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  1. #1

    Default 1981 Mustang RHD (UK model)

    Thought I should start a proper build thread on here for my car, it's been a while since I've been on other than lurking around the facebook page!
    This is the 'new user' thread i posted a while ago

    http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...ustang-England

    And a reminder, this is how it looked when I bought it







    Late last year I swapped the rear lamps over from the original 79 specs for later LX ones. Some purists may see this as sacralige on an early four eye, but it's kinda necessary over here to comply with the regulations on amber turn signals (not allowed red ones on cars later than 1960-something). Plus I've always liked these lamps, they make it look wider!



    Whilst I was at it I sprayed the centres of them black and added some black pinstriping to enhance the early 80s feel of the car.



    In action...



    Late last year it also made it all the way into London (round trip of 100 miles or so) in heavy traffic although it had a bit of an overheating issue as seen here...



    And made it to a nice old car meet local to me where I got this nice shot



    More updates coming... (transferring from my build thread on a different website)

  2. #2

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    I also took some photos which I was quite impressed with outside work when I took it in around March time this year...







    Hope you like them

  3. #3

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    Wow, the taillights turned out great! Nice looking car all around!
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  4. #4

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    That's a great looking Mustang regardless of which side of the pond you come from, but your car buddies over there must get a real kick out of it. I can't imagine you see too many 3rd generation Mustangs in your neck of the woods.

    Nice job on the taillight swap. Personally I like the original taillights better, but I can understand why you did the swap (to pass MOT, and your personal preference).

    What is your next move? What are the future plans? Did you figure out why the car over heated on that London trip (London traffic is terrible, and it has to be hard on an older car)? Maybe you should consider upgrading the cooling system? Hi flow water pump, aluminum radiator, etc?
    Cheers!

    Mike (TopGear85)



    Have:
    85 Saleen #73-GT,2R,TuTone,Cruise,Pos,5spd,Charcoal
    ***August 2015 ROTM Winner!***

    Had:
    79PC-San Jose #2890
    86GT-9L,TuTone,5spd,T-Tops,Sand Beige
    86GT-9L,TuTone,5spd,T-Tops,Charcoal
    90LX-Oxford Wht,5spd,Sunroof,5.0 Hatchback
    90GT-Oxford Wht,5spd

  5. #5

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    Cheers guys! Glad you like it. To be honest, I've found these cars aren't that well respected over here at the moment. Most people favor early mustangs and actually seem to favor european 80s models (for the nostalgic 'i used to have one of those' factor probably) over the fox bodies. But I kind of fell in love with the notch shape fox from seeing them during a few visits to the US last year. And I'm lucky enough to have a club over here called the Fox Doctors founding members in the same county as me... and they have sheds full of parts I think in the coming years they will become more popular as they get older but at the moment most people don't even realise its a mustang!

    I should apologise, these updates are from a while ago as I was just copying stuff from my other build thread. Unfortunately we had a storm which knocked out our internet line at home so I'm doing this from work in my lunch breaks

    The overheating seemed to be a number of things, but I wasn't too sure on the reliability of the original engine mounted temp sensor and gauge. So I fitted a solid line temperature gauge to the top rad hose which now gives me a known reliable readout of the temperature there. I changed the front radiator, thermostat, all hoses and the heating matrix (as the original decided to leak all over the floor) and it seems to maintain a good 90 degrees on the top rad hose now, and the original gauge doesn't seem to get anywhere near as bad as it did.

    These are some pictures of it at a car show just before doing all this work





    As the heater matrix had leaked I had to strip all the carpet out, thankfully it's quite solid underneath



    Found some old UK coins under there with 1977 on them, must have been dropped when the guys did the RHD conversion

    Here's the radiator swap in progress - standard off the shelf one from a US parts importer near me, should do the job as the engines staying stock for now.



    And this is the leaky heater matrix and slightly worn pipes



    Whilst pulling everything apart in the interior I found lots of these hand-fabricated (as this was a low production RHD essentially prototype parts) with no E-coating and therefore rather a lot of rust. All have now been stripped and painted gloss black or red to keep from rusting any further



    Got this shiny new heater matrix from the US, along with the restrictor tube that goes in the piping (mine didn't have one fitted when I bought it) so hopefully it won't die again too soon.



    One of the aforementioned brackets sprayed up and in place - this ones the rear centre console bracket



    I have to thank the guys at Fox Doctors for the low mileage carpet out of a late model convertible, slightly lighter shade but in much better condition.



    Anyone elses car have six seatbelt clasps but only two belts in the back? Must be a RHD thing...



    There's been lots of little bits to fix like this, the ventilation tubing seal for the windscreen demister. Thankfully easilly fixed by modern adhesive NVH foam (pictures later)



    I actually managed to take it out for a drive like this...



    Although it was incredibly warm with no floor insulation!

    Also stripped the factory clock down to repair some broken transistors in it



    And replace the aerial which has never gone fully down



    Both fixed, with fantastic retro turquoise clock characters show here



    I then spent some time Dynamatting the interior, replacing the heavy, rotten and often waterlogged original insulation. New wiring has been put in for a full rear stereo system and some spares for possible later additions so the carpet doesn't need pulling again to fit, for example, heated seats or a rear fuel pump (which has now been fitted). Extra thick insulation seen in the silver there as that area heats up a lot round there.



    And this is the new carpet in. It needed some new holes adding as the rear seatbelts are different in the convertibles, and as it came from a late model it fits slightly different around the centre console, but its as good as I'll get over here!


  6. #6

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    So after this I rewired the clock, got the centre console all in and straight (along with the seats and belts now being bolted in on top of the new carpet, so it's fully functioning again) and cleaned it up again. Clock works perfectly, and I removed the naff grey retrim from the gear selector handle at last returning it to stock chrome and black, looks really nice underneath...



    I took it out for a spin to get a couple of shots with the setting sun in a field nearby







    Unfortunately while taking these it got a little warm and the fueling issue its had since I got it started up again. Only seems to occur when it's very warm and sitting still, and usually results in a noisy fuel pump, splutter from the carb and no fuel delivery. Let it sit for thirty seconds and its fine again! My attempt at heatproofing all the fuel lines and pump made no difference, so I started about putting the pump (electric cube pump which had been fitted in the engine bay for some reason) down back, in front of the fuel tank on the plate that I think has a filter on on injection models? Put a brand new pump on too but that failed fairly soon after. On pump number three now and seeing how it goes...

    Whilst doing that I also wanted to put the interior back together, Firstly, all of the interior plastics are being cleaned up, primered and then given a shiney coat of Renault Estruscan Red - the closest match I can find on the shelf in UK car shops (and trust me, I tried a lot of different reds!) to the colour on the door cards. You'd be surprised how close a match it is! Some of the plastics had already been sprayed black and were becoming difficult to clean up to the original colour without stains, and some of the panels simply never matched out of the factory due to the RHD dash being such a low production item and a completely different material to other parts in the car. So it's all being sprayed exactly the same colour now to get a match. Firstly, the sill plates;



    And secondly, the glovebox. The latch has been cleaned up, getting that chrome out and gleaming again, lock freed up so it works perfectly again, and then the body and inside has been sprayed the same red. The whole dash will then be sprayed to match so this will fit right in again.



    Then the armrest which should be red vinyl on mine. During the retrim many years ago by previous, previous owners this was obviously stripped and retrimmed in the ageing grey leather which I have since removed from the rest of the car. This left me with an armrest which didn't match and was quite uncomfortable in the heat. A friend of mine at work is an expert in interior trimming, having all the industrial machinery and said he would have no problem replicating the cover in a different material for me. I decided to do something different and use a pair of jeans.
    These are actually the original Levis 511s I was wearing when I picked the car up from the previous owner, and worked on it in for most of last year. They were quite worn, full of holes and stains but we found the patterns could be cut from the back of the legs which had aged a bit but were nice and clean at least.



    It was a bit of a mission to find suitable thread which was both strong enough for the machine and to sew through denim and hold together, and in a jeans-colour gold. I found some in the end at a small town sewing shop, and it held together perfectly. The next step was to steam the cover onto the armrest, and glue the underside in place.



    I'm quite happy with the results so far, hopefully it'll create a centrepiece once in the car and will age and wear nicely to give a unique look.



    The dash top has been completely rebuilt but that will be part of an update another day. The main dash has been cleaned, fixed and completely resprayed to match the rest of the interior as closely as possible, along with the quarter trims, sill plates and glovebox lid from earlier. It was a lot of work over those 12 weeks or so but the dash is finally refitted;



    There are some wires hanging out of the dash behind the centre console, which is due to the car having a few extra speakers now and the RHD dash being slightly strange shape in that area but I've tidied most of that up with cable ties now. The wooden panels will be replaced by a new fabrication (hopefully fixing the wonky vent), but holds a bracket with electrics and relays on the back so is refitted for now. There are a few new parts in here and coming soon as well.



    I'm enjoying how the stereo glows red to match the interior now. Restored clock, shifter handle and new gauge masks also in this picture. Note big round hole that's appeared in the dash between the heater controls and the gauge as well, which will hold the secondary temperature gauge in the new fascias I will be fabricating.

  7. #7

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    It certainly looks like you have been busy. It's crazy...the little differences between your car and the 79 notches we have here in the states. The gear selector is different in your car (much longer and with a lot more chrome) the hvac controls appear to be recessed into the dash (they are flush on our cars), the lights on the left side of the gauge cluster (yours are covered..ours have the bulbs exposed), etc. I don't know what to make of all those extra female seat belt buckles? That seems like a mistake?

    I can understand why the cars you guys drove in the 80's are gaining popularity, but I'm surprised the Mustang isn't a bit more well received. You guys did have some amazing cars back then though...some I would love to have over here today. Lancia Delta Integrale's, Peugeot 205 GTI's, Escorts, Festivas, Capri's, E30 BMW M3's, anything from Alfa, Golf GTI's, etc...all are amazing cars and because they were so popular back then it's easy to see why they would be popular again today. Hopefully the Mustang will eventually make that list, but people typically flock to cars they once had as kids and not a lot of people probably owned 80's Mustangs back in the day in Europe. Besides, isnt there is a bit of a stigma surrounding American cars and their reliability/craftsmanship over there? Maybe that has something to do with it as well?
    Cheers!

    Mike (TopGear85)



    Have:
    85 Saleen #73-GT,2R,TuTone,Cruise,Pos,5spd,Charcoal
    ***August 2015 ROTM Winner!***

    Had:
    79PC-San Jose #2890
    86GT-9L,TuTone,5spd,T-Tops,Sand Beige
    86GT-9L,TuTone,5spd,T-Tops,Charcoal
    90LX-Oxford Wht,5spd,Sunroof,5.0 Hatchback
    90GT-Oxford Wht,5spd

  8. #8

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    Yeah its taken over my life a bit this summer!
    I know, it's difficult looking for pictures on the net for inspiration or to work out how it 'should' look as the dash is all over the place compared to the US LHD ones. The centre console is obviously the same, which then means the bottom of the dash doesn't line up with it properly in mine. I have no idea what radios were fitted in the US ones but these have all been made to allow a standard ISO single DIN stereo in and perhaps thats why its all a strange shape and doesn't line up. I have no idea why the shifter lever is different (the box, centre console and I believe the handle on the end is the same as LHD US?) or why the HVAC controls are recessed (only thing I can guess is that because they built only a few of them as like prototypes, the fan unit and flaps controlling the windscreen demist etc are quite basic, and so shorter cables or cable routings forced it to be in that position?
    Also note that in this the fascias are REAL wood... just some cheap pulp stuff with the backs milled out and recessed and then veneered on the front with a little grey pinstripe. I guess this was easier to do low volume than recreating the plastic ones to fit the new layout. The bulb cover shown in the last few images for the handbrake/seatbelt etc warnings is actually off a later 84-86 grey fascia dash as the ones that were fitted on mine had been attacked with a screwdriver at some point...
    The 6 buckles has no answer yet... they're on twin brackets so I'm wondering if they could only order them with something on both and then couldn't be bothered to cut them off when fitting them. Or someone suggested it was for helping fit a child seat in the back perhaps.

    Yeah, I don't know about the Lancia Deltas (none of them left!) or Capris (rusted to pieces), M3s (v rare and expensive here too). Plenty of 205 GTis around but they've all been driven hard or modified heavily. It's all VWs really, everyone loves an early Mk1 or 2 Golf over here, and in the retro circles its all about late 70s fords like the cortina and granada or British models like austins and rovers.

    I wouldn't say there is a stigma about reliability, low revving engine wise big sixes and v8s are seen as bulletproof compared to the weedy four pots we had over here. Craftsmanship I guess yes, they're seen as tough, hard working but crude I suppose. Our high gas prices and wet weather which attacks bodywork (although british stuff rusted just as bad as anything we imported back in the 70s/80s!) tends to put people off american stuff from this era more than anything else.
    But I was at a big hot rod and custom show called the National Association of Street Clubs (NASC... UK rip of of NSRA really!) 40th Nationals up at the town my girlfriend lives in at the moment a couple months back. Fields full of 60s and 70s cars, american and british and a lot of 30s rods and everything in between, all getting a lot of love. I think there were four fox bodies there in total on the field. One was a special RHD '82 coupe, similar to mine, one was a 90s conv, fellow club member, and the other two were both 90s hardtop coupes. I don't think I saw another person take photos of any of them or really stop to look at them, it was a bit of a shame!

  9. #9
    FEP Super Member dburdyshaw's Avatar
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    Nice one. Overall, your car looks very good. As the others have noted, it's probably quite unique over there ---- which (IMO) would add to its cool factor.

    Your console looks brand-new. You did an excellent job and bringing it to life.

    As for the Levi console lid ---- IT'S MY FAVORITE PART OF YOUR CAR. Brilliant and clever. I didn't realize that a console lid wore a size 33-32 ---- but now I do ---- LOL. Not only did you come up with an awesome idea, but the workmanship looks first rate. What could have been a dog's dinner turned out to be the jewel in the crown. Bravo!

    Now get out and give that car some welly!!!

    Hey ---- go easy on me ---- I'm just a country boy from the south (USA, that is).




    Quote Originally Posted by uncleterry View Post
    So after this I rewired the clock, got the centre console all in and straight (along with the seats and belts now being bolted in on top of the new carpet, so it's fully functioning again) and cleaned it up again. Clock works perfectly, and I removed the naff grey retrim from the gear selector handle at last returning it to stock chrome and black, looks really nice underneath...





    Then the armrest which should be red vinyl on mine. During the retrim many years ago by previous, previous owners this was obviously stripped and retrimmed in the ageing grey leather which I have since removed from the rest of the car. This left me with an armrest which didn't match and was quite uncomfortable in the heat. A friend of mine at work is an expert in interior trimming, having all the industrial machinery and said he would have no problem replicating the cover in a different material for me. I decided to do something different and use a pair of jeans.

    These are actually the original Levis 511s I was wearing when I picked the car up from the previous owner, and worked on it in for most of last year. They were quite worn, full of holes and stains but we found the patterns could be cut from the back of the legs which had aged a bit but were nice and clean at least.

    It was a bit of a mission to find suitable thread which was both strong enough for the machine and to sew through denim and hold together, and in a jeans-colour gold. I found some in the end at a small town sewing shop, and it held together perfectly. The next step was to steam the cover onto the armrest, and glue the underside in place.



    13 Dodge Dart
    09 Shadow Sabre
    08 Caliber
    05 Aztek
    02 Avalanche
    02 Thunderbird
    01 Cadillac ETC
    98 Explorer
    96 Suzuki X-90
    89 Fleetwood
    89 Continental
    88 Town Car
    86 Silverado
    84 Fiero
    83 Town Car
    82 LN7
    82 EXP
    80 Mustang
    65 Continental
    62 Galaxie 500
    54 Packard

    Stock never goes out of style.

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by dburdyshaw View Post
    Nice one. Overall, your car looks very good. As the others have noted, it's probably quite unique over there ---- which (IMO) would add to its cool factor.

    Your console looks brand-new. You did an excellent job and bringing it to life.

    As for the Levi console lid ---- IT'S MY FAVORITE PART OF YOUR CAR. Brilliant and clever. I didn't realize that a console lid wore a size 33-32 ---- but now I do ---- LOL. Not only did you come up with an awesome idea, but the workmanship looks first rate. What could have been a dog's dinner turned out to be the jewel in the crown. Bravo!

    Now get out and give that car some welly!!!

    Hey ---- go easy on me ---- I'm just a country boy from the south (USA, that is).
    Ah thanks man, means a lot! Haha yeah it was mostly out of necessity, shipping a used or new repro red vinyl armrest from the US is just too much when actually mine works well but needed a retrim. I'm very lucky to work in the auto industry and work with people who have the knowledge, skill and big industrial sewing machines - that really counts for the workmanship when it comes to the armrest! I can't necessarily take credit for that. Only the idea

    Glad you like it. It's getting cold here now so it will stay under its cover more and more but I'll get it out and give the six a good breathing every know and then don't worry!

    Hey thats alright, I'm from the south... of england anyway. Need to get back out to the US at some point and get me some more parts while I'm there!

  11. #11

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    Well it looks like I havn't updated this thread since last year which is a bit of a shame, so heres an update.
    I took the car out of hibernation earlier this year, and after some carb icing issues it went through its MOT (annual car inspection in the UK to make sure its roadworthy) in february with only one advisory (rear brake low performance - due to leaking halfshaft seal putting grease into the drum).

    I then drove it up to my uncles shop (specialises in american cars) and it had a whole load of work done on it. It was all stuff that would never get done if I had to do it, mainly as an engine crane was required to lift the engine out and they were all too big a jobs for me to want to tackle on my small driveway by myself! It had all new rocker cover gaskets, sump gaskets (both rocker cover and sump were then given a splash of nice ford blue), the exhaust manifold was replaced, downpipe unwelded and refitted properly so all of the leaks are fixed, new waterpump, halfshaft seal replaced and rear brakes cleaned up...
    All in all it feels like a brand new car. It is much quieter now, I don't have to breath in exhaust fumes leaking from the manifold, and it is all round smoother. Plus it starts much quicker as well with all the leaks sorted.

    Engine now looks a bit tidier too;





    Now its back and working better I have had a resurgence of enthusiasm and have gotten back on the case with the interior. I have sprayed up and refitted the column shroud and for the first time since I have owned it it now has a fuse box cover (under the column shroud), also painted matching red. The aftermarket temp gauge has been relocated under the dash using a bracket up-cycled from the old starter motor solenoid.



    I have colour coded the dash top up as well, but I left it in the garage to dry over the weekend. Providing it stops raining I should be able to get it on the car later this week and get some pictures. Then all it needs is some nice repro seat covers from NPD...

    Also need to change the transmission oil pan gasket and replace the missing bolt from that, and sort out some sort of exhaust hanger while i'm down there (the one at the back of the tranny seems to have snapped off the exhaust, not sure how it was meant to work but it doesn't any more!).

  12. #12

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    I finally painted the dash top over the weekend and it was dry to put on the car this evening. Its not great - theres lumps and bumps here and there, and its not as nice a finish as it could be. But it has been basically formed purely out of filler, sanded back and refilled for many hours, weeks and months, since summer last year. So I've gotten tired of it and wanted to get it in the car and out of the way. One day I'll do something different, but for now it's nice to have everything back together.

    Almost done, in hi-build last week



    And now;





    And for comparison - the day after I got it home, over a year and a half ago now. With sticky paint on the door cards and a whole load of bits missing.



    Got to thank all the guys at Fox Doctors UK; Donald who donated the fantastic red carpet and Mazher who donated the door pocket and genuine RHD fuse box cover. Wouldn't look half as good without these bits!

  13. #13
    FEP Power Member 83gtstang's Avatar
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    It's amazing what a little elbow grease, friends and attention to detail can result in this nice looking interior. So odd for me seeing the wheel in this location. Very cool notch back. I love the clean look, also the clean look the tail lights give to the car. I like original, but those lights are ugly to me. I had a 79 notch back long ago. Very nice work!

  14. #14

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    Yeah its been a lot of elbow grease! I'm still not totally happy with the dash top, but for a one-off (well, 14-off... I think there was about 14 RHDs built) its never going to be as good as a nice brand new LHD one.

    Cheers, glad you like it! I actually quite like the upright 1979 style lamps, they feel more mustang, and look a bit older in design. But they would be too difficult to make legal in the UK where you need amber turn signals as well as a reverse and fog lamp. And I always loved the full width look, something you just don't get in Europe so it stands out even more with the striped LX lamps.

    Hopefully get some good new photos of it now its up and running well again!

  15. #15

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    Well done....she's looking like a proper Foxbody now. I can't believe you made that entire dash top..it looks great! While I like the SVO/Cobra style taillights, I think I'm partial to the originals, but that's just me. Either way they look good, but the original 79's are one of my favorite taillight designs. I just can't believe how far you've come with the interior...it looks amazing.

    Keep up the good work and keep the pics and updates coming.
    Cheers!

    Mike (TopGear85)



    Have:
    85 Saleen #73-GT,2R,TuTone,Cruise,Pos,5spd,Charcoal
    ***August 2015 ROTM Winner!***

    Had:
    79PC-San Jose #2890
    86GT-9L,TuTone,5spd,T-Tops,Sand Beige
    86GT-9L,TuTone,5spd,T-Tops,Charcoal
    90LX-Oxford Wht,5spd,Sunroof,5.0 Hatchback
    90GT-Oxford Wht,5spd

  16. #16
    FEP Super Member xctasy's Avatar
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    After 1973, UK Type approval became very strict, although it still allowed Morris Marinas and Itals to burn your fingers on the light switches. One thing its really hot on, is it requires a strict 'no fouling' rule for protuberances. On Australian Ford LTD imports (sold from 1981 to 1982 in batches of less than 50) the HVAC had to be padded up with foam surrounds, the Carter Thermoquad 9800 4-bbl had to have anti fuel leak baffles to stop gasoline coming out in a roll over, and all the doors had to have the edges filled back because they were too sharp, and would cut the vehicle assessor. The auto selector is the common C3/C4 T bar used on everything from 1968 to 1986, but yours is longer than standard, most likely an AVO type approval change to stop the LHD shift applique being covered in a RHD instillation. The funny thing is that lhd, or RHD, aside from the knob operation, the base indicator graticule was the same.



    There were three kinds of 1979 to 1982 rear backup and indicator lamp colors, but none of them had European Economic Community or UK/British type approval on the Mustang lights. So Capri III or Escort Mk III tail lights with EEC/UK British Std stamps were used. The Aussie import FC Ford '5.8 litre' LTD used the same tail lights and door mirrors as the UK Mustang.

    The amber lights were Japanese approved, and they had Australian ZJ 1979-1982 Ford Fairlane inserts from the factory for some models.

    http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...urning-JPN-ese

    The low production rate through Ford AVO and then SVE made rhd conversions for the Lincoln Mark and Mustang uneconomic. There were three different types of UK market rear vision mirror (one Italian one kind I cannot identify, then the Italian Torino from Fiat XI/9 /Lancia MonteCarlo/Scorpion, then the Cortina 80[MkIV]/Granada MkIII).

    My JDM Mustang had 79-82 Aussie Ford Fairlane amber inserts, and pre production Lincoln Continental Compact rear vision mirrors on 80-82 Thunderbird/ XR7 Cougar door mirror swings.

  17. #17

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    Oh yeah we have some really strict rules when it comes to lamps and bits sticking out of cars, in some ways. But then the US has the low speed impact thing that we don't have, hence a lot of european imports to the states have bigger bumpers and rubber overriders on them.

    But yeah some of the other RHDs over here still have the escort or capri rear lamps on. Someone had already taken them off of mine by the time I had bought it, although there are pictures of it with them on somewhere (I should scan them in really). I don't blame them, they looked pretty hideous with those lamps on the back. I do also still have the original mirrors which are massive, with right angled arms making them stick out of the body. But again, I much prefer the short stubby ones I have on there now.

    The JDM ones you mention are interesting, I didn't know about those.

    All this is always quite fascinating to me, as I work in auto design it can be interesting to see how people sometimes go through local legislation on low production conversions such as these!

    TopGear85 - Thanks, glad you think she's looking like a proper Foxbody now

    My 2015 NPD catalogue arrived today and I've already bookmarked the seat covers page!

  18. #18
    FEP Super Member JTurbo's Avatar
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    Your notch looks awesome, thanks for sharing it here on FEP!
    1979 Indy Pace Car Mustang 302 / 5spd
    1982 Mustang GT T-Top 302 / 4spd
    1986 SVO Mustang - 1C

  19. #19
    FEP Super Member 79mustangcobra's Avatar
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    Very cool! Thank you for posting
    1979 Mustang Cobra 5.0
    2P Red and 1C Black

    Stock never goes out of style
    MCA #70281 - 79-93 MCA Concours Judge
    Proverbs 3:5-6



    My Mustang Story
    http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...71#post1688371

  20. #20

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    Thanks for the appreciation people!

    I took some more pictures of it at a local classic car show, Saturday just past. Had quite a bit of interest, and having the original brochures which show it as a Ford RHD interested some people too.








  21. #21
    FEP Senior Member BlackMamba's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by uncleterry View Post
    Thanks for the appreciation people!

    I took some more pictures of it at a local classic car show, Saturday just past. Had quite a bit of interest, and having the original brochures which show it as a Ford RHD interested some people too.





    I'm digging the coupe/notchback.
    Looks great, all you need is some red seats from a notchback or maybe even some a GT with the halo headrest and you'll be all set.
    Makes me want to work on my Blue 79 Notch.
    Current Cars:
    1979 Mustang Ghia Coupe 5.0 3J Bright Blue
    1984 GT T top 306 5 speed "Black Mamba"
    1986 Saleen Black with Silver Stripes 86#009
    1986 Mustang GT Medium Canyon Red 5 speed 5.0
    1999 Mustang GT Convertible 35th anniversary 69K miles.
    2002 Nissan Maxima 6 Speed "Daily Driver"
    2009 Corvette 6 speed LS3

    1998 Cobra 71k miles Canary Yellow "Nana" SOLD

  22. #22

    Default

    Your car looks amazing, very well done. If you can find a set of nice red seats that interior will really pop. Maybe a set of Recaro's with your stock interior upholstery on them? That would look great.

    Bobs your Uncle.
    Last edited by TopGear85; 05-26-2015 at 03:22 PM.
    Cheers!

    Mike (TopGear85)



    Have:
    85 Saleen #73-GT,2R,TuTone,Cruise,Pos,5spd,Charcoal
    ***August 2015 ROTM Winner!***

    Had:
    79PC-San Jose #2890
    86GT-9L,TuTone,5spd,T-Tops,Sand Beige
    86GT-9L,TuTone,5spd,T-Tops,Charcoal
    90LX-Oxford Wht,5spd,Sunroof,5.0 Hatchback
    90GT-Oxford Wht,5spd

  23. #23

    Default

    Thanks guys

    I agree, seats need doing. The seats themselves are the original ones, they've just been retrimmed in some horrible plain grey, before I got the car.

    I have seen NPD do seat covers which should just fit onto these seats and make it look like stock again. But they have two options for the 1981 model year seats, one being Mustang standard Low back buckets, and the other being Mustang Ghia low back buckets.

    https://www.npdlink.com/store/catalo...th-5105-1.html



    https://www.npdlink.com/store/catalo...th-5123-1.html


    My car is listed as a ghia in the logbook (although that means nothing really considering the RHDs are a slightly special trim and build) and my car has an FD trim code, according to NPD that means the ghia covers are the right ones - the second link there.

    Problem is, the ghia ones have a velour-style look to them. I prefer the standard coupe seat covering with the part vinyl, part cloth tweed. This comes up as DD code for 1981, or FD for 82 fitting the GLXs for that year.

    If I buy the standard mustang coupe seat covers, will they fit on my ghia seats though? I suspect they are identical seat foams, just a different material trim... but I don't want to spend all that money importing brand new covers to find out they don't fit!

    I also found out at the show, after owning the car for almost two years, that the headrest pulls up! Not sure how I'd never noticed this before but I'd kinda assumed they were fixed.

  24. #24

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    Fairly major update - after the full engine rebuild it was running well but the C4 transmission was leaking fluid more than ever. I've tried (and failed) several times over the past month to remedy this, but at the moment its not driveable as the box is empty until further notice.

    However I did pick up some wheels, shod them in some new tyres and along with some bashing, some spacers and a bit of moving stuff about, they are on and (I believe) transform the car...



    More when its back on the road...

  25. #25

    Default

    I managed to get the car out just now as its dry, got some grainy shots as the sun is going in, right in the same spot I took some pictures of the car about a year ago.











    Pretty happy with the look.

    Still some issues with it (seatbelt warning light came on on the way home... the sensors not even plugged in!) but its pretty driveable and doesn't leave puddles anywhere anymore!

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