I got around to installing the console and my RetroSound radio.  It took a bit of finagling and adjusting before I was satisfied with how the radio fit.  But the knobs fit where they are supposed to and don’t rattle.  When I first installed them they fit loose and wobbled a lot.  I used the rubber sleeves that the radio comes with along with a couple of washers to get everything to fit and line up nicely.  I think it came out fairly well.  Here are a couple of pictures of the finished product.

I believe I had mentioned in a previous post that I had a deluxe steering wheel to install on the car.  I attempted to install it, but the center pad didn’t fit correctly so I reinstalled the old wheel.  Today I did some additional research, along with posting to a popular vintage Mustang forum with a lot of very knowledgeable people.  I learned two things.  The first is that the deluxe wheel center pad was different from the standard wheel center pad.  I wasn’t able to find any pictures illustrating the differences, but I was led to believe that it was a slightly different shape and that the standard pad might even be better looking.  I did some searching of the Web and found a number of pictures of a standard pad.  All of the pictures I found showed a hole in the back of the pad to accommodate the steering shaft protruding up into the back of the pad.  This is exactly where my interference was.  The center pad I have did not have a hole in the middle so the pad wouldn’t fit over the shaft.  With the standard wheel this wasn’t an issue.  It looks like I just need to make a hole in the pad and everything will fit OK.  I have no explanation why my pad has no hole.  The pictures I found online show a hole that sometimes looks very clean and on some pads the hole looks like it was added much later.

Here are pictures of my pad.

Here are some pictures I found on the Internet of pads with holes.

Sometime in the next few days I plan to remove the old wheel, install the deluxe wheel, and hollow out the pad so that I can install it.  I’ll post a few pictures after I get it done.

The plastic repairs were complete and the time had come to paint the console.  I did some research as to whether I should paint the console or use some type of dye to color it.  The results were that I should use the same interior paint that I used to paint the dash and doors.  This would make for a good color match.  The trick to getting the paint to stick to the console was in the surface preparation and priming.  Here is a good article I used as a reference.

To begin I spent a fair bit of time making sure the console base was clean.  Since it was 45 years old there was no telling what it had been treated with.  First I scrubbed it thoroughly with a toothbrush and some Simple Green cleaner.  I went over the entire base several times to make sure it was clean.  Next I filled a bucket with warm water and dish washing detergent and scrubbed down the base using a brush to make sure I got any treatments such as Armor All that may have been used in the past.  Finally I wiped down the console base with wax and grease remover.  That was about as clean as I could get the base.

I decided that I would not attempt to redo the flocking in the storage compartment, so I used painter’s tape to mask it.  Then I applied two coats of adhesion promoter which I had purchased at the local auto parts store.  The directions said to wait no more than three minutes between coats, and to apply the color coat within ten minutes of the last coat of adhesion promoter.  So that’s what I did.  I applied four or five very light coats of the color over the adhesion promoter.  It came out pretty well and was a good color match for the old broken base when I compared the two.

After the base dried over night I reinstalled all the old trim pieces.  I had to replace the plastic light housings as the old ones were in pretty bad shape.  I made sure all the wiring was good and that the bulbs lit up.  It doesn’t look like brand new, but it came out fairly well.  Check out the pictures below and decide for yourself.

I pulled my original console off the shelf with plans to clean it up and reinstall it in the car.  That plan fell apart when I inspected it and found several cracks and a few places where the plastic had broken completely off.  Unfortunately I was unable to locate the broken off parts so I was unable to repair the console.  I had seen where one online mustang parts vendor sold new console housings, but they no longer sold the part.  My next plan was to contact a local parts vendor, Pony Express run by Dave.  I had been to his garage/shed and I knew that he had several used consoles.  When I called to see if I could purchase one of the consoles I got the bad news that Dave had passed away.  While the parts were still there, the family didn’t have a handle on what he had, where he had it, or how much any of it was worth.  I extended my condolences to the family and continued my search.  I hope they get everything straightened out soon enough.

My next stop was a search on EBay.  I searched daily for a couple of weeks.  I did find a few consoles and console bases.  One would have been perfect and the price was right.  But somebody else got to it before I did.  I also did some searching on the Internet.  I located a base but it was in pretty rough condition, so I chose to pass on that one.  I contacted Val because he had once told me he knew somebody with a console who might be willing to sell it.  A couple of weeks later he sent me some pictures and an email address in case I was interested.  There were two consoles pictured.  They were a bit rough, but they looked like they could be patched and cleaned up.  So I contacted the seller and eventually struck up a deal on a console base.  It had one crack in the same place where several of the others I had looked at were cracked. It was also missing a small chunk of plastic. but the base included all the broken off pieces of plastic.  I just had to assemble and glue together the jigsaw puzzle.

To repair the console I bought a tube of Loctite plastic epoxy.  I used this to glue the console pieces back together.  I also used it to fill the crack.  I was surprised at how strong the epoxy was, and at how well the pieces fit back together.  When I had finished the repair it was noticeable if you knew where to look, but I was happy with how the base looked.  It still needs to be painted the correct color red to match the rest of the interior.  I have the correct color paint on order from one of the Mustang parts vendors.  That means I won’t be able to paint the console for a few days yet.

At this point I turned my attention to the old console base so that I could remove the old trim pieces.  Most of the parts were in reasonably good shape for 45 year old parts.  I did some cleaning and polishing, and then touched up the black paint using a black magic marker.  The lenses for the lighting were cracked so I ordered replacements.  I also ordered new rubber bumpers for the ash tray.  All those parts should be arriving later this week.

I decided to test fit the trim pieces to the new console base, which turned out to be a good idea.  I learned that the console base was for an automatic transmission, and that it needed to be cut to fit the trim plate for the manual transmission.  I was nervous about cutting the base, and did several comparisons between the new base and my old base before I decided to start cutting.  Ford must have had somebody on the assembly line cut the consoles when needed.  I used a hacksaw blade with my hands to make the cuts.  It now matches my old console base in that area and the trim plate fits fine.

While everything was taken apart I checked all the wiring.  It is fine with no shorts or bad connections.  I was missing a light bulb for the light that goes inside the console drawer.  I looked it up in my reprint of the owners manual and picked up a new bulb at the local auto parts store.

At this point in time I’m just waiting for my parts to arrive so that I can finish up the console restoration.   That means I may not be able to get back to work until sometime early next week.  In the mean time I’ll try and snap a few pictures showing my repair and cut jobs on the console base.

Update: I’m adding a few pictures of the console base with my repair and trimming.

While waiting on parts for the interior I’ve been polishing and painting the wheels for my car.  The wheels I have are the original styled steel wheels that came on the car when it was new.  The chrome on them is not in the greatest shape but is serviceable.  The trim rings were in pretty good shape as I replaced them with new Ford trim rings back in the 1980’s and kept them away from curbs since then.  I have a new set of reproduction center caps from Scott Drake.  The best thing about these reproductions are that they attach with screws rather than being a press fit.  I lost more than one set of original Ford center caps because they always came loose and flew off while I was driving.  These center caps should stay nice and tight.

The part of the wheels that needed the most work is the painted portions between the spokes.  They are supposed to be painted charcoal grey, but mine were black on the parts that were still painted.  The rest was pretty well chipped or the paint had flaked off.  I had a can of self etching primer and another can of the correct charcoal paint so I went to work on the wheels one at a time.

I used aircraft stripper to remove the old black paint.  It took several attempts and a lot of scrubbing with steel wool and mineral spirits to get the paint off.  Then I spent a considerable amount of time taping up the wheels.  Expect to spend an hour or two per wheel, depending on how exact you want to be.  I did my best but some of the taping could have definitely been better.  Then comes a couple of coats of the self etching primer, followed by a couple of coats of the charcoal grey paint.  After painting I installed the trim rings, center caps, and reinstalled using a new set of lug nuts.

Here a quick picture I took of one of the finished wheels.  This was the first one I attempted.  I got better as I went along.

Once again I’ve been lax in keeping up with the updates.  I also need to get out and take some more pictures.  For now I’ll prepare this post and add some pictures when I get a chance.

Over the past few days I’ve mostly been taking care of some little things that needed finishing up.  I installed some more of the AcoustiShield in the rear seating area and trunk.  I did some work on my deluxe steering wheel, but I’m not satisfied that I have it right yet so I reinstalled the old steering wheel and horn ring.  I installed the inside door locks pulls and grommets, the door sill plate emblems, and put a rubber cover on the bright switch.

I pulled my old console out of storage in preparation to recondition it and install it along with the radio.  Unfortunately the base was too badly cracked and broken to be serviceable.  A reproduction console is available, but nobody sells just the base.  I don’t want to purchase the entire console as it costs just over $1000.  I’m still searching for a decent used console.  I originally planned to purchase any used parts from a business called Pony Express.  I know they had several consoles available.  Unfortunately the owner passed away several weeks ago and nobody else knows what he has, where he has it stored, or how much it is worth.  So my hunt for a used console base continues.

Another decision I had pending was what to do with my seat belts.  The car originally came with deluxe seat belts when it was new.  I still have the original seat belts but they are not in great condition.  One option would be to have a service recondition them.  There are several businesses that specialize in this type of restoration.  The other option was to replace them.  I decided to install a set of 3 point retractable seat belts in the front.  They don’t appear original but I feel much more secure with them.

I spent several days researching the aftermarket seat belts and reading some articles on Vintage Mustang Forums detailing installs performed by other Mustang owners.  In the end I decided to install the top anchor point at the roof line with a sash to extend the belt down so that it didn’t come across my neck.  I also found a way to share the bottom anchor point between the re-tractor and the front of the seat belt.  Sharing the anchor point required a special end on the front anchor point.  I found a vendor, Wesco Performance that sold the seat belts, the upper mount I wanted to use, and the special end on the seat belt.  They have an online ordering system, but it didn’t permit me to specify everything the way I wanted.  So I called their customer service line to place the order.

I was first greeted by a woman who said I would have to use the online ordering system.  When I told her I had already attempted to do so but wasn’t able to specify everything the way I wanted she wouldn’t believe me and made me prove it by telling her what model number the online system had recommended to me.  She acted a bit surprised when I rattled off the part number and repeated my problem.  She decided it must be an installation issue and handed me over to Dawn to assist me.  Dawn was even less help.  Even though I was able to give her page numbers from the manual discussing the option I wanted she said I didn’t need it and that all their seat belts shared the anchor mounting point with the re-tractor.  The instructions didn’t agree with what she was telling me but she was adamant that I would be able to share the mounting point.  So I went back to the online ordering system and ordered the seat belts.

No big surprise, but when the seat belts arrived a few days later they didn’t have the end I needed and couldn’t be installed using a shared mounting point.  I was prepared for this and knew I could install them using separate mounting points for the front anchor and the re-tractor.  I was just a bit irritated with the customer service (or complete lack thereof) from Wesco Performance.  The seat belts actually shipped from Seat Belt Solutions in Jupiter Florida, so I would recommend purchasing them direct and bypassing the inept middle man.

The actual install went fairly smooth.  I used an existing hole for the upper mounting plate.  It took a bit of fishing and finagling but I was able to mount the plates fairly easily.  I had to drill holes in the floor for the two re-tractors.  Everything else installed at the factory mounting points.  The color of the belts matches my interior fairly well.  And best of all, the access to the rear seat isn’t blocked as badly as I thought it would be.  That was the reason for my wanting to share a mounting point, as I thought the upside down V made by the webbing would impede access to the rear seat.

I’ll take some pictures tomorrow when I install the rear quarter trim panels and rear seat.  I still have to decide how I want to proceed with the rear seat belts.  But for now I need to keep moving forward.

Update: Here are a few pictures I snapped of the seat belts and interior this morning.

Dash and front seats

Seat belt and door opening – another angle

Seat belt and door opening

Retractor and front mount

Roof mount