Getting There...

Work has been "restarted".
The second round of clear is on.
The second round of wet-sanding and buffing is over (on the body)
The paint is perfect this time around.
New coil-overs are installed.
Car is pictured returning from the 45th Annual Devereaux-Kaiser Antique Car Show in Sarasota.
Hopefully by next year's show it will be sitting at the same gas station needing a fill-up....

Finally...

It's back!
Finally found a place that cares about their work (Ashton Auto Restoration - 941.921.4570)
Here's the car in fresh clear coat - it looks awesome!

UPDATE - STILL WAITING...

Been a long time since the last update - the car is still in primer - ready for paint.  Problem is that the shop that I took it to (Hoyt's) keeps putting off painting it.  Seems that if you 'know' the owner then your car gets painted in short order - I don't 'know' Hoyt so my car as been sitting for months - I am about ready to pull it out of there and find another shop that gives a rip....

UPDATE - IN PRIMER

Here it is - in it's first coat of primer the second time around...please pardon the wide angle distortion.

UPDATE - READY FOR PRIMER - SOON

Block sanding almost completed - then off to paint.

UPDATE - ON THE ROAD AGAIN

On the way to the paint shop for round 2...

UPDATE - ALL APART

Sure does come apart easier that it goes together...  Mach is ready for respray - goes in at the end of the month.

UPDATE - BAD NEWS

The car went back to the paint shop in the beginning of September to have the hood reworked - I got the car back on Tuesday....to make the long sad story short - they ruined the paint on the front of the car, the rear quarter and got over-spray on everything (engine - even the oil pan, radiator, hood latch, wiring, rubber plugs, suspension, even the front wheel) - and they still didn't get the hood's stripe fixed.  So the next 'Step' is to disassemble the entire car and have it block sanded, repainted and re-detail all of the over-sprayed suspension and engine components....I will continue this blog where I left off - I'm shooting for January to re-start Step 66.
Drop me an email at sethcantrell@bigfoot.com if you care to know the ugly details....

Residual Stripe and Heavy Clearcoat

Step 65 - Prep Door Panels

The Mach went back to the paint shop to have some re-work done to the hood and front end.  No car - no problem.  I purchased replacement door panels from the Mustang Market (http://www.mustangmarket.com/door.htm) - in my opinion these duplicate the originals better than what anyone else offers.  The original panels were beyond repair and passenger side was even stamped REJECT.  Cleaned the wood grain panels.  Polished and repainted the the running horse.  Sanded, buffed and polished the stainless trim (amazing how many dings the seat belt puts in them...).  My car came equipped with two driver-side door courtesy lights (one of which was installed upside-down on the passenger side) - I found an original passenger-side bezel on ebay.  Swapped out the light bulbs for some LEDs (these are polarized - so make sure you ops-check them before final installation).  Stripped and repainted the original door cups.  Door felts are new from Re-Pops, lock inserts are new from Mac Auto, hardware from AMK.  Everything transferred over to the new panels with out any issues.

Step 64 - Headlights

Installed new headlights and original retainer rings.  Upgraded to Wagner Brite-Lites - don't worry, relays are tucked in next to the battery - this car used to play 'blinking headlights' on me (all the time) while returning to Dover AFB from Carlisle.  Reproduction buckets required a little tweaking to fit the original retainers.






Parts: new headlights, original retainers, all hardware new from AMK

Step 63 - Door Internals and Windows

Installed all of the door internals and door windows.

• Windows: original tinted (some light scratches and slight pitting), cleaned glass and polished window trim, installed new vertical rubber seals and new window weatherstrips
• Wiring Harnesses: original, cleared and repaired
• Locks: original, polished and lubricated, installed new gasket
• Inside Door Handles: new reproductions
• Window Regulators etc: all original with the exception of the window bracket gaskets and stop bumpers (new via NPD), cleaned, lubricated and adjusted - over and over again...
• Hardware: new from AMK

Step 62 - Roof Rail Trim and Weatherstrip

Stainless steel trim from yesteryear is awesome.  I buffed (using a $36 bench buffer from Harbor Freight) the Roof Rail Trim pieces back to like new condition - granted it took me a couple of hours - but the results were outstanding.  The original passenger-side trim piece was in excellent condition - not so with the driver's side - it was dinged, dented and cracked beyond repair.  I managed to find a good replacement up in Ocala (thanks again Roger).

Step 61 - Splash Shields

LH Front Splash Shield

RH Front Splash Shield

Installing the splash shields was not an enjoyable mustang experience. The originals were long gone so I did not have a template to compare against. This pair came from MP Products - not sure what other vendors reproduce them. Anyway, be prepared break out the heat gun and scissors - because I had to bend the crap out of both sides and trim a good 3/4 inch off of the LH side. The holes for the wiring clips were way too big - so I glued in a couple of washers to keep the clips in place. Should keep the headlight connectors from getting 'splashed'.

Parts: Reproduction front splash shields from MP Products, bolts from AMK

Step 60 - Fender Extensions

Installed the LH and RH fender extensions. Both original extensions were in excellent condition and came back from the paint shop looking great.  The original grilles had multiple layers of over-spray and required a little TLC with some Easy Off followed by a fresh coat of trim black.  The original headlight buckets were rusted out - I replaced them with new reproductions.  All hardware from AMK (extension studs, bolts, grille screws, and headlight bucket adjusters).

Parts:  original extensions and grilles, new rubber seals, reproduction headlight buckets, all new hardware

Step 59 - missing Holes

Driver's Side

While pushing ahead with the door wiring harnesses, I noticed that the paint shop forgot to drill the harness holes in both doors - aaargh...  Rather than take the doors off and attack the problem with a hole saw, we elected to use a 2 1/4 inch punch to make the holes in the front of each door.  Worked perfectly with minimum hassle (since the doors remained in place).

Step 58 - Door Mirrors

Installed both door mirrors. The original RH mirror was great condition - paint shop did a fine job on it. The original LH mirror's glass was chipped and the remote cable was toast. Replaced the whole thing with a reproduction.  Harbor Freight's $17 rivnut tool did the trick on the threaded inserts.

Parts: Original RH, reproduction LH, rivnut and bolt kit from AMK, gaskets/pads from NPD

Step 57 - Door Vents

Resurrected the original door vents.  Fortunately, the rubber flaps were in pretty good shape - but the plastic needed a light coat of paint.  To keep the paint off of the flaps, fill the bottom of the vents with two layers of BBs - works great!

Parts: original vents, stainless screws from Ace

Step 56 - Coil

Installed a new coil and coil bracket.  All of the usual places to install a coil are all gone - improvised by mounting it on the intake manifold by using a longer front left intake bolt and a 1/2 inch aluminum spacer.

Parts: coil - epoxy filled MSD Blaster (sans garish sticker), bracket - Scott Drake by way of NPD, 12pt flange bolt and spacer from McMaster-Carr

Step 55 - Transmission Cooling Lines

AOD + 351C + Aux Cooler == bend some transmission cooling lines because nobody makes a set that actually fits.  Picked up some stainless steel line from McMaster-Carr (5/16 OD). Spent some time practicing on some old steel line to get angles around the starter right.  Annealed the stainless before making a bend and at each stage of flaring.  Buffed off the heat marks (thanks Chris).  Used rubber hoses to attach the lines to the radiator and the output of the cooler.

Step 54 - Transmission Cooler

Installed a new B&M Transmission Cooler to help keep the AOD running cool.  Lines run from the transmission to the radiator then from the radiator to the top of the cooler and then back to the transmission.  I tried the next size up (1.5 inches thick vs. .75 inches) but it interfered with the horn - so it's on it's way back to Summit.

Parts:  B&M 9,800 BTU Cooler, custom bent lines (took me a bunch of tries to get them bent just so...)