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

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So as usual, I had my eye out for Recaro parts. Picked up an entire set of gray inserts. Nice foam too.

The color is more true light gray than my current set.

So next I'll take the covers off and toss them through the wash cycle a few times to get some of the dirt out.

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You can see my current covers are gray, but compared to these they look almost purple
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Added bonus was door material. I wanted to try and recover my door inserts with these, but don't think I have a straight shot to get a clean piece. I might have to improvise

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Simple green, a stiff scrub brush and then a cycle through the wash really cleaned up the door panels. Nice and light colored compared to the inserts now.

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Now the challenge is to figure out how to recover these in this material. I'll need to get creative.
M
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Up next, I'll remove the covers from the seat foam and do the same cleaning to them.

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Before
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And after stripping the covers off, hand scrubbing and two washing machine cycles. Temporarily stretched over the foams while they dry.

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In the car, these will be a nicer material for the inserts.

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Need to order the proper stapler for upholstery that spreads the staples outward. Then I can install these tighter on the foam and secure. They did develop some small waves in the material from the washing, so i'll need to stretch and smooth those out.
 
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So today I pulled the car out of the garage and began tweaking some of the suspension adjustments. Height, Caster, Camber and worked on toe a tad. Took car for a ride but quickly turned around when I remembered all 20 lugs were just snugged and not torqued.

But from my brief ride...coil overs ride waaaaay nicer!

Anyway, pulled out the drivers Recaro and set out to replace the insets with the new gray cloth inserts. They really cleaned up well.

Discovered that Amazon sent me the wrong staples to secure the covers to the foam, so I had to stop. Need to steam out some of the wrinkles and then secure to the foam.

Some sneak peaks. Keep in mind these are loosely mocked up. Should tighten up nicely

Comparison of the dark gray vs light

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Before
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After (sorta)
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Started working on the drivers seat now that I have the correct staples to secure the fabric. The original covering had a little spray adhesive in the middle to keep the material flush. I excluded that, but think it might be a good idea. Need to break it down and redo.

Dark vs light gray
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Preliminary teaser
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Drivers done. I'm happy as a clam. The cloth center is comfortable and grippy. Next winter I'll pull the back seat and have a shop changeout the inserts to match

Keeping them clean is going to be a pain.

Still gotta pull the pass seat to change it out
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Oh and my donk wheels. I'll have to do a 1-lug conversion to mount these

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Rollin on ribcrippers yo
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Pharis tire company closed in the mid 1940s, so these are old ass tires.
 
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Man I bet those seats are comfortable! Looks really good man!

I find myself sneaking in the garage, sitting in the driver's seat and just enjoying it. They are really comfortable seats and the seating position (for me) is just perfect. Really glad how this turned out in the long run considering where I started almost 2 years ago when I bought those TMI seats with the pink Inserts.

Of course, now with the lighter cloth material in the center, i'm paranoid about getting it dirty. I don't really drive the car when i'm dirty, but i'm worried about a greasy hand on the cloth when doing something under the hood. I'll probably just swap in a junk seat when it's time to do extensive work.

At some point soon, i'll try to brainstorm how to do the door panel inserts. Then the challenge will be finding similar material to redo the back seat like @hoopty5.0 did.


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ANyway, time to drive the car. Things to do first.

-Double check my front suspension to make sure everything is tight. I did torque everything down, but considering I had it completely apart, it makes sense to go through it real quick before I start doing 80MPH in a car with no airbags and old seatbelts that might still work.
- Finish setting my toe. Right now it's toed out. Really just need some time to set up my string and measuring setup to align it properly. Might do that this week
-Torque all the lug nuts
-Couple short rides to settled the suspension and then double check ride height, camber and caster


I'll also probably need to roll the fenders too soon. I have the tool and a new heat gun, so again..might tackle this one night in the garage.

Of course I have some house projects competing. Currently gutting my existing 3-season porch to install new sliders and windows. This should tie up a few weekends.
 
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So went for the first ride of the season. Car felt great. Suspension really made a difference in how it feel. It honestly rides damn good for a fox body..I'm impressed. Just the front coil overs alone made s much softer ride, but still no body roll when I throw the car around.

Alignment was off a tad. Just readjusted it a few mins ago. Needs a test drive. It's aligned but was a tad off center on the highway

Rear we a bit high so I lowered it a tad. Rolling the fenders is on my to-do list one night after work.

Found the source of my annoying squeal when I drive. Tailshaft seal was bone dry. A little lube an drew it quieted right up. Been chasing that for almos a year now.

Recaros feel damn cozy and I got a few compliments on the seats alone when out driving and stopping for gas or to check out a few things.

My hesitation is back. It's not fuel related. Car just falls in its face when I go WOT. Wish I could data log now.

I need paint correction bad. I might sub it out. Buddy does mobile detailing, and I feel like I should just fork over the money and have him fix the paint.

No mods for the summer...just cruising. I've pretty much got the car where I want minus the engine mods. Those will come later.

Just waiting for LMR to do a 10% off sale to get my K member.....
 
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Another cruise. Alignment almost spot on.

I like the lowered rear setting, but I need to roll fender lips soon. Febder roller and heat gun standing by

Car ran nicely today. The MAF conversion feels no differently than when it was speed density. Easy swap.
 
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I have the e-brake lever and shifter boot cover with the red stitching that matches your new seats, installed in my car. LoL

If you could do the Halo conversion and send those my way, that would be great. :jester:

I've debated swapping them out. I'd have to buy the armrest cover as well. One of these days when i have less to do. Right now i don't think it sticks out too much.

Im searching for Recaro halo headrests, but the challenge will be recovering them to match. I kinda like the block headrests though. They remind me of the 87-89 GT seats.

BTW, i'm totally convinced that in the 80's Ford basically subbed out to Lear to build recaro rip-off seats. Look at the bolstering and insert layout of the mid 80's Ford seats and you'll see they are very similar to recaros. They even both have the pull out thigh bolsters. It's like Ford didn't want to pay recaro prices to use the seats, and contracted out to build a copy.
 
Fender #1 rolled tonight
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What a PITA. Even with my heat gun blazing hot, still got some cracking and paint chips. Just gonna have to touch it up. Nothing on the visible lip, but if you poke your head under you'll see some bare metal. Fortunately my car isn't a show car with its nearly 20 year old repaint showing its age at times.

But still, it needed to be done. On drive at lowered height was slicing my tire. Should clear now.

Still gotta do the other side. Took me roughly an hour going slowly just to heat and roll and readjust.
 
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