Texas 10: Jay Johnston Modernized His Mom’s 1966 Mustang

Stab the throttle, and the TVS-boosted Coyote howls through a custom exhaust and pushes this 1966 Mustang coupe through its paces far faster than the factory ever intended. Its driver giggles with glee as he grips the leather-wrapped steering wheel and glances at the gauges for an affirmation of his steed’s speed.

As the pony car trots to a halt, a group of boys on the street corner beseeches the driver to rev the modern 5.0-liter engine. He obliges with delight. The boys cheer as this once-humble coupe brings delight to those who see it, just as it once did when Jay Johnston was young and his mother held the title.

“Cars have always been an integral part of my life, with early memories of driving with the windows down going to school, soccer practice, or driving somewhere fun like the beach or to the movies,” Johnston recalled. “I would say my love for fast cars was solidified when my Uncle Rick let me climb into the driver’s seat of his ’78 Camaro and let me drive around town when I was a little kid. I could barely reach the pedals, and can remember it like it was yesterday, hearing him laughing out loud, telling me to slow down every time I squealed the tires. Ever since then, I have been hooked.”

His love of all things automotive began to focus on the original pony car when this 1966 Mustang became the family vehicle during his formative years.

“The 1966 Mustang was my mom’s first car that she bought in New York the summer she graduated from high school in 1966. It was originally Tahoe Turquoise with a 120 horsepower, 200ci in-line six-cylinder and an automatic,” Johnston said. “The interior was the same color as the exterior and was a lot of turquoise. The car was a key part of several family milestones: my parents left their wedding in it. I came home from the hospital in it. When I was a baby, my parents would put the playpen in the back seat, put me in it, and drive three hours to visit their parents.”

Mustang Dreams

If one or both of your parents had a cool car when you were growing up, you can count yourself as one of the lucky ones. Many of us grew up with basic transportation and longed for something sportier in the driveway when we approached driving age.

“My passion for Mustangs started early with my mom’s Mustang. I always knew Mustangs were special and can remember at an early age people driving past us giving us a thumbs-up or yelling ‘cool Mustang,’” Johnston said. “My dad would always tell me the Mustang was going to be mine one day. I spent many evenings looking through Dallas Mustang parts catalogs and building my wish list of parts.”

He spent more time than he would like dreaming about modifying a Mustang, which ultimately culminated in how far he took this car. Back in the day, though, while his friends were driving fresh Foxes, those were out of financial range, so he set his sights on a 1969 Mustang owned by a friend’s brother. His folks thought it was “too much car,” so Mustang ownership would have to wait.

Fortunately, there was still one in the family, but this 1966 Mustang eventually fell on hard times and became more of a nuisance than a nicety.

“The Mustang was our family daily driver until the early ’80s, which is when the three boys (I have two younger brothers) got too big to ride around in the back seat. The Mustang drove around for many years with a 2×12 wooden bumper that my dad ‘installed’ after my mom got in a wreck,” Johnston recalled. “The car sat in our driveway for many years and was pushed up/down the driveway on a daily basis so we could play basketball.”

However, the first time the family took a shot at bringing the car back didn’t go as planned, and it remained a relic.

Milestone Mustang

“When I was 15, we hired a local mechanic to help us get the engine running, and my dad and brothers tried our best to restore the rusted floor pans and various body panels that were damaged when my mom wrecked the car a few years earlier,” Johnston said. “After many months of unsuccessfully getting the car roadworthy, we parked the car in a local storage facility where it would sit for the next 15 years. My dad eventually got sick of letting it rust in the storage building and offered it to my brothers and I to come and get it. Thankfully, I was able to get it. It bounced around various storage locations and eventually ended up in a shipping container in my in-laws’ pasture waiting to get restored.”

When the family passed this milestone Mustang on to its next generation, Johnston didn’t simply want to restore the car. He wanted his former family car to take on a performance personality.

“The mission for the project was to build a restomod I could drive every day. Make it nice, something I could take to car shows, but also drive often and hard. I spent a few years assembling the build list and collecting inspirational pics. My initial plan was to manage the build myself and outsource the work to various shops around town. My work schedule quickly put that strategy on hold,” Johnston said. “In my early 40s, I started interviewing a number of builders and couldn’t find a good match… until one day when I was watching SEMA Battle of the Builders on TV and saw that one of the builders in the winner’s circle was a guy named Jeff Kinsey (Hot Rods by JSK) from Cumby, Texas, which is just down the road from my in-laws.”

“I made arrangements to visit the shop, and it didn’t take long to figure out Jeff was the guy. The only problem was that he had a two-year waitlist. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait too long, and on my 45th birthday, my wife surprised me. She had arranged for my build to get started. Once we got going with Jeff, this is where the vision enhanced a bit, and we decided to build something special. Jeff reached out to Eric Brockmeyer, and after a few sessions, we got our first renderings. It was then that we started talking about building a street machine.”

Once that snowball started rolling, the 1966 Mustang project became more than a simple restomod. Instead, it transformed into a completely custom pony car that elevated a simple classic coupe into a true performance machine with a subtle but stylish personality to match.

Crate Coyote

“We kept the vision of being able to drive the car, but added a lot more to the styling. We always wanted to keep the original Mustang heritage look and started adding body mods and functionality that we thought Ford would have added if there weren’t budget constraints,” Johnston said. “Jeff and his team did an amazing job bringing the Mustang to life. One of my favorite aspects of the build is all the metal work. Something is amazing just about everywhere you look, with most of the body modifications integrated so well that most people aren’t able to notice.”

The centerpiece of the 1966 Mustang build is a Gen 2 Coyote crate engine from Edelbrock topped by the company’s E-Force supercharger system. Barking with a 9.5:1 compression, this engine is based on a Ford aluminum block, which is filled with MAHLE forged-aluminum pistons, and Manley forged H-beam rods with Boss 302 rod bearings and ARP 2000 bolts. Its factory heads wear Boss 302 valve springs and Ford Performance spark plugs. The engine is complete with 60 lb/hr fuel injectors, a wiring harness, and a PCM tuned for high-octane pump fuel.

In all, this complete engine combo cranks out 789 horsepower and 660 lb-ft of torque, which is a significant upgrade over the 120 horsepower and 190 lb-ft of torque generated by the factory six-banger.

“I wanted horsepower, reliability, and a manual transmission, so going with the supercharged Coyote 5.0-liter was a no-brainer. Once we got the engine specs, we knew we needed something that would handle the power, so we went with TREMEC T-56 six-speed manual transmission,” Johnston said. “It has turned out to be the perfect combination of drivability and fun, and more importantly, it can handle the power. Having had the chance to drive the car around town, on the drag strip, autocross, racetrack, and highway, I would say we found just the right combination.”

From that TREMEC transmission, the boosted Coyote thrust travels through a custom carbon fiber driveshaft to a Strange Engineering Ford 9-inch housing that spins 31-spline axles. That axle is under the control of a Roadster Shop independent rear suspension, which is balanced by a custom Woodward Racing Rack front suspension and controlled by Penske double-adjustable coilovers at all four corners.

Modified Metal

While the powertrain and suspension are significantly upgraded from the factory hardware, it is the car’s sheetmetal that received the most custom work. While some of the upgrades, like the fabricated floor pans, address prior damage, the other changes — including reshaped wheel openings, modified drip rails, a deleted cowl, a custom core support, and a custom hood with hand-shaped hood scoop — were made for both form and function. Likewise, the rear is revamped with the panel and tailights taking on a new shape and a spoiler integrated into the trunk lid and rear quarters.

“One of my personal favorites is the working air intake through the front grille with custom intake boxes. I wanted the large wheels but didn’t want fender flares, so the wheel wells are all hand-shaped,” Johnston said. “The rear of the car was straightened, and the subtle rear scoop was added. The dash was custom-built with the design matching the front grille, and they were both custom-built out of stainless steel.”

That interior treatment blends classic bones with modern vibes, which is the essence of this build that surprises and delights onlookers. Another surprise is that this car made its Mustang Week Texas presented by Ford and LMR debut for the Blue Oval faithful.

“I love car shows and have never been to an ‘Mustang-only’ show. This was my first time at Mustang Week, and I thought it would be the perfect show for my Mustang,” Johnston said. “First of all, the opportunities to drive the car on Thursday and Friday were perfect. I had so much fun on the tracks, and it really gave me a chance to put the car through its paces. I love all Mustangs, so I knew I would get a chance to check out a bunch of amazing cars (new and old). I also knew it would be a great opportunity to meet so many cool Mustang people.”

Texas 10

“The reactions were a highlight of the Mustang Week event. I loved hearing all the stories and getting to share my Mustang story and aspects of the build with anyone who came around. I got a lot of comments from people saying they saw me at the race track and drag strip, and would comment on how well it performed and that they couldn’t believe I would drive something ‘this nice’ on the track,” he added. “I always laughed and said, we built it to drive and not just look pretty. I had a lot of people tell me the car should win Best of Show, and it was the coolest Mustang they’ve seen, which made my mom really excited. I had both of my parents with me at the show, and I got a kick out of listening to them telling stories to people about the car.”

Among those impressed Mustang fans was your humble scribe, who was immediately drawn to its clean Coyote swap and then went down the rabbit hole of its comprehensive customizations, and as you can see, this 1966 Mustang was worthy of further investigation.

As such, it also earned a spot in the Ford Muscle Texas 10, a single-eliminator contest voted for on the Ford Muscle Facebook and Instagram pages. So, keep an eye out for stories on the other Texas 10 contestants, and be sure to vote for your favorites.

The Mustang that emerges victorious will be crowned the Ford Muscle Texas 10 Champion and receive a custom piece of wall art featuring their winning ride — an epic badge of honor for any Mustang enthusiast.