One Side At A Time...

Quiz: How many fenders to make one good one?  In this case two.  In the top photo you can see where the rust was cut away from my original date coded fender.  Then my painter took a wrecked fender as a donor, butt jointed the two and wahoo - you can see the results above!  I was a little worried at first, but my painter said he has seen much worse and this was a fairly simple fix.  It is curious to note that the date codes between the drivers and passenger side fenders are three days apart.  Maybe FoMoCo took off early for the weekend before stamping the next one? I guess it's not that unusual and I'm glad we didn't go with any aftermarket fenders.  There's still a lot of fit and finish, but the mustang is coming along nicely - at least it's looking like a car again!

Happy Anniversary Mustang!

Well just over a year ago with the help of some of my good friends, we stripped the Mustang down to a rolling shell with engine and wheels.  In that year there have been a lot changes.  It may be slow going, but the work is solid.  Above are a few update photos as the body shop moves into the engine bay. In the past year the body shop has replaced the right rear quarter, full length floor pan, toe boards, both rocker panels, drivers side A pillar, radiator core support and has begun the epoxy primer coat.  All pieces were replaced with original sheet metal where I could.  More to come!

Prime, Sand, Repeat... Part Deux

I have been remiss in posting photos of late, so enclosed are few updates.  The car is coming along nicely and I really like how the epoxy primer has been laid down, very smooth and very close to the metal.  as you can see in the photos above, they have worked out the rear quarter panels, are almost complete with the roof and working their way to the front engine bay. Although it may not show in the photo above, there is a small dip in the roof about the size of a dime.  Things like this drive my painter nuts and he works it till it's perfectly smooth. I certainly appreciate his eye to details as I know I would never have the patience, but know the more he works on it, the better it gets! 

Steel Wool On Steroids!

Today it's cold and rainy outside and I'm safe working in the garage. I'm cleaning the trim that goes around the windshield and rear glass on my fastback. It has dried tar that's forty years old, silicone (not from me) and paint overspray. I was able to scrap the big pieces of tar off using a plastic putty knife which thankfully didn't leave any scratches.  Then I dipped steel wool in lacquer thinner and got to work. I thought it would be impossible to get all the crud off, but had a set cleaned in about half an hour using a lot elbow grease. Yahoo, I had no idea that it would be this easy! Now if I can figure out a way to pop out some of the dents and straighten some of the trim, it'll be ready to go back on the car!

Prime, Sand, Repeat...

This week in the body shop, they are blocking the car!  No bondo here just an epoxy primer that can be sanded.  They are mocking up the rear quarter extension panel along with the tail lights and deck lid.  I don't think the car was this straight from the factory.  There's still a little tweaking here and there, but I think the results are fantastic! More details soon.

I Can See Clearly Now...

My oh my, check out the passenger door glass!  I stripped and repainted the track, added new seals and my friend Ray polished the stainless trim.  I also went with new glass from PS Auto Glass, http://psautoglass.com/  They were able to replicate the correct Carlite logo and date stamps from the original glass on my fastback.  I can't wait to put it back into the car!

This Service Message Brought To You By....

Tonight I am working in the garage and I have been looking for the drivers side stainless window trim (fastback). To be honest, it's hard for me to remember where I picked up this part. I think it was an auction when Unique Performance went under. Anyway, it made me reflect on all the people that have helped me along the way on this restoration. You see I have been collecting replacement parts for the past nine years in preparation for  this rebuild. Back in the day, when my lovely bride first came over, she laughed when she opened a few closets and found it full of car parts! So if you have sold me a part, traded a part or even paid me to clean parts out of your garage (don't laugh, it happened) I want to say thank you! It's hard for me to imagine what this rebuild would be like without some spare parts. Probably too expensive to get to where I am now in this process. So as I try to keep it all organized, rest assured that your hand me down part may eventually end up on my fastback. In a way, your mustang will continue to live on as I rip off the made overseas junk and go back with some restored original FoMoCo parts. Thank you again!