The car is more valuable to me, because I'm really having fun with it. I fretted about cutting on it for many years, but that passed when a great friend of mine passed away. That was the guy who I bought the car off of when I was 15, and he was a big influence on me when I was a kid. He was a big Ford nut who had a couple of cool cars, including a '71 Boss 351, and a pretty wicked Cleveland powered '71 Torino, both 4 spd cars. He sold me the car for $250 when he decided to move to Florida. At that point the car was in pieces and had no drivetrain. He had lots of health issues over the years and lost a leg several years ago. He really struggled after that. I had the joy of giving him a ride in the Mustang a few years ago, and then he died from a heart attack a few months later. He was a HUGE drag racing fan, and I did a burnout after his funeral, which upset a few people, but his family and close friends thought it was the best tribute to him ever, knowing that it was the car that he "let get away". He was only 5 years older than me, and I decided then that I wasn't going to fret about it any more; I wanted to enjoy the car and have some fun with it.
RIP Jim Dearth.
Heo, the shifter hole is really the only thing that would require some work to put back, except for the welded in subframe connectors I guess, but those really help the car even in stock form. I thought about cutting back the shock towers, but I won't go that far, I just deal with it being somewhat of a PITA to change plugs..lol There are so many stock Mustangs out there, I don't think the world will miss just one
And I can tell you I won't give a damn about value when I'm gone from this Earth, which is the only time this car will leave my hands
After that, my Son can worry about it