1993 Mustang SVO Cobra Prep & Paint

For the door and trunk jambs, we taped off the interior spaces and used some flexible red sanding pads from the local parts store to scuff the surface. The factory paint actually makes a very good base for the new paint. If you are staying with a similar dark or light color to what you already have, you can skip the primer at this step.

The flexible, flat Dura-Block worked excellent in the jambs, and it also worked great in the small groove of the body side moldings.

Flexible red sanding pads, which are generically called Scotchbrite pads (3M's product name), are used to scuff the new hood and decklid, which we got from Latemodel Restoration. The hood (PN LRS-16612S) is a steel piece that features a 2-inch raised cowl-induction dome. The height of the cowl is perfect and we like the metal clunk when closing the hood. The hood retails for $384.99 and needed nothing more than some primer and sanding with 400-grit paper.

With all of the bodywork completed and the car entirely in primer, it was time to apply the basecoat. Here Brian Bohnsack uses Summit Racing's Surface Wash (PN SUM-UP403) and a tack cloth to wipe down the entire car.

The Dark Jade Metallic basecoat is mixed 4:1 with the Universal Activator.

The jambs are first painted with the basecoat so the overspray doesn't affect the exterior coverage.

As Johnson laid the basecoat on the body, you could feel that we were in the homestretch of the job. As nice as it is to see the color go on, this is, unfortunately, where you see exactly how good--or how bad--your bodywork was.

After three coats of the basecoat, the clear was laid on. Summit recommends two to three coats of clear, which is mixed in a 4:1 ratio, just like the primer and paint.

Another big problem we had with Recession Special was the shot outer door belt weatherstripping. Over time, they dry up, crack, and fall apart, and the resulting gaps in the weatherstrip allows a draft and wind noise to enter the interior space. Latemodel Restoration set us up with new outer door belt weatherstripping, which Mark Johnson is installing here. The old pieces were brittle and fell to pieces as they were pried out.

Part number LRS-20708A netted us a pair of door-to-body weatherstripping. These are usually the first ones to go as people tend to drag their feet over them during ingress and egress. We also ordered a new trunk weatherstrip (PN LRS-43720A).

For a more modern look but with stock appeal, we ordered the Ultra-Clear headlight package with Amber corner markers (PNLRS-13007UCA-K). While our friend George Xenos (above) usually sticks to the mechanical projects, he stopped by long enough to install the new headlight assemblies. Weather you like the Ultra-Clear lights, stock lights, or something more exotic, Latemodel Restoration has what you need.

Johnson (left) and Xenos (right) install the front bumper cover. There are about five fasteners on each end of the bumper cover; two with brackets along the top of the core support, and four more down at the bottom.

It took us about an hour to unbolt and tape up everything in the engine compartment so we could shoot some paint in there. The result was well worth the effort.

Since one of our taillight lenses was cracked, we opted to change the pair to something new and nice. These SVO replicas (PN LRS-13450E and 13451E) from Latemodel Restoration are just the ticket. The lenses are held in place by a few metal clips and some silicone.

We haven't decided whether or not to install the 5.0L badges. We also didn't get a chance to show you the reconditioned quarter-windows from MPS Auto Salvage (www.mpsautosalvage.com). Our windows were dried and shrunk to the point where you could see the body behind the molding, so MPS sent us a set of fresh ones. Those, along with the new moldings from Latemodel Restoration really make the paintjob stand out. We think we hit the mark with the Dark Jade Metallic, as we wanted something sharp-looking without drawing too much attention.