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In 1998, I was 16 years old and bought my Mustang, going against my dad's wishes, for $800.00 dollars. I found the car in Algonac, Michigan while I was helping my grandpa move. The Mustang was sitting in a field in front of the owner’s home. The owner said the car sat there for over 8 years and did not run. I believed him because the car was sitting on the frame. When I went to pick up the car, I had to dig out the front of it so I could put a chain on the front cross member under the engine to pull it out of the ground. I
brought the car home to show my brother and mom; my dad stated he would have it
towed to the impound yard. I decided it would not be a good idea to bring the
car home again and found a storage unit. I began the restoration of my car in
the storage unit. I found out real fast I was going to need lots of money to
fix it up; so I found a job at NPD where I was able to get a discount on parts
and make good money at the same time. I was also going in to 11th grade at the
time and signed up for a vocational education program. I met Mr. Bondy (Mark
Bondy) after the first semester of class and he let me bring my Mustang into
school to work on. Unlike my father and most of my friends whom made fun of my
car calling it a “rust bucket”, P. O. S. etc and told me to throw it out, Mr. Bondy helped me make my dream come true. He never
gave up on me or my dream. To sum it up, I spent 2 years, 11th and 12th grade, in a vocational education program during and after school restoring my dream car. If it wasn’t for my Mustang, I would have never graduated from high school or college. It kept me in line and my grades high enough so that I would have the privilege of working on it at school. In June of 2000, I graduated from high school. My dream car was done. At my graduation party my father allowed my Mustang at our house for the day. I was happy it was home. My dad, mom and brother were very proud of my accomplishment. One of the things that I remember most about my graduation party was that Mr. Bondy was the first guest to show up for the party. He must have been very proud of me. I started college in 2001 in Tennessee and for the next three years the car did not move much. In 2003 I graduated from college; my mom and brother had a graduation party for me at my brother’s house and my Mustang was there sitting in the garage right were I had left it three years prior. In 2004, I bought my first house with my wife (girlfriend at the time) and the first thing that was moved into the four car garage was my Mustang. In 2006, my car was at my wedding. After my wife and I said our “I-dos”, we walked down the isle of the church and jumped in my car that was parked outside, and drove off. This year, 2007, I let my wife drive my car with out me in it. She was only going to drive the car up and down our street. After the first 5 minutes had passed of her not returning, I started to get scared. After 10 minutes, I started pacing up and down the drive way. About 15 minutes later she returned with a big smile on her face, I have a feeling that she will be driving my Mustang more often now. This was the first time I had seen my car driven down the road with out me in it. It looked cool!!!! This car has been a big part in my life. Thank you, for letting me share my story with you. John Michalek Pre-restoration/Restoration/Wedding photos of John's Car (click thumbnails to enlarge)
Video's of John Michalek and John Blair's Mustangs.
John Michalek - wearing his original overalls that he wore many years ago to restore his car AFTER MARKET PARTS ON 1972 MUSTANG 429Front BrakesFront full metallic brake pads Drill slotted rotors Stainless steel brake lines Holly roll control for locking Front brakes Rear Brakes SSBC Rear disc brake conversion kit Full metallic brake pads Drill slotted rotors Stainless steel brake lines Rear Differential 31 spine strange axles 2” rear wheel studs Detroit Lock 4.11 Richmond pro gear Driveshaft Aluminum 3.5” diameter custom Fuel850CFM holly vacuum secondary carburetor Holly Blue electric fuel pump 0-15PSI adjustable regulator Stainless steel Fuel lines NOS Cheater nitrous oxide system 250Hp Rear TiresMickey Thompson ET drag slicks 28x12.50 Suspension Competition engineering weld in sub frame connectors Competition engineering 90/10 front drag shocks Competition engineering 50/50 rear drag shocks Competition engineering weld in traction bars 1” lowering coil springs in front 1 1/8” over size front anti sway bar 7/8” over size rear anti sway bar All Suspension bushings have been replaced with polygraph bushings Transmission3500rpm stall converter “R” racing servo “E” lever for servo Kevler band 15 blue clutches 15 Kolene steel disc Transgo Shift kit Stainless steel Transmission cooler lines B&M Transmission cooler B&M Megashifter 23 tooth speedo gear GaugesAuto meter sport comp monster shift light tachometer 5" Auto meter Fuel Presser gauge 0-15 psi,
Liquid filled 2 5/8" Hooker super competition headers Primary tubes 1 7/8” collectors 3.5” 3” H-pipe with a 2.5” cross over pipe Flowmaster 3”in 3”out two chamber 40 series mufflers EngineEngine bored .60 over shock TRW forged pop-up pistons 12:1 Edelbrock water pump Edelbrock lifters Edelbrock rpm performer intake Edelbrock rpm performer camshaft Edelbrock timing chain Edelbrock valve springs Crane Roller rocker arms Cooling Fan Cool it plastic fan Ignition100amp chrome generator MSD 6AL ignition box MSD 8.5 spark plug wires MSD billet distributor Battery Rear mounted optima Red top battery
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