[tire]

02/07 - vehicle purchase

2000 GT 5-spd
64,000 miles
black ext. tan int.
stock, runs and drives fine
quite a bit of damage!

[tire]

04/07

I got a little ambitious and started down the "if it has to be replaced, go ahead and upgrade" line of logic. Hence the 03 cobra bumpers front/rear. For some reason, the 03 cobra rear deck lid was about 100$ cheaper than the nearly identical v6/gt part, so I was willing to shave off a few extra holes for the 03 spoiler to save money. However, the notch for the third brake light is different for the 03 cobra trunk and I decided to keep that trunk, but just shave off the entire light. It looks so clean now! I haven't seen another stang with this done. I also went ahead and shaved the GT and FORD badge mounting holes. Before I get it inspected I will rig an import-style third brake light inside the rear glass towards the bottom to keep the vehicle legal and safe.

I then left 04/10/07 to Iraq.

[tire]

11/07 I returned from deployment.

B&M ripper shifter goes on.
magnaflow catback goes on.
C springs ordered.
2005 3v 5.4 long block bought and stored. (!!!)
battery relocation being installed.
ALL supplies needed for guidecoating, wet sanding, primering, cutting and buffing, etc. acquired! it feels good finally having all the tools and supplies and knowing only a little hard work is required to finish.

12/07

"COBRA" lettering and side markers (reflectors) shaved from rear bumper. damn this is starting to take shape. i'll post pics in a few weeks. shaving is very time consuming and requires dedication because it can be scary for a novice to go 80 grit crazy on an otherwise fine body panel!

notes: need to measure 5.4 to find correct cowl hood. trunk struts need relocating due to increased weight of rear deck lid.

[BigJnSA]

wow, thats alot of extra work to take on. im sure the final outcome will be worth the extra effort!

[thatdavidkid]

no 3rd brake light isn't illegal. however, shaving reflectors is. just my .02, looks like a nice project.

[timpryor]

^remember David he's not in Texas hes in the Peoples Republik of Kalifornistan

nice project A-Tizzle keep us updated

[thatdavidkid]

ah... good point.. i retract that statement... still nice build

[tire]

11/07 as it came out of storage. it looked like a 'barn find' except i already owned it. 700 cold cranking amps baby!




color will be House of Kolors Sunset Pearl aka HoK's version of Lambo Orange (PPG). hood still an issue...
here's the color... it's sort of a color shifting paint with the pearl. dead on it's almost gold/orange and as you look down the side of the car it turns warmer orange/red.

[4.6stanger]

Thumbs up bro, that thing is coming along good! What kind of wheels are you doing? BTW i like the color, just get the right set of wheels to go with it!

[tire]

my budget will only allow me to finish the body/paint, and begin the 5.4 swap. the snowflakes are going to have to stay as they have almost new khumo ecstas on them. i'm leaning towards 17x9s f and 18x10s rear but some weld prostars 15x3.5s/15x10s would look sick too. it will have to b ea "modern" styled wheel because of the crazy color though.

c springs are in and the exhaust is on... magnaflows have huge tips, i'm thinking of downgrading 1/2".

i shaved the running pony emblems on the side. that wasn't too hard, but the radio ant. hole is going to be. so far that's the only real work left before primering. the cobra needs one spot coated and the trunk is DONE (yay). the ant. hole has three metal rivets that were easy to remove, but they were pulled upwards pretty hard and will take some hammer action to get it level again, and i'm going to have to weld in a piece of sheet because the hole is large (3/4"? around). i'm considering deleting the pony from the grille too...

eventually 01 tinted headlights will be needed to compliment the color choice.

the front chin spoiler, side mirrors, and rear bottom of the rear bumper will remain as textured low gloss (matte) black which i think will offset the orange well.

depending on what hood will work (4" cowl/03 mach 1, cut stock hood) i may go with some black striping. we'll see.

[tire]

here is a photoshopped car that will look identical to mine except for color and wheel selection (not a priority yet)

[12second5.0]

Why not do a simple swap such as a 03/04 cobra or Mach motor? I think you are creating a bunch of headaches for yourself going the other route IMO. BTW you car looks good..........

[tire]

the 4v 4.6 is probably as complex or more complex than what i'm doing, though there are decent write-ups for that swap whereas my particular motor and car haven't been paired together so far that i've seen.

but the reason is because i got the (complete!) motor for 600$, and it was nearby so i used a buddy's truck to move it and no expensive shipping cost. if i can get the whole shabam running for less than 2600$ i'd consider this a complete success bang-for-buck-wise. (260hp/302tq --> 300hp/365tq)

i will make another thread once i get balls-deep in the 5.4 swap. this thread is just supposed to be about fixing the car so that it doesn't look like something crappy that you'd drive.

austin

[CrewChiefLite]

I would recommend looking into TrueForged wheels. Good price, good people, and a nice product.

[tire]

[tire]

diagnosed a couple problems with the front end tonight. two areas require hammering from the inside of the engine bay. took apart the front end completely and got header panel aligned and ready to go back on once we pound out a few places tomorrow. prepped the front bumper cover for paint, removed trim items like fog lamps, chin spoiler. been working for about 6 hours and it's time to SLEEP.

[tire]

front is done! just need to shave the antennae and i THINK she's ready-ready!

Originally Posted by 210banginstang

mainly just the holes for the spoiler and the emblems. I'll probably leave the "mustang gt" on my bumper since it wouldn't look right shaved on a sn95. any advise you could give me would be badass.

plugging holes is really quite simple, though it takes patience. you really have to allow yourself to relax and do you best, and not be scared if you mess up. you can always sand away a layer if you mess up, gob it too thick, or make an air bubble or something. fiberglass is like sculpting, think of it that way.

go to carquest or napa and get

4-6" sanding block for clamp-on sand paper
fiberglass resin
bondo body filler
bondo kitty hair (fiberglass strands in a fiberglass jelly, they will know what youa re talking about)
latex gloves!
a couple spreaders... look pink and spread the stuff

make sure each comes with "hardener"

80 or 100, 220, 500 grit sand paper

go to home depot or napa or carquest and get

fiberglass mat (it looks like white fabric that is loosely woven)

process:

sand back side of hole about 1" around hole with 80/100 grit. make it all rough!

cut fiberglass mat fabric about 1" extra around hole

gloves on

pour a few tablespoons of fiberglass resin in a disposable container, add just maybe 6 drops of hardener

stir WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

stick the fiberglass mat in there and rub the resin so that the fabric absorbs completely

spread it out on the BACKSIDE of the hole

LET DRY 1 hr +

this will keep the bondo you stick in the hole to hav ea backing for more support

---------------
gloves on

get a table spoon worth of kitty hair, add a little squirt of red hardener from the tube, thimble size, MIX WELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

stick down in hole, use a pencil or something, this is NOT EASY as kitty hair doesn't like to spread! take your time. fill it almost all the way up!!

LET DRY 2 hr

sand down with 220grit and sanding block til its flush or lower, then do the last layer with bondo body filler (usually round can, a red 65 mustang on the front, big white cap) mix just a little, add a little hardener, spread that last layer so that you cover the hole and a little of the area around it.

sand it down with 220 grit and repeat if neccessary. once it's done, sand the whole 4-6" area around it that was affected with the sanding block and 500grit.

go get it painted, done.

austin

[T5killa]

thanx again for the info I actually picked everything up today and started on the emblem holes on my fenders. It's gonna look slick. The only other way I knew how to shave was to weld the holes shut and then grind and bondo over that. This I think ends up looking smoother since the metal around won't warp.

[tire]

Originally Posted by 210banginstang

thanx again for the info I actually picked everything up today and started on the emblem holes on my fenders. It's gonna look slick. The only other way I knew how to shave was to weld the holes shut and then grind and bondo over that. This I think ends up looking smoother since the metal around won't warp.

i thought you were talking about trunk holes. i did the same method for my fenders, though, but i'd make the fiberglass mat at least 4" across and remember to clean and rough up the area it'll stick to. it'll work fine but you must be diligent and careful.

i am going to weld my antennae hole up though as it's too big to fiberglass.

[T5killa]

Originally Posted by tire

i thought you were talking about trunk holes. i did the same method for my fenders, though, but i'd make the fiberglass mat at least 4" across and remember to clean and rough up the area it'll stick to. it'll work fine but you must be diligent and careful.

i am going to weld my antennae hole up though as it's too big to fiberglass.

I was just gonna do the spoiler holes but decided to do the emblems too last minute and decided to do them first. I'm not a total newb at body work but a novice none the less. I haven't ever messed with fiberglass though so its a new thing. I'm more of a dolly and hammer kinda guy. But the method you explained works awesome. Where did you learn this??