Mustang5l5's Progress Thread - Archived Progress thread '08-'20.

[Mustang5L5]

Por15 done.

I bought a quart to do this job, but to be honest the 4oz can would have been fine.

Not much to see, but pretty good coverage with one coat

Gonna let it dry a day or two and then tank time. I want to try to get it in this week. We have a photographer coming over Sat for some newborn pics, and I'd like to try to recreate this shot with my Fox. I need to driver the car over to some trees to offer a better backdrop than my garage.

Unsurebif this shot would look as good on the fox. Black/white shot from the bumper molding up with parking lights on and fuzzy background. Of course weather needs to cooperate too. Not going to try this if it's 40 degrees out

 

[Mustang5L5]

So tried to get the tank back in tonight. First install not so successful.

New tank plus new foam plus new straps meant if course nothing fit. I could not get the drivers side strap close enough to install the bolt, and barely got the drivers side in. I figure I just need to get a new pair of longer bolts to draw it in.

But, of course now the return fuel line gives me issues, and the end that slips over the body hard line has issues now. O rings are all messed up.

Since I can get this entire line new, I chucked it in the trash and ordered a new one from LRS. Getting fed up with these old lines now

So now to go find a place that sells metric bolts that are a tad longer.

Bummer. I could have had been driving it by now

 

[Mustang5L5]

Home Depot for once had appropriate hardware.

Stock bolts are M10 x 1.5 x 35mm long.

I picked up the longest "all-thread" they had. Really only need it for one side.

New fuel line arrives thursday. Take #2 coming up

 

[Mustang5L5]

Decided to try out an 03/04 Mach 1 shift knob

(Boot is from redlinegoods.com)

 

[Mustang5L5]

Fuel line came. Decent quality. Metal crimped ends. Not bad. It came in a bad marked "classictube" so unsure if there would be a savings sourcing it direct vs LRS.

MIL coming over tonight. I'll see if I can't get this tank in and round up some gas. I need to go for a drive

 

[Mustang5L5]

Done. I spent way too much time OCDing over fuel line routing and keeping it away from the exhaust and rubbing points.

I also OCD about how well these fuel line clips hold, but thats another story.

Anyway..tossed 2 gallons in and it fired up without a leak. My fuel pressure is now 41psi vac off, so I'll need to adjust that later.

All you get to see.

 

[Mustang5L5]

New project: going to rehab my doors a bit.

New run channel moldings
New window bushings
New actuator for the pass door.
Bags of correct door panel clips ($5 for 50 on eBay)
New Ford oem pass door switches (repros going in the trash)

Also going to rehab my power mirrors. The motors work, but they sound like they need a little grease. I also think one linkage each side is broken as I have no up down actions but hear the motor.

 

[Mustang5L5]

What did I buy now?

Here's a hint

 

[Mustang5L5]

I wish.


Just an OEM hood liner. Been wanting to put one back on for a while now

Interesting the Ford still makes these. According to the decals on the box, this one was made Oct '17

Clips are on the way

 

[Mustang5L5]

Damn you. I want that.

That's what I'm here for. Helping others spend money on their car

 

[Mustang5L5]

National parts depotbis definitely getting more creative on their packaging means.

I know LRS and AM are usually the top resto shops but NPD is actually pretty cheap and usually has NOS of stuff made from oem tooling. I've also price shopped and they at usually cheaper even paying shipping.

What I get?

My hood blanket pins and a front plate bracket

Yeah, I bought a plate bracket. Front plate required here and I have a Mystang-specific vanity plate, so I figured I'd mount it correctly.

The molding dates said 1998...so I assume they don't sell very many of these.

Let's see if I can get that hood blanket mounted tonight

 

[Mustang5L5]

that took all of 5 mins to install. Difficult to photograph, but new blanket and functioning hood light (with LED bulb)

Just undid what I did 20 years ago when I was a kid and wanted to go faster (and shed useless weight)


I'll probably swap my wheels this weekend and start pulling the drivers door apart to go through it again and replace some worn parts

Supposed to get flurries Sat, which means salt gets thrown down...which means no more drives

 

[Mustang5L5]

So ripped my door apart tonight.

My goal is to change the window guide bushings and edge molding this weekend...without trashing this. Yeah I know LRS sells repro plastic, but I like the fact these are original to the car

Also looking at my door panel, the sound deadened is pretty thin, so I may order new deadened from LRS.

As for I should have left alone...

I busted the part that secures the mirror to the motor. Now I need to buy a cheap mirror on eBay for parts. Ugh!

A little wd40 though and the motors quieted up and worked much better!

 

[Mustang5L5]

So yeah...no information on how to take a fox mirror apart at all on the net. Seems NOBODY has ever dismantled one?

Anyway...I broke it. The lens is glused to the frame and DOES NOT pop off. Lovely. It uses these plastic pins to secure the mirror frame to the motor

So how do you get it off? You need to tilt it to various angles and unscrew it, and then the entire frame and motor and wiring comes out as one unit. No real way to access the motor because of the pins that secure the mirror frame to the motor housing. You can see the various angles you need to get a screwdriver in here

Edit: FYI this is what broke. (snagged a pic online). The ring is secured to the motor housing and the frame slips over those 4 posts which are the typical melted plastic mushroomed plastic retainers. When I pried the lens out, I broke all 4 off separating this frame from the motor assembly. Not good.

 

[Mustang5L5]

So do I buy a mirror on eBay for parts? No. Do I buy a Chinese repro? No.

I bust out the drill and tap and tap the plate for 4-40 screws. Add some locktight and it's fixed

Now I can reinstall this mirror tonight. The passenger side is the mirror that's busted on my car. The motor whirrs but the mirror doesn't go up or down. Now that I know how to remove the motor, and the lense (if needed) I can buy a junk mirror on ebay for the motor and use my pristine housing and glass by drill/tap that side as well. So basically at that point I would just need to swap junkyard motors, and can keep my nice housings.

 

[RaggedGT]

Didn’t dave rebuild his mirrors?

 

[Mustang5L5]

So, for future reference if anyone wants to remove their mirror guts, tilt the mirror full in and up and you can see 2 of the 3 mounting screws. The third is on the inner flange by the wire

 

[Mustang5L5]

Mirror back on car. Lubricated and silent! Just the way I like.


Now, remember when I said I was going to save the door plastic?? Ha! There was no way to take it off without tearing it.

Unsure if I'll really spend the effort in reapplying the LRS brand plastic. It's a moisture barrier right? Well is it needed on a car that doesn't drive in the rain?

Sure as hell, the door bushings are trash. They look great, but lots of movement here.

AM has a great video showing how to replace these along with the window edge molding. I'll watch these tonight so I can figure out how to do this job and adjust the window after as well. I also need some window motor grease. Pretty dry in here after 30 years.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Rather than explain what I'm about to do....

 

[02 281 GT]

That's odd that they wouldn't make the window glass serviceable separately from the motor. The glass pulls right off on my Grand Marquis.