Al's 65 mustang restoration

Cleaning the suspension and running gear for painting.

2011-08-23T17:12:00.000+12:00

Well we are into the painstaking job of Cleaning the suspension and running gear for painting, years of built up dirt, rust, tar and grease. It is all coming up good though Im replacing parts where needed and giving the rest a blast or cleaning the rest by hand that cant be blasted then giving them a coat of paint to tidy them up.

THE PAINTING HAS BEGUN

2010-05-29T16:11:00.010+12:00

YEAH THE COLOR GOES ON, IM PAINTING THE CAR THE SAME COLOR AS IT WAS, WHICH IS A CUSTOM COLOR AND LOOKED GREAT ON THE CAR, WE HAVE THE ENGINE BAY PAINTED THE BOOT COMPARTMENT AND ARE READY TO DO THE DOOR SHUTS, WE HAVE PUT AN UNDER-SEAL ON THE UNDERNEATH AND HAVE PAINTED OVER TOP WITH THE SAME COLOR AS THE CAR FOR A CLEANER LOOK AND IT HAS COME UP LOOKING GREAT.MOTOR HAS BEEN BROKEN DOWN FOR REBUILD AND SUSPENSION PARTS READY FOR A BLAST AND GOOD CLEANUP AND A NICE COAT OF PAINT.

PREPPING FOR PAINT

2010-04-28T19:20:00.003+12:00

WELL WITH ALL THE FABRICATION BEHIND US ITS DOWN TO THE NITTY GRITTY STUFF FITTING ALL THE PANELS FOR ALIGNMENT AND GAPING, WE ROLLED THE EDGES ON THE REAR GUARDS FOR BETTER CLEARANCE, FILLER WAS APPLIED AND THE CAR BLOCKED EPOXY PRIMED THEN SPRAY FILLED, BRUSH AND SPRAY SEALED THE SEAMS MORE SANDING GETTING THE CAR READY FOR PRIMER, AND UNDER SEALING NOT LONG AND WE WILL HAVE SOME COLOR ON IT.

THE FABRICATION SIDE OF THINGS

2010-01-25T19:48:00.001+13:00

before and after shots of the seat frames.

the new roof on and starting to look like a car again.

the new roof.

the inner roof frame prepped for the new roof.

new rear quarter panels.

the new floor panel in place.

floor panels were cut out and replaced.

the car after blasting

the new cowl panel.

new door skins were put on.

we replaced the inner guards.

well we are full on into the restoration and nearing the end of the fabrication side of things what a major job! guards, floor panels, door skins, cowl, and even a roof!!! goodbye bog!!! hours upon hours of cleaning parts replacing window rubbers and cleaning up the seat frames.

DECISION TIME

2009-09-06T16:32:00.002+12:00

the rusty cowl panel

rust had eaten into the firewall

water had been leaking in through here.

leafspring mounts were knackered.

brass had been braised into the old roof.

the petrol tank even had a bog job.

Decision time do i patch the car up and flick it on or bite the bullet and take the task of restoring it!!! financially this was a tough decision to make,and also not really having any experience in this field made this decision even harder. But not wanting to make this car look great on the outside and a ticking time bomb underneath just to sell it on, to make it not my problem didn't stand to good with my morels so i chose to restore it. so the stripping down of the car begins and all its little!!! secrets are exposed and i begin to wonder have i done the right thing here! but i sit back and look at the big picture at least ill know what im going to have in the end and will feel good knowing that in the years to come ill be able to pull it out of the garage and it'll still be like a new car.

THE NIGHTMARE BEGINS

2009-07-20T11:44:00.003+12:00

A few bubbles started appearing under the paint this car had supposedly had had an extensive restoration prior to me purchasing it. But on investigation to what was going on under the paint where the bubbles were happening we were to find out we were going to open a can of worms, rust bog more rust and more bog. mmmmm. there was a rubbing problem with the left rear Tyre on the guard once the paint was off we realized the bog was 10 to 15mm thick and that the flare that was meant to be in the guard was non existent and was created out of bog!!! hence the rubbing problem. they had really done a good job of what they had done.

MY DREAM CAR THE DAY IT ARRIVED

2009-07-20T10:26:00.002+12:00

Id always dreamed and talked about owning a mustang but couldn't justify spending the money let alone afford one, but a brush with cancer changed my priorities life's too short you only live once!

my dream car the day it arrived little did i know my dream was going to end up a nightmare. this car looked great 18 months later it was a different story.