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1965 Mustang Build Thread Starts Here! By TMS Member gspkak
Admin Note
Changed To Build Thread
Kc 08/12/2024
Join in To Help Advise Member as He Brings His 1965 Mustang Coupe Back to Showroom Shape!
Good morning everyone,
Need some expert advice. There is obviously rust on my floor pans but no soft spots or holes. Do you think the rust is still bad enough I need to replace the floor pans?
It's Been a Few Years Though! Lots of Vids Out There Pro's on the One Side Con's on The Other! May or May Not Be What It Once Was or People Thought it Was!
We Would Be Honored if You Want To Do Postings on Your Build From Start To Finish. It's Up To You! We Can Simply Change The Title on This Thread To Reflect an Ongoing Build. It's Simply an Invite as Any Postings are Welcome!
Sure I can do that. Just remember I am a novice at this and by no means an expert so there will probably be mistakes and a lot of questions. Currently in the process of breaking it down to see what I'm dealing with. Thank you for the floor pan input. I will be putting a wire wheel to it and cleaning it up than putting on the POR 15.
That's Fine As Pardon The Pun I'm a Bit Rusty on The Older Cars! One of The Last Big Jobs I Did on a Car Was Wire Wheeling a Rusty Floor Pan. However in My Case Some Schmuck Put Under Coating Right over The Top and Bottom To Conceal it! What a Painful Job it Was! That Was Back in 2010 And I Ended Up Being Diagnosed With Fybromyalgia Which Explained The Painful Aspect of it! A Dose of Carpal Tunnel Thrown in and Just Thinking About it Makes My Wrists Hurt! Anyhoo We Can Surely Use Some Interaction on a First Gen as it has Been Sometime Since We Had Much Action There.
I Was in Ford Dealer Parts for 30+ Years and When You Run Across Some Random Odd Part Which No One Seems To Make or Have I May Be Able To Locate or Advise For you!
Full Speed Ahead!
Did Intro on First Post! Happy To Change Verbage if Needed!
Thank you sir. I was going to take pictures of the entire process for myself anyway. I am sure I will be hitting you up and asking a lot of questions. Sounds like you have a ton of experience and knowledge so I will definitely take you up on the parts questions.
I have two questions for you experts. First, I was looking at the tail light pan and noticed it didn't look right. The tail lights do not look like they are from a 65 to me. Looks like someone tried to turn it into a Shelby. Can someone tell me if this is the case or did SOME 65s come with these tail lights? A few pictures below.
Second question. How can you tell if the under dash A/C came with car or is an aftermarket? Pictures below.
Yes I Noticed That Underdash Unit Earlier. Looks Like The Vents Say Montgomery Wards! So Somebody Made That Unit For Monkey Wards To Sell. If I'm Reading That Correctly! Sears Sold Stuff Like That Too Back in the Day! All Mustangs of that Era Had Underdash A/C Even if Factory I Do Believe. I think 67 Was The First Year For an Integrated Unit. Kind of Cool Especially If Installed Soon After Car Was Purchased! What We Call a Day 2 Mod! Of Course it Would Be Best if It Still Worked! Any Repairs on Unit Would Be A Bit of a Challenge!
The Thunderbird Tail Lights Were a Semi Popular Add On From The Thunderbirds But None Were Factory Installed. Shelby's in 68 Did The Same Thing Using Those as Part of The Styling. Kind of a Neat thing But Not Showroom For Sure on Your Car!
Appreciate the help. I figured the tail lights were from someone's mod. Wasn't sure about the A/C though. Usually don't get to work on car except for weekend but got home early from Dr. appt and removed gas tank. WOW!!! This thing was trashed. I'll be cleaning up the floor and taking pics to post this weekend.
No Doubt Entire Fuel System From Tank To Carb Will Need Attention!
Like Peeling an Onion The More You Peel The More Layers of Items Needing Attention You Will Find. By Documenting The Build You Add Value To The Car as it Shows What Was Fixed And How it Was Fixed!
Thank you for the pictures and the videos. The second video you sent is what I'll be aiming for. According to door tag it had all red interior. Supposedly It's a matching numbers car so once I pull the engine and trans I'll be able to tell. I'll be working on it all weekend so they'll be new pics coming on Monday. Appreciate all the help so far.
Just a tip I Thought of When You Mentioned The Interior! Make Sure When You Get The Door Card Clips You Get The Ones With The Foam Vs The Bare. This is How The Oem Ones Were and They are A Better Fit Than The Plain Ones!
Thanks for the link to the clips. Added them to my wish list when I'm ready to order them. Well I didn't get a lot done this weekend. Sat. I had to do yard work and my well pump blew so my Sat was shot. Sun. morning I cleaned up the garage to make more room to work and put together all my car tools I've been buying the last couple months. I was able to take a wire wheel to the entire inside of car. Looks a lot better than I thought.
There is a few rough spots on the kick panel on drivers side. Any quick fixes or do I need to replace the whole piece?
So far I'm looking at replacing both rear quarter panels, trunk floor, tail light panel and the trunk lid filler panel. Seems the rear is in bad shape rust wise.
So I have a few small rust holes in the window frames and inside drivers inner fender well as well as drivers side rear window corner. What would be the best way to deal with this? Patch it?
drivers side rear door window frame drivers side front window frame passenger side front window frame drivers side rear inner fender drivers side rear window frame
Gonna POR 15 floor once I get new trunk floor installed and figure out what to do with kick panel. Pulling engine and trans out this weekend to start cleaning engine bay. Thanks.
My Advice on Rust Repair Would Pale in Comparison to My Senior Admin @svopaul He is a Restoration Expert & A Very Busy Man Running an Outstanding Restoration Shop. I Have Done a Mention & See if When He Gets A Free Moment He Could Steer You in The Best Direction on Your Rust Challenges!
Paul We Have a Great Retired Vet Here Doing His Dream Mustang! I'm Sure He Would appreciate Any Tips On This Particular Phase of His Journey!
Welcome! Happy to help....I stay busy so sometimes I'm tied up but feel free to send a message if you need me sooner than later....
Originally Posted by gspkak
Good afternoon all,
I have two questions for you experts. First, I was looking at the tail light pan and noticed it didn't look right. The tail lights do not look like they are from a 65 to me. Looks like someone tried to turn it into a Shelby. Can someone tell me if this is the case or did SOME 65s come with these tail lights? A few pictures below.
Definitely a modification someone did using 1965 Thunderbird tail lights which is what Shelby used in '68 on his cars.
Second question. How can you tell if the under dash A/C came with car or is an aftermarket? Pictures below.
Definitely an aftermarket A/C system...the OE unit had round registers.
Originally Posted by gspkak
Thanks for the link to the clips. Added them to my wish list when I'm ready to order them. Well I didn't get a lot done this weekend. Sat. I had to do yard work and my well pump blew so my Sat was shot. Sun. morning I cleaned up the garage to make more room to work and put together all my car tools I've been buying the last couple months. I was able to take a wire wheel to the entire inside of car. Looks a lot better than I thought.
There is a few rough spots on the kick panel on drivers side. Any quick fixes or do I need to replace the whole piece?
So far I'm looking at replacing both rear quarter panels, trunk floor, tail light panel and the trunk lid filler panel. Seems the rear is in bad shape rust wise.
Definitely keep as much original metal as you can. Looks like the floors aren't bad. I saw POR-15 mentioned but I prefer another product that I've found to be better in my work. www.nomorerust.com get their silver mastercoat....it converts the rust making it inert and it can fill pinholes. This stuff once cured will survive 90 days in hydrochloric acid without touching it! Warning...if you get it on your skin and don't get it off immediately you will have to wear it off! LOL. Then you can top coat it with their AG111 tractor coat. I use this on frames, convertible top frames, etc. It's an anti graffiti coating and solvents won't touch it and unlike POR15 it is UV stable and won't chalk up.
So I have a few small rust holes in the window frames and inside drivers inner fender well as well as drivers side rear window corner. What would be the best way to deal with this? Patch it?
drivers side rear door window frame drivers side front window frame passenger side front window frame drivers side rear inner fender drivers side rear window frame
Gonna POR 15 floor once I get new trunk floor installed and figure out what to do with kick panel. Pulling engine and trans out this weekend to start cleaning engine bay. Thanks.
Definitely patch it but some of that will be challenging where it is. Also check up under your cowl...odds are that you've got rust in there as well and the cowl panel replacement is time consuming but not impossible.
