Restoring A 1965 Ford Mustang Metal Dash, And Installing a Ford Dash Pad

Did I ever tell you that my favorite part of a Classic Mustang restoration are the interiors. There’s nothing like the smell of a new interior in your old Mustang. I enjoy gutting them down to nothing, and the long and detailed process of putting them back together.  I also like to take plain interiors, and convert them to 2-tone. This particular interior was already nice, but the customer wanted to improve a couple of areas. The dash had chips and scratches. Also the dash was the wrong color white. You may think that white is white, but there are many shades and tone variations. I like to use Scott Drake’s Accumatch metal etching primer and paints. Their paint lays down even with minimal orange peel . Also, they have fan nozzles which helps a lot during the painting process. Unfortunately the customer was unable to get it, so we went with another brand. Since, I color sand between coats, I take care of most of the orange peel and any dust that gets in the paint. Once everything is painted, I like to wait at least a week before re-assembly. That gives it plenty of time to cure and harden up. If you start putting parts on too early, you can leave wrinkles around the attaching parts. All the parts were in good shape, and only needed light cleaning before going back on. The dash pad and trim were replaced though.
     The customer purchased a dash pad made from the original Ford tooling. You can save a few dollars, and purchase the cheaper reproduction dash pads. The Ford one has a better finish, and they give you plenty of extra material around the edges. To get the dashes to fit perfect, you have to pre-fits and trim them a couple of times. Since his lower 1965 dash moldings were dull and dented, new ones were installed. This was the first time I installed reproductions, so I compared them side by side. They were pretty close except for the small ends. They are thin enough to lightly bend them to the correct shape. They installed like the originals. After that, the customer finished up the underside of the dash just in time for the Coronado Motorcars on Main Street show the following weekend.

Replacing Electrical Wiring Harnesses On A 1968 Ford Mustang – San Diego, California

When it comes to websites, there is a 30 second rule. If you can’t crab the reader’s attention in that time frame, they’re gone. So maybe for some, they did not get to the part that said “I don’t repair original wiring harnesses. They’ve been in the car for over 40 years, so they lived a useful life. For some, they have been repaired just to get by for a few more years. And did you know that you can buy parts for your Classic Mustang at your friendly neighborhood hardware store? Don’t tell anyone that I told you that. Those household twist connectors are not designed for cars. They don’t make a real solid connection, and they do not keep out moisture very well. Also, if you’re going to replace any of the wiring on your stock harness, make sure it is the same gauge wiring as what is being replaced. The factory used specific gauges to handle a specific amperage. Electrical components and fuses in your car are all designed to handle a certain amperage. Altering the wire thickness can cause electrical issues.

This 1968 Ford Mustang had a charging issue, so I performed and electrical check. The volt meter would not move from 12 volts. I looked around for any obvious issues. I first noticed that the voltage regulator was unplugged, so I plugged it back in. No change. As I looked around the engine compartment, I noticed all the wiring was replaced with 10-12 gauge wiring, and were all the wrong color. At that point, there was nothing more to check, but to recommend replacing the under hood harnesses. Next, I checked all the firewall connections to make sure they were all correct. As it turned out, most of the stock under dash connection were altered or bypassed all together. I also found a lot of the wires were twisted together with duct tape wrapped around them, and there were twist-on connectors and splice connectors on many areas of the harness too. The main under dash forward needed to be replaced along with the convertible top harness. When replacing the harnesses, it is a good idea to replace most of the switches too. Wiper switches and heater switches can be left alone if they work. The ignition and headlight switches should be replaced. You do not want to replace a $200 harness due to a $20 switch.

The installation went relatively well up to the firewall, but then I opened one of the boxes. The main under dash harness was a 1965 Mustang in a box that was marked 1968. It’s real hard to plug rectangular bulkhead connector into round holes. A few days later, I installed the correct under dash harness, and everything worked like it rolled off of the assembly line. The charging system was reading over 12 volts, and the new harnesses took up a third of the space. If your having electrical issues, please give Classic Resto Garage a call at 619-929-8506 or email david@classicrestogarage.com.

Happy Cruising!

1963 Ford Falcon Ranchero Barn Find

I’ve always heard about people finding classic cars hidden in some barn in the middle of nowhere. Most of them don’t plan on finding cars in old barns. They stumble across them, or hear about during general conversations. I’ve never found one until my last trip up to my Dad’s place in Redding, California. It was a short fun trip, and the last day was unexpected surprise. We originally took our daughter to go see some baby pigeons in the next town. It turned out that the pigeon owner had a small shop where he restored motorcycles and cars. I told him that one of my cars was a 1962 Ford Falcon, and he told me he had a 1963 Ford Falcon Ranchero that he had no time for. We had to drive across a field of cows to get to it. We arrived to this old weathered looking barn, and it was filled with cobwebs and miscellanies junk. We slid the barn door open, and there it was a 1963 Ranchero covered in dust and bird droppings. He offered to me for $500, but I had to turn it down. I have no room in my garage, and I can’t park on the street in my neighborhood. Oh well. At least I stumbled upon my first barn find. Then, on the drive back home, we came across an old car junkyard in Williams, California. It was filled with all kinds of cool old cars. If you’re into Ford Edsels or Ford Falcons, they had plenty of them. I will post pictures soon.