Treasure chest or junk drawer?

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Joined
Jan 12, 2017
Messages
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Location
USA - Florida
My Car
1972 Mustang Mach 1
2011 Mustang GT
So as I continue to work on the tear down stage of my 72 Mach 1 project I keep thinking to myself...don't lose these parts!!  That constant fear of losing a small piece or running into issues with original parts that are too far gone made me want to start this thread. I've been placing screws and other small parts into labeled organizer trays.  I'm treating this like a treasure chest but maybe I'm wrong and it's just a bunch of small junk drawers?

So I ask all of you who have already gone through this and probably had the same concerns.  What are the most difficult parts to find or replace?  Everything from interior panels to small nuts/bolts or screws, or maybe even a radiator hose or original honeycomb panel for the rear.  What parts should I treat like a small treasure?

 
So as I continue to work on the tear down stage of my 72 Mach 1 project I keep thinking to myself...don't lose these parts!!  That constant fear of losing a small piece or running into issues with original parts that are too far gone made me want to start this thread. I've been placing screws and other small parts into labeled organizer trays.  I'm treating this like a treasure chest but maybe I'm wrong and it's just a bunch of small junk drawers?

So I ask all of you who have already gone through this and probably had the same concerns.  What are the most difficult parts to find or replace?  Everything from interior panels to small nuts/bolts or screws, or maybe even a radiator hose or original honeycomb panel for the rear.  What parts should I treat like a small treasure?
ITMike5.0,

The nuts and bolts would be one. There are times where you cannot decipher the code or even find them new.

mustang7173

 
Fasteners are no big deal.  I think for right around $250, you can get brand new fasteners for about 95% of everything on the vehicle (packaged in section-specific color-coded baggies, in fact).  I did that - went through OMS and purchased the Master Fastener Kits for engine, chassis, and interior.  There were a handful of fasteners I had to keep to restore and/or replace (weren't included in the kits or with the new parts they held on), but there wasn't very much of that required.

Keep everything until you're finished.

That has been the single best piece of advice I ever received when I started my project.  Granted, I have about 2 dozen boxes of various things taking up space in my garage that I could probably simply throw away now, but you never know what you might need to restore and put back on, despite having purchased a new repop item.  I noticed the hood's leading edge trim piece had one of the fastener pegs broken off, so I ordered a new repop piece to replace it.  Well, I'm super happy I kept the original, because when I test-fitted the repop piece, it was a very different piece - it was more 'V-shaped' than the original... no way it was going to fit (without a lot of work that I was not willing to do or pay for).  So, I just sucked it up and took the original to the body shop - broken fastener peg and all - and they prepped and painted it with the rest of the car.  The missing peg hasn't been an issue.

The bright windshield & backlight trim on mine was really old and nasty-looking, but otherwise intact (no dents or bends), so I kept it.  The glass installer bent the ever-livin' crap out of the backlight trim when he installed it, but I didn't care at the time since I knew it was much more flimsy than the original pieces, and I was in a hurry to get it done.  I still have the original pieces, and plan on eventually stripping them down, polishing, and reinstalling when I get some more time.

Hope that answers your question. :cool:

 
I treat it all as treasure, even if I plan on replacing it. That way if a replacement winds up being unavailable or incorrect I still have the original. But, then again, I am an F.O.F. (frugal old f@rt). :)

 
Ziplock bags. All sizes. Sharpies. Big plastic bins for entire assemblies. Don't take anything apart that you don''t need to, and then, disassemble only as much as you will work on in the near future. Take LOTS of pictures. Before and after taking things apart. Lay things out on the floor so you can see how they go back together and take pictures of that. Label EVERYTHING. Something could come up and it could be months or even years before you get back to something.

 
"Ziplock bags. All sizes. Sharpies. " Agree, absolutely essential , but with the description of whatever is in the bag also written on a slip of paper inside the bag. You would be surprised at how easy anything written on the outside of a Ziplock bag can get smeared or wiped into strange little indecipherable squiggles while sitting in a bin.

In addition, as many pictures you think you are taking with a digital camera, you should probably triple the amount you take. These days the cost of memory cards (and basic digital cameras) is downright cheap for the thousands of pics you can take compared to the bad ole dinosaur days of film when it was about $.25 a pic.

 
So as I continue to work on the tear down stage of my 72 Mach 1 project I keep thinking to myself...don't lose these parts!!  That constant fear of losing a small piece or running into issues with original parts that are too far gone made me want to start this thread. I've been placing screws and other small parts into labeled organizer trays.  I'm treating this like a treasure chest but maybe I'm wrong and it's just a bunch of small junk drawers?

So I ask all of you who have already gone through this and probably had the same concerns.  What are the most difficult parts to find or replace?  Everything from interior panels to small nuts/bolts or screws, or maybe even a radiator hose or original honeycomb panel for the rear.  What parts should I treat like a small treasure?
keep everything!!! Yesterday i was working on my car and wouldn't you know it my drivers side door handle broke! I have been going to junk yards and stripping Mustangs for years ,everyone thought i was nuts lol . Well after searching my parts I had a handle! So never throw out anything from your car, you will be sorry later if you do...

 
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