Here's the 22-piece fiberglass...
Here's the 22-piece fiberglass body kit from Mustang Depot, complete with upper and lower billet grill inserts.
First-gen hardtops are sometimes passed over in favor of fastbacks and convertibles, but they truly represent the Mustang icon. Mustang Depot of Las Vegas, Nevada, has recognized this and has put together an "Eleanor" body package for the sexy notchbacks that is similar to the movie car in spirit and design, but has slightly more raw appeal than the swooping lines of the larger '67-'68 fastback used in the 2000 remake of Gone in 60 seconds.
Flared fenders, side exit exhaust, Shelby-style deck lid and modded facia, rear body treatments, as well as sidescoops and a familiar front have copied the movie car in the original Shelby style. This coupled with several custom hood options make the E2 a great looking package, and one that you can modify to suit your personal taste and budget. Hardtops, such as the one we're installing our E2 kit onto, are still relatively plentiful, and even inexpensive if you are not too choosey about options. We purposely picked a low-optioned, "blingless" rust bucket to transform. Our '66 will get a late-model mechanical transplant, a Mustang II style front suspension and steering, four-wheel disc brakes, and a host of other restomod treatments that will transform this once dull and abused six-banging car into a great looking, ground-pounding head turner with modern appointments and accessories.
Panel alignment and fitment of fiberglass body kits can be tedious and tricky, but attention to detail at the mock-up level will pay huge dividends in the final outcome and appearance of your project. We'll show you the basics of fitting your E2 kit to the sheetmetal, and give you some excellent pointers on preparing your body kit for primer and paint.
The glass deck lid is a simple...
The glass deck lid is a simple starting point. It's a good idea to start out with the factory position of your fasteners and adjust from there. Shimming and filing of edges is sometimes necessary since there are different variations in most unibody production cars. A double check on the topside shows a good fit to both quarters with minor tweaking.
The quarter extensions need...
The quarter extensions need to be fitted to the quarters. an angle grinder with an
80-grit pad is perfect for shaping to fit.
Stock fasteners work great...
Stock fasteners work great with the mounting studs on the extensions. Make sure you lube the threads with penetrating oil before installation; this keeps you from applying too much torque and possibly stripping the studs in the fiberglass.
We're using a combination...
We're using a combination of a new fiberglass bumper along with the original bumper brackets for a smoothed look. Norton's Speed Grip panel adhesive is used for bonding the mounts to the new bumper. Both surfaces are prepped with a 50-grit disc to provide the correct "tooth" for good adhesion. Once the adhesive is set, the bumper can be shimmed for a perfect fit to the rear body.
The '65 T-Bird taillamps will...
The '65 T-Bird taillamps will give us that "phat" Shelby style we're after. We've just mocked up the lenses at this time to prepare for the LED sequential system that will come later.
The 'Crustang's original front...
The 'Crustang's original front sheetmetal really showed its age, so we called Virginia Classic Mustang and ordered reproduction fenders and apron extensions. it was a nice surprise to open up the boxes and find nearly perfect fenders, due in no small part to the excellent packing job. They also offer Original Ford Tooling fender sets.