1986 Ford Mustang LX - The Cosmetically Challenged Coupe - Project Frightning

When the hood was cut open for the intake manifold, its gelcoat was cracked along the cut line. This will have to be repaired.

Remarkably, our cowl panel is in good shape. It's a little faded, however, so we may have to paint it or possibly give it the clay-bar treat-ment along with some polish.

All the trim pieces will come off. These at the base of the windshield can be taken off by hand, but the molding around the windshield uses a special removal tool.

There are bolts on all four sides of each fender that must be removed. Frightning's front fenders are in decent shape, but the driver-side front extension is cracked. We'll have to try and locate another extension or repair this one.

Our MIA inner fenderwells aided fender removal.

All '79-'93 Mustangs have this barrage of studs that attach the front bumper cover to the fenders.

If, as with Frightning, the fenders have already been taken off, then there are only a few more brackets and these fasteners below that hold the front cover on.

Awesome among some, atrocious to others, the MM&FF staff is a fan of the four-eyed Mustangs. To keep the black trim or not to keep the black trim--that is the question.

Henriques removes the passenger-side fender, followed by the door.

Having been subjected to the elements far more often than to the detailer, Frightning's Weld Pro Stars have tarnished a bit. We'll bring them back with a little bit of aluminum wheel polish.

Frightning still wears the rubber from its last track attack. It looks as if we're going to have to do something about our MAC tailpipes as they've rusted a bit. So much for burnt rubber acting as an undercoating. Maybe we'll leave the tailpipes this way--it's fairly popular these days.

Looking like something out of Mad Max (or And They Walked Away 28), Frightning has been dismantled. We expect it to get worse before it gets better. In our next installment, we'll cover the bodywork and maybe the paint, if we can make up our mind on the paint scheme.