The Fox-body Mustang that many of us know and love is now 30 years old. It's hard to absorb that since most of the late-model, fuel-injected versions that we own and modify are a bit newer, but the chassis design is old. The rest of the car, at best, is 16 years old.
Most cars this age have well over 100,000 miles and have seen numerous owners over the years. It's not hard to find a decent Fox-body ('79-'93), but finding one where the interior colors are not three different shades of the same color and the ashtray door isn't broke is a horse of another color. In this issue, and the next two, we're going to perform a comprehensive interior restoration on our resident '90 coupe, and show you every little detail that's involved in bringing your Pony back from the edge of being another cash-for-clunkers victim.
This is what the car looked...
This is what the car looked like when we bought it. Over time, we replaced the rug with a somewhat clean 140,000-mile carpet, and added some newer front seats, but for the most part, it was still trashed.
Our project Recession Special Mustang has been a hit with readers for its low-buck theme, and despite keeping the costs low on its recent paint job, the car looks great and up to date. The interior, however is another story. When we purchased the car a few years ago, the interior was literally in pieces that were piled in the car in no apparent order. We couldn't find 6 square inches of clean carpet, and it really showed that it's previous 12 owners just didn't care for it very well.
We made some minor improvements to the interior so it wasn't completely hideous and disgusting when we started driving it, and this is about as low buck as you can go with renovating your interior. You can scour the local ads or swap meets for better looking parts, but you'll never get that fresh, clean and new feeling back in your Mustang unless you buy new components. It's not an inexpensive endeavor, but the good news is that you can buy pieces here and there, and some time down the road, you'll have that nice, new interior that your Mustang deserves.
With that, we turned to Latemodel Restoration Supply in Hewitt, Texas, to help us restore our project's interior, and bring it up to a contemporary level of comfort and sophistication. Latemodel Restoration is the premier source for late-model Mustang restoration components, and the company has just about everything you might need. If you don't see what you are looking for in LRS's huge catalog or on its vast website, the company is most likely in the process of obtaining reproduction parts so be sure to call and talk to the staff.
Before you begin, take extreme...
Before you begin, take extreme caution when removing anything that is plastic, bolted to plastic, or otherwise. Over time, Fox-body interiors have proven to become very brittle, so take your time. We started our renovation by removing the seats. There are two bolts at the front and two at the back.
Truthfully, we enlisted the...
Truthfully, we enlisted the help of good friend George Xenos to keep us motivated during this tech install, but he ended up handling the bulk of the heavy work. (Thanks, George.) Cars with upgraded tweed or leather seats have the power lumbar option, and you'll need to disconnect the harness underneath before you pull the seat out.
The seat belts are next; they...
The seat belts are next; they require a Torx bit and at least a 3/8-inch ratchet to turn them.
The Visors are held in by...
The Visors are held in by two screws. If you have the power vanity option, then you must disconnect the wire to it.
Our '90 model is equipped...
Our '90 model is equipped with this map light, or eyeball as some people call it. Most of them are broken and ours does not work, but we're hopeful we can get it operational again.
The upper interior moldings...
The upper interior moldings are next. The side, front, and rear ones are held in place by metal clips, while the A-pillar moldings have just two screws apiece. If the metal moldings won't pull down and off, then use a screwdriver from underneath to push the center of the clip in to free it.