upholster a seat

I have read all the articles on the web that I could find about upholstery. They always seem to take the seat to an accomplished upholstery shop and then take pics as they do the work. This is great, but some of the little tricks they know are lost in translation since they do it on a daily basis and don't remember the rest of us don't know these things. One article I found had a professional using steam to help manipulate the vinyl. I am sure that works great but this is supposed to be a DIY project and who has a steam setup? So here is a step by step from a non-professional who learned by trial and error. Hopefully this shows a few things that the other articles have missed and it helps encourage to give it a try yourself.

Step 1: Get the seats out of the car with 4 nuts from the underside of the car that hold the seat tracks in place. Once the seat is out slide the seat track in order to reveal the 4 philips screws holding the track to the frame. Most likely the tracks need a little work to make them work smooth again which I will address in a seperate article.




Step2: Take off all the trim, vinyl, and foam. Everything is held together with hog rings and with some persuasion with pliers it can all be removed. Be patient, it takes a while to get it all off. Dont get overexcited and break something that you might need later. Once it is cleaned up inspect it to make sure the frame and springs are not damaged.




Step 3: In my case the frame and springs were solid. This is the seat back so it has the lever to fold the seat forward for rear access. This was not working and I could not fold the seat forward. I traced the problem to the link rod that had fallen out. Simply slipping this back into place and putting a collar onto it had everything back into working order. I used a wheel collar which is commonly found at hobby shops. I put a red circle around the link rod that had fallen out of place for clarity.




Here is the vinyl that i am using as seen from the backside. I am using the sport seat foam and vinyl from TMI which I have found to be of excellent quality. They don't seem to stock anything and make everything to order. So plan ahead and order it weeks before you really need it. You can see the pocket for the listing wire. The listing wire is a coat hanger style wire that slips into pockets in the vinyl to help hold it in place. It will become more clear as we move along. In my case I re-used the wire from the original seat cover, but a coat hanger would work just as well if you mangled the original.





Above is a picture of the tools of the trade. The hog ring pliers and a couple hog rings. Hog rings are just a loop of hard wire and the pliers help to bend it into shape once they are in place.

Step 4: The foam has a wire in it that matches the shape of the listing wire in the vinyl. Before you start stretching the vinyl you need to use hog rings to connect the listing wire section to the wire in the foam. This helps to give a defined shape to the cushion so don't skip this step! You can see I have pulled back the vinyl so I can see the listing wire and run the hog ring through the wire in the foam and the listing wire. Once you have all of the hog rings in place you are ready to start streeeetching vinyl. It takes about 10 rings total.

Step 5: Your vinyl should now be firmly attached to the foam. Take this and place it squarely over the frame. It is CRITICAL that you get it and keep it square in relation to the frame. Start at the top corners and stretch the vinyl over. Once you do this you likely got the foam out of place in relation to the frame. Spend the time to get this squared back up or it will look lopsided when you are done. For me this is always one of the hardest parts and takes a lot of muscle to get it back into place. A lot of pulling and slapping the vinyl are the best ways to get this done.

Step 6: Time to start pulling the vinyl into place and getting putting on some hog rings on. Its important that you don't just start pulling the vinyl till its tight and secure it in place. This is sure to give a tight looking seat but it will be all out of alignment. Ask me how I know this......Check all around the seat and make sure the piping and seams are all even. If not get it straight before you start putting on hog rings. I start at the top middle and pull this good and tight. then fold over the edge about 1/2" and put the hog rig through both layers. If don't fold it over your likely to just pull through when you stretch it.

Shows the vinyl being folded over so you have more meat to stretch it.

Step 7: After the top is secured I move to the bottom and get that stretched. All the while making sure the seams are staying even. Then move on to the sides. If at any point you dont like what you see just remove some hog rings and reposition things.

Here is the finished driver side back. I am happy with the results and you can see how much thicker the side bolsters are than original. That is what I really love about these TMI sport seats. They look original and use the factory frame but give a LOT more support than the original. I have been very happy with the product and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.

Refurbish a guage cluster

The first thing I decided to restore was the gauge cluster. Although I have absolutely no need for it anytime soon it is something I can work on quietly at night without disturbing the rest of the family. The primary issue was looks since as far as I know the gauges work. The wiring harness and actual gauges remained in place. The process was pretty straight forward but I did make a few modifications. I considered swapping to autometer gauges which I am sure would look good and work better than stock but that would have cost about $900 more.

About a dozen screws on the back hold the bezel to the metal frame which should be removed for servicing. This would be a good time to replace any dead bulbs as well. You will see the blue cups that help to give the green color at night (yellow bulb + blue lense =green light). After 40+ years these can crack so check them for replacement. If you want to be super cool you can buy colored LED bulbs that replace the stock bulbs so you can change the color to anything you want. You can get those from www.mustangproject.com. I am OK with the green so I left it stock. With the bezel off you have access to the lenses which are likely in rough shape like mine. The small center gauge was a blank plate on mine which was a space reserved for an optional clock. This was a very rare option so most people will find it with a blank plate like mine. I used this empty slot to add a tach since I plan to change the transmission to manual. The tach is a direct bolt in made by RetroTach and is available in 6000 or 8000 RPM with white or black face. I bought mine in the 8k white face. I added the white face overlay to all the gauges made by Scott Drake to modernize the look. I found the Scott Drake overlay to be of very high quality and easy to apply, although it wasn’t cheap. Just be careful of the very fragile needles as you apply to overlay. Next I masked off under the needles using a piece of paper and VERY carefully re-painted them florescent orange. They had all faded some and this helped brighten them up and give a fresh look. . It might seem like a silly detail but I think it helped and makes the whole thing look more professional. I used a small jar of paint meant for model building found at my local hobby shop. I changed the front bezel since what I had was beyond repair and the repro is very nice. My last little snag was the wiper switch which is chrome. It was not looking very good and had moderate pitting. A little steel wool cleaned most of this up and it looks great. Finally screw the new bezel back into place making sure to transfer all the plastic light buckets. The last thing I did was roll back the odometer to zero which I will show how to do in a separate section. Why would I do this and isn’t it illegal? I did it because the actual mileage on the car is unknown as stated on the title, and because I prefer to have the odometer show zero after a complete rebuild. It is not illegal if the title shows that the actual mileage is unknown. This is however HIGHLY illegal if you represent a specific mileage on the title or in any way represent a specific mileage to a buyer. Since the odometer only represents 5 digits it can only go to 99,999 miles before it rolls over to zero on its own. My car showed 86,000 miles and no one knew if this was 86,000, 186,000, or 286,000 miles which is a common issue on these old cars. So long as you never misrepresent what you have there is nothing illegal about changing the odometer.

This is the old bezel and the finished product. I didn't take any progress photos since it is very straight forward. The only trick is to make sure you take ALL the light buckets and transfer them over.

Its hard to get a good picture with the lens and chrome wanting to reflect the light. But here is a close up of the finished product. Very nice!!

Rear end rebuild

My '68 Mustang fastback came with a fairly typical 8" open rear end with 2.79 gears. Most people pitch the 8" and upgrade to the now famous 9" Ford rear end due to its strength. My expected flywheel horse power is 350-400 and I don't plan to drag race it so I think the 8" will be fine. However, it needs a fair amount of work before I can get put it back in the car. The stock drum brakes don't fit with my restomod theme so they got replaced in favor of 2003 Mustang Cobra 11.65" discs. The conversion kit from Mustang Steve was used to adapt the Cobra calipers. The 2.79 gears were replaced with a 3.50 True Trak limited slip center section. The housing got a thorough cleaning and a fresh coat of paint. New brake line will need to be plumbed but I will get to that.

A couple of before pics. Getting the rear out of the car was very difficult since the leaf spring bolts in the front of the car had seized to the leaf spring housing. The only ways to remove the bolt is a home made press or a sawzall with a carbide blade. The hardened bolts just laugh at bi-metal blades so don't even try them. Even with a good carbide blade it's quite a chore.


To remove the axles you just unbolt the 4 nuts behind each hub and pull the axles out. Remove the 10 bolts holding the center section and pull it off. Of course in my haste to remove the housing I forgot to take the axles out first. So when I cracked it open I couldn't remove it but all the oil was spilling out everywhere (no drain plug). If you have never coated your garage floor and most of yourself in 80 weight oil you don't know what your missing! YUCK!




As you can see from the previous pics the housing was VERY dirty and rusty. I sanded it down to mostly bare steel and found that it was lightly pitted from rust. To prevent the rust from coming back to bite me I cleaned the metal with PRE paint prep and then hit it with rust converter paint from www.eastwood.com. Some satin chassis black over this and it looks great.










Just like the front I went with the Mustang Steve Cobra brake conversion kit. I am using the 2003 Mustang Cobra PBR calipers with 11.65" cross drilled and slotted rotors. The kit is fairly straight forward but it does require a bit of engineering on the users part. You must fabricate your own brake lines as well as a bracket to mount the soft line. The axles have to be pulled to get the bracket installed and while they are out new seals are a good idea. With the axle off you have to cut the old bearing off, then install the bracket and press on new axle bearings. Then replace the axles and you are ready to go. Its a fair bit of work and requires some engineering but it sure comes out nice. If you want an easy weekend project buy SSBC or Baer brakes which have complete kits with all the parts you need.

Tips on buying a Mustang

Owning a Mustang can be a very rewarding hobby. You can enjoy the cruise in's, the track, taking an evening drive with the family, or just spending time in the workshop. This is something you can enjoy with the family, particularly your children who will never forget working on the Mustang when they were younger. As with any hobby if you just jump right in without a little knowledge you will likely buy the wrong thing and find yourself moving on to other hobbies. Mustangs do take a fair bit of time, Patience, and money so be prepared.Take your time to know what you are buying, don't let the moment sweep you off your feet and purchase something you might regret. Mustangs are great cars and many are still available in good condition for reasonable prices. With a little knowledge you can quickly weed out the garbage from the good deals and get started in this wonderful hobby. What made these cars so popular was the unique design, affordable price, and options normally only found on higher priced cars. Things like bucket seats and floor mounted shifter were not common at the time with most cars featuring column mounted shifters and a bench seat.

VIN Decode: The VIN is on the door plate, the inner driver fender, and possibly other places depending on year. Not that long ago the VIN was a complete mystery but these days it is super easy to decode and know what it was original equipped with. This information can GREATLY effect the value of a vehicle. For example you would be able to quickly identify a rare big block optioned car vs a more mundane inline six. Once you have the VIN for a potential purchase you can use websites like http://www.mustangdecoder.com/decoder.html. Assuming the door tag is still there and the door is original you can also get some additional details like interior color and trim from this If you want more information about your car you can purchase what has become known as a Marti report. A wealth of really fascinating information is available and I would highly recommend getting this report. The down side to a Marti report is that it's not free so you cant just get the info for any potential car ahead of time. You can find all the information related to this located at http://www.martiauto.com/




Here is the VIN on my car which starts off as 8F02C which decodes as 8=1968 F= built in Dearborn, MI 02=fastback C= 289 2V V8. The door tag found on the drivers door (middle pic) decodes as an original Highland green, standard black interior, C4 3 speed automatic trans, and 2.8 open rear end. The right pic is part of the Marti report.


Knowing the Years: This list of tips is really geared towards the 1964.5-68 model years. What the heck is a 1964.5, how can you have a half year car? Mustangs began production in 1964, however they were all titled and sold as 1965 models. As Ford streamlined the production process small changes were made from 1964 to 1965 so with a little investigation you can identify a 1965 model that was built in 1964. The fact that it was built earlier can in some cases make the car more valuable. These early production cars are known to collectors as 1964.5 model but as I said before they are all officially '65 cars. The model stayed the same with minor trim changes through the 1966 model year. Virtually all parts from 1964.5-66 are compatible even if they might not be "correct" for the year. The Mustang came with an I6 baseline engine and a three speed manual transmission with 3 flavors of V8 as options. The 289 2V, 289 4V, and the Hi-Po 289, the Hi-Po was built in limited numbers and is considered highly desirable. The I6 and standard 289 options are much more common place and quite easy to find. It was built as a coupe, fastback, and convertible, the coupe was by far built in the largest numbers with the fastback and convertible having been built in much smaller quantities. A 4 speed manual, 3 speed automatic, power steering, front disc brakes, and power brakes were some of the more common options you will find. The "options" list was a mile long and you could really personalize these cars. A remodel came in 1967 and the car looks very similar to the previous year but it got a larger grill, wider stance, and more engine bay room for larger engines. 1967 and 1968 started to enjoy big block engine options which were built in small numbers so they are now very sought after.The 1964.5-1968 models in terms of structure are all virtually the same so my tips below apply to all the cars in this range. 1969 saw a complete remodel which looks completely different from the previous 4 years and is structurally different so some comments might not apply to 69 and up.


Is it Rare?: The better question is does it matter? The price of Mustangs can range widely from a $100 parts car to the Shelby big block worth small fortunes. In general the value is higher for fastbacks and convertibles with coupes being much more common and less expensive. The Inline six is less desirable than a V8 and the big blocks will bring a higher price than a more common 289 or 302. Of course there are exceptions to this and there are rare and collectible six cylinder cars. However with the ease that people can decode VIN's and door tags it is very unlikely that you would stumble onto one of these treasures without the owner already knowing the value. The car that I have highlighted on this web page is worth more because it is a fastback but other than that it is nothing special or rare. If you do decide to go after a more collecible car make sure the numbers match. What numbers you ask? Almost every significant part of the car is cast or stamped with part numbers that can date code it. If you are looking at a '65 fastback with an engine that date codes to '71 then you know it can't be correct and it lose some value. Finding an intact numbers matching car 40+ years after it was built is not an easy task but they do exist. My personal opinion is that collectibility doesnt matter, buy something that you like and build it how you want. I get more staisfaction from knowing I built it the way I want it then knowing the numbers match.


YIKES its rusty!!! Rust is a HUGE problem with these cars and it can be hard to deal with. It's like a cancer that once started its tough to stop and it seems to infect all parts of the car. Unless your buying a car that spent most of its time in a dry climate like Arizona or California you are not likely to find a rust free car. When you do find a rust free car rest assured that the price will reflect that. Its up to you to decide what is worth more, your money for a good car or your time invested in fixing one. I personally enjoy working on my car so I bought a rust bucket that no one else was likely to put the effort into fixing. there are a few common places to look for rust though so at least you know what your getting.

1, The cowl vents: This area had no rust protection from the factory so the rust out quickly. Over the years leaves and debri get into the vent holes and get stuck in there clogging the drain. When it rains the water cant drain and everything rust out. There are a few "patch" kits available but they are temparary fixes so I wont discuss them. The real fix is to take the top half of the section off which requires removing the windshield and drilling out 200 or so spot welds. The process is labor intensive so try to get one with a good cowl. How can you check? dump some water in the cowl vent holes, if the floor gets wet you got a problem. Once the cowl vents rust water leaks into the toe boards in the cabin.

2, floor boards: Leaking cowl vents is a leading cause of rusted floor boards since the carpert just traps and holds the moisture. So check the floorboards for serious problems, especially near the front. Surface rust is normal and not a problem to deal with, you are looking for holes and deep rust in large areas. This is another area that the parts are cheap but it requires a lot of time to fix. if your looking at a rare or sentimental car it might be worth fixing, if its an inline six coupe keep looking. Plenty of coupes are still running around that are largely rust free for reasonable prices.

3, frame rails: OK you got me, its true this is a unibody not a full frame car. But it still does have frame rails and they can rust and they can present a huge structural problem if rusted. The torque boxes which are right under the floor are prone to rust if the floor rusted from the leaking cowl vent. The rear frame rail is prone to rust where the rear shackle is bolted in place. The other place prone to rust on the frame is right under the upper control arm.

4, Qaurter panels: The rear part of the quarter panel on the lower side is also very prone to rust. They make sheetmetal patches, skins, and even full quarters to fix this problem. This issue is less serious than the others but it does take time and money to fix it so beware of it.

5: Trunk floor: Pull up the mat in the trunk and check it out. The trunk floors support the gas tank and the rear part of the suspension so this is not just cosmetic. Again, surface rust is normal and nothing to sweat.

6: Battery Tray: Virtually all Mustangs have the battery tray rusted out to some degree. However, this is more likly a result of unsealed batteries leaking onto the tray over the years. I certainly would not pass on any Mustang because of this but be aware that this area will need some attention.


Buy what you want: What I mean by this is dont buy an automatic transmission car if you really want a manual. Its true that its really not that hard to swap but by the time you get all the little parts its a lot of time and money. Same with the engine, dont buy an inline 6 if you want a V8. The I6 used a 4 lug wheel and all V8 models used a 5 lug wheel which makes it very easy to identify them at a glance. There is nothing wrong with a good inline six and many people enjoy these cars immensly. But if you want a V8 just buy a V8 car. Many articles are written about swapping engines which is very easy. But then you also need a stiffer suspension and other small parts that complicate things. The 7.75" rear axle on the 6 cyl also is not going to stand up to much abuse from a V8. So again, try to buy what you want.
Ford made millions of these cars so be patient and you will find what you really want.


Cost of Restoration: Many people buy a cheap project car, get the car stripped down to the frame with intentions of a complete restoration and then realize the true costs. I have also seen projects that start off with intentions of mildly upgrading the car and next thing you know they are adding all kinds of expensive parts and the budget is out the door. This is a sure fire way to never finish. Before you buy make sure you have clear intentions on what you plan to build. A nice driver, concours correct, a full blown race car or something in between. Stick to the plan and make a budget for completing the project before you buy. Its easy to look at a project and think "oh I can fix that up cheap". All the little parts add up shockingly fast! You might realize that a more complete or better condition Mustang is actually cheaper even if it means a higher up front cost.

Cobra brakes on a vintage Mustang

My quest for stopping power began after I owned a '65 Mustang coupe that was just downright scary in terms of stopping power. I loved that car but coming to a stop was an event that required some planning. This prompted me to make brakes a priority on this car and I didn't want anything but the best. High quality kits are available from SSBC, Baer, Wilwood, and others. After months of reading reviews and looking at the various solutions I decided that I could build my own high quality setup for about half the price of one big name kits. Using Granada disc brakes from a bone yard is also a popular and economical choice but my conclusion was that this would not deliver the performance I was looking for. Instead I chose to use the Cobra brackets from www.mustangsteve.com which allows for the use of 1994-04 Cobra 13" rotors n front and 11.65" in back. The downside is that you have to source all the parts yourself and its not a quick and easy bolt on solution. It does require some fabrication, but its not beyond what most people are capable of. I chose to use the 2003 anniversary Mustang Cobra brakes for both the front and rear which look very sharp in powdercoat red. Mustang Steve just sells the conversion brackets so you are on your own to source the rotors, calipers, hoses, etc. He does provide a shopping list and after 30 minutes on ebaymotors I had pretty much everything sourced for reasonable prices. The only modification I made is the use of '70 spindles and hubs instead of my stock '68 setup. When I tore my car down I found that my spindles had grooving where the bearings ride which dictated new spindles. I found a good deal on a set of '70 Mustang spindles which are stronger than '68 so I went with those. It is important to note that this brake swap does NOT change the vehicle track width, but you will need at least a 17" wheel to clear the caliper. Vintage style wheels will work or with a spacer modern wheels can be used. In case you are curious, for the front and rear brakes combined I spent a total of about $1400. That price includes the brackets, rotors, calipers, and braided stainless steel brake lines for the front. It does not include a new master cylinder, or the spindles since most people will be able to reuse the existing spindle. The master cylinder will have to be replaced since the drum brake master has a residual pressure valve in it that is not compatible with discs. At the moment I am thinking to use a 2000 Mustang V6 master but have not made a final decision yet. Mustang Steve is also a VERY valuable resource and he generously donates his time to answering questions on his forum (its worth your time to check it out) www.mustangsteve.com. Unfortunately the directions that come with the kit are not very good. In my case they were meant for an old bracket he doesn't sell anymore and with no pictures it took a little trial and error to figure it out. So below I have a step by step that combines the included instructions along with some of my own information/pictures to help clarify things.







Here are the conversion brackets for the front as they arrived from www.mustangsteve.com (all bolts are included but I neglected to include them in the pic).

Step 1: Remove existing drum/hub as a unit from the spindle. Remove 4 bolts holding backing plate to spindle. Disconnect rubber brake hose from steel line and frame bracket. Remove backing plate and hose.





Step 2: Place drum, open side down, in a press and place a plate across the outer bearing retainer part of the hub and press the hub out of the drum. Retain hub with studs intact. As you can see my spindle and hub needed a LOT of cleaning! Before I did anything else I scraped off the grime and then wire brushed the surface rust. A little brake cleaner and wipe down followed by rust converter paint from www.eastwood.com followed by some spray gray had everything looking great.

Step 3: With a file, remove any remaining swedged pieces from the studs. The swedges were there to retain the drum at the assembly line.

Step 4: If using plated rotors, remove any plating from the ID of the 5 holes in the rotor. This can be done with a small round file. Do not remove any rotor material. This is so the rotor can be pressed onto the studs smoothly.




Step 5: IMPORTANT: Be sure the outer diameter of the hub is smaller than the inner diameter of the rear face of the rotor (circled in red). Different rotor manufacturers use different dimensions. If this is not checked, and the hub us too large to fit flat against the back of the rotor, you will never get the rotor pressed onto the studs properly. If the hub is too large, the OD must be reduced on a lathe or using a hand grinder so it fits into the rotor. Using a grinder is OK, and there will not be balance issues if not perfectly round. (Hubs on 6 cylinder cars were actually asymmetrical, and even the V8 rotors have a big notch on one side, so balance is not an issue when that close to the center of the wheel. In my case I had to grind about 1/16" from the outer edge of the hub to make it fit inside the rotor.

Step 6: Place rotor on the hub, and use a press to push the hub studs into the rotor. This will be a very close tolerance fit. It is possible, but not advisable, to pull the rotor onto the hub using the lug nuts. This method puts undue stress on the threads and is prone to warping the rotor. Using the press, be sure all the studs are totally seated on the back side of the hub. Temporarily secure the rotor to the hub using two or three lug nuts. This will keep you from jarring the rotor loose from the studs while mounting it.

Step 7: Using (4) 3/8” fine-thread Grade 8 bolts and lock washers, mount the bracket to the spindle. The brackets are bare steel and I painted them chassis black ahead of time. The large plate mounts the to spindle face with the bolt heads on the wheel side and the nuts on the back. Use red Loctite and torque them to 45 lb/ft. Bolt the two remaining brackets (one of which is much thinner) to the back side of the first plate again using red Loctite and torque to 45 lb/ft. Bolts go into the spindle first, then into the bracket.

Step 8: Mount the hub/rotor to the spindle. Since it was already apart I also replaced the bearings and races. Using a screwdriver and hammer I worked around the back side of the race to knock them out. To install the new races I took the old races and ground the sides down so they slid back in easily. Then I put the new race in place with a plate of steel on top. I hammered the steel until it was flush with the hub but this is not fully seated. I then used the old race that had been ground down on the sides as a fixture to finish hammering and seating the race. Make SURE that the race is fully seated or the hub/rotor will not run true.Pack the new bearings with disc grease and mount the hub. Adjust bearings and check for rotor trueness.

Step 9: Install the caliper onto the front of the bracket (wheel side) using (2) 12mm x 30mm hardened steel bolts. Torque to 45 lb/ft. Blue Loctite or equivalent thread lock compound is recommended


Step 10: Connect brake hose to the caliper. Hose mounts to caliper with hose pointing up, with banjo bolt and two copper washers, one under the bolt head and one between the hose end block and caliper. The 2003 Cobra caliper requires the coarse thread banjo bolt.

Drag

The finished product with Coys C67 17x8 wheel, Mustang Steve Cobra conversion. This is not my car but it is what I hope to have when I am done.

Electrolysis for rust repair

A before and after of my hood hinges using electrolysis. The hinge on the right is painted but it still gives a good idea.

Ever heard of electrolysis as a way to remove rust? Me either until recently.... Its super simple and the most effective way to remove rust I have seen so far. The down side is that it is much easier for small parts than large pieces. My project fits in to the Rustang category so rust is the hardest battle I have on this car. Here is how it works: Take a plastic bucket and fill it with water high enough to completely submerge your rusty part. Its important to note that the bucket must be plastic and not metal. You then want to put in about 1 cup of washing soda per gallon of water. It is similar to baking soda and you can find it at your local grocery store, usually tucked away in an obscure corner. You next want to hang your part in water without letting it touch the bottom. Using a piece of wood over the top of the bucket with string suspended from that works fine. Now you need a sacraficial anaode. In my case I used rebar because it is cheap, easy, and very effective. Cut your rebar so that it is about 6" taller than your bucket and submerge it on the side of the bucket. You need to make sure it does not touch the suspended rusty part so I use a small clamp to keep it pressed on the side and cant move. Take a 12V battery charger and connect the negative side to the rusty part. Yes, that,s right you want to put the negative terminal under the water connected to the rusty part. Make sure the metal part does not touch the rebar and then connect the positive side to the rebar and plug it in. I am using a 12V charger set on 2amps and it works fine. Once its all setup plug it in you will start to see small bubbles starting to form. These bubbles are hydrogen so you want to do this in a well ventilated area. I don't want to scare anyone since the amount of hydrogen being let off is very small but better safe than sorry. The process will turn the rust into Iron oxide with will remain as black sludge on the part which can just be wiped off. The process takes at least a few hours and could be many more depending on the size of the part, the number of sacraficial anodes, the amps, and degree of rust. It's important to note that this is a line of site process so if the rust is behind the rebar you wont see any benefit on that side. As a result most people add additional pieces of rebar around the bucket and connect them by wrapping copper wire from one to the next.Or you can be paitent and rotate your part every couple of hours. Just make sure that you don't touch anything while the charger is turned on. Its also important to note that you can NOT reverse the leads. If you put the positive side on the rusty part it will make it more rusty, so be careful! The actual metal will remain completely untouched so don't worry about leaving it in to long. The only downside is it hard to find a bucket or bath big enough for larger pieces. I have included a couple of pics of my setup below.

Gauge Cluster

Like everything else with this car the gauge cluster was in bad shape. All the chrome had been sanded off and was brush painted black. Of course it was done badly and the black had mostly flaked off so it looked aweful. I was about to replace the bezel and go with brand new autometer gauges which all told run about $1000 when you include the wiring harness. After some random mustang searches on google I stumbled onto a $100 tach made by retrogauge that fits in the center option hole of the cluster. Its available in either white or black faces with either 6k or 8k limits. I got the white face 8k version from mustangs unlimited and it dropped in every bit as easy as they said it would. Although its not as nice as going the autometer route its about $900 cheaper and looks almost as nice. I decided I like the the white gauge faces and I found the Scott Drake white faces that stick onto the orignal faces. They were a little pricey for what they are but they are good quality and look fantastic when applied. The orignal wiper switch was retained but looked pretty bad. I tried finding a replacement but was unable to. I found www.averagejoeresto.com who suggested using steel wool to clean it up, and sure enough 20 minutes later it looks great. As a final touch I painted the needles with some neon orange paint from the local hobby shop. The final product looks awesome and its one more small thing I can check off my list. Here is an after pic which doesnt really do it justice.