The Car
This GT was owned by my best friend Scott Roscoe (read The Back Story), who was tragically killed in a car accident in 1997. The car was kept by his parents, Kris and Carol, and driven until 2004. After 2004, it sat in their yard under a tree.
Over the years, I have kept in touch with the Roscoes and always asked them about the car. I also requested that if they ever wanted to get rid of it I would like to buy it.
In 2016, I talked to Kris and toward the end of the conversation I asked the question again. He said he would talk to Carol and Shawn (Scott’s younger brother) about it and get back to me.
One thing they had always said was that the car would have to go to where they wouldn’t ever see anyone driving it. That was not a problem since the they live in Vermont and I live in Montana. That’s plenty of distance for them to never see anyone driving it!
Well, time went on and we didn’t get back together on it…
Then, in February of 2019, I went back to Vermont to visit my mom and friends. I went to visit the Roscoes, and while there, we looked at that car that had now been sitting under that tree for about 12 or 13 years, unmoved.
Looking at it, it was in much better condition than I thought it would be. Usually, when a car sits on dirt for that long in Vermont, the floors are totally rotted out and gone. I pulled back the carpet and to my surprise, there was no rust to be seen! However, I was disappointed to find that we couldn’t open the hatch due to rust (the only part that had any real rust issue), and the interior was very dirty due to mice but otherwise in great shape. The car only had 90k miles on it, and when we hooked up a battery, we found that the engine was not locked up either!
By the end of the trip, Kris and Carol had decided that I could have the car if I wanted it under two conditions: 1, I was not allowed to part the car out and 2, no teenagers were allowed to drive it without me. That was a deal as far as I was concerned.
On to the next problem: getting this car, which doesn’t run, from Vermont to Montana (a 2200 mile trip). I talked to several car transport companies who quoted me around $1500 to haul it, but I just had a bad feeling about that because they seemed too eager which made me think they wouldn’t be careful enough with it.
Another option was for me was to drive back with my truck and trailer to pick it up. It was an option but would have taken a week and at least $1600 in fuel.
Then a door swung wide open. Kris ran into another old friend, Travis Green, whom I hadn’t talked to for more than 20 years, and has not only been a body guy since high school but also owns a towing company. While he was visiting with Kris, he said he would help us in any way he could. I called him and we talked about the car. He could not believe that there would be any floors left in it and agreed to check it out for me.
In the mean time, another guy that works for our company here in Montana happened to be driving back to Pennsylvania and would be hauling a car there. He heard that I was trying to get a car hauled here from back east and offered to haul the Mustang for $500!
I called Travis to get a good look at the car, which he did. He was also shocked on how solid it still was. He helped Kris get it off the lawn and to Pennsylvania for $1600.
This is what it looked like under the tree, that is actually moss growing on the side of the car
When Travis and Kris moved the car there was a family of Possum’s living under it, Travis said he ran off screaming like a girl!
When they went to move the car, it rolled and the brakes even stopped the car!
Once Kris got the car in his driveway he spent a good two hours cleaning all the moss off it and washing it he managed to get it pretty clean!
This is the next day after Kris and spent time to give it a bath on the outside, Travis loaded it up for the move
Travis gave it special treatment and hauled it to PA in his enclosed trailer
Travis got it to PA fine, but I had to wait just over a week for Jeremy to come back from PA. That was a long week of waiting!
Waiting in PA for the next leg of the journey. Thanks to the Zook family for letting it sit there.
It made it to Montana without any problems and I was able to look at it. The body was in great shape, but there was a little rust on one frame rail over the rear axle due to Scott grinding on it for hanging the exhaust. The car needed a rear hatch and a paint job and some love, and it was in the right place for that!
On the hunt for a new rear hatch.
At this point I had the car but it was hard to move or push. I changed the oil and got a battery to try and start it, and after a few taps on the starter it cranks. I sprayed some brake cleaner in the intake and tried to start it again but it popped back and started leaves and debris on fire, and in a panic we get the fire out!
The back of the car stunk like old rotten fuel and you couldn’t hear the pump running so I decided to drop the tank. It was full of rust and sludge like gas (like a dummy I didn’t take a picture), so I ordered a new fuel tank kit with a fuel pump from Late Model Restoration.
New tank, fuel pump (24 LPH) and sending unit
It was time for the moment of truth…
This is the actual time I tried to start the car with the new fuel pump. Notice the leaves flying around when I rev it!
It runs!! Look what shot out of the exhaust!
Mouse nests out of the exhaust!
So, needless to say, at this point I’m very excited; the car runs. I took it for a spin down the road and the power was incredible.
Now this story get’s a little more interesting. Back in the summer of ’96 Scott had done a bunch of engine work to the car, but I couldn’t remember what all had been done. I remember having a phone conversations about how he couldn’t get it to run correctly and we had discussed the mods but I couldn’t remember everything he had done.
I remember that he had installed a GT40 cam, heads, intake and different injectors and that the rear end had to be changed because he dropped the clutch in 2nd gear and blew the spiders out of the cover.
The car still didn’t run correctly , but the more I thought about it and got to looking at the heads and doing research, I found it had aluminum heads, and GT40 heads are cast iron.
One night I called Kris and Carol and they told me they had a letter Scott had written to try to get help with the drivability problem and that it might give me some insight on the mods. They said that they would mail it to me but I told them please don’t mail it, scan it and email it to me. I was afraid it would be lost forever in the mail.
Here it is:
Once I was able to read this letter and find out what parts he had installed, I was shocked; I couldn’t believe I didn’t remember the Trick Flow Aluminum heads.
After reading this letter I didn’t think it will be that difficult to fix since the fuel injection system on this car is fairly simple.
I called Kris and Carol and couldn’t express how valuable this letter was to me for two reasons: 1, it was very nice to read something Scott had wrote and 2, it tells me everything that was done to the car. I was so thankful to have that information. I still pull it up and read it sometimes.
At this point the car was now movable. The interior of the car was extremely dirty and stunk like mildew and mouse droppings. So, for Fathers Day, Evan offered to buy me new carpet.
I ordered a new carpet and when it arrived I started to clean. I removed the entire interior.
This is mold and mildew on the back of the front seat
Mouse turds and mold
Seats out pulling the carpet
More dirty
Passenger side door panel
The next 2 pictures are of parts that hold the sound deadener under the rear interior quarter panel trim, the mice had been living and moving in this area.
They used the sound deadener to make nests everywhere, as you will see the in next few photos.
Passenger Side
Both of them next to each other
This is giant nest that was in the drivers side rear quarter panel, the white plug in the upper LT corner is the tail light bulb
This is under the driver side rear seat. Yes those are mouse turds!
The center console removed, leaves and nuts.
More nuts and leaves.
After seeing all the mouse evidence, I decided to pull the headliner, which turned out to be a good thing. The mice had really been in there.
Snake skin in the headliner!
This is sound deadener that was on the roof above the headliner. It fell down when I took the headliner down.
You can see all the material missing off the roof. This is right behind the windshield. The only wire that was chewed on by the mice was the one to the bugeye map light.
This is the top of the headliner, something the mice left behind.
They were very generous mice and they liked to share. This the top front of the headliner. The detail shop that cleaned everything else was able to completely remove what the mice left behind and clean the headliner.
Before the wash
Once I had the interior removed, the car still had a smell, so I washed the entire inside of the car with hot soapy bleach water. In the places I couldn’t scrub, I sprayed the bleach and let it dry. Smell gone.
I took the seats, headliner and door panel to a local auto detail shop and they were able to remove all the dirt and smells from them. They were even able to save the headliner, which I thought was a lost cause!
The worst rust on the car was on the inside of the rear floor pan, and it was just surface rust. I cleaned it up and sprayed a little paint on it.
Cleaned floor pan, before paint.
I pulled the dash and checked in the heater box for mice and cleaned all the metal behind it and the vents.
I was able to get it registered. Scott’s nickname was Scott-rod, that was taken but SKOTROD wasn’t!
I got the carpet installed and put the front seats back in in time to take a break and get ready for Bow Hunting season; and what a season it was!
My first kill ever with a bow! It’s a once in a lifetime bull, measured 332 inches.
With that part of hunting season over, I wanted to finish the interior before storing the car away for the winter. My neighbor across the street said he would let me store it in his garage with his Corvette. For my birthday, my son Evan bought me new weather stripping for the car.
Old window run channel, cracked and broken
Old ripped door seal
New window run channel going in!
Clean door panel installed. Notice no mold!
It’s amazing how good shape the interior is in; the seats cleaned up great with no damage at all!
Clean seats and carpet installed
Cleaned and installed rear seats
On Saturday, November 8th 2019, I took it for one last spin for the year before parking it in the neighbor’s garage. In March or so I will get it back over to my shop and work on the suspension and brakes and other mechanical things.
Until then, thanks Kris and Carol!
Waltham Garage 