Progress Thread '78 Ii Rising From The Grave

jozsefsz

15 Year Member
Aug 11, 2013
1,243
358
124
Cleveland OH Area
Hi guys,
Just thought I'd share the progress on my '78 restoration. I started with a completely trashed hatchback... seized engine, rusted and water-logged transmission, no brakes, tons of electrical gremlins, no exhaust, body a mess, and interior just terrible. Good part was it came with spare engine and transmission, A/C, and a whole bunch of interior parts from a '76 Cobra and it's a Florida car so it has minimal rust.
Got it moving last winter, fixed everything else I mention, even have the A/C blowing cold. My kids and I redid the entire interior with lots of vinyl dye, new carpet, headliner, etc. Next up is the bodywork and paint, I've already repaired a few spots but I'm in it for the long haul.
Here are a few pictures of what a junkyard Mustang's interior can look like with some vinyl dye and a lot of elbow grease. It's not perfect and it's not concourse-correct but it's a really nice transformation from where we began. Good luck to the other II owners out there!

mustang_dash.jpg
mustang_front_seats.jpg
mustang_interior.jpg
mustang_roof.jpg
 
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Thank you! If my exterior turns out half as sharp as yours I'll be happy. Rustoleum Vinyl & Fabric dye is some awesome stuff -- I hope it holds up well over time. At some point I'll pick up some nice Fox or SN95 seats since the originals are hidden under covers. I probably have less than $200 in the interior - including a headliner, Ozite carpet by-the-yard (that stuff was incredibly easy to work with -- a pair of scissors and some 3m contact adhesive), half-a-dozen cans of vinyl dye, and a dash-cap. Definitely a budget restoration from a very poor starting-point so I was happy with the outcome. Thanks for your reply!
 
Thank you! I'm hoping to get it in paint before the cold weather arrives. It's going orange like the door jams (from an ugly sunfaded brown), I painted those while I had the interior out. The link in your signature, is that your site / restorations?
 
Yeah the "home" website listed in my profile is for the two MII's that I own. Unfortunately the CBII project has been stalled for many years (but at least it's been inside) while the Ghia resto has been stalled for about a year. I was hoping to take the Ghia to the 50th anniversary show in Charlotte SC next year, but it's not looking so good right now...
 
It looks like you do some very expert work in your restorations. I'm more of a "slap it together, get it running and driving as quickly and cheaply as possible, and make it look good from 10ft." kind of guy. I can definitely appreciate what it takes to attain near-perfection. And I'm old enough to know I don't have the time or patience to do it, so lots of respect from me.
 
Hi guys, I finished up the exterior this week. Here's the final form. The pictures and the rainwater make it look quite a bit better than it does in person -- still needs to be wet-sanded and polished. This was my first at-home paint-job and I'm pretty happy with how it came out. The key for the frugal-minded: Tractor Paint (lots of good stuff out on the web). $25/gallon about $50 total for the paint / reducer / hardener and all the supplies.
 

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Looks great! Is that single stage Acrylic paint?

I've been reading up on the Rustoleum 'brush-on' technique which looks really nice if you have the body smooth and if you have the required time to buff it back smooth after each coat.
 
Thanks again!

This is the stuff I used ... http://www.majicpaints.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/8-0951-tb.pdf

They describe it as an 'alkyd / oil-based enamel.' You can pick the stuff up at Tractor Supply (or whatever it's called in your area). It's a single-stage and appears to be tough as nails when it dries and you use the hardener. I saw some folks were reporting that they weren't super-happy with the Rustoleum brush-on technique as it fades easy and seems to take a lot of time and effort. With the cheapest of spray-guns (an old siphon-feed) I hit it with about 5 thin coats and 4 hours later it was completely dry to the touch and very glossy. I'm no expert so it has more orange-peel than I'd hoped but I'll see what it looks like after a wet-sanding.

For my straight-from-the-junkyard restoration it seemed like a perfect match (I wasn't going to put a $2000 paint-job on the car). I'm also probably the worst painter I know (very little patience for the process) so if I can do it, pretty much anyone can!