FYI FORD MustangSteve's Ford Mustang Forum / What first?

**Posted by mustangermike** 1/13/2018 5:05 PM

So I couldn't help myself today. I took out the carpet and front seats. I wanted to get a better idea of what's underneath so I took out the carpet and underlay. Here's what I found. There's some rust there, but the metal still feels and sounds pretty solid.
So here's my dilemma: I really want to drive the car, but its GOT to get a new fuel tank, carburetor adjusted (maybe rebuilt), new radiator, brakes gone through, general tune up, etc. But I'm sitting there looking at the interior and thinking, "I've got to get this interior looking better."
What do I do with the body? How do I go about restoring the car? I would like for the car to be a "rolling restoration", but not sure if that's the way to go or not. I don't have loads of cash laying around right now for me to start throwing at the car, so where do I start? Get the engine / fuel system tip top, or do I start on the body? Here are some pictures I took today.

**Posted by josh-kebob** 1/13/2018 5:26 PM

Mike

Overall, the floors look to be in pretty good shape so, I wouldn't worry about the floors, interior or body right now.
Instead, I'd focus on the mechanicals you mentioned......brakes, fuel system, etc. Get those updated first then, worry about the body and interior....you want it to run right and stop....once that's accomplished, then focus on the body/interior...

**Posted by mustangermike** 1/13/2018 6:36 PM

Sounds like good advice! Thanks!

**Posted by Mochaman** 1/13/2018 8:27 PM

Besides paint and body are you keeping the wiring or changing the wiring? Wiring usually is underneath everything else, I would recommend doing anything wiring related towards the beginning, then any fuel/brake lines you need to run. Much easier with everything our of the way.

**Posted by MS** 1/14/2018 10:14 PM

Brakes and all new wheel bearings first. That way, uou are not tempted to go for a drive as soon as you get it running. Safety items first.
And tht requires wheels and tires, so be patient. As long as you are msking progress, it doesn’t have to be driveable just yet.

**Posted by almcgee** 1/14/2018 10:35 PM

Sounds like a lot of good advice. I agree with brakes first. As I recall the car had disk breaks on the front;but didn't have a booster on the master cylinder. That would be the first thing to tackle. Redo brakes front and rear, push out the old fluid, add a booster to the master cylinder and since you are on a budget stick with drums on the rear.

**Posted by Bolted to Floor** 1/15/2018 5:09 AM

A rolling restoration sounds great. Safety items first.......brakes, tires, suspension. Sing able to drive it will bring some enjoyment , or so I’m told. 🙄

**Posted by mustangermike** 1/22/2018 10:42 PM

I am currently tackling the fuel system. Once I get that tightened up I’ll start on the brakes. I look forward to getting my hands on all that. That should be a pretty inexpensive project. After that I figured I’ll get into the cooling system starting with a flush, new 24” radiator, etc. And as for wiring I haven’t considered that much. I imagine I will look at all that before I begin with dealing with the interior? I’ll keep y’all posted!

**Posted by Alessandro** 1/24/2018 12:21 PM

Hello mike , they give you right suggestions on what first and i agree that wiring is something to look at.
I recently finish my frame resto and ( later ) i thought that was better put all new .
My was cut and spliced here and there and rigid....but working .
Upgrading from 3g alt to 1 g was terribly a mess cause lot of people put hands on it.
Lucky if this is not your case anyway i think you have enough work to do ! 😎😀
Rust, brakes,bearings,tank,carb,interior and more that for sure will come out ...surprise surprise !!!
Good job !

**Posted by Alessandro** 1/26/2018 10:56 AM

mustangermike wrote:
I am currently tackling the fuel system. Once I get that tightened up I’ll start on the brakes. I look forward to getting my hands on all that. That should be a pretty inexpensive project. After that I figured I’ll get into the cooling system starting with a flush, new 24” radiator, etc. And as for wiring I haven’t considered that much. I imagine I will look at all that before I begin with dealing with the interior? I’ll keep y’all posted!

Hi , i have just finish and thinking about the first ride that something went wrong with wirings ...
Now i got to take out Dash and seats to see what happen . Not First time and make me crazy !

**Posted by BillyC** 2/02/2018 6:16 PM

When I got my 66 coupe it was a 6 cyl 3 spd with no interior except for the seat springs. The first thing I did was buy a v8 parts car and proceeded to change it into a v8 auto with 4 wheel drum manual brakes. As budget allowed I add front discs new rear springs and interior.
Now here comes the advice. Not knowing what you have under the hood I can only tell you what I would do if I was starting over. First I would do the interior. Then I would change the suspension to v8 parts, rack and pinion steering and 4 wheel power discs. Once the brakes, suspension and steering were right I would start thinking about an engine/trans swap.
Once I finish installing my rear discs mine will pretty much be done. I just would do it different next time.

**Posted by Steve-G** 2/02/2018 7:13 PM

When van I come by and check out the project?

**Posted by mustangermike** 2/03/2018 12:52 PM

I’d love for you to come by! Give me a call and see if I’m around. Today I’m doing stuff with the family so I’ll be out and about. I’ll PM you my number in case you lost it.

**Posted by mustangermike** 3/08/2018 4:54 PM

Today was a nice day so I decided to move the preparing the trunk along to getting the fuel tank installed. I had to weld up a number of holes that the previous owner decided to drill throughout the trunk. Let's just say the welding I do on MustangSteve products is lightyears better than my thin sheet metal welding. Nonetheless, here it is. Any tips on thin sheet metal welding would be welcome.

Last edited by mustangermike (3/08/2018 4:55 PM)

**Posted by True74yamaha** 4/10/2018 6:48 AM

On welding supplies I'd highly suggest looking up Lehighvalleyabrasives.com they have some of the best prices on cutting grinding and sanding abrasives. Get your self a nice variable speed grinder plus a good quality backing plate. Harbor freight actually sales a few different backing plates of good quality. You also may look into media blasting the body depending on the shape it's in. For a good quality epoxy primer I would highly suggest SPI for your epoxy and SPI for the clear coat. Plus when you buy from them you can even contact the owner with any trouble shooting or product questions.

**Posted by Steve-G** 6/09/2018 6:41 PM

Get a 4.5 inch grinder with a wire cup. Go over the floor. That will tell you what you have to work with.

**Posted by mcfade** 6/21/2018 8:34 PM

Looking good progress, nice job on preps.

**Posted by RV6** 2/28/2019 4:20 PM

Steve-G wrote:
Get a 4.5 inch grinder with a wire cup. Go over the floor. That will tell you what you have to work with.

I second the wire cup. I stripped all the paint off of my 67 with a wire cup. Wear a face shield if you use one. Them little wires can hurt when they spin off at high speed.