Progress on the '83 post: Replacing a floorpan and removing rust

Well it certainly feels like forever since I've made any progress on my '83, but luckily a little time off and some warmer weather has provided some motivation to get some things done.

I had previously stripped the entire interior out of the car, cleaning and painting every piece of the interior in the process over the summer months. This was done primarily because the poor blue interior was horribly faded and just plain nasty from sitting for a long time outside.

A little fabric/vinyl paint and some semi gloss Duplicolor plastic paint did the trick, and left everything looking new. I also repaired a few cracks with some plastic welder.

Next up on the list was the rusted and stress cracked driver's side floor pan. I had already ordered a replacement floor pan from Late Model Restoration. After marking off what needed to be cut out, I proceeded to cut the pan down to the piece that needed replaced.

After some more cutting and hammering the piece fits almost perfectly. The rest of the pan and the passenger side had some good surface rust on them, so I sanded that down and cleaned up all the loose pieces.

I then proceeded to vacuum it all out with my handy shop vac, and wiped everything down to remove any grease. Then after wiping it all down with a damp cloth, I applied four coats of rust converter, which I have heard works well.

So far everything is looking pretty good. Later in the week we'll be finishing the floor pan and I'll be doing some more sanding, then primer and paint to finish it off. Unfortunately I discovered a tiny rust hole in the passenger side, so it looks like I'll have to cut that out as well.

Hopefully it won't be long and we'll have the interior completely back in!

In the meantime I've picked up some parts here and there. I bought a center console armrest, gauge cluster with 140 mph speedo and white faced gauges, and some door handle bezels to replace broken parts. I still need a dash pad, but I'm waiting for Fox Mustang Restoration to (hopefully) release their new one which is supposed to be superior in quality to the repops currently on the market.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Starting on the Interior!

Well I've started tearing the interior apart. I'm not a fan of the blue inside so I've been respraying everything. I would eventually like to swtich completely to a grey interior so I started on all of the hard plastic stuff. Good prep is essential to success. I am using rubbing alcohol and a rag to thouroghly clean everything before it's painted. Then I use 3-4 coats of primer, followed by 3-4 coats of paint, then 3-4 coats of clear. This is all dependent on how well each piece looks as I go. I'm definitely not a fan of the factory woodgrain, so I shot the gauge cover in black. I am trying to salvage the dash cover by covering it in a gray vinyl, but it may be too far gone to save. I did manage to repair the cracked center console with some plastic welder. This stuff works great but make sure you wear some protection, the fumes alone will knock you out!