“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” ~ Confucius
It’s been a while since my last Mustang update, but the past month has been a steady grind of progress — the kind you don’t always notice until you stop, look back, and realize how far you’ve come.
The trunk area and rear quarter panels are stripped clean, every flake of old paint and rust chased down and sent packing. The hood cowl is bare metal now too, the kind of clean that only comes from hours bent over with a sander until your shoulders start negotiating with you.
Five of the six windows are out, one already scrubbed and reclaimed from decades of grime. The trunk, package tray, and interior wheel wells all have a fresh layer of rubberized undercoat — a quiet kind of protection, like armor you don’t brag about.
Both doors are off the car. I took my time on the driver-side door, carefully scraping away old paint while preserving the original stamped texture of the interior shell — details only the car notices, but I care about anyway. I even drilled out the rivets on the door’s original VIN plate, cleaned it, and reattached it with new rivets once the paint cured. Small job, factory look.
And that’s just what I can recall without digging through notes or pictures.
Below are some before-and-after shots, along with the wandering trail of what’s been done — not in order, because real progress rarely is.
Luggage rack had to be cut off due to rust build up on screws. I stripped out the philips head screws trying to remove them.Removed key lock from truck lid prior to paint removal and cleaning.Trunk lid surface before prep.Paint and rust removed from trunk lid.Paint and rust removed from trunk lid.Enamel primer coat added to seal and protect from rust.View of rear facing edge of the trunk lid after being painted.First coat of enamel on the fiberglass hood.Driver-side view of the roof sail and rear fender after paint removal.Passanger-side view after paint and reust removal,Passanger-side view including roof cleaned.Rear driver-side view with trunk lid attached, temporarily.Passanger-side view with trunk lid attached.Underside passanger-side trunk drop off rust rot.Driver-side under-side trunk frop off rust rot,Outer lower rear driver-side fender rust rot damage.Outer lower rear pasanger-side fender rust rot damage. Minor fiberglass patch rapair.Small dent repair on rear driver-side fender wing line.Driver-side trunk fender rust rot.Passanger-side trunk rear fender rust rot damage.Passanger-side leaf spring rear bushing mount plate. must be cut, cleaned, and reinforced with plated welded into place.Small crack in the driver-side quarter window/fender line. This needs to be cleaned and welded.Small crack in passanger-side quarter window/fender line. This needs to be cleaned and welded closed.Rear-end | 8inch ford posi traction.Driver-side view prior to door removal.close-up of hood cowl.Forward cowl vent | Stripped of paint and sealed with enamel sealer.Repainting the hood to match color of exterior coating.Image of hood with temporary enamel sealer.Passanger-side fender apron rear headlight mounting bracket | Rust rot with fibergladd repair. Will cut off and weld on replacment.Driver-side quarter window bolt placement.Driver-side quarter glass with Ceramabright cleaner | Image taken during cleaning process.Driver-side quarter window glass and housing after cleaning with Cermabright glass cook surface cleaner.Rear / slight passanger-side angle view of the trunk with rubberized coating.Driver-side view of trunk interior with rubberied coating applied. Prep included stripping paint and smoothing out fiberglass repairs.Close-up top view of the inner driver-side door after prep and coating applied.Top view of driver-side door after coating had dried.Resurfaced door with the VIN place revited back into place.Driver-side profile with door and all glass removed.Passanger-side profile prior to the removal of the passanger door.Lower angle image of the rear end, Paint removed and sanded. Some visible rust rot on the bumper trunk brace. I need to cut this out and weld in a replacement. This will be one of the more difficult areas to repair as it is recessed and spot welded in three different sections of the trunk and bumper.Rear view with fender wings and trunk. torsion bars and hinges have been removed for painting.Image of the sanded and sealed package tray.Angle image of package tray after sanding and sealing with rubberized undercoat.Small dent in the rear driver-side fender before I did some light body work.Rust rot on the passanger-side trunk drop off. More cutting a welding to be done.Idetified rust on the driver-side trunk drop off. I have to cut out the damage and weld in a patch here.Small dent in the rear driver-side rear fender which was filled with bondo. I knicked it out slightly with a ball peen hammer on the interior and a metal plate on the outside. I will smooth this out with bondo and cover with primer.
The Mustang Project 
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