austinkli

Oh you know, a dash of this, a pinch of that.

Actually I did about 60% peroxide and 40% dawn.

cdynaco

Here the dust is reddish in areas due to volcanic cinder.

VGMStudios

lad you were able to fix the shifter and whatnot.
Carpets look great.

austinkli

Got some more work done yesterday.



Putting the carpet in for now, but it'll probably have to come back out so I can get the insulation in later.


Figured it'd be a good opportunity to wash the brackets and stuff on the seats while they were out.






In retrospect, I'm going to need to find a way to hold this down with some velcro or something, because slicing it with a razor blade wasn't the best idea I've ever had. You can see that the carpet is sliding out and getting in the way of my foot, so I'm def going to need to figure something out.


Had some trouble with the center console. Before I wash it, it looks like this.


Then I scrub it and put interior shiny cleaner stuff on it and it still looks like this.


So I left it out of the car for now, thinking I'm just going to repaint it.

Remember how I took that piece out to sand and paint for the center of the dash and how it was disgustingly dirty?


Well since I still haven't sanded and painted that piece I took this opportunity to clean that as well.


The armrest area in the back was pretty dirty. Figured I'd get that clean before I get the seats back in.





Then I moved on to the shifter. The top cover on it was broken.


So two little dabs of super glue...


And while the super glue dries, I decided to clean out the trunk. Remember all the trash that was in it in the first post? I just knew it was gonna be nasty under the carpet as well. But surprisingly it wasn't THAT bad. Just covered in dirt.


So I sprayed it down with cleaner, took a brush to it, hosed it out and drained it. And it was just fine.


Put the rear seats back in.


Went ahead and cleaned off the door sill plates. I'll probably give them to my wife as her have a lot more scuffs on them.


Now let's see if the super glue on the shifter cover held:

Yep!

I did not think about one thing though, no cup holders for my coffee on the way to work this morning though.

austinkli

Yea sorry man, I def was going to buy that one from you, but last time I was fooling with it I found the piece and was like I can't pass up an opportunity to fix it for the cost of a tube of super glue.

austinkli

I did also just get my tires fixed. One of my buddies gave me 4 tires. I only had 2 of them put on since I had to pay for each tire to get put on. The have a smaller wall, 55 instead of 65. So I put the two 55's in the front and left the 65's in the back.

VGMStudios

Hey not a problem. Its all good.

I'm just glad to hear that you were able to fix it!

austinkli

Thanks to lazlong, I went ahead and got a heat gun from my detail department and it came out pretty good.

You'll recall that this is what it looked like before.




So we got to work with a heat gun.




You can see where we've done and haven't done.



All done with the heat gun.


Then I shined it up and compared to the original pic...





Before & After

austinkli

I re-broke it today. Fixed it again, but now the indicator stays in Park. Depending on just how annoying that gets, I may PM you again.

austinkli

Got a little bit of work done yesterday. Now I'd just like to say that I am absolutely TERRIBLE at spray painting anything. This time was no exception, but it came out acceptable. If you're wondering why I was painting, you may remember this stuff on the dash face plate.



Me sanding down the face plate for the dash.


All taped up and ready to paint.



First coat of paint.




And to be honest you really shouldn't work on a car without alcohol.



While the first coat of paint is drying up a bit, I figured I'd replace the antenna on my car. Not sure why it's so bent.


Fortunately my wife put a shorty antenna on her car a few months ago and we still have her antenna.




Much better.


Again, I'm terrible at painting so I know it didn't come out great, but it's better than it was.


Time to finish getting it all back together now.






Since that super glue holding the shifter cover broke in this cold weather, I decided to use something that wouldn't break. Got some JB Weld on it.





Then I sanded back down the silver trim that I ruined trying to get the shifter cover out.


Came out ok.


Car is pretty much back together for now.

terry5357

OP my first thought was you are a scumbag piece of crap for ripping her off, but now after all the pics, I think you paid too much lol

Flagstang

Looks good! I do agree that you are not god at painting.

austinkli

Lol, a lot of people have said the same thing. Truth is, to me that's what the car was worth. $1,000 based on the work I knew I was going to have to do. I actually wasn't happy about the other $300 I had to pay on top, while looking at a book value perspective, I got a great deal, I was thinking yea but I'm doing a **** ton of work on this thing.


Yea, I'm awful. I'm considering taking that piece back out, and getting it wrapped in some kind of decal. I don't want to rice out the car either though, so I really don't know.

VGMStudios

Just an FYI if you will. To spray paint you need to spray in light long strokes. Get about 6-12 inches I think away from item you are painting and dont stop half way. Light as in dont put down the paint heavy. Do it in light coats. This way you can stop when you think it looks good. Heavy painting will always turn out bad.

What would also help with your paint job is if you Flat coat it to get ride of the shine. It would look a lot better then the gloss look it has now.

You can also wrap it in hydro carbon which is always a nice look.

tukatz

Now that you have it looking so good, what is it worth and what have you put into it in hours and dollars?

austinkli

Thanks for the tips. I did the gloss on purpose, but I'm not sure how I feel about it now though.

Not really any more than it was yet. Still too many things that need "fixed". I'd say if you compounded all the hours I've spent working on it, I've probably put into it about 10-11 hours total. Cost thus far, maybe $100 between the tires and the cleaning supplies. Would have cost a lot more if I didn't have friends that allowed me to use pressure washers, or gave me tires, etc.

DPHC13

you should try some Plasidip on the center console. It has a nice matt back finish and (sorry) it will look a HELL of a lot better than that paint. All in all GREAT job! And i wish i could get a Stang for 1300$$

Earlsays

This thread is pretty amazing, talk about a turn-around. Take that bezel to an auto body shop, and have them spray it matte black or semi gloss...couldn't cost too much.

houtex

Antenna bend: car wash.

Source: bent mine *just* like it. Now I remove before flight, if you will, no problems.

/Yes yes, I'm a heathen, it's too late already. She looks fine and dandy. I'm choosy 'bout my washes too.

GrnT

I salute you sir. Your taking detailing and cleaning to a whole new level. That car is lucky it found you.