I’m sure that’s enough power…perhaps.)
Tucked away in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago is the quaint town of Barrington and every summer Thursday night, the classic cars come rolling in for the village’s weekly cruise. With its tranquil, tree-lined setting, easily accessible boutique shops and casual dining, this event is one draws automotive enthusiasts from all over.
Anne Garrett
Anne Garrett serves as the Manager for Special Events and Marketing for the Village of Barrington and described to us how the cruise came to be.
“This year is our 9th year for the cruise, which got started in 2003. At the time, the village had been looking for ways to draw traffic and attention to the downtown area and knew a classic car cruise would be just perfect. Other neighboring suburbs had something similar so we did some research and determined we had what it would take to run a successful event. We settled on the South Cook street area and in all the years its been running, haven’t changed a thing.”
Anne informed us two village staff members and several members of the public works, as well as local law enforcement, are required to run the event.
“The Barrington Police will attend but it’s more of a public safety presence and a chance to interact with the local community.”
In addition, they also typically bring out vehicles from their fleet and allow spectators to get up close and personal with their high-tech cruisers. Volunteers from the Barrington Lions Club also help with the event.
“Four years ago we were approached by the group who offered their assistance. Every year since we’ve had 4 or 5 faithful volunteers help man the barricades and allow the cars to come in and out.”
Judging by the jammed lots, full of classic and custom cars, and the multitudes of owners and spectators milling about, it’s safe to assume the cruise has been a huge hit with the community.
“So far, the response has been tremendous. It seems every week people genuinely look forward to the event. They’re able to come early and go to the Farmer’s Market and then wander around the lots, checking out the cool classic cars. We rotate the onsite food venders and always have different entertainment so no two weeks are exactly the same.”
Expect the lot to be filled during the warm, cruising months.
The local businesses have taken notice of the increased foot traffic.
“We’re having more and more of our downtown merchants stay open late, which gives spectators many options for additional shopping and dining activities when they’re done seeing the cars. It really adds to the overall community feeling of the event and makes it a wonderful place to spend the evening.”
If you plan on attending the Barrington cruise and want to bring a four-wheeled relic, you’d better get there early.
“Our official start time is 6:30pm but the car owners will arrive and start cuing up around 4:30pm. Many of them want to make sure they get their ‘special spot’. Generally our end time is right at dusk, as the car owners don’t like driving home in the dark with their headlights on. We’ve been told they don’t like to run the risk of attracting bugs and having to put in the extra time cleaning them off.”
Each night throughout the summer has a theme, highlighting a certain brand, style or type of classic machine. While all are welcome, the themed vehicles are given special attention. Here is the schedule for the rest of the season:
July 19: 70’s Night July 26: “Orphan” Cars August 2: Mopar August 9: Convertible August 16: Sports & British Cars August 23: Corvette August 30: Trucks/ 4×4
** Want to know what events are taking place near you? Check out our Cruise Calender**
So we talked about the 1974 the year of big changes and small engines for the Mustang, now designated as Mustang II. The entire idea was to return to the original roots of the Mustang, small every day car. A far cry from the 300 plus horsepower for the 1969-1973 Mach 1’s. Of course it was a good idea, even though most of us don’t think so then or even now, but take a look at the numbers.The 1974 Mustang II sold over 380,000 units, and not a single V8 in the lot and that was 3 time as many Mustang as were sold in 1973. Additionally, it was Motor Trends car of the year. Now just between you and me, the Motor Trend thing doesn’t do much for me (nor does the J.D. Powers award or any of the others) but it does work for some and judging by the numbers that sold at least 380,000 others.
In 1975 things changes a bit for the Mustang. The infamous 302 returned, making a V8 an option. But how as the possible? What occurred that would bring back the a V8? As mentioned above there were Mustang sold with V8 engines…”In the US“!!!! But our friends south of the border (for those of you geographically challenged, that would be Mexico) were in fact selling Mustangs with V8. Not many knew this was going on but once Hot Rod magazine got wind of it and put it in the front of its June ’74 issue, Ford decided that it need to “pony up” (come on now..that’s clever!!!!) and add the V8 for the 1975 edition of the Mustang II.
Your 1975 Mustang Line Up
The V8 was only available with an automatic transmission and was an option for the Ghia and the Mach I (even though the standard Mach 1 engine was the V6) as well as the other models and topped with a 2 barrel carb, it produced a whopping 122 hp or 140 hp depending on you proved the numbers.
So things were looking in 1975 although the number didn’t get even close to the 1974 model.
1975 Mustang Production Data:
69F Hatchback: 30,038
69R Hatchback – Mach 1: 21,062
60F Coupe: 85,155
60H Coupe – Ghia: 51,320
Total Production: 188,575
The total range of engine looked like this:
1975 Mustang Engines
2.3 L – 140 cid, I-4, 2bbl, 88 hp
2.8 L – 171 cid, V6, 2bbl, 105 hp
5.0 L – 302 cid, V8, 2bbl, 140 hp
Code
Y
Z
F
There were two transmission available a 4 speed manual and 3 speed automatic – but the 4 speed was not available for the 302. That might seem odd but it may have to do with a fitment issue.
Are you still laughing at the title? I know, but keep in mind in the Mid 70’s, after a couple of years of low powered 4 and 6 cylinders, the V8 returned to the Mustang!!!! If nothing else it laid the ground for some of the best-selling and now very sought after Fox body ‘stangs. But we are going to discuss the cars before the Fox-body generation.
Model names like Ghia, 2+2, Mach 1, Cobra, Cobra II and King Cobra and cool stuff like T-Tops and front air dams and hood scoops.
It all started in 1974 when the Ford Mustang became the Mustang II and yes in some case you wouldn’t be able to pick them out of a pile of Pinto. You all know the story…EPA, emissions, gas prices, etc.
I’ve mentioned that there was a Mustang II in the family, back in 1978, it was a 1974 Mustang Ghia the 4 cylinder version. It met its demise one evening when a Ford Econoline Van took out the rear end while it was parked (after it careened over VW parked behind the ‘stang.
1974Ghia
So let’s take it year by year and cover the most “powerful” cars of 1974 to 1978.
1974:
The most powerful engine for 1974 was the V6. This was an option for all models but standard for the Mach 1 for that year. (The Mach 1 was hatch back.)
The Mach 1 – Hatch Back
The Mach 1 was powered by 2.8 L – 171 cid, V6, 2bbl, 105 hp (‘Z’ code) – the biggest engine available for the Mustang II that year (the other was the option was the I-4 2.3 L – 140 cid, 2bbl, 88 hp (‘Y’ code).
My car came with the standard AM radio, but around here, there aren’t any music stations on AM, just talk shows, so I needed to upgrade.
