Interior Mustang Mods

Norm, what about a guage pod on the A pillar? Like the kids have......
Should be easy to find?

 

I'm warming up to the idea. The Capri wood accent panels are a nice burled walnut finish, so the carbon fibre instrument panel from the 1987 Mustang isn't going back on. But the gauges will. No faded needles. For sure they're available for Mustang/Capri A pillars. I'll check into it anyway.

I also thought about the existing console panel. It has the digital clock and lamps/low fuel/low windshield fluid display. There's enough room for both gauges there too. The debate has to end soon, because the wiring goes in when this rain stops long enough.

 

Here's what you mean, right?



These guys have it!
http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/item/POD-82001/79-93-Mustang-Dual-Gauge-A-Pillar-Pod

The vacuum gauge is a bit deep, so I'll have to get some more details.

The console still looks like a better spot:

 

Reorganized the parts and put them in the new shed (last year's new shed). The weather forecasters must be grade 2 summer students. They changed the official government forecast 3 times today, and they were still wrong!

Anyway, I got all the parts derusted and clean and painted. Just the block and engine compartment to touch up, before the wiring goes back in. Had to dig out the lawnmover. The weedeater makes the lawn look like an army haircut!

Dye job tomorrow (its raining all nite and day) This cheap tarp is great in sunlight, but it sucks when it comes to liquid sunshine, like a sieve.

If it slows down enough, I'll reassemble the dash steel supports to the plastic frame.

Coming together.

 

More ways to remove rust on parts

This is an automotive site. He uses straight vinegar but my recipe makes a mild hydrochloric acid that digs deeper and works faster. Either way, it does leave a residue, which has to be wiped down and rinsed in clean water, sometimes even a few times. I just hang them in bright sunlight for a while to get the remaining moisture off, before priming/painting. For really tough spots, I'll soak a rag in the recipe, and hold it to the area, like under the car:

http://www.chip.com/buick/techtips/rustremoval.html

Good technical explanation of the spots that might be left, but won't ever rust again with the vinegar/salt recipe.
http://yarchive.net/metal/rust_remove.html

This is a student science site with some OTHER alternatives, including... Louisiana Hot Sauce! It works (deoxidizes) even faster!
http://www.finishing.com/4200-4399/4267.shtml

 

Cat hair in carpets

Andy and I spotted this nice 1982 to 1984 LTD Fox sedan last year, and I scooped the seats and carpet among other things. Andy almost took it, until he saw the hair. We weren't sure if it was a small dog or cat. I can now confirm that its fine cat hair. I spent almost 3 hours plucking them out, after cleaning the carpet 4 times, soaking it in the tub and steam-cleaning the darn thing. One more reason to hate cats.

If you buy a classic, ask if the cat ever got in, then dicker the price down by about the cost of a new carpet and labor to remove and install the upholstery.

Anyway, the rest will come out when I get a lint remover. In the meanwhile I found a couple of sites with cathair solutions:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2090076_clean-cat-hair-off-carpet.html

http://www.for-the-love-of-cats.com/CatHair.html

 

Cat hair? yuck, you have my deepest sympathies.

 

Looks like a golden tabby cat, but I think the owner was blonde female too. Found a couple of long blonde ones too. Anyway, this cat loved to rub its back in every corner of the carpet.

 

It rained again this morning and stopped until tomorrow morning, but all the carpets and upholstery got a good rinse on the clothesline, twice, and air-dried nicely.

Dye tests tomorrow.

 

The wife wasn't feeling too good, with all the humidity from the 3 inches of rain we got, so stovetop dyeing was out. I'll try tomorrow.

BUT!

I got all the steel braces back into the dash (pic tomorrow), then sorted all the disassembly fasteners and cleaned them up, then touched up under the hood before reinstalling the wiring.

Then I started comparing the 1981 Capri harnesses against my 1979 Fairmont Wagon harnesses, expecially for firewall grommet shapes, to avoid drilling more big grommet holes. Should make headway with the installations tomorrow (while the sun shines).

 

Norm, you mention cat hair. I did'nt look at your links but this is what I did once. Got a free beeeee 80 T-Bird a zillion years ago. The old guy ironckly moved here from Winnipeg after he retired. He decided he did'nt want to drive any more and in his enclosed car port left the drivers door open so his dog and cat could use it as a house. The car was pritty frigen mint still except the spit bech seat and rear was pet thrashed. I had a junk 80 T-Bird with mint seats but the carpet was trash.

After fumagating and getting rid of the seats, and washing the carpet to still have it engulfed in fur I combed it with a "new" wire brush and bada boom all the fur came out ASAP and it really did'nt take much work. Carpet looked great after.

 

A regular 'scrub the rust off' wire brush, or one of those 'make the cat bleed to death' wire brushes?

 

Got into the harnesses... Again.

The Capri had a single tone horn. Mine has the dual tone horns. Requires heavier wires from the Fairmont. Done!

The oval grommet swap went well. I had to shave off about 1/8" inside the rubber grommet to get the Capri engine harness wires all in, but it worked.

Started assembling the engine compartment stuff, new AC compressor bracket, the nice Capri starter wire (all hidden along the side of the pan. - out of harm's way.)

The engine compartment harness was coated with oil, grease and undercoat, so I had to wipe every bit of it off, without dilluting the tape adhesive. Major PITA. Mineral spirits did better than the degreaser.

Lined up the bits for tomorrow's tasks. Some rain for a few hours early in the afternoon, but not even an 1/8th of an inch, so I'm sticking to my plan.

I took pics of the grommet swap, in case anyone does this, but I'm too tired to fart with it tonight.

The big difference in this 1981 Capri/Mustang harness, besides the 4-headlight wiring evilsmile, is that the lighting harness runs across the engine compartment to feed all the front lights and charging system. The 1978-1980 Fairmonts had seperate harnesses running to each side, but joined under the dash, to acheive the same results. I like this Capri setup much better. Makes it simpler inside.

 

I like that!
But since my car is all pulled apart at the moment too, I should have a look at the lighting harness and perhaps figure out the best way to add some relays.

 

That 1981 Fairmont has the same setup as the Capri, IIRC.