Flash's 66 Mustang

[Flash]

And that's the dashboard and steering column looking heaps better.

[Flash]

And in other news my favourite courier just pitched up with another batch of parts sourced from Rob at Sydney Mustang Parts.

Enough little bits and pieces to largely complete the refurb of the interior as well as the heater box rebuild.

Perfect timing. 

[Flash]

Now that the dash is painted, today marks the start of the interior rebuild.

I thought I'd start at the rear of the cabin and work my way forward.

So first up is the refurbishment of the rear quarter windows and I picked the passenger side one as the first lady for a shave.

The window winds up and down pretty smoothly, but I want to rust proof the internal rear quarter panel anyway, so figured I'd gut the insides as part of the process.

The little body seals are well knackered but I've got new ones in my latest batch of parts. Looking at the window regulator and rollers they look fairly decent. The rollers are cheap as chips so I've got a fresh set to install. Apart from that everything just needs a damn good clean and a bit of new grease.

Someone has butchered the plate that holds the slides for some reason, but its only a cosmetic butcher. The metal is all jagged, so I'll tidy that up while I've got it out

With the panel gutted I was able to inspect the metal. The bottom of the rear quarter looks nice and solid inside.

Seems to be heaps of dog hair lying in there (at least I hope its dog hair) .... so I'll get rid of that before I start squirting fish oil about the place.

A few "before" photos for your viewing pleasure.

Thanks for looking.

[Flash]

This morning's focus was the rust proofing of the passenger side rear quarter inners. After a good few rounds of compressed air followed by vacuuming I managed to get rid of all of the loose debris. In order to limit any mess on the new paintwork I masked up the window aperture  and then used a mini spray gun to slap a bit of rust converter on the bare metal.

While I waited for that to go off I cracked into the fun job of cleaning years of dirt and old grease off the window winder mechanism and related window guides.

Next up was a liberal coat of rust proofing that I applied using an under seal gun that I sourced earlier in the week.

Hopefully that should keep the old tin worm in check for a few more years.

[Flash]

I need to take a run into town to get more of the rust proofing goo to do the other rear quarter and both doors, but I was waiting for some parcels to be delivered this morning, so I decided to crack into the heater box rebuild.

Pulled it apart and it was surprisingly clean inside. I've seen Youtube clips of some Mericans pulling rat's nests out of their boxes, so counted myself lucky.

As previously mentioned the little plenum extension is well shagged, the internal seals have all but disintegrated and a few of the little trap doors were seized solid.

Slapped a bit of WD40 on the hinges and after a teeny bit of gentle persuasion they are now opening and closing smoothly.

The main housing appears to be made of some type of fibre based material so I just gave it a quick tickle with the water blaster and left it in the sun to dry.

The actual heater core looks mint and there is a little yellow sticker on one of the tanks, so I suspect it is a recent replacement.

The main metal trap door and housing is busy languishing in a vinegar bath and I gave the blower motor a quick rattle can reco.

I'll chuck some of that rust convertor / primer combo on the metal bits before I glue in the new seals and that should take care of that.

Thanks for looking. 

 

[Flash]

Mama got some new shoes today.

Just waiting for the knock off spinners to arrive to complete the look.

I've now got heaps of fender gap so I'll be able to dial in a bit of low which will make my heart sing.

Before and after shots:

[Flash]

While I was in town picking up the new wheels yesterday I dropped by the paint shop and purchased a 4 litre tin of the rust proofing goo, so this morning I slapped a few liberal coats inside the passenger door.

It's a real mucky task, but I'm feeling much happier now.

Just the driver's side door and rear quarter cavity to go and then the assembly work can kick off in earnest.

[Flash]

And .... that's the driver's door cavity done.

Did I mention what a mucky and tedious job this is.

Spray a bit of goo about the place.... clean your hands..... wait for the mist to dissipate..... take a few photos cause my head is too big to fit inside the door ..... check for missed spots in the photos...... rinse and repeat until you are happy with the result.

A few photos to prove it actually happened:

[Flash]

Even although the underlay and carpet are going to hide the 4 floor mounted cover plates, the OCD in me just couldn't leave them looking shabby.

So to reward myself for a good job done on the rust proofing I treated myself to a bit of flapper disk work followed by a light tickle of primer and then a dusting of satin black.

Even did the screws cause it's a sad life that I lead.

Smeared a little bit of non hardening sealer on the edges before screwing them down.

Final score :

OCD - 1

Me - 0

[Flash]

It's another sunny day here at Rough & Ready Restos and today I thought I'd finish off the refurbishment and installation of the passenger side rear quarter window.

During the cleaning phase I noticed that the 3 rollers fitted to the window frame were seized solid. Unfortunately they are riveted in from factory so not that easy to replace. Since the rollers were still pretty solid looking I thought I'd try to free them up. After giving them a good soaking in de-greaser and a good tickle of WD40 I managed to free up the rear roller, but the front ones were still solidly seized. So I bit the bullet and ordered a new set that is supplied complete with new factory rollers.

After spanking the rivets with a flapper disk I was able to knock the old rivets out, and fitting the new rollers and rivets wasn't as difficult as I initially thought it would be

With all of the parts now spic and span I gave the mechanism and tracks a quick coat of spray grease before refitting.

The window now rolls up and down smoothly and I am one happy camper.

Thanks for looking.

[Flash]

Today's little mission is the last of the panel cavities being the driver's side rear quarter.

I started off by stripping out the quarter window and mechanism.

Again, the backing plate has been butchered and since its a tetanus shot just waiting to happen I'll tidy that up. The mechanism has seen a bit of loving in the past and has a date of 2011 scratched into the surface, so I'm guessing it was done as part of the major USA rebuild back in 2010 and 2011.

The factory sheathing on the wiring harness is well shagged so I pulled that out and will give it a birthday with some cloth tape.

Apart from that the metal looks pretty solid. A bit of debris including more dog hair and a little bit of surface rust at the panel joints, but nothing a good clean and a little bit of rust converter won't cure.

[Flash]

And in other news I discovered this amongst the debris.

When was the last time you saw a bobby pin ?

Probably lost by Peggy Sue during a bit of back seat passion at the drive in movies back in 1969.

I guess it might not be the only thing that Peggy Sue lost that night.

[Flash]

And .... that's the last of the rust proofing done.

Pumped two litres of goo into the driver's side rear quarter inner as well as both front chassis braces.

Then spent the rest of the morning cleaning up the mess.

With that mucky job behind me at least now I can get on to the good stuff, being the reassembly.

[Flash]

Today's mission was the driver's side rear quarter window.

Again all 3 rollers riveted to the window frame were seized solid, so first step was to replace those. The little roller pins were well rusty.

Before installing the window backing plate I wrapped the rear wiring harness in new cloth tape and threaded it through to the boot.

Gave the rest of the window components a liberal coating of spray grease and wrestled that puppy back into place.

With both rear quarter windows now installed I was able to finally fit the new weather strips and rubber end plates. You can see just how bad the old belt lines were. 

I'd even sourced new screws for the rubber end plates cause I'm a lost case.

Thanks for looking.

[Flash]

Spent the morning fitting the glass and winder mechanism into the driver's door. Wow, what a difference the refurbished winder mechanism makes. Smooth as silk.

Cracked out the new weather strips and door seal and fitted those too.

Final step was to fit the interior door panel and related bling. 

And, that's the driver's door ready to rock and roll.

[Flash]

Just after morning smoko the courier pitched up with my 2 inch lowering kit for the rear axle.

Much excite.

Unpacked the parcel and ....... instant fail.

Not sure what this kit is for, but it's definitely not for a 66 Mustang.

Absolutely nothing fits.

Just waiting to hear back from the supplier.

[Flash]

It's a bit of a feeble update today.

Doesn't look like much but it took me a good while to align the rear quarter window frames with the door window frames.

Gaps are almost spot on now. Just need to clean my dirty paw prints off the chrome.

With this out of the way I can now install the rear quarter inside panels and then the parcel shelf and back seat.

[Flash]

Thought I'd quickly chuck the side trim on this morning before moving on to other things.

Err....... no .....

The $1,000 USA respray from 2010 comes back to haunt me once again.

Looks like the door jambs must have been painted after the lower side valance and I only noticed the ugly over spray  when I got down and personal. If it was just colour that would have been okay, but it's bloody primer too.

If I'd have noticed it earlier we could have painted it at the same time as the doors, but oh well.

Managed to ease most of it off with a piece of 1200 grit water paper followed by a bit of rubbing compound.

It's not perfect, but it's a lot better than it was.

Thanks for looking.

[Flash]

Well bless me father for I have sinned. It has been 3 days since I did anything on the Mustang.

So the story goes as follows:

On Thursday morning we took a drive into town in our Bongo van to gather some supplies and whilst we were there the clutch decided to pack a sad. Managed to nurse the bloody thing home and spent Thursday night sulking. Now to say that I begrudge every minute that I work on the modern would be an understatement. I absolutely hate it. What a waste of quality time. It's just so soulless.

Anyhoo, I figured I'd take a cement pill and just get it sorted, so on Friday morning I dropped the gearbox and was met with a vision of absolute carnage. The pilot bearing has shattered and one of the clutch plate springs had parted company with his mates. It's done a wee bit of damage to the flywheel too. Pulled the flywheel off and headed through to town in Mrs Flash's Moke which is the only vehicle that is going at the moment. Dropped the flywheel off for a skim and ordered a clutch kit. I'm hoping to get a call to pick everything up on Monday.

And that's my excuse for non performance on the Mustang front.

Oh, and it looks like I have found the source of the pesky oil leak that the Bongo has had since late last year. So I'll chuck in a new rear seal while I'm about it.

Did I mention how much I hate working on the Bongo.

Pics or it didn't happen.

[Flash]

With the Bongo languishing in the sick bay, I was able to crack into a few Mustang bits today.

Finally managed to finish off the heater box rebuild and it's looking mighty good even if I say so myself.