Car looks great.  I'm sure you will enjoy.  Are you going to keep the 200, or convert to V8?  Whatever you decide to do, any part you want or need is available so no more scavenging for Pinto parts!   

I love the more refined look of the 66 vs the 65.  The dash, the grill, and side ornaments are my favorite parts vs 65.  I had two 66's in the 1980-83 timeframe and would love to own a 66 convertible, but I probably won't.  I tell myself, "No more car projects" after the current project is done.  If I did get a 66 convertible, it would get the Shelby treatment as a clone of the 4 that were built in 66.  I will have to be happy with the 67 Fastback and the 67 Coupe/80 Pinto project I am currently working on. 

I know you'll probably migrate to Mustang sites, but check in from time to time to contribute.  I have had several vintage Mustangs so let me know if you have questions.  Maybe I can help.

I have not been on in a while, just saw these and have to say they are bad butt!
71v8Pinto

A little progress today: I previously only installed two of the required four rear bumper mounting bolts.  Today I Installed the other two  including new washers and anti-seize in case they ever need to come back out.  When I installed the outboard left bolt, I attached the negative battery cable to be the main ground point.  I secured the rear wiring harness to the inner body shell and it is now hidden behind the interior panels. I crimped the lugs on the end of the speaker wires, then I installed the speakers to the rear package tray, then the package tray to the rear deck.  That required surgery that I didn't expect.  The package tray I bought is supposed to allow 6x9 speakers in 65-67 Mustangs as the rear decks didn't come with cutouts for that size speakers.  Unfortunately it wasn't a drop-in and I had to cut out additional metal to make them fit.  Pretty much like a lot of this project.  I re-installed the rear seat and interior panels as I shouldn't have to see anything behind or under until Spring.  Tomorrow will be a non-project day.  I'll get back on it next weekend.  I will be meeting my car club buddies at a fire department for breakfast, then head to Syracuse for the 174th FW Alumni Thanksgiving Dinner so those two events will kill the day. 

If I don't post between now and Thursday, I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  We have a lot to be thankful for...

I am not aware of any cruising wagons with the woodgrain or "squire" sides.  They were only built from 77-80.  Earlier year cars cannot be true cruising wagons.  As far as I know, the standard equipment on the cruising wagons are sport mirrors, the sport steering wheel, the rally/tach gauges, the chin spoiler, and of course the side panels with the port holes in them.  Now there are some signs that I look for to see if the car is real or not.  One is to see if the drip rail corner extensions are present.  These are little corner pieces that extend the drip rails further back towards the hatch to fill in the gap of the panel at the top when they wrap around.  Most people do not grab those when they remove the panels.  Back in the day, I found numerous sets left on the cars when the panels were removed.  If they are present, see if the seam sealer looks like it was replaced.  They are seam sealed and screwed to the body.  Second thing to look for if the front brake cooling ducts are present and behind the front chin spoiler.  This is another thing people do not grab when they take the spoiler.  This is on 77-78 cars.  I am not sure about 79-80 because I have never owned one of those year cruising wagons.  The last thing are the interior side panels and this could be hit or miss depending on if someone has monkeyed with them in the past.  They are clipped into the window frames from factory.  From what I remember, there are no screws that hold the interior side panels to the inside of the car.  Care has to be taken when they are removed or you can easily pull the clips out from the backer boards.  Once too many clips are gone, people just screw them in.  So if the car is unmolested, they should be clipped in.  Hope this helps some.

Brings back memories of when I was patching my rotted floor.  Mine was the same orange color.  Keep it going...every little bit gets you closer to completion.  And you will improve your welding skills with more practice.  It's not easy when you have to weld on Swiss Cheese rotted metal.