My Mustang

I bought this Mustang new January, 1987 in Florida. The car has been a daily driver ever since. I started a restoration in 1998 shortly after sliding through a barbed-wire fench (the fence didn't look to bad after the incident).

Restoration

The car was gutted and unsable between August and December 1998. During that time, the exterior had all dings removed, damage from the barbwire fence erased, the hatch (only body part that had any rust) replaced, and received a base/clearcoat paint job. While the exterior received it's treatment, I went through all the interior components that I removed from the vehical before delivering the car to Daniels for the exterior work.

Most of the vinyl components were in good shape - no major scratches. Those with major gouges, I used an epoxy putty which I then textured using a mold I made using epoxy on good sections of the peice. Once the parts were cleaned with alcohol, I applied a two part paint (a special plastics primer and a plastics color spray). The surface results are amazingly scratch resistant and look great.

The center console showed the ten year of abuse it had taken. Some parts had cracked, the parking brake boot was mostly gone, and the top armrest split. The broken parts were either replaced from junkers or rebuilt/repaired using fiberglass. The paint process for vinyl components applied, and the resulting console could be mistaken for the what it looked like new.

The seats were in good condition, just dirty. Brought them to the local car detail shop for cleaning.

After 3 months, the exterior was completed and I returned the car to the garage. The weatherstripping had been beaten by both Florida and Texas sun, and was replaced. The dash itself had plastic components that needed repainted. New carpet was installed, followed by a new dash cap, restored console, vinyl trim, and finally seats. The only exterior changes I made was to the trim. The original colors called for gray paint with dark gray trim - I wanted better contrast between the two so the trim was done in black. I laid red strips in the molding lines of the trim that ran around the car, and added mustang decals in the quarter panel windows.

The last steps to this restoration I spread over the next few months. A remote door lock and hatch system was installed, along with all new sound system (Clarion CD/Recevier and new speakers). The transmission was rebuilt, during which time the clutch had to be replaced again - last one was replaced less then a year before (be sure to replace the rear engine oil seal when replacing the clutch: Thanks Aamco).

Today

Currently, the car has over 141,000 miles on it, has no rust, runs smooth and reliably. (The photo to the right was taken on the 140,000 mark).

While I'm not trying to make it a true muscle car, I am making modifications to improve its performance. I've done most the standard mustang modifications like removing the air silencer, using a K&N filter, and moving the timing to 10-14°. When parts fail or are due for replacement I've been upgrading them, like 9MM wires, KYB struts, shocks and quads, and tires - returned back to a V rated tire - whooo, what a difference. Wish I had upgraded the cooling system when I replaced it several years ago to a higher performance pump and electic fan - couple more years maybe.

The next modifications involve the drive train. Dump the factory shifter for a shorter shifter like a Pro 5.0. Also at some speeds the rear end whines - many thanks to the AAMCO folks which several years ago mis-assembled something and jammed and bent the pinion gear (The same people that replaced the clutch without checking if the rear oil seal was leaking, it was and they weren't asked to replace the clutch 10 months later). Been running 3.08 gears, which get me 20mpg in-town, but I'll trade a mpg or so for snappier starts.

These are the major items that I've done or plan to do to this vehical: