1985 gt project

[kfxmatt]

Door handles should be black.

Can't tell for sure if you painted it grey or not, but wanted to remind you that the inside of the door opening on the body where the door frame closes should be grey also. That will extend down on the A & B pillar to roughly the same point as the grey on the outside of the door. Obviously the door frame gets painted on both the inside and the outside.

The GT looks Great! I will be doing the same work to my buddy's 86 SSP soon once he gets it up and running.

yes! thanks for that tidbit.when I got the car it was all dustless blasted.so when it came time to do the trim I didn't know what was what.thank god for the google.i was up one night googling 1985 mustang door jamb photos haha.found what I was looking for.

[kfxmatt]

Your car really looks nice, gooder than new!

thanks dave.looking forward to seeing more pics of yours.

[kfxmatt]

few more progress photos.i got the sunroof trim sanded,primed,and painted.plus I put both new sunroof weatherstrips in place.got rear bumper molding painted..

[kfxmatt]

What’s the best plan of attack for the three rubber side moldings?any tips to get these perfectly lined up?

[wraithracing]

What’s the best plan of attack for the three rubber side moldings?any tips to get these perfectly lined up?

I start with the door molding myself. Best if you have an extra pair of hands to get it done. Hold the door molding in place and align to the door and the indention in the door. Also verify that you are centered on the door. Depending on the molding (OEM, Repro, Restored) you may or may not cover the entire door length. Most of the time you will not. So you want to make sure to even up the gaps side to side, but also make sure the molding is not too far forward as that can cause it to rub or catch when opening the door. Once you are happy with the placement, I use 1.5" or 2" masking tape across the top of the molding to temporarily hold it in place. Then I step back and look at everything to make sure I am happy with the placement and fit. Make adjustments as needed until you are satisfied. Once you are ready to actual set the molding, I use the tape as a hinge, so make sure the tape is pressed down really well on both the body and the molding. Then I lift the molding up to expose the double sided tape, remove the plastic liners. Now carefully lower the molding into place making sure to keep it level and aligned as before. Now carefully press the molding into the door. I work from the middle to either end until fully seated. I also like to use a large laminate roller to really apply solid pressure to the molding and tape to make sure I get the tape to seat and make sure ther are no gaps. You can use your hand to do the same, the roller is just easier and allows more pressure. Remove the masking tape and enjoy your work.

Repeat for the two smaller moldings on either side of door again just make sure to watch the front one for clearance when opening the door so the moldings don't catch or rub. Always step back to verify that the moldings appear straight, level, and aligned before you finally attach them. Best of Luck!

[JTurbo]

I hadn’t seen the picture such a pain in the car and it turned out great. Congrats.

[kfxmatt]

Makes sense! Hoping to have all the moldings done by next week

[kfxmatt]

got a few hours of work in on the gt yesterday.still working on getting the trim all squared away.wasnt real impressed with the Daniel carpenter body molding kit I had bought.drivers door molding was trimmed at angle on the rear of the door,and drivers side (behind front wheel)rubber molding had double sided tape that wasn't even sticky.ive neer been a fan of anything aftermarket.so I spent a lot of extra time peeling and razor blading the tape off,cleaning them,and using some good 3m tape in place of the junk that was on there.got the mirrors painted and mounted back up.i used ypur tips wraith

[RazorbackGT]

Looks Great! Did you have to paint the light gray GT in the body side trim behind the door or did it come that way? Reason I ask is I'm going to repaint my trim and my GT gray paint is flaking off as well.

Thanks
Brant

[kfxmatt]

Thanks.no,i masked off the gt and painted the charcoal.cleaned up the silver part and left it as is.they do make these.Ihttps://www.googleadservices.com/pag...Qwg8IPA&adurl=

[RazorbackGT]

Thanks for the info. I destroyed mine with the pressure washer.

Brant

[kfxmatt]

my hood is finally done.i gotta say,out of this whole restoration,this hood decal has been the biggest pita!from trying to get the right color and so on.i ended up getting the stencil kit and painting it on.what I did was,i had my uncle's paint supplier cross reference the ppg paint code to standox brand that my uncle uses.i have the mix if anybody is interested.its damn near perfect match to the sem 39153 trim paint that I used.no clearcoat with this.the amount of hardener used controls the sheen.gotta say it came out better than expected.i didn't want to buy all the ppg supplies just to do the decal.supplies are ridiculious money.

[kfxmatt]

got the rear spoiler on today.buffed the whole car with a 3m ultra fine turquoise foam pad with some 3m ultra fine machine polish.then hand waxed it with collinite .getting close to being done with the exterior.got to put headlights back in,order a new blue oval emblem for the hatch.install some new wiper blades,pull my antenna back up and in place.also.i ended up buffing out the rear tail light lenses and boy did they clean up nice.ill touch up the gray on them but glad I don't need to spend the money on new ones.

[kfxmatt]

got a chance to put my headights back in.replaced all the marker light bulbs and realized that the foglights I restored do work.the small light on the switch inside works to which I didn't expect.

[RazorbackGT]

Your car is looking great. I am in the process of my repaint. I hope mine turns out half as good as yours looks.

Brant

[kfxmatt]

does anyone know how the antenna mast fits into the base?i had bought a new base but have original antenna.the antenna is threaded at the bottom.looking inside the mustangs unlimited base i dont see any threads?any help would be appreciated

[Lowetlx]

The mast threads in to the base. On the factory parts at least.

[kfxmatt]

The mast threads in to the base. On the factory parts at least.

yes correct.but for some reason the factory mast will not slide down to even reach the threads.looks like im going to have to take off a little material on the mast so it will slide in.i don't know.been a pita!

[kfxmatt]

took a quick picture of it today.

[Lowetlx]

The car looks amazing in the fresh white.

[Davedacarpainter]

That really looks fantastic man, very nice job!

[wraithracing]

Amazing how good white looks when its new and clean!

The GT looks Awesome! Congrats!

[dagenham]

yes correct.but for some reason the factory mast will not slide down to even reach the threads.looks like im going to have to take off a little material on the mast so it will slide in.i don't know.been a pita!

I had the same problem with the new mast I bought from Fox Resto last fall. Doesnt take much. Used a flap wheel on my grinder and carefullyy took a few thousandths of an inch off. I bought the whole assembly, cable and all. The original rectangle cover does not fit either. It seems like its to small to fit over the mounting base. Had to trim the base a tiny bit so the cover would go on.

[kfxmatt]

wow! thank you.that means alot coming from experienced auto body guys.i had visions of painting a few different colors at first,but white has really grown on me.glad I kept it original looking.the guy I bought the car from had already bought a gallon of wimbeldon white,and offered it to me for next to nothing.so I went home and looked at it beside oxford white which is the original color,and decided to stick with the original oxford white.wimbeldon white was to off white looking.looks great on 60's mustangs.

[kfxmatt]

I had the same problem with the new mast I bought from Fox Resto last fall. Doesnt take much. Used a flap wheel on my grinder and carefullyy took a few thousandths of an inch off. I bought the whole assembly, cable and all. The original rectangle cover does not fit either. It seems like its to small to fit over the mounting base. Had to trim the base a tiny bit so the cover would go on.

perfect thanks! I have the original cover plate.i put it on today and it seemed to be fine.im going to gently grind that tommorrow