65' Mustang GT

Re: 65' Mustang GT body restoration.

Thank you guys. It won't be long now. . . . . . Maybe the GT will make the FM August photo submissions so look out! LOL

abarli65-Welcome to FM!!! Around the windows I simply tape the chrome and let the new paint go in the crevices. The cut in paint lines have been sanded flush with the body. I find that, at least for me, this is the best way as the potential to scratch paint when installing the stainless is very high. I'd rather have a little overspray instead of dealing with damaged paint before the car even gets on the road. Its not easy touching up around the windows.

I find that the rocker panels in the doorway always present the biggest challenge. Normally I tape off the opening and respray the whole rocker and door jam as part of the paint job. Because this is a drag car and not meant to be a show queen, I am going to do a short cut because the top of the rockers sees lots of abuse from the racing seat belts and my big feet. This time I am going to try foam tape which allows the doors to remain shut--it gives only a thing line where the paints meet. We'll see how that works out.

Its 5 am-time to get to work.

Re: 65' Mustang GT body restoration.

I went through a bag that my brother lent me and found this:



Nice, flexible, and probably would have worked better than my paint stick for the first sanding with 400 grit. I used it for the 600grit and it worked great and I was done in no time, granted that it even with a paint stick it would have been fast. They come in different configurations including round. Gotta get me one of each for future use.

Today I got into the garage and taped everything off for painting. Started with the trunk:







Taped off ALL the openings, added a layer of newspaper on the floor, and then covered it all with a layer of plastic sheeting. All of this is done to prevent overspray from entering the car and ruining the existing paint. You will see this as a common theme in several of the following pics.

Note the blue line running around the trunk opening. Normally I will paint the trunk lip at the same time as the rest of the car, but this time decided to try foam tape for masking. Form tape works similar to back taping, but this product makes it much easier. Here are the 2 types that I picked up:



Both are basically a foam substrate with an adhesive backing. The idea is that the shape allows for a smoother transition between new and old paint.



The blue is the most modern type and the white is old school. I originally bought the blue but found the white at a surplus store. It was cheap because it came off a rolled body shop supply delivery truck. I used both and even stacked them, depending on the location. Normally I would paint the whole channel below while painting the exterior but this time I lightly sanded in the crevice a little and then installed foam tape:



Once the trunk, door or hood is close I used a plastic body filler squeegee to push the foam back into place. Worked easily and slick once I determined the proper depth. You will note that I used lots of plastic sheeting to cover large areas to protect them from overspray. I found the best deal for 9x12 sheets of 1 mil at the Family Dollar store. $1.25 each is a great price and I bought several for this project:



I then moved on to the engine compartment. I first covered the entire engine with a layer of plastic, then added a second layer to protect the rest of the engine compartment:





I will be respraying the inner fender area where the bolts are for uniformity.

Note that the inner part of the hood and most of the headlight bucket areas of the front fenders have both been masked since they were previously painted.





I used the white foam tape where the rear of the hood meets the cowl:



Because this area can be seen with the hood closed, I chose to make the transition deeper below the hood to cowl mating surface:



I then moved on to the interior of the car. All the following was masked to prevent overspray from entering the car:











I basically covered everything with newspaper, plastic or rags--just in case. I then sealed up the rocker panel and door jambs using foam tape:





Once the doors were close, then the squeegee was used to push the foam into place which makes for a nice seal at the desired location:







The doors were then close for the final time and I moved on to the taping all the windows:





For the stainless around the windshield and back light, I carefully taped them and used the squeegee plus a stiff putty knife to push the tape tightly to the metal:





To mask the windshield and backlight, I generally used 18" pieces of tape which are easier to control compared to full length sections.

I finished by masking all the windows at once using Masking paper:





For the final outer paint coat I prefer using masking paper over newspaper. Theoretically newspaper will let the paint bleed through and it also has lint that can get into the paint. I haven't experienced either complaint and have done dozens of cars with newspapers.

Irregardless, since I had some, I used the masking paper next to anything that was to be painted



Here is the body ready for paint, complete with garden plastic bags used for tire covers:



Some of the other parts were hung for paint:




And others will be resting on saw horses:



Added a length of masking paper to the plastic lined wall for test spraying the gun:



And I hung the product specification sheets of both the base coat and clear coat for easy fast reference:



Thursday I'll finally be seeing red . . . . .

Re: 65' Mustang GT body restoration.

AHHHHH!!! You tease! you get it all masked off and now we have to wait for another update to see the finished product. Youre so close, it's been fun to watch this project come together. cant wait to see that red!

Re: 65' Mustang GT body restoration.

Your my hero! Looks good....as I have been working 12hr shifts for 3 months now and haven't had any time to work on my car you still give me alot of insperation!!!! good job!!! Thank god I can get on FM here at work

Re: 65' Mustang GT body restoration.

Dennis I think I speak for everyone when I say you did an amazing job!:tup::tup: I thought you said this wasn't going to be a show car?! Looks great and I like your prefabbed ventilation system. With all the detail youve gone into throughout this whole thread, it feels like I've been there in your shop watching the whole time.

I cant wait to see the GT making noise again!

Keep it up the great work man!

Re: 65' Mustang GT body restoration.

Looks Great Dennis, It's all downhill now huh? lol

Can't wait to see it in the finals at PRP 9-10

I'll take pictures.

Re: 65' Mustang GT body restoration.

LOOKING SWEET..:tup:

nice when all the hard work and effort comes together.....

dont want to see you crack it up going down the track...

Re: 65' Mustang GT body restoration.

montybrown said:

Your my hero! Looks good....as I have been working 12hr shifts for 3 months now and haven't had any time to work on my car you still give me alot of insperation!!!! good job!!! Thank god I can get on FM here at work

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Thank You Monte. You have quite a big project on your hands and it looks like you have done well so far. You may not have time to work on your car now, but look at all the $$ you are making that you can put toward it!

hepcat said:

Dennis I think I speak for everyone when I say you did an amazing job!:tup::tup: I thought you said this wasn't going to be a show car?! Looks great and I like your prefabbed ventilation system. With all the detail youve gone into throughout this whole thread, it feels like I've been there in your shop watching the whole time.

I cant wait to see the GT making noise again!

Keep it up the great work man!

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Thank you. I originally wasn't meant to be a show car (not my thing), but I probably did go overboard in trying to make it as nice as this home hobbiest can. My track friends (?) have already told me to hit it with a hammer to get the first dent out of the way, so I can get back to racing instead of polishing. LOL

The prefabbed vents worked OK and caught all the paint exiting the garage. I popped them in the doors in a matter of minutes. It really needs a better fan system though.

Arabian454 said:

Looks Great Dennis, It's all downhill now huh? lol

Can't wait to see it in the finals at PRP 9-10

I'll take pictures.

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Thank you. It is almost all downhill now that all that color sanding and buffing have been done to the main body. What a time consuming chore . . . . . . It sure came out nice though.

Really looking forward to getting some shake down runs in so I can hopefully make a few rounds at PRP.

MYBLUE68 said:

NICE!!! Looks awesome man, with those kind of skills i might just have to ship my torino down to ya haha.

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Thank You. All orders have been filled and no operators are standing by.

If I get bored, I also have a 65 vert that only needs about 1/4 of the work that the GT needed.

RAGGAREN said:

LOOKING SWEET..:tup:

nice when all the hard work and effort comes together.....

dont want to see you crack it up going down the track...

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Thank You. It has been quite a project, but shows what 1 guy can do if he puts his mind to it. Kind of a confirmation of all the skills that I have picked up over the years.

If I crack it up, I'll just have to strip it down and start all over again!

Re: 65' Mustang GT body restoration.

I was going to take Friday off and goof off after several long days in the garage. That lasted until noon when I decided to start color sanding. I didn't leave the garage until 1:30am!

Blocked out the whole car using 1000grit wet dry paper, followed by 1500 and then 2000. It would have went quicker if our local bodyshop supply shop had 800grit. Anyways, it was ready to be compounded on Saturday. Spent nearly 10 more hours with buffer in hand cutting down the sand marks and bringing back the shine, following up with a swirl remover/polish. It all worked great and the car now looks fantastic. The clear has depth and the car looks more red.

Block sanded:







Consumable supplies used were all 3M:



The final product out in the sun:











I did get the front valances and bumper installed too:



It is now reassembly time and soon (hopefully) the GT will be back at the track.

Re: 65' Mustang GT body restoration.

ajzride said:

That looks awesome! Really making me second guess my choice of flat-white for my '65 coupe.

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Thank You ajzride.

I hope that you realize that there are only 2 colors for cars. The first color is RED and the 2nd color is NOT RED.

Re: 65' Mustang GT body restoration.

dennis111 said:

Thank You ajzride.

I hope that you realize that there are only 2 colors for cars. The first color is RED and the 2nd color is NOT RED.

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Based on my driving record:

Red Car: 6 tickets in 3 years
Other Cars: 2 tickets in 9 years

I'm inclined to agree with you

Re: 65' Mustang GT body restoration.

Yesterday I spent the majority of my garage time installing the vinyl GT stripes. I used a template for front alignment which helped me layout the whole car:



First I cleaned the area that would receive the stripes with a good wax and grease remover. Next using masking tape I created a straight line from front to rear to use as a visual reference (based upon the template dimensions.)



The reference line will not be butted against the stripe, but will actually be 1/4" higher to prevent interference of the tape and the stripe. I used a ruler to verify the 1/4" on each piece as it was placed into position.

Next I taped the rear stripe to the quarter, making sure that it was aligned to both the tape line and the seam above the rocker panel. Also needed to make sure that there was enough stripe fore and aft to wrap around into the door jam and the rear fender lip:







Note that it was only taped at the top. This creates a "hinge" that will help with the installation.

I then moved to the front of the car and taped the stripe to the fender in the same manner:





For ease of installation, the "Mustang" lettering should not be installed before the stripe installation.

After the fender stripe was straight, I taped the door section on the car ensuring that its lines met both the quarter panel and the fender's stripes perfectly:



I have found it best to save the door strip placement until last. That way it can be placed in such a way to provide a smooth transition from the quarterpanel stripe to the fender stripe.

Once satisfied with the total stripe alignment, I again started at the rear quarter panel. I folded up the stripe to reveal the substrate that protects the sticky part of the stripe. It was carefully peeled away:



I sprayed a very diluted dishwashing liquid mix (1 teaspoon of unscented to a quart of water) on the quarter panel prior to unfolding the hinge and attaching the stripe. It is important to note that the stripe has its own adhesive and the dishwashing liquid solution is used to temporarily lessen the friction which allows the stripe to be moved as much as needed. It will not react with the stripe's adhesive whatsoever. Final bonding will occur once the solution has been removed or it evaporates. As long as the adhesive is kept wet, one could theoretically reposition the stripes all day if they wanted too.

I carefully lowered the stripe onto the quarter panel and, starting in the middle of the stripe, smoothed it out with my fingers working toward the outer ends. Once satisfied with the placement, I carefully used a squeegee to remove the water from under the stripe and to straighten any potential bubbles, again starting from the center and working out:



Once this is done, the stripe is pretty much attached and can't be easily removed so get it right before applying the squeegee. If you are careful, you can remove most boo-boos.

The ends were marked and then cut to the desired length for wrapping around--normally about 1/4":



Due to the soapy mixture, the corners did not want to stick to the body and masking tape was used as a binding helper until the liquid evaporated:





I did not remove the outer protective material of the stripe at this time.

Once all the moisture appears to be squeegeed out from under the stripe, it is time to move on to a different section. This gives the adhesive time to setup so that it cannot be easily disturbed.

The door stripe gets installed the same way as the quarterpanel stripe, but instead of removing all the backing at one time, I only removed it to the middle of the stripe and cut that excess away. Then I worked from the center out before removing the rest of the backing to allow the whole strip to be attached to the door. This is the most difficult part of the whole installation:









Due to the length, it would be best to use 2 people but always remember that as long as you keep a soapy mixture on the body and the stripe, you can continually maneuver it into position.

Although not clear in this photo, the corners were taped similar to the quarterpanel:



Once satisfied with the door alignment, I moved on to the front fender:





Although they will point upwards, the factory GT stripes wrap fully around the inner lip of the front fender:





Now is the time to remove the outer protective material off the previously installed quarterpanel stripe. First I carefully removed the bits of masking tape from the protective material, and again squeegeed the material to ensure complete contact of the stripe to the body. Then I sprayed the soapy solution directly onto the protective material and let it set for a few minutes. This helps in releasing the protective material from the stripe. Then it was simply a matter of removing the material by carefully pulling it along the stripe:





If any part of the strip starts to move, either wait a few more minutes for the adhesive to set up or use your squeegee to hold the stripe into place.



Carefully run the squeegee along the stripe a final time and then dry the stripe with a rag. Pay particular attention to the wrap around ends of the stripe. If they are still not firmly attached, either let them alone for the moisture to dry out or tape them back into place and come back later. Even an hour after I was done with the whole car, I rechecked all ends to make sure that that they were firmly attached.

Then I moved on to the door and did it the same way:





The front fender was saved for last:





You can see how much a good soaking of the protective material helps in its release:



The bubbling appearance has no effect on moving the striping.

You can now stand back and admire your work before moving on to the other side of the car:





Of course the look isn't complete until after you install the "Mustang" lettering:











Next I'll reassemble the dash.

Re: 65' Mustang GT body restoration.

I was piddling in the garage today and took a few pics of the car as it is raced:



Funny how these same 26" racing slicks used to look absolutely huge until I widened the front of the wheel wells and narrowed the rear:











I also did a slight mod to the Chris Alston hinged roll door bars. When the pushpin was not installed in the rear of the door bar, the door bar could over-travel and hit the seat uprights. To fix this, I drilled a hole on the interior side of the latch and installed a 1/4" diameter, 1" long roll pin. The pushpin holes align perfectly now when the bar is against the new stop:











I need to thank 289Nate (and his roll bar installer) for the idea. :tup:

Re: 65' Mustang GT body restoration.

The wife snuck this one in between rounds at the track last night:



Since I narrowed the rear and notched the front of the wheel wells, the once huge appearing 26" tall slicks don't look out of place anymore. I like how they blend in with the rest of the car.

Wheels up launch:



I really need to do something about those blue walls.

Cooling off and waiting for my turn in the staging lanes:

Re: 65' Mustang GT body restoration.

Your right Dennis those big tires look right at home under there...You did an awesome job...I am sure most people will never even know you did the fender well stretching unless you tell them..Do you have any pics from the back?(you know the ones the competition sees )..I bet it looks mean with the bigger tires from behind..