August 21, 2001

Well, I've been working on this project for a few weeks now, and I decided that since I'm obviously not going to finish it anytime soon, I might as well share my progress with everyone.

I began with the intention of removing my rollbar and replacing the seatbelts with a new set of California Pony Car seatbelts, in parchment, which mount to the rear of the door jamb. Of course, why just stop there, with a clearly defined process and goal in mind, when you can leap off in untested directions, start ten different projects, complete none of them, then completely disable an otherwise working vehicle in the process? Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.

Well, as long as I'm removing the front seats to pull out the rollbar, why don't we mask off the dash and paint it?

I don't remember how I did it, but I managed to keep myself busy enough doing other chores that were even worse than this one, and scammed my husband into doing all the taping off. We used plain packing paper and masking tape. Instead of taking all the panels off the dash, we just masked around them, and over the knee pad and radio and gauges.
Then I gave him the tools for the steering wheel and said 'be a dear and take that off, will you?' Look at him go!
Next thing I knew, he had the whole inside taped off and ready to go. We left the steering column sticking out so I could paint it white as well. I gave everything a quick wash and then sanded it all down a bit...
While he was masking I cleaned and started painting the glovebox lid in the garage. This car hasn't had it's glovebox in it for months.
A week and two rattle cans of parchment paint later, and look at that! Looks pretty darn nice. Now I can get back to work on what I was actually intending to do.

So, when the paint fumes cleared, we went ahead and pulled off the rollbar.  As you may recall, it's rear supports attached to the wheelwells, preventing me from installing the rear interior panels without cutting big holes in them, something I REALLY didn't want to do.

but with it gone ...

The quarter panel fits in there fine, no problem with the steel rear divider, except it covers the upper attachment holes. I just pressed it in where I thought it should go and drilled two new ones, and attached the panel with sheetmetal screws. It's all hidden behind the rear seatback anyway. Finally, the car is starting to look like a normal 'stang again, and not some semi-race-ready mutant. Not that I HATE the rollbar look, I just want this car to look a little plainer. After all, I bought an old Mustang because I like the way they look, so that's what I'm going for.

So, then I decided that before I put the wheel back on I should put the new gauge bezel on. Since the newly painted dash was looking all purdy, the old bezel really just didn't cut it anymore.

But, since I was pulling out the old bezel I noticed the ignition switch, which was damaged by vandals who stole the car before I bought it. I thought, hey, I'll just pop that out and replace it. After all, I bought the replacement for it months ago.  Can you hear the ominous music in the background? This is my big mistake, coming right up...

Bent up switch

To remove the old switch, insert a paerclip into the hole on the front of the switch and turn the key all the way to the left. Old switch pops out, no problem. Now insert the new switch and turn it all the way to the right while pressing in. It will pop into place. No problem. Then I let go, and it popped back out again! (sigh) I tried it about 100 more times, and every time it popped back out, until my hands were getting sore from pushing and turning the key. Dang it. I should have known it looked too easy to be true.

There it is, the new switch, popped out!

So, I continued working on the bezel. I took the old one apart and reused the lenses. I cleaned them up with a little Novus 1 and 2. Novus is my favorite plastic cleaner. Worked miracles on my Miata's plastic rear window, and I've since used it on everything from car parts to pinball machines. Very good stuff.

Then I reinstalled the guage package. If you haven't taken your guages out yet, it's pretty easy. There's a lot of screws holding the bezel in, and then three wiring harnesses that plug into the back of it. Disconnect the speedo cable and you'll have the guage panel in your hands. It's pretty easy, just requires a little contorting to get your hand behind there with the column in place. Reverse the process to put it back. The wiring harness connections are all unique, so it's idiot-proof. I don't think it's possible to screw it up. If you have a factory tach you may have one more connection. I can't help you with that.

So, that's all looking very nice. Too bad about the ignition switch though, because I can't even start the car until I get that fixed.  But, I'm not done yet. Now I have to install the new seatbelts.

August 26, 2001

Well, I got back to work on the car, tried the ignition switch for what must have been the hundred-and-first time, and it popped right in! Dang it! The only thing that annoys me more than the fact that it held me up for a week, is that I didn't learn anything from the experience. Oh well.

Ok. I got to work on the seatbelts. It was a very awkward process for me, but go to the MustangSafety.com site for good pictures of the whole process. I didn't have a 1/2 drill bit so I drilled everything a little undersize and reamed it out with my dremel. Worked ok for me, but I guess a trip to the store for a 1/2 drill bit might have sped things along.

Please excuse the nasty doors, they're next on the to-do list.

So then I reinstalled the carpets, the sill plates, and a set of black kick panels I had kicking around. The car should have parchment panels, but the old ones were trashed and I had these black ones, so good enough. The car looks so nice with sill plates and kick panels again. Even old Bloo hadn't had kick panels in years. Then I put the steering wheel back on and cleaned up my mess. Wow, the difference is stunning. Everything is shiney and clean!

So now I just have to wait for my hubby to come home and he can help me put the bench seat back in. Then I'll try out the seatbelts, and hopefully everything will be cool.

A little bit later...

There it is, isn't that beautiful? Just like a classic Mustang should look, but with a few extra guages, a new steering wheel, metal pedals, and shoulder belts. Just what I was going for. There's still lots to do, like none of the interior lights work (map lights, courtesy lights), and the doors need to be cleaned and painted, and the windows don't roll up and down very smooth, oh and the front window cranks don't match and there aren't any in back at all. But still, it's damn near done, and that feels REALLY good!

Stefrobrts@stephanies-mustang.com