so yeah, anyway, fast forward to november 2022 and I was going through some sort of depression I never thought would ever happen to me. Wife was like, you need a project to get yourself back on track and I agreed reluctantly so I started looking around. I had sold my 88 turbo hatch in 2019 for $13k to help us with our daughter's medical bills before we finally (thank god) figured out her issue was dairy and wheat allergies...and sulfa drug allergies which nearly killed her. I had about $2000 left over from that sale and said to myself...I can either buy a car for $6-8k and it still have issues, or buy something cheap with issues and work on it at my own pace and not have to dip into savings for the initial cost.

as it was christmas time I figured I would come across some deals and of course mid december I came across this 95 gt vert. We live in charleston, sc about 3 miles from the beach so a vert for beach cruising made sense. this car was in beaufort and the guy sucked at advertising it but I still got my wife to drive the hour there with me where I looked at it for about 10 minutes and handed him $900. That was the damn scariest drive back on US 17 I have ever done. speedo didnt work (among a LOT of other things) and it shook like hell and had a weird hesitation but it still made it and didnt overheat.

 

first thing was first. my brother had a 96 v6 vert that had been in my dad's paint booth since about 2004 when we put a new top on it and put a supercoupe engine into it. he was even cheaper than me and didnt want to pay the $200 for a chip tuned for the injectors so it sat and eventually mice got into it and tore up the wiring. I bought my 95 vert knowing full well if I offered him $1500 for whatever I wanted off it as long as I helped him completely part the rest of the car out and split the money he would take it. which he did so first things first. I pulled the interior out of his, all weatherstripping, and the convertible top with frame. and no, I do not have a garage big enough to put a car in, so I have always had to work around the weather with working on this car.

first priority was putting his top and frame on as the original top frame was bent on the driver side and the top was not even a real top, it was actually fake leather vinyl seat material that was glued (and hand stitched might I add, just look and you will see by the window haha) to the even older top and it all leaked and the windows were not adjusted.

(10/17/24 edit: found the online post for it here: Log into Facebook at least partially)

Got the top swapped out and new weatherstripping on and then adjusted the windows for about 2 weeks before I got it all dried in to the point I was comfortable swapping the interior without ruining it from leaks.

edit 10/17/24: found some more pics of the hack job to the top. they just stapled the pleather to it and glued it in place. Only reason I even cared was I had to take it all apart to get the keyways as I lost them from my brother's car. I just laughed and took pics as I tore it apart.

 

hmm weird how the pics wont stay in the order I added them? oh well. so after I got it dried in (yes that was a plastic bag the PO had jammed into the front weatherstripping. Its odd to me. I'm cheap but this guy was just out of this world cheap. used weatherstripping is $5 at the beaufort u-pull yard as an example...oh well. My interior plan was to redye the interior as I went through everything with the SEM interior dye paint. as of 7/25/2024 I realized they are discontinuing it and it will be mix-to-order in the future so I bought up all the cans of saddle tan and a couple cans of black to keep for future touchups. SEM is what LMR rebrands as their own interior dye in case you didnt know. back when I had my fox, they were still leaving the SEM coding on the bottom of the cans. they got smart and started using different coding but whatever.

anyway, I grabbed the seats from the donor car as well as a set my dad had in his shop attic (he used to repair/resell foxes and sn95s) and pressure washed them all. I chose the best set for myself and resold the others and split the money with dad/brother. I also pulled the good parts of the seats (seat motors, frames lower cushions, belt holders, head rests, door panels) and resold all that. every penny counts to keep my overall cost down hah! Also, I was making trips to the local upulls with lists of broken/missing/nasty/other parts that I needed and getting parts cheap. I found out how expensive the spindles were getting as well as other parts and I would grab those and resell them and the profit went towards the car as well.

car smelled sooo much better after getting rid of the old carpet and jute insulation...

 

now that the interior didnt make me feel like I was crawling with bugs...it was time to address the suspension so I could actually drive it safely around and start addressing all the other issues (electrical, vacuum, etc, etc) while not thinking I was going to die in the process.

all new front suspension and power steering components went in and I got the brilliant idea to lower it. got eibach convertible lowering springs and put them on with new shocks front/rear. that was about the time I logged back on here for the first time in almost a decade. I found out the hard way there were two sn95 convertible spring kits. I inadvertently got the v6 ones though I do not blame myself as they were specifically advertised as fitting gt models. It literally dropped my cars frame on the ground

doh!!

no! this is NOT how its done. so maybe if you have a gt coupe you can use a v6 eibach spring kit....but not a gt vert. it was stupid. I couldnt even back out my driveway without the k-frame brace bouncing off the ground haha....I looked up under it and was like...this isnt right...my blue 94 gt in the first post had cheap ebay springs from back in 2001 (the uber cheap days) and it bounced but it didnt bottom out just sitting....lol.

I got half my money back from the seller which is more than I thought I would get...pulled the wrong springs out, resold them, put in the right ones I found slightly used, and came out ahead enough I went ahead and got some maximum motorsports caster/camber plates.

At this point I realized the local alignment shops barely knew how to align these cars anymore. finally found one that knew what they were doing.

 

after this was all done and the car was driveable, I put a new windshield in it (another odyssey by itself as only specialty places carry the windshields anymore apparently)...

also while I was under the front end replacing everything I noticed apparently the PO must have hit something HARD at some point in the past in reverse as the radiator support was bent forward, not backwards mind you. so I just pulled it as straight as I could at the time without ripping everything out...and without hopefully crimping the transmission lines to the radiator which miraculously were still ok...

 

After this I spent the rest of the summer of 2023 figuring out a hesitation issue that ended up turning into a crank/start/immediate stall issue. after about 3 months of fighting it and testing/swapping sensors and such I finally got the gauge cluster fixed and sorted (apparently the PO pulled the check engine bulb, abs bulb, airbag bulb). I got the speedometer working and the odometer working and fixed the printed circuit. Then I fixed the airbag issue with 1 of 5 upull control modules working (I figured out they are 1 time use only and then junk, makes sense though). Abs is still not fixed at this point as I simply cannot find another pump...but I'm thinking of deleting abs anyway so I'll address that this winter.

anyway, with the check engine light fixed and working I got every KOEO code fixed aside from a KAM 512 code. I pulled the computer out and it was corroded to high hell. I'm thinking it got drenched when the heater core went bad, there were rust stains ALL up in that area and inside the glove box. got another computer and car ran like a dream and hesitation was gone. fixed everything else under the hood and I was finally able to drive it around for extended periods now.

I lost all these pics but nothing really to see at this point anyway...just troubleshooting pics.

edit 10/17/24: if you are a group member you can see my issues here: Log into Facebook
there are just too many conversations and videos and such to cross-over to here platform-wise.

Finished fixing interior issues as well, resoldered the dash clock so it worked again. replaced seat belts with ones from 99-04 cars (I just bashed the lower belt receivers apart on my old ones, they were frozen anyway and retained the lower frame housing so I could keep the original lower trims so you didnt see huge holes in the carpet).

 

at this point, I came across a set of door panels that were in even better shape than the ones from my donor panel at the upull for $30 for the pair so home they came and I dyed them instead of the donor panels and resold the donor panels. I also FINALLY came across a set of good 94/95 tail lights so on they went! the same car that had the tail lights miraculously had the convertible parade boot in the trunk but it wouldnt lay flat. nothing a bit of time in the southern sun with some weight to flatten it back out. made some new straps for it for $6 from walmart craft section as well so now it stores flat in the trunk.

you can see other pieces parts in the background. I grab every t5 I find and resell them. I also found out that electric power steering pumps are very profitable as well. I get them for $30 and they resell almost instantly for $180~200. I also came across the correct tan steering wheel set for my car as it had a black steering wheel from a 98 mustang (it has the whole column apparently)...

 

at this point, it was finally time for paint! drove it up to dads house and stripped all the paint, touched up some dings here and there, fixed the side rocker covers with some epoxy and new clips, threw on an saleen style rear wing and then got after it with paint. then I put some new headlights on it as the old ones were garbage. all of this while doing a kitchen renovation so I never thought to get pics of stripping/painting it.

 

at this point, I could no longer tolerate the black wheels that were on the car. they just tucked too far under the car and even with 275/40s on the back they looked too tiny. I already had new tires put on them and they were 18s and I had no intention of getting another set of tires so that left me looking for 18s. I already knew exactly what I wanted which was FR500s and that took a bit of back/forth with a seller on ebay before I got a staggered set in silver/polished. 18x9 and 18x10. they no longer made 10.5s sigh. But it still looks so much better.

Then I addressed the remaining exterior trim that was all faded and whatnot.

resold the old wheels to some kid that fell head over heels with them. had no clue they were apparently a discontinued tuner wheel that was actually expensive now so I actually made money on them and got what I wanted.

 

at this point, we went for our first family outing in the car and immediately got stuck in traffic and roasted to death. a/c and heater didnt work and I planned to wait until this winter to do them but wife and daughter want to be able to go to the beach in fall and winter....so the plan to pull and redye the dash came along faster than anticipated haha.

all new a/c components and a new 3 core radiator was acquired. I'm still at the point of putting it back together as its either been the surface of the sun or raining (kinda like today with tropical storm debbie on top of us right now).

it was at this point I realized I had a 98 steering column as there was a plug I couldnt figure out on the column and when I looked at it while squeezed up under the dash, I realized the part number broke to a 96-98 pats module. explains the black steering wheel setup (PO probably just bought the whole column). I dont have a pic of the tan wheel setup as of yet but it is redyed and installed. If I would have known this was a 98 column I would have grabbed one or two 94-95 columns before they all got crushed at the upull. This also explains why nobody would just cut me a regular key for me as a spare swearing my key is a pats key...cause it is...even though I told them my car doesnt have pats.

Once debbie has moved on and everything has dried out, I'm going to finish straightening my radiator support out from above and then put the engine bay back together and pull vacuum on the a/c system and charge it.

Also, I thought at this point I had found all the POs "hackery" on the car...If I can find some other pics I think I have lost I will post up other hackery I found along the way...

but while I was up under the dash figuring out the above column issue I just happened to notice this garbage. no clue how I didnt notice it while the dash was out...

but yeah, I have had an issue getting it to kick into overdrive when I mash the gas and its always felt like I wasnt getting to WOT. considering these zipties probably squish when stressed...yeah....god dammit.

turns out it is a v6 throttle cable which apparently is much longer than a 5.0 one. I ordered one off fb marketplace from a mustang parter for $60 shipped that is sitting at my desk waiting for the skies to clear to put on. god I hope this is the last of the hackery I find...I've been ALL over the car at this point, I dont think there's anything left to discover...

 

So since I jumped into my projected winter a/c-heater project much earlier than expected I decided to start planning for my spring project ahead of time. A couple months ago, I came across a 96 gt at the upull with a flowmaster catback on it so I snatched that off for $50 and set it aside. Right now the car has a stock 94-95 catback on it as the PO had managed to mangle a mac 2.5" catback for a foxbody under the car with zipties and coathangers. If I can find the pics, I will add them. it rattled and was jammed up against the rear bumper and starting to deform it so while I was doing the springs and shocks and the rearend was dropped on the ground, I pulled it out and put the stock setup in for peace of mind.

then more recently I came across a 01 gt vert at the upull. it had the 3.27 gears (my car has 2.73 gears) and is .75" wider on each side so that will also help push my 10" rear wheels out in the fenderwell a bit more to help fill them the way I want. There was 95 SHO out there as well so I pulled the 43mm calipers off it and put them on the gt rear and got it all for $140. I also managed to find cadillac ats calipers randomly and grabbed them for $60. I'm in the process up going through the rear end right now and then will go through the ats calipers as well. I got the adapter kit from S&S as well and drilled/slotted rotors front back along with the rear cobra adapters and anti-moan components. Just working at my leisure on this so it'll be ready to go in the spring.

This is also why I'm thinking of just buying the $100 abs delete block as well as I just cannot find the correct abs motor/block assembly with a guarantee it actually works as I'm getting a code 12 for the abs motor being bad.

I also grabbed the complete hydroboost setup off the 01 gt and the oem subframe connectors. I will probably toss everything on at the same time this spring along with the exhaust as thats the easiest time to do it.

I'm still on the fence though about doing the hydroboost conversion.

 

Nice project. Really coming along well and it's cleaned up nicely.


What do you hope to gain by going hydroboost? I did the conversion to my fox and it adds a lot of complexity that really isn't needed unless you have space issues with the booster. I don't find it made any sort of significant difference in performance. My car stops great with Cobra brakes front and rear, but it also stopped quite well with the vac booster.

 

Nice project. Really coming along well and it's cleaned up nicely.


What do you hope to gain by going hydroboost? I did the conversion to my fox and it adds a lot of complexity that really isn't needed unless you have space issues with the booster. I don't find it made any sort of significant difference in performance. My car stops great with Cobra brakes front and rear, but it also stopped quite well with the vac booster.

I just came across it complete so I snatched it up as, normally, by the time I found a car, pieces were missing. I have plans to put some aftermarket heads and rockers (I'll post it later when I can get out to the garage to get some pics...and I dont sink as its flooded right now) on but I've been reading I might need taller valve covers. I dont "think" I will as I went with comp stamped 1.6 rockers and I think they will clear normal height valve covers. I've read there can be clearance with the booster on some is why I've been holding onto the hydroboost. thats the ONLY reason I've been holding onto it just because of the reasons you pointed out. its a LOT of extra lines and I'd have to drill a hole or two in the firewall as IIRC the hydroboost master cylinder has studs slightly offset to my stock booster. I havent confirmed this yet though. I just grabbed it all for $80 and tossed it in a box in the back of my garage. I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and have to find it or pay top $$ for it.

I also still have two volvo electric power steering pumps and the gps speed controller for them as well as I was having a fit with getting the factory power steering pump to not be noisy. after swapping out 3 replacements from the parts store under warranty I finally got one that didnt sound like I scraping finger nails on a chalk board. I was going to toss the volvo pump in the fender well just to stop the fit of noise I was suffering from.

 

The car is completely stock at this point as that is what I wanted so I could iron out as many problems as possible before modifying it so I wasnt chasing my tail. As the a/c and heat are the last major issue before this is accomplished, I have been in parts building status as I want this to be fun for me as much as it is for the fam.

so far parts I've collected outside of what I've already mentioned:
u4p0 computer (for the 3.27 gear swap as this is the ecu for 94/95 cars with 3.27 gears and automatic)
a used set of flotek 180cc heads
edelbrock performer intake manifold
trickflow elbow for 94/95 cars
I have 2 throttlebodies. one I think is professional products and the other is a bbk unit. they came with the trickflow elbows I got...which came with intakes I bought. hopefully one of them doesnt cause idle surge issues as I've read
summit e303+ cam (in the tube next to the heads)
comp magnum 1.6 non self adjusting stamped roller rockers
255lph fuel pump and 40lb delphi injectors (got them a couple months ago from someone on here)
and the cadillac calipers w/adapter kit and rebuild kit that I havent gotten around to yet.

plan is first to do the rearend, catback swap, and brakes.

Then swap the throttlebodies just by themselves and see if I have any idle issues. If not, then I'll swap the intake manifold and elbow on and again check for any vacuum/idle issues again. then fuel pump (which I may do while I'm under doing the rearend).

th

en get squirrelly and swap the heads/rockers/cam in. At this point if the cam gives me stock computer issues I'll just stop and buy a pimpx-shift computer. I had an original pimp computer in my 88 and liked it and its one of the more affordable options with aode control. I'd also be able to toss the injectors in as well at this point.

and last week I ordered an on3 kit and y-pipe which will be the final piece to go in unless I need to do a stall converter for the cam but I've read that I can get away with the stock converter.

 

The car has come a long way and you did a lot of work to it. Definitely a good project thread and thanks for sharing all you have so far. Can’t beat the price paid initially for a project vehcile though, especially a 5.0.

 

Wonderful write up. I thoroughly enjoyed your pain and suffering…!

It’s hard to believe what people can do to what was a really expensive (in 94) mustang Gt convertible…. Total butchers were the previous owners….

That’s why I tell people that I wouldn’t sell my 94 GT Vert than I bought in 95, as it’s a totally unmolested car. It would be hard to find another one like it. It’s got 56,000 miles.

The only mods on mine are MM full length sub frame connectors, Koni Struts/shocks, Summit Racing shifter and Ford Racing Red ignition wires.

I have my 84 Fox, also original owner, as my play thing….

Good Luck with your Quest to restore your beach cruiser!

Scott

 

Wonderful write up. I thoroughly enjoyed your pain and suffering…!

I am so happy my pain gives you pleasure.
Waterboy Nipple Rub on Make a GIF

that aside. property dried out after the storm but it has been hot as BALLS. not just any balls but demon balls. goodness. I have only been able to peck away at it....until today!!!!

so before today, the pecking was getting the tan steering wheel set correctly redyed and installed. as well as correct 94/95 tumbler/key via blue oval industries. thank you. then I resold the pats key setup and black steering wheel setup (the key on ebay is to not mention the word "airbag" and things work out). haha. F you ebay. but I luvvv you still.

so then I was still dealing with the extreme humidity so I researched instead for more winter projects. I re-read the instructions from edelbrock for the performer rpm intake set I found for cheap and realized they stated I would need a different from stock one. uh oh. looked online and realized after contacting edelbrock again....it has been discontinued since 2002. LOL. they did say that any bbk unit would work @$220/pop. I actually found a new old stock edelbrock unit on ebay for $180 shipped. score!

 

another thing I happened by which has been the bane of my existence since buying this damn thing has been the rear seat floor mats.....or LACK there of. I had no clue they were a friggin OPTION for convertibles.

regardless, I had a set I found FINALLY at the u-pull from a 2001 coupe....not vert mind you....coupe. but they were that weird weak off tan? color? I tried redying them but they were still too light no matter what I did. a month ago, on ebay....I saw them randomly...factory option convertible floor mats NOS. for $30 shipped? done!!!! I couldnt believe it.

for $30 they are everything and a bag of chips. they look gross in the pic but I guarantee you they are 100% new. yes!!! it just feels wrong to not have floor mats in the backseat especially since I have a 7 yr old who will be back there. yes. they are NOS but after that, they are floor mats so my ORIGINAL carpet that wont turn green like ACC does wont take the abuse....that is $30 well spent. I probably should have bought two pair now that I think of it. oh and the box did have the original ford part number on the other side, same as seen, I just didnt snap a pic of it.

 

the rest (putting the a/c under the hood and such back together) I was just going to wait until fall. its almost here. it teased me last week with humidity in the 60% and temps in the low 80s. I got spoiled and did a bunch of house projects and then kept looking at the mustang as my wife was like "clean this, fix that". sure....

then once I was done....98* and 1 billion % humidity.

was leaving the hood 3 days ago and saw a 10x10 at the curb. I stopped dead once I realized it wasnt a cheapo walmart or amazon unit. it was a first-up boy. those are the ones you want. they have arms that are NOT riveted in place. they are replaceable. this is key.

anyway, it had one broken one and two that were bent. I ordered 3 replacements from amazon that will be here on 9/15 lol. I couldnt wait. I had a spare piece of 1/2" wood I cut down to 40" and 1" and then whittled the upper end and bam! now I can work without my forehead frying. I just set up my box fan this next week and keep on rolling!! which I plan to do!!!

and yeah, I'm using "hurricane" ties hahaha. Harbor freight dog ties with straps. they have actually kept stuff tied down in the past during tropical storms/hurricanes. kind of surprising.

 

and I found a bunch of pics I was missing when I posted this. I had them on various FB groups as I was asking questions so when I saw them, I snatched them and am now putting them here.

dealing with the new rebuilt rack from autozone with "lifetime" warranty but yet the one line was crimped tighter than a virgin so I swapped it with my original one.

stupid rear cat back setup that was on the car and modified to fit a sn95 vs a foxbody...and the wheel spacers...and the stupid spring spacers to make up for the long since blown shocks....god it rode so badly...I almost couldnt believe it. this is the GOOD spring. the other one had 4 of these stupid spring spacers. I was soo mad and it was sooo hot I didnt think to take pics of that one before a scrapper took it all away.

 

you can kinda see some of the butchery in the previous rear axle pic but this one is the one. I was hoping I could find it. it was some sort of metal coat hanger wire that was twisted around everything to force the exhaust to fit since it did not have the correct hangers. it damn near burnt a hole in the gas tank outer cover. granted it was originally a $800 magnaflow 2.5"stainless foxbody exhaust system but they cut all the hangers off and just used coat hanger wires to mount it...fun times. I did keep some of the piping and the muffs for another project that I wont mention here as its not a mustang.

the funny thing is that this is one of the more "elegant" things the guy did. I had no clue when I bought the car. the exhaust looked "close" to the rear bumper but nothing like this. I was always driving around going "wtf IS THAT" lol. I put the stock exhaust I got off a 94 gt vert at the u-pull for $50 and all was well with the world. now I have a flowmaster 40 series catback I also got for $50 from the upull that will "hopefully" go on when I do the rear axle this winter.

at one time this was a really really nice exhaust. how/why he hacked it into place I do not know. nor do I care, out it came.

and yes that is as pulled. no hangers what so ever. all receivers were present but apparently they pissed him off so he rednecked the F out of it with coat hanger wire.

me? I will be installing a very simple used 40 series flow master cat back specifically for the sn95 chassis WITH hangers when I swap the rear axle out this winter....

and yes, that IS the infamous 70s evinrude 15hp with the much much coveted carb that converts a titled 9.9hp motor to a 15hp one. yes I have the title to it. no, you cannot has. gimme monies and maybes though.

 

oh! and I finally figured out my rear brake setup issue. I'm putting "cobra" rear brakes at the same time as cadillac ats front brembos. Im using 95 taurus svo 43mm calipers (they were what I found that day). I bought the aftermarket brake caliper brackets all over ebay and came across a set of oem cobra rear anti-moan brackets (that was kind of luck honestly). I bought bling rotors and they came with pads. they shipped the RIGHT rotors...but the WRONG pads. fuuuuu....took a bit of fussing in the extreme heat to finally look at part numbers. now I have the right pads and all is happy.

 

weather has finally cooled off for a little bit without raining like crazy and with the tent to shade me from direct sunlight I decided it was time to put the car back together so I can get it moving again.

I dropped the column to figure out what I messed up with the automatic steering interlock but will likely have to wait until the battery is back in before I can set it up correctly. so I left the interior alone and started putting the engine bay back together. I got the new compressor and all the new a/c lines back in. I set the drier in place but that will be the last thing to actually get uncapped and plumbed in so I dont moisture soak it before I pull vacuum on the system. ran into some very slight fitment issues with the ebay 3 row radiator. I had to bend in the driver side mounting tab for the cooling fan with some soft hits from a hammer and the driver side lower cooling fan rest had to be bent down and in away from the hole for the lower trans cooler line. speaking of trans cooler lines...sigh. they did not match the factory lines or adapters. I just matched one up at the parts store as a 1/4" pipe thread and got a 1/4-18 tap and retapped both. I did them one at a time and pushed some paper towel into the hole first. then tapped as far as I could. then lowered it and hit the hole with some brake clean before going to the opposite side and hitting it with compressed air to blow out all the pieces. test fit the fitting before wrapping the threads and putting them on.

then started putting it all back together. I had heard you have to modify the abs unit mounting bracket to clear these things but luckily for me, the PO did it for me when they hit whatever they did in reverse lol. radiator slipped right into both lower slots. I will either have to lengthen the lower mount for the overflow can or come up with something else. I'm thinking it will be something else such as zip ties for time being. that aside, its tight but everything clears.

I broke my original fan and kept forgetting to order a proper 2 speed fan so temporarily to fit everything Ive got a v6 fan in. I am going to look into ordering the correct 2 speed fan though. Since I need some room in the garage and the edelbrock strut tower bar is so huge, I went ahead and mounted it as well. I had to grind on both top mounting surrounds to get it to properly clear my caster/camber plates though. I will probably grind some more for more clearance when I put the performer rpm intake on but for now this will do.

hoping tomorrow to find enough time to finish off the under hood portion so I can pull vacuum and put the battery back in and start figuring out if I broke the shifter interlock or not...

 

so I pulled vacuum on it after a lot of back and forth with things. the 3.8 fan is gone. finally found a factory 5.0 fan that wasnt pre-breaker burning up issue. late 95 fan, oof. welp, that didnt go as planned and it was my own fault for forcing non-oiled fittings into place I think I broke a weld on the evap core. it would pull to -28* but not 30 and it would leak down overnight, even though everything was new. peeps told me the compressor could be a rebuilt unit but it was new. I just decided to vac it for 4hr (the drier is still useable at this point anyway), and then hit it with first a can of stop leak/dye/oil/fun stuff...all the things. It took 2.5 more cans and ran like a champ!!! I shut it off and left gauges hooked up and next morning it only had half charge. I put my sniffer to work and sure enough it alert immediately when i opened the glove box. fuuuuuuu...

got mad at it and just left the car the past couple of weeks. ordered a new drier and evap core. I have a plan in place as I do not have ANY intention of removing the dash again fully. I think I can peel it back and pop the core housing out if I take the lower core housing bolt out FIRST. will see.

this would be done but I really hurt my right wrist (i'm a leftie but darn I use this hand a lot hah). so I have just kinda sat around farting around.

had columbus day off so I went to the local u-pull to get a weather pack fitting for another project and decided to look at the mustangs they had. low and behold they had a deluxe 01 v6 still intact. I went back, got a phillips and bam, for $50 out the door I got an even better pair of door handles. couldnt believe it almost. at this point they are so old they all peel at the top and it sucks trying to tack them back down. even my current door panels I had sucked on the top edge.

these were perfect. nasty but perfect.

I jumped on them and then today's project a day later after columbus day 2024!

I will let the pics do the talking but here is the jist. I moved around in the sun as its getting cold outside. I used SEM paint which is what I used on all of the interior. It is a shade different from "well worn" saddle tan but is what you get in a can from LMR. These were deluxe panels with leather tops. they took some time to clean up but after chlorox wiping the panels and then degreasing them with paint prep, they sprayed very nicely. I thought I masked them but as always, I suck at it and missed some spots but I finally have some really really nice panels that wont have edges showing up as.....I dont know how, but all automotive upholstery shops closed here locally and I'm not driving panels 3+hr both ways and paying....oof

 

bit of a delay in things with the project but hopefully that will be stopping shortly! I've had house issues to deal with lately that have taken up all my free time however, last month my wife surprised me!

she is finally on board with a larger project I have tossed around at her the past 2 years since she has had to deal with tents and such in the driveway looking all rednecky...hah!

we do not have an "official" garage so I've always had to do my projects in the driveway after we moved. the "garage" on this property was a 12x16 "garage" a fox/sn95 is 15' long. with a bench across the back, there is no room for a car physically inside it. just is what it is. I've also packed/organized best I could but still had to get a 10x12 shed on the opposite side of the property. that and the 12x16 is half rotten and has mice/rats/squirrels in it that have done damage to things we have stored inside.

I told her if I had a proper garage I could use, I would be able to take EVERYTHING from the existing one and the shed, move it all in there and stored properly and still have my grandpa's boat and the mustang in there to work on/finish out of the elements...and then rip down the 12x16 and move the 10x12 over to the pad and finish it out with power and hvac as a proper she shed with grilling equipment out front on the rest of the pad, etc etc. now that our daughter is almost 8 she was like....just do it. I ran with it. slab was poured a month ago and new garage went up last week. I plan to epoxy the floor after the rain is down this wednesday (so I can epoxy to the edge of the garage bay doors and then put drip rails on top). then I plan to build shelving on the far 20' wall and work space along the 24' back wall. with board backing for tool hanging and overhead storage and go from there. I will re-use the electrical from the old garage. the roofing frame will be saved and moved over top of the she shed once it is moved so the overhang is then a vestibule for the grilling equipment and whatever else.

gonna try to make the best of everything I have available!

anyway, I'm super hyped for having an ACTUAL garage!!! its still tiny at 24'w x 20' d but man, it is leaps and bounds above an asphalt driveway with a 10x10 pop up tent and working around weather....I can actually leave the convertible top down while I fix the remaining issues...god bless!!!!

I will run electrical to it eventually as well. yay!

 

the old super full, super rotten, super miced out, "garage" that will be going down and the shed that will be moved onto the slab next to the new hotness...from previous post.

by the by, it looks like crap but that is a 1976 original mold scout runabout. from the first iteration of the scout boating company that puts out some amazing saltwater boats. it was cast by the grandfather who knew my grandfather at the boat yard way back and was given to him. its sat in a field for 20 years and is now raw glass again...gonna restore it and give it to my daughter.

 

ok, my back hurts. been a quick minute but I have been busy. I just dont like it when people dont update project threads forever. mine is currently in hiatus status. well sorta. as above...new garage built. I had no clue the amount of work I had ahead of me. oof. god I wish I was in better shape...and childless and single. I kid. I love my family. but they take priority and things have slowed...BUT! I'm about ready to start up again I hope soon! I got the new garage outfitted...its still a mess but I have everything out of it and began tearing it down so I can then move the "she shed" away from the new garage and onto the old garage pad. then wire it up, a/c-heat and then I can tear back into the mustang after I get everything situated and get my 59 apache moved into the other garage space. ugh.