1965 Ford Mustang GT Restoration – Prepping for body work and a piant job

This 1965 Ford Mustang GT Coupe looked good from 15 feet away, but had rust and bondo issues. After taking a closer look, you would notice a few things were wrong. The windshield and rear glass did not have any sealer, and had rust holes as a result. Most of the front bolts on the car were either hand tight or were incorrect. I could go on, but that is not the point of this post. I’ve restored dozens of classic Fords, and I wanted to show the best way to prepare your Mustang for body work and paint. When restoring a classic car, you want to make sure your car’s body is straight, and free of any rust or bondo. If your car is just a daily driver, and is never going to be worth much than masking everything off, and  doing a scuff and shoot paint job will do fine. This is a 1965 Ford Mustang, and is a piece of automotive history that will go up in value. Masking parts off only hides potential problem areas like rust. It is well worth the work to remove all the trim, emblems, glass, and any removable body panels.

Removing the body trim will reveal hidden bondo and rust. I usually find rust holes under windshield and rear window corner areas. You do not want to have to repair those areas after the car is painted. If the body shop has to repair the window channel areas, make sure they have the moldings to test fit while making the repairs. When removing the emblems, make sure you use and awl to remove the tiny barrel nuts that secure the emblems. Removing the barrel nuts after the car is painted will damage the paint and cause future rust. Remove any body panels that can be un-bolted. It’s not uncommon to find the wrong attaching hardware, or panels that were not installed properly. Also, in a lot of cases you’ll find the original body color of your Mustang under those body panels. We found out that this Mustang was originally Midnight Blue.

Once the car is completely apart, it is a good idea to take lots of pictures, and organize all of the old parts. Save yourself a headache, and do not throw any parts or hardware away until your are done with the car. You’ll notice that I wrote all over the Mustang. This is to help better communicate with the body shop what you want done. It is common for old screw holes to become enlarged from rust. Have the body shop weld them in, and re-drill them when the car comes back. Point out particular areas of concern like rust bubbles, bondo, or poor fitting panels.  Another over looked area is roof rail seams. Have the body shop remove the old seam sealer, and take care of any rust issues. Also, body shops tend to forget which holes they drilled to pull out dents. They sometimes accidently fill in emblem holes while doing body work. It is not fun to have to find those holes again.

The last area of concern is the interior. If you’re going to repaint the interior, and replace everything then you’re not too concerned with over spray. The owner of this 1965 Mustang wanted to re-use all the dash pieces, but was going to replace all the upholstery. I removed most of the interior, and put everything in a safe place. Removing the carpet and trunk mat will reveal any hidden rust that the body shop can repair. I would highly recommend to paint all the floor pans with POR15 rust treatment.  Before sending the car off to the body shop, it is a good idea to start ordering all the body parts and fasteners that you think your going to need, so you’re not holding up your project.  Once they start to strip the body down to the metal, they will probably asking you for additional parts.  Lastly, stop by the body shop often to catch any issues before the car is painted. Those un-treated areas will haunt you later. Also, it is nice to have pictures of the whole restoration process. Here is a photo gallery of the 1965 Mustang I recently prepped for body work and paint.

1965 Ford Mustang Restoration

1965 Mustang Cruising in an El Niño Rain Storm

I was driving to work this morning in my 1992 Ford Explorer, and trying to keep from spinning out of control. With 60-80 mph wind gusts and rain-drenched roads, even my heavy Ford Explorer was being pushed from side to side. Then, in my rear view mirror I saw a 1965 Ford Mustang coupe with a six-cylinder engine closing in on me. It appeared to be in very good condition, and most owners I know would not voluntarily drive their classic cars in a rainstorm. He wasn’t going on a Sunday drive because it was Thursday morning rush hour traffic. Before restoring my 1966 Mustang, I used to drive it daily for about 4 years in whatever nature dished out. I hope he doesn’t have a leaky cowl like most old Mustangs are known for. Happy Driving!

Ford Inline Six Fender Emblem

Over the years, I have been asked where I got my fender emblems on my 1966 Ford Mustang Six Cylinder. About six years ago, I was looking for some Inline Six emblems at junk yards and swap meets, but never found any worth putting on the car. Back then I worked at a restoration shop, and there was this very rusted 1955 Ford Ranch Wagon sitting there for years. I never noticed the emblems through all the rust until I sat in the car. On the glove box was a small faded gold emblem, and then I noticed the ones on the fenders. All that time, and they were right there. I could not salvage them, so I found the part number, and found some New Old Stock (NOS) emblems. The part number is B5A-16237-A. I bought these from C&G Early Ford Parts in San Diego, California. They list them on their website for $70.00. Here is the direct link

1955 Ford Ranch Wagon Inline Six Fender Emblem

1967-1968 Ford Mustang C4 Automatic Shifter Repair

Over the years, I’ve come across some interesting repairs on classic Ford Mustangs, but this is ones is the most creative one I’ve ever seen. This shifter was on a 1967 Mustang with a C4 Cruisa-a-matic automatic transmission. When an automatic transmission shifter feels like a manual transmission shifter, there is serious problem. The bushings were worn completely away, and destroyed the main shaft beyond repair. The owner thought he could tighten it up by wrapping two springs around the shifter arm, and connect them to a bracket he had made. If a shifter gets that bad, repair it the correct way, or replace it.

Project Six Received a Golden Web Award

On October 14, 2009, my website received a Golden Web Award. Sometimes, its’ nice to be recognized.  Too Cool!

http://www.goldenwebawards.com/project-six/

1964 1/2 Ford Mustang Interior Restoration

I’ve been restoring Ford Mustangs for over 17 years now, and one of  my favorites is restoring or converting to two- tone interiors. I like how it breaks up the patterns and complimants the interior lines. This particular restoration was unique. A few years ago, the owner had his engine rebuilt by JBA Performance Center, and he brought it back to them to have the interior restored back to life.  It was a 1964 1/2 Mustang with a D code engine. This was an early production 289 engine with a generator. The owner thought that the Pony interior and the Emberglo exterior were original. I showed him that the Pony option did not come until late 1965, and the Emberglo exterior color was not an option until the 1966 model year. Also, the past owner installed GT Ralley wheels, GT fog lights, and all the GT badges. None of these were correct for a 1964 1/2 Mustang.  That being said, he liked the combination. Since we were going to keep the Emberglo Pony interior, he wanted it to be restored like a correct 1966 interior would have been.  One of the challenges was finding the correct Emberglo colors. The first batch of paint was to orange, so I had to go through a few batches of paint until it was right. There is evidents of that in the pictures that I took throughout the restoration.

1964 1/2 Mustang Interior Restoration Photo Gallery

Future projects for the 1966 Mustang

I have three projects coming up soon on my 66 Mustang. First one will be replacing my window regulators, so my windows will function a little smoother.  They are the original door regulators. The second project will be replacing my vent window seals.  They’re only 8 years old, but my original ones lasted over 30 years.  They do not make rubber like they used to.  The third project will be making my tail lights brighter.  I converted them to 65 T-Bird style lights before they had bright LEDs . Since I have stock tail light buckets, I will use 3 way light inserts from Scott Drake.

Ford is planning on installing air bags inside seat belts

The  focus of my blog is Classic Fords, but I it like when technology is put to good use.  Ford Motor Company has been working on installing air bags inside of  seat belts, and has put a lot of thought in the safety of our children.  The new air bags will have less of an impact on the body, and use a cold gas to inflate them. Having a Five year old daughter, I like this technology.  Read more about it… Ford’s  seat belt air bags

Taken the 1962 Ford Falcon for a spin

Went on a little cruise with my daughter in my 1962 Ford Falcon. I haven’t driven the car in eight months. It was a lot of fun. We drove through the San Pasqual Valley, and then down through Ramona. It was a warm Fall day in Southern, California.

Pony Carburetor’s Autolite 1100 installation on my 1962 Ford Falcon

This past weekend, I installed a rebuilt Autolite 1100 carburetor on my 62 Falcon. It was professionaly rebuilt by Pony Carburetors.  I’ve been waiting for this carb for awhile, but it was worth the wait. It has not ran this good for a long time. I posted some installation pictures, and video of the first run on the carburetor.

Pony Carburetor's Autolite 1100