Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Nice clean floor pan. Fun to see original colors like that.

And that picture of the stripper in your car..... I know nothing! Nothing! :lol:

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Being from NY and looking at sooooooooooo many cars with rust or badly patched floors before I bought this one, it was so awesome to see those clean original paint floors!

I promise there's been a lot more done to this car, I've been very busy. Teaser shot of the new TMI interior. The seats are now "bolstered", have thicker padding, and a head rest. I'd say they're damn near as comfy as the seats in my 2011 now...

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Lookin sweet Redneck...I love those 2 tone seats!

Just a heads up, I finally dropped the coin on a Borgeson conversion box. You may want to look into it.
I also found out that you can retro fit a 68 collapsible column into the earlier stangs and retain the early style collar and TSS switch housing. Cleans up the underside nicely and the collapsible column is a huge safety improvement.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

How do the TMI seat covers do the bolster - is the new foam sewn in pockets?

Nice!

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

If they are anything like the TMI sport seats I put in the Chevelle, they have new foams that have an extended bolster and the covers are designed to be used with the foam.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

I actually just went out to take pics of the foams for comparison, but yes, this is 100% correct.

While I've only sat in the PS seat on the floor of the garage, it feels awesome.

I'm still working on the dash/wiring and don't want to ruin the new seat covers so I haven't done the DS yes, and the PS seat is sitting on the garage floor..

The top foams are actually an inch or two higher as well, so the seats look taller, I believe they do that to make their headrest kit "look better." With the stock foams it looks a little large.

They're also "indented" to fit around the seat frame to make the seat a little larger overall.

So, no, a stock seat cover absolutely will not fit over this foam, only TMI's sport seat covers fit the sport seat foam. They also have the sport seat 2 which has a lot more bolstering. I sat in one at Charlotte a few months ago. The seats felt amazing, but I thought they looked kinda excessive for a classic car, so I went with the Sport Seat 1.

First pics are the top foam comparison, last pic is the bolstering on a sport seat II

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Bottom Foams:

I know it doesn't matter, but it sucks my foams got so dirty... I was working on the car outside, I had the new covers and carpet out sunning to get the wrinkles out, I had the car open and covered in plastic to paint the dash, it was beautiful out, then all of a sudden it started pouring rain... no wind, no gray clouds, just started pouring with the sun out :crazy: I had to grab everything and throw it in the garage, I was sanding the dash at the time and got primer dust all over the foams.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Strippers love my car! :lol:

I was fixing a couple dings in the dash, and just trying to scuff and reuse the old paint, but the area around the radio was so crappy/screwed up I had to strip it bare, and there's a lot of contours... so out came the stripper! Did a good job to... got it all bare :eek:

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

I've read about it. My box works so well right now, and it's not leaking a drop, I think I'm going to leave it.

I'm not too concerned with the steering column. I'm 5'8", 175lbs, when I drive the steering wheel is almost a foot and a half away from me, and I have 3 points. It would have to be one hell of an impact to move it back that far, but I would like to do the mod *someday*. I have to walk away from this car at some point, I have two other projects that need love. I'm "done" when I get the interior finished... for now ;)

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Another "while I was at it" project was repainting the valve covers and manifolds.

My manifolds look like crap and I read a lot of good reviews on a product called calyx manifold dressing. I tried it. It's awesome. I also used it on my starter and master cylinder. I will also be using it on my new 100 amp starter as well. If it ever gets messed up you just touch it up. It also never fully 1oo% "dries", so when you go to change spark plugs, etc, you'll get silver crap on your hands.

I stole these pics from the interwebs... I used an old toothbrush.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Before I get into that... seat comparison... almost forgot...

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Now for the manifolds...

I also redid the valve covers with new no leak perma seal gaskets from Felpro. AWESOME gaskets. I used one on my oil pan like 2 years ago, was leaking like crazy before, no it has zero leaks.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

It's hard to get good pics, everything is so crammed under the hood. 2nd pic is a "before" pic.

Last pic is the original paint marks on the DS. Pretty cool.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Some better "after" pics.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

This was not fun. The trans rebuild was easier... I had to take most of the dash apart to install the Mustang Steve clutch pedal kit. While it was expensive, it was worth it. The pedal feel is very modern and light compared to a classic clutch, most of which is likely due to the roller bearing kit (another Mustang Steve item). I went with the cable clutch kit.

First thing was to get everything out and get the firewall cleaned up and coated.

Have I mentioned how rust free this car is??? :D

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

I had to remove the pedal housing from the car. I had to remove the dash cluster and pull it through... :/ Nothing has been "easy" with this car...

1. This is the original metal "bushing."

2. Slowly grind off the outer tabs and when you get about 2/3 of them off, you can pop it out with a quick hammer smack.

3. This is the joke of a bushing for the clutch/brake pedal.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

1. I then used the old bushing to line up the shaft.

2, 3, 4. Lined up.

5. Welded on. REALLY UGLY. Haven't touched a welder since 2008... I was pretty rusty. Should have practiced first, but it's all going to be hidden under the dash. *The roller bearing was removed during actual welding!*

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

1. The kit come with washers to use as spacers. Welding on these is optional, however, you have to disassemble the pedals to get them in the car, so it's nice not having to fish these babies in place, so I tack welded them in place like the instructions recommended.

2. Ugly welds... I promise I've done better :lol:

3. New bushings on brake pedal. I hate that they're the plastic ones, but they don't see much abuse, the outer bearings take a lot of force from the clutch being used so much.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

This is the new clutch pedal. What's important about this is that it uses a cam on top of the pedal to mimic the original cam movement that was used in the fox and SN95's. Some kits just pull the cable straight back, but with this kit, the cable follows the cam for a smoother operation and I'm hoping longer life. I needed a new clutch pedal anyway (used ones were $ and new ones were $$ too), so I just ordered one as part of my kit from Mustang Steve so I didn't have to weld the quadrant on too.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Wasn't too happy about this...

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

1. The clutch stop and brake stop are fixed positions, so I started to experiment and found that a washer between the pedal arm and stop was perfect, so I welded it on, and ground it down to it "looked better." Mock up pic.

2, 3. Welded up.

4. Welds cleaned up.

5. Now THAT's better!!!

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Clean up and paint!

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

I got to use a toy that's been sitting in the garage WAY too long, maybe 2 years? I used the flux wire for this job, but plan on getting a cart and gas bottle when I start the firebird project.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

1. The clutch cable is then routed through the firewall using a support block that gets mounted from the top. You want to talk about nerve racking? Try keeping your drill from kick back into a nicely painted hood/cowl. Slowest holes I've ever drilled!!!

2, 3, 4. Cable clutch. You can also see the MC got the Calyx treatment as well.

5. The right number of pedals!!!

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

I did a lot in "phases", so my pics are a mess...

The steering wheel had some issues. The aftermarket ones are crap and the colors for blue are WAAAAAY off, so I might as well fix and paint mine. I learned this method from EastSideLowLife. Sucks he's been gone so long now :(

1. Crack.

2. Crack filled in.

3. Found more cracks.

4. Wheel with several coats of primer and paint.

5. Had to throw it back on...

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

The steering column got some love too. I took it completely apart.

1. Part of the column is outside of the car, this area needed some clean up and rust treatment.

2. Everything i did got a coat of spray can epoxy, and if warranted, a high build primer (the orange/red stuff).

3. Paint (neat paint rack, huh?)

4, 5. Miscellaneous column and vintage air parts.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

1. Gotta hang parts where I can.

2. Column going together.

3. Column done.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

In some more "spare time" I "rebuilt" the cluster. Everything worked. I just took it apart, cleaned it up really well, and re-painted the face.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

I was not happy with the dash. It is NOT FUN taking these apart. Everything is very crammed in there and has to go apart/together in a somewhat specific order to get parts in and out... which is why I believe the rest of the car was "well done" and the dash looked like a "quickie."

This is NOT TYPICAL of the rest of the car. The was was redone/repainted around 2008 and there are no bubbles/blisters or paint boo boos anywhere on the car. This was the only painted area on the entire car that appears to have been half assed, and with the hourly cost of shops, I can see why it was... I have A LOT of hours in removing/sanding/priming/sanding/masking/painting/reassembly. I can image it would have been very $$$ to do it right.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

1. Stripping dash.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

There's a lot of time into these pics!

1. Stripping dash. Filling in couple of dings.

2. Dash got a couple coats of epoxy then a couple heavy coats of high build primer to knock down.

3. Color looks weird in pics, but is very close to rest of interior. Notice ash tray was painted with dash. Learned that lesson from my C10. Painted the fuel door separate (88-98 silverado grafter onto step fedner) and it's a slightly different shade of blue!

4. NPD sent me a giant box stuffed with Christmas wrapping when I ordered the TMI seat foams, so I put it to use.

5. Another lesson learned... ALWAYS cover the whole damn car!!!

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

I did the back seat many months ago. It was the easiest to start with, the front seats are much harder to do (but still very much a DIY project) especially since there's a step by step video on youtube!

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Rear seat installed a few months ago.

Notice big ugly wrinkle? Yeah, me too... I let them sit out in the sun, used a heat gun on it, stretched it tight... figured I'd let it set a while.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Decided the carpet looked like crap, CJ's had a 30% off sale... new ACC carpet.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Which meant pulling the back seat out again... as well as the side panels. Nothing like doing stuff 5 or 6 times, right?

1. Nothing like a clean bare floor again :rolleyes:

2 & 3. This time I took the panels out and took my buffer to them.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

1. Carpet laid down, this time I glued areas that needed to be... shouldn't be doing this again for a LONG time!

2. Sweet.

3. Notice anything different? Big wrinkle worked itself out some, but I was able to get it out the rest of the way by using a heat gun and re stretching the material. I love the new carpet color. The old color was a really dark blue, I think this goes better with the car.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

That's about where I'm at. I'm doing all the tedious crap now. Wiring up my fog light kit. Wiring up the aux gauges and tach. Cleaning up the Vintage Air wiring and routing the hoses/vents. All stuff not really pic worthy yet.

I took this pic weeks after the Charlotte show, the car still had the track rubber on the rear quarter.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Looks great man... I can appreciate the amount of work that is going into that little 'Stang.

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

Someone needs to change their siggy. It ain't automatic any more! ;)

I was just in G'ville for the weekend. No rest at all! Moved stuff all weekend. Stuff into the daughter new digs. Moved the soon to be S-I-L out of his apartment and into the dorm. Shopping for this or that. Oh, and the traffic to and from IN to SC was horrible! Bad timing I guess. Barely got to see any of the Tigers/Bulldog game, but I did see that touchdown pass! WOW! Threaded the needle on that one! I need a nap!

Re: 1965 Ford Mustang
 

No kidding. I actually took a 1/2 day Thursday and Friday off to go to an Aerosmith Concert Thursday Night. In addition to people traveling for Memorial day, the concert was at 7:30, a stones throw away (literally, Phillips Area and GA Dome are right next to each other) at the GA Dome Ole Miss was playing Boise at the same time (WHY there? I don't know either), there was a Braves game, a gay pride parade, and Dragon con all at the same time/night. Traffic was horrible. We left home at 2, parked at 6:15. Should have only taken 2.5 hours. It took us almost 2 hours to go the last 5 or 6 miles.

I finished most of the wiring/hiding wires. I also got most of the PS back together. All of the carpet is in. I got pissed and quit for the day yesterday when I couldn't get the plastic Vintage Air glovebox to fit. There is physically no way to get it in without trimming it. I got the one in my C10 in. This one is a puzzle. Had to step away from it :lol: