1966 Mustang Coupe 

1. Intro                                                           6. Assembly Begins
2. The Beginning                                             7. Assembly Continues
3. Strip Down                                                 8. Final Touches
4. Paint Booth                                                 9. The money pit
5. Finally Red                                                 10. The Grand Finale

5. Finally Red!

Well, after many hours of preparation, the main body of the Mustang is finally painted. Christopher wanted it Candy apple Red, so that's what she (the Mustang) got. It's a single stage acrylic. Masking was fairly easy because there wasn't much to mask off except the big open areas in the windows, doors, trunk and front. I didn't bother masking the wheels because we'll be getting new tires and wheel covers later. It came out better than I though it was going to come out. I was nervous about painting it. It had been a long time since I painted anything, and I was afraid of everything going wrong. Except for the bottom portions where I had to get down on my knees and spray upward, it went fairly smoothly. I tried to paint as fast as I could not knowing how long I had until the sealer was too dry to put the color on. There were a few spots that had dust or specks of something, but for the most part it looks pretty good. Hopefully I can buff them out later.

1966 mustang Right Rear Quarter panel and trunk1966 mustang Right front A pillar and cowl1966 mustang Right door jamb and quarter panel
Right Rear Quarter panel and trunk                              Right front "A" pillar and cowl                             Right door jamb and quarter panel

I bought new weather stripping and rubber parts, gaskets, and plugs and  wire spoke hubcaps.
I still need to buy a new antenna because the one that came with the car is not original. It has a rectangular base and the original has a round base. I also need the "FORD" letters for the front of the hood.
All I need now is more time to put it back together.
 

NEW PICTURES!
This is after the main body was painted and moved outside so the rest of the parts (fenders, hood, trunk, etc.) could be painted in the garage.

The next day, we installed the front windshield and rear window with new weatherstriping. The windshield was fairly easy to install using the suggested 'cord' method where a cord is inserted into the sealing groove (not the windshield groove) and pulled through the opening to seat the weatherstrip into the frame. The rear window was more difficult because the sharper corners. The beginning is easy, but the last corner presented a tight fit and the cord couldn't pull the lip over the edge easily. It took about 10 minutes and a lot of pulling to finally get it.

Windshield

Since the car was out of the garage, I had enough room in the garage to  paint the doors, the trunk lid (inside & out), the hood (inside & out), the insides of the front and rear valances, stone guard and grille support.


Trunk lid                                                                               Hood
 


Right Fender                                                                     Left Fender


Front and rear fender extensions and headlight doors.
 


Front Valance, grille support and stone guard.                 Painting Supplies









November 30:  Today's high temp: 58° - Painted the front fenders, door hinges, and rear valence.


Left fender                                                                             Right fender


Front fenders and front valance on the dining room floor much to Colleen's dismay.
This was only a temporary storage place until the other parts were painted. I didn't want to get overspray on the fenders.
 


Front fenders with the new running horse, 289 and MUSTANG emblems installed.
 


Fenders moved back into the garage

December 1: Painted the stone guard, front valence, head light frames (fender extensions), and head lamp doors (covers), grill support and rear extensions (corners of the rear just above the tail lamps).

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