Final work on body panels prior to painting



Front guards have been carefully panel beated out and matched up with front headlight extensions
Paul knight from Classic Autos at Petone Esplanade did all the panelwork.

Notice the minor dents in the guards prior to body work.

Just a reminder of what some of the panels were like before the body work started.

After only a week Paul completed the rest of panelwork  and the car was ready to come back home.

Now for some blocking down and 2 pack primer surfacer and then aligning all the panels for the last time, hopefully I'll get the paintwork completed before winter sets in.

 

 

Dash strip and paint

Mustang sharing space with my son's Glastron GT150 James Bond Boat

Plenty of paint stripper made it easy work to get back to the metal.

Bare metal dash has been scuffed up with sand paper as well to help key in paint.

Now ready for a coat of International PA10 Red Oxide etch primer.

Last repairs to doors before I apply the 2 pack primer and mount back onto body.

Upholstery and Seat repairs

I'll take a rest from the body work and do some work on the upholstery

Seat frames for the bases were a little rusty on surface but generally in good condition.

Nothing more than a little clean up and repaint couldn't fix.

Frames had to be stripped off all padding and upholstery prior to rust treatment and paint.

Painted frames baking in the sun.

Still had original parts number tags on all seats, and in very good condition.

                                                        New upholstery being fitted.

Date stamp on underneath of foam 19th June 1965

Old seat before work starts

Seat after frame cleaned up  painted hessian and upholstery replaced 

Quarter panels were stripped and  treated will etch prime then paint white

White upholstery coming along fine just some minor tweeks.

Will look great with the turquoise paint job.

Rims stripped of paint ready for etch primer.

Correct rims for 1965

Once the rims are painted I can get my brand new white wall tyres fitted.

Body work and sheet metal repairs and alignment

Last trip on the rotisserie, all the underneath complete now.

Repaired countersunk hole retaining the textured patern of the metal

Kits are available with a plate that covers all this area, but they don't have the factory finish and this is a far better result.

I had to weld and grind from the inside of the door to retain the textured pattern.

Again in trying to retain as much of the original steel I've only cut out the bare minimum.

New patch to get welded in.

welded and ground back.

All panels are back on for the last trial fit before final body work and painting.

I'm very happy how everything lines up, the gaps are good, or as least as good as they could be as from the factory. Bumpers and trim and convertible roof all fit well. So I'll be getting all the final tidy up on the panelwork.

Its all minor repairs so should look good when finished.