1967 Mustang Coupe Exemplifies The Do It Yourself Attitude

In the small town of Seguin, Texas, lies a car community that relishes the old days, when building a car was more than trailering a vehicle from shop to shop. Instead of building trailer queens, the majority of hot rods here are homegrown efforts and are driven frequently. The town of less than 30,000 residents located off Interstate 10 have always had a working-class mentality that embodies the do-it-yourself approach. Taylor Sekula is one local that was groomed in this fashion and has never looked back. His 1967 Mustang coupe is a prime example of what someone can do with patience, skill, and the right products.

1967 Mustang

The Acapulco Blue paint job attracts the attention, but it is the inside that truly captures the build.

From an early age, Sekula was being indoctrinated with American muscle. During this time, his father campaigned a dragster that raced at dragstrips across Texas. At home, Sekula and his father could be found wrenching on his uncles’ modified street cars of the Bowtie variety. Sekula always had his heart set on a Mustang, though. His sights locked in on a New Edge Mach 1 that would provide him with the best of all worlds: reliability, moderate performance, and a throaty V8 rumble. However, it lacked the thrill of building something to his own vision.

The Vision

His vision would lead him towards the purchase of a Terminator Cobra in hopes of making the supercharged 4.6-liter into a street monster. After all, his father’s dragster instilled the vision of high horsepower into his head at an early age. The newly purchased Cobra had lived a rough life, though, and Sekula found himself missing the reliability and bright blue shine of the Azure Blue Mach 1 in the driveway. After selling the Terminator, he repurchased his old car and began to look for a new stablemate for the New Edge Pony. Thinking back on the list of affordable dream cars in his head, he recalled his early thoughts of owning a first-generation Mustang.

1967 Mustang

Trying to not become hyper-focused on locating the new project, Sekula waited until one would appear on his radar. In September of 2019, a Craigslist post promised him exactly what he had dreamed of. It was a bright blue 1967 Mustang coupe that was far from perfect, but was the perfect starting basis for his vision. Unfortunately, during the test drive the front end bottomed out, which cut the tire and required the car to be limped home. The owner decided to lower the price to make up for the misfortune, knowing it was going to a good home.

Engine and Exterior

Once back at his house, Sekula was able to go through the entire chassis and upgrade and replace all components that would lend themselves to a future failure, including the springs that caused the test drive mishap. The 289 cubic-inch engine would receive a cool touch of overheating safety, with an upgraded big-block radiator and a complete overhaul of the entire cooling system. To aid in providing more air into the engine bay, an R-model lower front valance was installed. The only other fiberglass used on the exterior is a California Special trunk.

A simple, no-frills 289 cubic-inch small-block Ford engine resides under the hood. The only aftermarket parts are the upgraded camshaft and Edelbrock carburetor.

An Inside Job

The classic aesthetics of a first-generation Mustang cloaked in a beautiful Acapulco Blue paint will quickly garner the eyes of drivers everywhere. But where this car really shines is the interior. Sekula decided to skip the years of searching for overpriced original seats or paying to have someone custom upholster his car. Instead, he reached out to TMI Products for something that looked original, but has modern features.

The interior was one section that I wanted to make sure was perfect. Taylor Sekula

Inside the cockpit of the Pony car, Sekula made the choice to use OE-style TMI Products Standard Sport R black upholstery on the front seats with black uni-suede inserts. Adding a modern touch, he also went with the optional seat heaters. These seats not only look the part, but provide a level of comfort that original owners could only dream of.

Sekula decided to use OE-Style TMI Products Standard Sport R black upholstery on the front seats with black uni-suede inserts. These seats provide a modern touch to enhance the classic cars interior and provides a well-paired finish to the factory rear seats. Taking the interior up a notch, Sekula checked off the heated seat box on TMI order form.

“TMI Products transformed the interior of the car and is what I receive the most compliments about,” Sekula explains. “I have a lot more of their products on my wish list to keep the interior build going even further.”

The seats provide the main attraction to the interior, but Sekula wasn’t quite done. “I added satin interior handles and billet pedal covers, repainted the dash trim, and modified a 2008 Mustang center console from my brother’s GT to fit,” Sekula explains. “I’m also currently designing a surround to fit a double-din radio.”

1967 Mustang

This 1967 Mustang sports some 3D-printed creativity throughout the cockpit, including the cupholders and storage that was grafted onto the 2008 Mustang GT center console.

To maintain the DIY momentum, Sekula utilized his 3D printing skills to create cup holders and storage areas in the center console. He also 3D-printed a radio plate cover that holds the switches for the fuel pump and heated seats. Throughout the interior there are small but notable changes that aid in cleaning up the aesthetics of the classic car.

The Future Plans

Most would consider the clean paint job, excellent interior, and reliable powerplant a great stopping point, but Sekula has plans to continue pushing his objectives on the 1967 Mustang. “I would like to keep the car in a reliable state, but I’m contemplating swapping in a Coyote engine or installing fuel injection on the current small-block. However, the next step will be upgrading the suspension and brakes to be competitive in autocross events.”

1967 Mustang

“It’s still an on-going project with my goals in mind,” Sekula states. However, we all know how that works and I’m sure this car will see a few renditions before he is finally calling it finished. We have full faith that Sekula will turn this once problematic project car into the perfect creation he envisioned so many years ago.

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About the author

James Elkins

Born into a household of motorsport lovers, James learned that wrenching takes priority over broken skin and damaged nerves. Passions include fixing previous owners’ mistakes, writing, and driving.
Read My Articles

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