Interior Mustang Mods

No pics today either. I had to fiddle and experiment with the door harnesses. No decent pics on where they mount. One screwup and I'd be picking parts and glass chips. All in now. I have to add about 2 feet of wire to a 7 wire cable that runs between the B-pillars tomorrow. I thought I measured right the first time, but I forgot that the wires come in from the top of the firewall/kickpanel, not the floor.

Starting to see the parts boxes thin out with every new part installed.

 

At last some pics. I'm sure this is boring stuff to many, mainly because Electric schematics and diagrams are barely legible in the manuals, or incomprehensible even to the guys that write them up. I won't bore you with electrical details, but as far as I've seen on the WWW, there aren't any pictures of how this stuff is mounted into a Fox bodied Ford. This seems to be a WWW FIRST!

Here's how my doors looked with manual windows and no locks, in July 2008:

FRONT:


REAR:


Here's how they look now:


As close to a factory install as I can recall (I should have taken pictures of the donor 1981). What saved my bacon was that Ford had the new mounting locations 'dimpled' in the sheetmetal. The donor is long gone, so no reference car.

Here's the floorpan strut before crossing the passenger, rear door harness from the driver's kickpanel (also from 2008):


And AFTER (I used the plastic mounting clips from the original 1978 donor car harness.):


The console indicator and driver's seatbelt warning wires only go from the driver's side to the hump, so I added a secondary wire clip holder behind the main holder (it's a loop only that holds the harness cable).

Andy says I'm trying to get to 'concours' grade, but I really hate hitting our potholes and railway tracks and hear the car rattling for another block.

I had to redo my cross-floor harness and add 22" of wiring on 5 wires to the rear driver's door harness and 39" to the one that comes across to the rear passenger door. 40 solder joints altogether. Long and tedious, but I couldn't exactly run kitty-corner under the carpet, now could I? :banghead3:

One more reason why I like Ford. The power door switch knock outs in the door panels in the rear doors are right where the manual winder goes:


I think I had my fingers over the lens on that second pic, but the white is the thin horsehair padding beteen the face vinyl and the hardboard. You have to hold it while trimming cause it serves to hold the switch in place on the face side. If you tear it out, the switch will flop around.

One reason I don't like Ford Mexico. They put the VIN number right over the dimple for the power doorlock mounting bolt. I found a stainless steel countersink type (1/2" long X 1/4" diam. X 20 ga. thread) then used my ballpean hammer to dent in the area to get it flush and return the VIN plate to its original location.



If I ever take the car to Mexico and return with it, the Canadian border will check it out. Don't need any aggravation.

Back at it today.

 

I got brave and pulled down my hoop-mounted headliner again. (Amazing the thing doesn't break up.) I wanted to see if I could mount an overhead console. I had to install the nice deluxe dome/map light that TBird sent me, and the rotatable map light, from a 1986 Mustang, (looks almost like the stock dome/map lights that the Fairmonts/Fox sedans had, but no dome lens) and the wiring for the 2 vanity mirrored visors that I scooped from a Signature Series Lincoln (1975-ish).

Yes, I can do an overhead console. mounting length is 22-3/8" with a max width of 8" to 9". Depth is the question mark. I'd use a light gauge steel frame, and mount the 8-track, a CD player and storage for CDs, cassettes and 8-tracks and my volt meter and vacuum gauge. Not right now though. Other things are pressing, like the renos, after the car is up and running (another week).

I'm thinking I'd swing down the players, mount the 2 gauges above the mirrors and run the wiring in the header across the top of the windshield, music storage at midpoint of the length, going toward the rear of the front seat area.

If I do it that way, I can keep to about 6" or 7" inches high, using sections of the rear cargo sidepanels that I scored from the 1981 Capri. Nice straight lines with imitation door mini sections that would be used for the storage doors. I have to get all the bits first for actual layouts and wiring harnesses, but that's the concept for now. I'll make a foam mock up first.

The special connectors for these dome/map lights look similar but they are definitely RH/LH opposites, and the later models (1981 and up) need a little bit of filing to tip in and remain secure. like just under 1/16th of an inch too big. They're plastic, so its no big deal. You can't force them in or they'll break. So now, I'll have enough lighting to really see a map! Bit of soldering and some stock Ford connectors to make the front Map light easier to remove and on with the rest of the harnesses (Dash and backend). I can see why people don't often do these detail things. It's a game of strategy. Luckily I had the same wire colours to merge in. The soldering is only at one of the existing Ford splices, and only on the Map lights/visor circuit - one joint on the same splice (LG/Y wire). Those wires take a lot of heat from the roof. The wires were fine, but the nylon wire clips were fried and brittle. Had to use some from another harness.

I'll use Permatex contact spray cement to reinstall the headliner.

 

Norm, if ya can post a few photos of the headliner install. My buddy was supposed to come by this past weekend to help with my install, but he cancelled. I'd like to see it done prior to attempting to install mine. Thanks!

 

Sure thing. We're under a storm advisory right now, and so far, they're all wrong, but I'll take some pics.

Mine's the original and a bit loose. I only dropped the front two panel hoops out of 6. My game plan is to glue one side, let it dry for an hour and then do the other side and wait, then do the windshield region. The permatex that I used the first time was still elastic, two years and two summers later. Its pretty forgiving stuff.

 

Thanks a bunch! I saw that my local Autozone auto parts store carries that brand of headliner spray adhesive as well. :2_thumbs_up_-_anima

 

Got the soldering done above the headliner, but the wind picked up. I have to get the headliner back up before I do much else on it. Looks like tomorrow morning with the storm coming in.

 

Next year, I'm going to build me a low-profile garage or a demountable one. One of my old neighbours had me help him do up some drawings to build one behind his son's big house. The City allows up to 12% of the property for a garage (300 sq ft) decent size I guess. BUT they throw in a spoke in the wheel. It has to be back from the public lanes by 25'. In my case, the distance from my house to the back alley is 26'. A one foot long garage? Couldn't park my electric lawnmower in it! I'll figure something out. I can build an open carport though. (and throw temporary walls on it... I just might be very slow taking them down.

Rain, sunshine, thunderstorms, rain, showers, and more rain and showers, and Oh! A tornado warning! This is mid-July! Calgary Stampede season! BBQ, Bikinis, Convertibles. The Joys of Summer!!! Nuts!

 

Man we sure got dumped on. I can't imagine what your existing carport looks like this morning.

 

Midget height! :banghead3:

 

Sorta like your car was in a wet t-shirt contest?

 

We both got wet-t-shirts - the car and me!

I've got like 25 items to finish up, where I need dry days, instead of dancing between hail stones and these huge rain drops. Feels like the Dew Drop Inn!

 

I'll try to run this as I did it.

First I removed the door weatherstrips, because the headliner edges get glued behind it. Some of the original headliner edge was stretched and doubled over to the outside (glued, of course).

Then I gently lowered, tugged and (using a box cutter) I nipped off any of the stringy glue that trying to hold the headliner from being removed from the body sheetmetal above the doors and at the windshield edge, since I have to reuse it, until I find out who makes a replacement in Mexico. (US/CDN model Fox wagons use the hardboard/fabric insert type.)

I added the front Map light support bracket for the front movable light. Fairmonts had a longer one with a dome light extending to the rear of the car. This Mustang unit is only a Map light, therefore is about 2" shorter, meaning less of a bump in the headliner.

I didn't bother cleaning off the 1.5 year old glue, because I didn't put as much on since I knew I had to remove it sooner than later. This time I put a 3" wide / high band of glue on the body and the headliner, making sure that all my electrical connectors were masked off, as well as the mirror. Nothing below to tape off, but there isn't much overspray. I set the Permatex nozzle to an Up/Down spray, not sideways, and M width (medium). This is one of those products where the instructions are really worth sticking with - don't get creative...

The surfaces need about 5 minutes 'tack' time each. But in 70-ish degree weather you've got about 20 minutes of working time. If its warmer, LESS 'tack' time.

The temptation is to rush from one end of the roof to the next. Don't bother. You'll never make it, even with two guys. What you need is one person to help you install the hoops into the proper holes, push their side in sync with you on the other side and smooth the headliner from whereever you started toward the next hoop.

The front hoop on mine has the option of 3 possible pairs of holes (higher, more forward or lower) The rest of the hoops are single pairs of holes (one on each side). Do a dry run to see how it goes and how you're going to move from side to side. You're not in a rush, because the Permatex is forgiving. If its sticks to the headliner, it will peel back. If it sticks to the steel, it will peel back UNTIL you apply pressure. No pressure, it will peel back.

I wouldn't try to spray glue on more than you can actually fit in 15 minutes - maybe two hoop spans at a time.

Here's my pics. Remember that this is the original 32 year old headliner. I may have to get a custom one made, unless I can find out if the new type fit in the same contour.

See the 3 holes next to the green masking tape? Anyone of those would work for me, depending on what's above the headliner. I chose the lowest one because of the depth of the map light bracket.





Since I'm really working from the rear to the front, this time, instead of from front to rear, I know I'll get wrinkles. You can reduce them by ensuring that your headliner is properly centered on your hoops, as you twist and snap them in. Make sure they are hooped perpendicular to the holes as you line them up, BEFORE you finally press the headliner edges to the sheet metal, one side at a time, but with the other person watching that it doesn't shift while you're tugging and positioning. Then hold your side, and have the other person do what you did, while you hold and watch for shifting.


I didn't get it all, but I knew it wouldn't come out perfect because of the old sagging fabric. If I do an overhead console later this year, I'll get this done right.


I used duct tape behind that hole, so I'll spray it with the same SEMS colour that I did with the first time.

Two guys with steady hands can do this far better.

Put your weatherstrips back on after you're satisfied. The glue wants 24 hours to be really well bonded, so I'd leave any final trimming until then. Then do your visors and dome lights.

Hope that helps.

 

I may just get the rest of the wiring in today. Rain is forecast for all night tonite and a good chunk of tomorrow, so I'm getting started early today.

 

Those forecasters are a fickle taskmaster Norm, you need to break free from this codependency, and start to live life on your own. Just ignore the lying bastards. They will just continue to yank your chain and play their silly little head games with the public.