Interior Mustang Mods

Thanks! If I get 'down', I'll watch Rocky 1 or 2, and get my 'eye of the tiger' drive back!

 

At least I got the first coat on. Started raining at 6:08PM, not even in the forecast. The Tremclad/Rustoleum had 5 hours to dry tack free before the drops hit, so I covered it. I have to wetsand tomorrow.



TBird sent me two good Map pockets in blue, a few months ago. I just finished removing the carpet covering and the rubber adhesive, and refinished them today. Same paint (Tremclad) only Flat brown, not SEMS. Its a tougher paint than SEMS, and works great on plastic finishes.
I cleaned up the black flock (dust and whatever) then hit it with flat black. By the time I finished they were flat. Second coat tomorrow.

 

Got a bunch of detail stuff done. The tailgate is done, except for wood grain and glass. I put the hinges on and hung it in place for tonight. Sealed up and did final adjustments on the new Floor-mounted E-brake. No more under-car stuff. Should get it running by late tomorrow PM.

 

Nice progress Norm!

 

Its really hard to focus on which of a zillion 'pendings' and 'to do' items, when you've got paint drying too. Today is like yesterday, 5 KMH breeze and 20C (68F) and Sunny! It was 6C (48F) at 7 AM and its 58F (12C) right now. Another hour and the sun's in my south-facing backyard.

Gonna be a busy day.

 

The tailgate is on, woodgrain vinyl patches. Not what I want, but at 30 MPH, it'll look better than naked with woody trim bars. Spent a lot of time with this 'pieces and grain matching' puzzle. But I can move ahead and get the car together, running and tuned, before it rains on Wednesday.

Have a latch spring to replace in my shop tomorrow morning before it warms up enough to work outside, and back on the main tasks.

Started like this today (glass isn't installed yet):


Finished like this (the Wife offered to help with the vinyl! That's a first!)

 

Norm!
im kung-fundido! (confundido= confused) are you still painting and finishing up the wagon? compa' que te pasa? are canada winters that long? or did i miss something?
lol
Rafa

 

When I did the first restoration, I lifted the tailgate in a high wind, putting on the supports. The wind caught it and bent the top of the frame. I straightened it out, and more or less, got it right. Got the glass back in, sealed it up and for almost 18 months, all was good. Then I helped a neighbour with some stuff, and asked him to guide me back. He failed to watch a post, and that warped it more. I noticed some leaks, found another gate (this one) and then I noticed a 1/2" gap between the glass and the frame at the top. That was that! Time to refinish and use the gate that I got a year ago. This is i!. I'll get another one in Mexico, maybe next year, or on our way down, maybe in Texas or Arizona.

The wife and I were watching Aguascalientes TV yesterday, and on came this fabulous huge Orchestra with the Mariachi Vargas, and it was a FREE concert, Live! I told her, that's it. I'm retiring there. Don't know when, but that's where I'm going. Nice cities and villages, lots of health and government services, excellent weather, great people (we've been there a few times), and rustfree cars! What more could a guy want. Palm Trees and real Tequila.

Sell this house, redirect my federal pensions, start up a small export biz, and bob's my uncle! The Feds are promoting private retirement plans because they want to raise the premiums on the Federal Pension Plan. So they run ads telling us that a dignified retirement costs $2,000,000 per person. Up theirs. When you can't afford your own country, its time to realize it ain't your country anymore.

I call our Politicians, Pirates Of the Canadian. And they really are. So my next Tailgate will have a rustfree Latin Flavour. SalsaWood!

 

Norm??....you needed help backing up a itty bitty tiny Fox wagon??mg:

I guess lending you our Buick is out if you ever came to visit!

.


Gate looks good Bud!

 

Yeah, I needed help, cause it was loaded to the gills, and he needed the stuff, cement bags in a certain spot. My rearviews cleared me, but the gate was open (up). Thank God, I was crawling back. Might have had to do the gate much earlier.

Yeah, it'll do just fine for now. She's gonna keep an eye out for a source in Monterrey, MX. Leaves on the 18th, for 3 weeks. I'll finally get me a real Sombrero!

 

Oh yeah you missed the entire new Capri interior and Squire power stuff swap.
This is the second time around here now sarge...

 

Estas mui atras en mis cambios. It's like buying a new car!

Lots of finnicky details today. Forgot that I hadn't tightened up the tailgate, so I installed the hydraulic supports. Surprise, surprise! The gate moved and scratched the roof edge. No problem, I have to touch up the roof anyway. My tarp garage roughed it up a bit. Easy fix.

Then I mounted the tailgate wiper motor. Almost thought I screwed up with predrilling the holes, but the rubber-mounted fasteners shifted. This gate didn't have a rear wiper, so I made cardboard templates from mine. Went in perfectly.

Then the tailgate wiring harness covers from the blue tailgate were better than mine, so I had to fart with getting the wires in for the De-Icing window and the backup/license plate case. The ground grommet was NFG, so I soldered up a new one. Feeding those wires into the top edge of the tailgate and down the side builds patience and forearms.

Then the plastic glass support strip was missing 6 inches, so I used one of my old tailgate wiring harness covers and made a replacement and siliconed it in place, so that I can trim it and install the glass tomorrow. This new SIKA works in temps from 5C (40F) to 35C (95F). We'll be at 14C (57F) tomorrow. Rain on Thursday.

And a whole bunch of other cleanup stuff...

A good day's work.

 

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to play I go! 10C with a 20 KMH breeze. I can take it, I think.

Glass goes on this afternoon. Interior details and final wiring, including engine compartment. I'll even recharge the battery (off since May)! Tune up tomorrow. Vrroom, vroom!

 

woo hooo! buena suerte! (good luck)

 

Thanks Rafa. It was a cool, gray, windy day, but warm enough to install the back glass. Went in like a charm. The SIKA Tackdrive is easier to work at 75F, we only got to 57F, and I'll tell ya that this heavy duty caulking gun was put to the 2-fisted test. Think of squeezing plumber's putty in a tube. You're working at arm's length and grunting like you're taking off a rusty crankshaft pulley. And the clock is ticking. That stuff starts to set right away, but at 10 minutes, TIME's UP. But I did it time.

I used a second tube to fill the gap in from the glass to the edge of the frame. It ain't coming off, and the frame won't rust. No air pockets to collect water.

So I'm working away, minding my business, and along comes Andy, with his NOS 1978 Fairmont tailgate latch and his rustfree North Dakota Fairmont. Total cost was to swap the old latch in his with the new one. 20 minutes and done! What are the odds out of some 26,000 1978 to 1982 Fox tailgate NOS latches in a medium-sized Prairie town, and you know the guy could have one? Mind-blowing. Thanks Andy. We might have a Latch Match. His old one was so covered with ND farm dust, that it never rusted, even the springs are still painted! Cleaned up like MINT!

Thanks again, man. I owe ya.

More of the zillion details got done too. Pics tomorrow.