Oct '09

Written by Andy Bilmanis | 29 September 2009

October 2009: Andy Bilmanis' '66 Fastback

On April 5^th of this year I was honored to be representing the Carolina Regional Mustang Club as the “Best of Show” for the Spring Auto Fair. After I received the trophy and the many congratulations from the club members, I thought there is no better time than now to tell the story of what it took to get there.

It wasn’t until the summer of 1991 while on a family vacation, passing through Atlanta, GA that I learned what a Mustang was all about. Just so happens where we were staying; the local Ford dealership was holding an All-Ford show. So we decided to stop in and while walking the lot, my dad told me how he had a 1965 Mustang Fastback similar to one on display.

He bought his Mustang in ’68 for $1000 and eventually sold it in 1978 for the same. thought about how cool my dad was!! After we left the show all I could think about was if I saved my allowance for the next 5 years I too could be driving a Mustang.

During the fall of 1994 when I got my learners permit, I started thinking about my own car. However, the plan I had outlined in my head really didn’t materialize- I managed to spend my allowance quicker than I saved it. With the hope my parents would help out, I started to check the classifieds and pick up the latest Auto Trader each week searching for classic Mustangs. We made a few trips to follow up on some leads but usually the car was too expensive or a complete rust bucket. On April 3rd an ad in the Sunday Washington Post for a 1966 Mustang Fastback was posted for $2000. No other details were given besides a phone number, so I called the owner about it. The owner explained his Mustang had a 6 cylinder, manual transmission, and had been sitting for a year and half. So, we took the drive out to Northern Virginia to check it out.

When we pulled in the driveway I knew this was the one! It had to be; I was getting impatient!! As we looked the Mustang over, my dad told me this one was in better shape than the one he had when he sold it. I continued to get excited, especially when we got the engine to fire up after a little persuasion. One thing that confused me (not knowing any better) was why did the title for the Mustang say it was a 1966 model when it had a 1965 grill and gas cap. But I didn’t care; the car looked cool! After a few attempts to bring down the price and with no success, the deal was closed with a check in exchange for the signed title. We planned to come back the following Saturday with a trailer instead of trying to drive the 80 miles home. That afternoon we came home with the title and I don’t think my mom was all that happy about this purchase. Without my dad rekindling his Mustang memories I would not have made it to this point.

So the father and son project began. I learned about mechanics and general car maintenance with this project. My dad taught me how to do everything from a compression test to packing wheel bearings. I wouldn’t realize for many years that this would be start of honing in my mechanical abilities and lead me to become an engineer. As the project continued we found ourselves needing to patch some rusty areas like in the floor pans and lower quarters. We borrowed a welder and taught ourselves how to weld; those welds in the beginning were really ugly, but got better over time. As the project went on the parts receipts started adding up (even though it was what most would consider a “Budget Build”). To help cover some of the expenses, I got my first paying job working for a wood worker and every penny was saved to get the Mustang painted. Searching for a painter was very discouraging- painters either wanted a fortune to finish it or wouldn’t even touch it. Finally my uncle located a painter who owed him a favor. After three long months of waiting and $1000 my car was painted a dark blue similar to the original color. I believe it was a BMW color; what was I thinking???

I got the car home two weeks before my senior year of high school and the assembly began. The Mustang already had the drive train installed and I prepared as much as possible while it was in paint working from 7am ‘til midnight. Finally, I drove the car for the first time to school right after Labor Day. Nothing like the first drive!! Over the next year, I would continue to learn about mechanics especially when I would break down on the side of the road. Frustrating at times, but I learned quickly.

Finally after I graduated in the spring of 1997, it was time for my Mustang to graduate to a V8. The 6 cylinder seemed to consume as much oil as it did gas, so a replacement engine was in order. I scavenged a local Mustang junk yard for all the pieces to make the swap and spent the rest of summer in the garage. Unfortunately I didn’t finish until the week I was to leave for my first semester at the University of Connecticut, but my Mustang would be there when I came home for breaks. The new found power was great! The Mustang was my daily commuter to my summer jobs during college. Jessica (only my girlfriend at the time) would come down to Maryland to visit, and we would head out to Bert’s 50’s Diner for the weekend cruise-ins or to the movies. I knew she was a car girl!

After graduating college, I lived in an apartment with no place to keep the Mustang. So I left it at my parents. My dad would take it out to get the fluids moving’, but for the most part it was parked. Finally in 2004 Jessica and I decided to get married and we bought a house. The house hunting pretty much revolved around the size of the garage! Once we moved in I got the Mustang down to North Carolina. By this time I worried about the condition of the brakes and tires so I knew I needed to do some work before I could go driving.

In my mind I always had a vision of what my ultimate Mustang would look like; it would have an aggressive stance and attitude without altering the stock Mustang appearance. My research began with car shows, Mustang magazines, and the Internet for the final pieces to the puzzle. I knew I wanted to do this restoration/restomod like it was a new car from the factory. It started with setting a ride height that resembled a vintage R-model (using some of those Shelby tricks). Then, the Mustang was stripped down to the rolling chassis for a complete media blasting. This really revealed its true shape. It wasn’t a complete rust bucket, but everything required some attention. Remember- I learned to weld on this car! I started with the floor pans and to fix them right; it would have to look factory original. I moved onto the trunk area to fix the excessive Bondo used after an accident (prior to my ownership), then to the quarters, and then the cowl. After 14 months of cutting and welding the body was rock solid again.

At the same time I was working on a new motor for the Mustang. I knew I wanted a reliable small block that would take some abuse if my right foot felt the urge. At the time I was working for a NASCAR team as an engine development engineer, so I had all the tools at my disposal for this task. I started ordering the best parts I could afford, the team discounts with vendors made this possible. As parts came in I began assembling the short block and after a few months I finally had the engine completed. Right before Christmas of 2005 it was time to test my combination on the dyno. The end result more than exceeded my expectations with 453 hp and 446 lb-ft of torque!

Now I worried that this excessive power would be too much for the uni-body Mustang handle. To harness this power I welded in a pair of custom sub frame connectors that hugged the floor pans, along with Traction Master under riding bars. Up front, instead of welding in a sheet metal torque box, I fabricated a much stiffer connection bar to tie the subframe and rockers together. A shock tower stiffening kit similar to what was used on the Boss/Trans-Am cars was added to help distribute the added load. The Mustang would spend the next few months on a rotisserie for final prep of all welds and sheet metal prior to paint.

At the beginning of 2006, I joined the Carolina Regional Mustang Club to meet some local folks who shared the Mustang passion and get some recommendations on a painter for my car. Mark Young introduced himself and told me of two guys in Waxhaw, NC who recently painted his car. Exactly the type of networking I had hoped to find with CRMC. After seeing the work and meeting Robert and John, I was sold. I delivered the shell of a Mustang with boxes of parts to be painted to them in July 2007. I decided that my Mustang would return to its original color: Nightmist Blue Metallic along with Parchment interior (of course with the factory blue appointments). Over the next few months I’m sure I became a pest to them - always wanting to see the different stages, but they would never tell me if I was. Finally in early October the Mustang was ready to come home.

I still had a ton of prep work to do before I could begin the assembly process. Nothing was ever good enough to pull out of the box and bolt on, I had to modify or detail it to my liking. The most time consuming job was getting all the stainless trim straightened and buffed to a better than new finish. My fingers were worn raw from this!! The assembly process picked up steam in February of 2008. I started with the suspension and brakes to get the car rolling again, then onto the electrical system. By early summer I dropped the engine to its new home, and fired it up soon after. This was a great milestone to finally reach, because I had a goal on making an appearance in the fast approaching Fall Auto Fair. I then turned my attention to the interior, which I wanted to keep the original Parchment with Blue appointment scheme. However, I decided to dress it up with an upgrade to the Pony upholstery. I have yet to see another Mustang with this same interior color in person.

Labor Day weekend quickly arrived and I had only 7 days until the Auto Fair with a ton of little details to tackle. I was determined to make it; every evening getting home from work I would head out to the garage past midnight. On Saturday I had every intention of attending the show, but I had not even begun to get the Mustang detailed. Finally at 3am on Sunday I was done, but my mind would still be questioning if I had missed something. No sooner the alarm clock woke me up to head out to the track. As I headed out that morning, the odometer showed only 5 miles; this was from the shake down in the neighborhood. I was so nervous; it had been more than 8 years since I had been behind the wheel of this car for a trip of this distance, 30 miles!! As we went through the turn 1 tunnel, I couldn’t believe I finally made it - kind of surreal.

Once I got parked along pit road, I immediately received compliments, even from two Corvette guys. Even though I built my Mustang for my own enjoyment and taste, it felt great to know my hard work was being noticed. I also received a few questions whether or not it was a ’65 or ’66 model? This was because I had decided to keep the ’65 grill and gas cap just like it was when I found the Mustang. It was something I always liked and is a reminder of how the car looked when I was 16. I was honored to be chosen “Best 64-73 Hardtop” for the Fall Auto Fair. I was on a natural high from all the excitement, but at the end of the day I came home completely exhausted.

I didn’t touch the car for over a week until it was time to go to the CRMC Annual Show. This time my parents got to share in the excitement of showing off the Mustang. It meant a lot to me to have them there to see how much the Mustang had changed since that day in 1995. In my second showing, I was awarded a “Gold” and “Best Interior”!! I don’t think I could have been happier than to be recognized by so many Mustang fans.

This past February we welcomed of our first child into the family, the Mustang became kind of a second priority. I just wanted to spend my time with Gracie! But as the Spring Auto Fair approached, I knew it would be a great opportunity to introduce her to the world of classic cars and particularly Mustangs. Just like in the Fall, I felt the same excitement entering the turn 1 tunnel and heading down pit road. As I said earlier, the day was topped off when my Mustang was awarded “Best of Show”. This is something I had dreamed of and will always cherish. As the Best of Show I would have the honor to drive into victory circle. So, the three of us drove into victory circle with tons of support from the CRMC members.

This recognition made all the long nights and bumps along the way worthwhile. I would have never made it this far if it wasn’t for my dad teaching me the basics and Jess for supporting my habit! Looking back its great to tell people that this is my first car, a MUSTANG!!