Restoring Dad's 73 Convertible

7173Mustangs.com

Help Support 7173Mustangs.com:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

73MustangConvertibleGal

Active member
Joined
May 22, 2022
Messages
33
Reaction score
35
My Car
1973 Mustang Convertible
Nothing like having 10 days stuck at home get some work done. I finally came down with Covid and spent my Covid quarantine in my shop finishing the interior. I found the reproduction rear interior quarter panels that my son purchased in 2013 to be ill-fitting junk. I ended up pulling the old ones out and restoring them the best I could. They were really deteriorated from years baking in the sun. I thickened and strengthened them up with truck bed liner and they actually look fairly decent. At least they are clean and fit properly in the car. I still need to replace the boot cover snaps, but the panels installed like a dream. I finished installing the drivers door panel because I finally received the replacement exterior door handle. The old one was in bad shape. The rear seat went in well. I believe I am missing the 2 bolts (or screws) that secure the bottom of the seat to the car, but I will go though my "extra parts can" tomorrow. I have also torn down the steering wheel and repaired the cracks with epoxy. Tomorrow I will sew on a new leather cover. I purchased one that very closely matches the old cracked and torn one that was on it when Dad took delivery in 1973.

I just wish I hadn't been sick at the same time.
 

Attachments

  • CIMG0181.JPG
    CIMG0181.JPG
    653.8 KB · Views: 52
  • IMG_4007.JPG
    IMG_4007.JPG
    3.5 MB · Views: 51
  • IMG_4078.JPG
    IMG_4078.JPG
    1.2 MB · Views: 53
  • IMG_4118.jpg
    IMG_4118.jpg
    198.8 KB · Views: 51
  • IMG_4120.jpg
    IMG_4120.jpg
    254.4 KB · Views: 53
  • IMG_4107.JPG
    IMG_4107.JPG
    2.5 MB · Views: 53
  • IMG_4104.JPG
    IMG_4104.JPG
    2.3 MB · Views: 53
Wow! Those did come out nice. Most of us vert owners have experienced that same level of frustration with those trim panels and what to do with them. Yours look great - nice job.
 
Nice job, what did you use to clean the panels, I have a lot of work to do on my Dad's car too and would love to know how you got them so white?
 

Attachments

  • 4.jpg
    4.jpg
    2.1 MB · Views: 10
Nothing like having 10 days stuck at home get some work done. I finally came down with Covid and spent my Covid quarantine in my shop finishing the interior. I found the reproduction rear interior quarter panels that my son purchased in 2013 to be ill-fitting junk. I ended up pulling the old ones out and restoring them the best I could. They were really deteriorated from years baking in the sun. I thickened and strengthened them up with truck bed liner and they actually look fairly decent. At least they are clean and fit properly in the car. I still need to replace the boot cover snaps, but the panels installed like a dream. I finished installing the drivers door panel because I finally received the replacement exterior door handle. The old one was in bad shape. The rear seat went in well. I believe I am missing the 2 bolts (or screws) that secure the bottom of the seat to the car, but I will go though my "extra parts can" tomorrow. I have also torn down the steering wheel and repaired the cracks with epoxy. Tomorrow I will sew on a new leather cover. I purchased one that very closely matches the old cracked and torn one that was on it when Dad took delivery in 1973.

I just wish I hadn't been sick at the same time.
the reproduction rear interior quarter panels are junk! I made the same experience.
 
Did you spray them white?
I was going to but I used white truck bed liner and they really didn’t need paint on top of that!
Nice job, what did you use to clean the panels, I have a lot of work to do on my Dad's car too and would love to know how you got them so white?
I used white truck bed liner to thicken them up and provide a new top textured surface that had disintegrated from sun damage. I was prepared to paint them after, but the finish seemed pretty good and I decided the paint might not adhere properly anyway. I was pleased that I was able to rehabilitate them. I threw the aftermarket ones in the trash.
 
I reread your question and would like to add:
We pressure washed the panels and scrubbed the loose sun damage plastic off of them.
I then sanded them with a sanding sponge to prepare for the liner.
After that, I cleaned and degreased them again.
I then used an adhesion promoter for plastics and followed the instructions on the adhesion promoter and the Raptor white truck bed liner. 3 coats of liner.
(experiment with spraying distance to get the texture you like). Hope this helps
 
Back
Top