Door parts

[srapcan]

I am looking for the upper door belt molding (the weatherstrip/windowfelt piece that presses onto the outside top of the door and seals against the window) for my 86 GT w/t-tops. I can find them for an 87, but the guy selling them told me that they are different and will not work on my 86 (He stated that the tops of the doors are a bit different and the 87-93 doors run straight across and the belt molding attaches differently while the 86 and earlier doors have a lip that the belt molding fits on making them completely different parts). Does anyone know where I can find these parts or at least something that I can make work? My old ones are cracked and falling apart and I can't keep water from running down inside the door. Any help would be appreciated!

[FoxChassis]

http://secure.50resto.com/product1.cfm?SID=1&Product_ID=63&Category_ID=106

[srapcan]

Thanks for the great site! I hadn't found them in my searches so far. You wouldn't happen to know of any other place to look for the parts that 5.0 resto doesn't carry, would you? I would like to find a place that might have more interior restoration parts (like interior door panels) for an 86. The 5.0 resto site has a lot, but still more of the 87-93 parts and I was wondering if there are others that might have some of the earlier parts.

[negusm]

You can try www.texasmustang.com or www.johnsmustang.com. Thing is, all these guys draw alot of their parts directly from Ford and when Ford has run out, so do they. I have tried to order numerous items from all these guys just to find its no longer "in stock". Its really not "in stock" at Ford for them to resell. Case in point 1985-1986 side mouldings.

Sadly, there are no door panels except what are in junkyards or parted out on ebay. Interior parts are scavanged by us vultures because they are tough to find and will probably never be reproduced. Most of these cars get crushed when they hit the bone yards.

If you watch the posts here, it seems that there is an order to how a four eyed car is scavenged:

Front end...(Bumper Cover, grill, etc)
Rear end...(Bumper Cover, lights, etc)
Interior
Mouldings
Everything else.

As for new parts...you can try Ford...they do have a scarce few things. They are fast running out for even the smallest items (we're talking 1 or two left in the country if they even have it). Just get a friendly guy at a parts department and start asking him questions and get part numbers. I got a NOS HVAC for my asc from some dealership in Texas, one of two he had listed in the US. (now there is perhaps just one...)

For freaks like me there are a few places for obsolete parts but you will pay dearly and even they have little. But I did find a NOS washer bottle and a Mercury grill tag and more from greensalescompany.com. You can also try www.partsvoice.com when you get the part number. Don't try to search on description, it won't return anything useful.

The one thing I wish I could get is a NOS stock shift boot...I seem to have run out of luck with that.

Well, anyways, just don't give up...alot of pieces can be restored/refinished...
http://www.toolcube.com/interest/auto/mustang.html

This guy had a good idea to use a mold of the texture when refinishing the interior plastic. I plan on doing the same thing: Sand the scratches, epoxy the cracks and sanded areas, then press in the texture and finally paint.

I still have my fingers crossed for the repro market to make some stuff...but it seems highly unlikey.

I have a feeling that it will be 5-10 years for the restoration market to get big enough for these cars. Everyone is still going the modified route (poor forsaken carbs). We need more and more people wanting their cars back to stock. More importantly, we need people wanting to pay (lotsa) money for cars that are still stock so that their value starts to increase substantially. This may never happen since alot of people who are willing to shell out some money still want the old classic Mustangs/Cougars/Falcons (who wouldn't?) and they are still plentiful and coming out of hiding even today. I was at the Charlotte Motor Speedway this past weekend (in the rain on Saturday morning) and just walking around, I saw a measly four 79-93 Mustangs, ZERO Capris and a crap load of 94-2003 Mustangs and at least twice as many 64.5-73 Mustangs as there were 94+ and ZERO of the Mustang IIs. I suppose that says something. I hope the all Ford show in August (Sept) here will bring out some four eyes.

If you don't care about stock...there are alot of alternatives. You can change your interior to a newer year (up to '93 for most stuff I think) and still get some quality parts from bone yards or www.mps.com. There are alot of aftermarket items to replace worn out pieces and such. You could even splurge and go to a cutom upholstery shop and have them go wild with the door panels and seats.

Well, I seem to have rambled on and on...hope it helps.

-Mike