Mach 1 Fake Wood Exorcism

[351c1971]

After driving my 2013 MCA Premium Mustang with its beautiful black and aluminum retro interior, I drove my 1971 Mach 1. The fake wood deluxe interior suddenly looked like a 1980s throwback. I decided to go back to the standard black door panels, steering wheel inserts, and center dash bezel.

Are any other owners ever thinking along the same lines?

 

[Sheriff41]

Not really, but that's the nice thing about our cars; we can change them around any way we like.

 

[Hemikiller]

I've never really been a fan of the woodgrain on the center dash trim, but the doors and steering wheel don't bother me at all. You could always use some black woodgrain vinyl to overlay the panels for a different touch.

 

[351c1971]

Yes, I agree. The nice thing about Mustangs is that there are many factory options to pick from to suit individual tastes. I did keep the Mach 1 seat covers and carpet with the silver vinyl inserts.

 

[Marks1]

I've never really been a fan of the woodgrain on the center dash trim, but the doors and steering wheel don't bother me at all. You could always use some black woodgrain vinyl to overlay the panels for a different touch.

I love this idea Hemi !

 

[Mister 4x4]

I wholeheartedly agree on the sentiment that, "Woodgrain is for Country Squire station wagons." LOL!!

I replaced all of the woodgrain in my '71 Light Pewter w/black Deluxe Interior Mach 1 w/black carbon fiber vinyl. WAY cheaper than changing out trim panels from Deluxe to Standard.





Then again, I also switched from Classic Loop carpet to Cut Pile:


I also overstuffed my seats - OK, I went with TMI Products Sport Seats, instead of the thinner/flatter factory Deluxe seats and ditched the stock steering wheel for a nice Grant GT Classic unit.


Make it yours!

 

[Ripper679]

I wholeheartedly agree on the sentiment that, "Woodgrain is for Country Squire station wagons." LOL!!

I replaced all of the woodgrain in my '71 Light Pewter w/black Deluxe Interior Mach 1 w/black carbon fiber vinyl. WAY cheaper than changing out trim panels from Deluxe to Standard.

View attachment 68472

View attachment 68473

Then again, I also switched from Classic Loop carpet to Cut Pile:
View attachment 68474

I also overstuffed my seats - OK, I went with TMI Products Sport Seats, instead of the thinner/flatter factory Deluxe seats and ditched the stock steering wheel for a nice Grant GT Classic unit.
View attachment 68475

Make it yours!

Wow... that carbon is a real nice touch 4X4. May I ask where you got it and how you applied it so it dosent peel off?
I have some carbon fiber odds and ends on my car I'm building and would like to do something like this as well on a few pieces.
Thanks!

 

[Mister 4x4]

It's 3M DiNoc Black Carbon Fiber vinyl. https://www.amazon.com/3M-CA-421-BLACK-CARBON-Wrapping/dp/B005HYF2IO

The way they apply the adhesive allows for mistakes to be corrected during the installation process. It's also super-durable and conforms to oddball shapes very easily. I saw a video back in 2012 where the demonstrators applied to a car, pulled it off, crumpled it up, applied heat, then reinstalled to the car and it looked perfect. It's amazing stuff. Here's a video of how well it goes on:


Getting it to stretch around complex corners can get tricky, but fortunately, most of the surfaces we'd use this on in our cars are pretty basic. If you look at how the 3-gauge center trim piece is done with the woodgrain vinyl, duplicating that particular cut is not hard at all. The door panels are straightforward as they're just flat pieces.

I've done window tinting and vinyl graphics for over 35 years (not professionally, self-taught, and did more of it when I was younger), but I can honestly say this is the best vinyl I've worked with, and these parts of the '71-'73 Mustang trim pieces are very easy to make look nice.

Hope this helps.

 

[351c1971]

WOW, The carbon fiber looks awesome!

 

[351c1971]

I also see you did the chrome rocker panel trim delete. The single pinstripe looks much better.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Thanks! When I first got mine, I'd planned on adding hockey stripes and spoilers... just like everybody else does. I was also thinking 17" Torque Thrust Ds, but noticed everybody at local car shows had those, too. But after spending so much time here at the forums, learning my car's pedigree (no stripes or spoilers H-Code w/Ram Air), I decided to just put it back the way it came, which meant light pewter w/no stripes or spoilers. I was missing the trim from both front fenders when I first got it, and didn't give another thought to trying to locate new pieces and put them back on... until just a few years ago. I now have the trim pieces I need, but I'm too chicken to drill more holes into the sheet metal after spending so much time and effort getting it back to shiny again - I might stick 'em on with some 3M tape, just in case I want to pull 'em back off again... we'll see. I also went with the 15" Cragars as a 'Day Two Restomod' (how it would've looked back in the '80s when I first fell in love with these cars), rather than try to imitate the current craze of 'slammed with 20s' that everybody seems to be doing (thanks to Foose, Kindig, and others with their own TV shows).

I'd been planning on doing the carbon fiber all along, but the woodgrain vinyl basically falling off the new repop center gauge trim panel right out of the box helped that decision along. Other than the issue with the vinyl (which I didn't like anyway), the repop trim pieces are just fine [for me].

I'm still trying to come up with something to make the AOD shifter look nicer in there. My original shifter was toast, and this one came with the AOD I scored out of an '89 5.0 GT 'vert.

 

[351c1971]

I always liked the Sprint Mustangs which had the rocker chrome delete and a single red pinstripe. That is where I got the idea.

 

[Hemikiller]

Metro Restyling has hundreds of patterns of automotive wrap.

https://metrorestyling.com/