June 2012: Driving Around Town

Now that the interior looks like this...

driving around is a bit different experience.
For starters there is some more noise in the interior and I figured out how those "gills" on the side of the car work. Once I got those things opened up, there was more ventilation in the cat. And I truly believe I was getting better fuel economy when I was driving around (less weight to move around).

And giving people a ride is a bit more uncomfortable... there is barely anything left in the car! A carpet, a steering wheel, one bench seat, and a dashboard is all that remains. But secretly I thought it was kinda cool.


I also took the Mustang on the freeway for the first time. Let me tell you... I was sweating bullets. A number of things could have gone wrong but luckily nothing happened. I cruised at around 55mph and everything went really well. That radiator I bought kept the engine nice and cool.

But driving was short lived. After talking with Robert, I scheduled a meeting time with Carlos (the body guy).

June 2012: Taking the Interior Apart (Day 2)

I showed up to the warehouse the next morning with high hopes of getting things done. I got tools I need, the zip-loc baggies, and a real big box to take care of the miscellaneous interior body panels.

Just like Gerry said, start from the roof and make my way down. When I started taking off the roof panel I was greeted with a pleasant surprise...

Yeah, I found a two-barrel carb gasket in the roof in my car. How in the blazes did that get up there?!?!

As I kept making my way down things were going real smooth. Carefully taking parts off and bagging them. When I removed some of the bigger interior panels I found some spider-webs. Apparently my car was a safe haven for all sorts of critters up in the mountains!

I had a lot of fun taking the car apart. It was really cool seeing how all the pieces fit together. One thing I was continuously vacuuming up the dirt and cleaning the grime that formed in the car. I was really pleased myself for doing such a good job (and without breaking anything!)

Here's what I took out of the car...

It looked pretty naked in there while I continued to drive around town.

June 2012: Taking the Interior Apart (Day 1)

Unfortunately I did not any work done on the car during May because I stayed in Chicago longer and I was spending my time studying for the LSAT (I didn't take it in the end, I need more practice before I take the real one). I picked the car up from Fords Only because I was planning on doing the body work while I was in school.

When June rolled around, I decided that I should begin taking the car apart so when I DO turn it over to the body shop I can save some money. Great! But where do I start??

I went back to my friend Gerry to ask for some guidance. He told me that I should take off some the exterior trim but not the bumpers. I am legally required to keep them on. Before I knew it we were taking some exterior parts off the car... probably because I was asking too many questions.
We took off the rear bumper to get access to some of the rear trim pieces.

After I took this photo, Gerry pulled out a can of black spray paint and hit all the red parts. It looked a lot better when it was all one color.

We tried taking out the radio antenna out but to no avail. Meanwhile, I'm still finding pine needles!!


I then asked where do I begin when I want to take apart the interior. He told me to work from the top down (roof to carpet). He told me to be sure to bag all the little screws that come out of these interior panels, so I can keep track of them and probably reuse them.

One piece that really concerned me was how do I take out the back seat. Turns out it was easier for us to take it out than have him explain it to me. It was tougher than I thought but we got it done (and without breaking anything!!)

Really productive day especially since I only planned on asking questions. I was so pumped that I decided that I would spend the rest of the next day taking the rest of the interior apart.

Easter 2012: Body Shop Homework

During the school year, Fords Only was able to get hold of a body shop for me. I was told that this is a good shop and that they were ready for my car. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the great news but I had to ask the big question... how much??                              $9800. This really is a good price for all the work the car needs but I don't have that much money to throw down. I turned it down and had to keep looking.

I headed back to California for Easter with the family but since I home I could do some (car) homework. 

I asked some car friends and tried talking to other people at Donut Derelicts. I was learning a lot about the common body problems that Mustangs have, how body shops work, and what I can do to save some money.

This was all great info but I didn't have a shop picked out yet. I talked to my friend Robert and asked for advice on the situation and he gave me just the answer I was looking. He told me about his friend Carlos who was really good at body work. Carlos is Robert's guru in all things body related, Score! I was told that we could set up a meeting with Carlos when I was back in California for summer. 

It was a long wait!