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Project Snake Charmer, Part 18 - Interior And Trim InstallMore Progress With Our Roadster's Interior And Trim Installation From the July, 2008 issue of Modified Mustangs & Fords By Mark Houlahan Photography by Mark Houlahan
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With our Roadster back from paint and the goal of displaying it at last January's Silver Springs Ford & Mustang Round-Up, we had gotten ahead of ourselves and put most of the interior in place and assembled the exterior chrome and trim items so we could have a complete-looking project car to display. The seats weren't bolted in, the body louvers weren't attached, nor was the radiator aluminum riveted in place, but we didn't care. We were too excited about displaying our project for the first time. Once we got that bit of excitement out of our system, we stripped the car of its partial interior and chrome bits so we could properly document this part of our build. As with any other full restoration or custom build project, as it progresses past paint and into final assembly, the excitement grows tenfold. The ideas and dreams you've had for so long are now in front of you, and nothing says you're almost done with your project like installing the interior-laying carpet, bolting in seats, and making that final pass of the vacuum cleaner before closing the door and stepping back to admire your hard work. We're just about done with our Factory Five Roadster, with just a few punch-list items left. We'll be wrapping things up soon, so for those of you just tuning in, check out all of our pre-vious build articles on our project, as well as our online build diary, on our Web site, www.modifiedmustangsandfords.com.  1 The front turn-signal assemblies...  1 The front turn-signal assemblies are mounted to the body via supplied tapping screws. Predrilling the mounting holes with the proper drill bit will allow easy installation of the screws without stressing the fiberglass.  2 Rather than using a stock...  2 Rather than using a stock 1157 bulb for the front turn signals, we turned to Mustang Project for its new Cobra replica replacement LED lamp kit (PN MP-0001-Cobra). The kit includes two 1157 amber replacement bulbs for up front. The LED bulb is brighter and has a uniform lighted look when lit.  3 The headlight buckets,...  3 The headlight buckets, retaining rings, and even the halogen lamps all come with the Factory Five kit. Again, the attachment screws for the buckets are self-tapping, so predrilling the holes is a good idea. We'll leave off the outer trim rings until we've adjusted the headlights.  4 Original Cobras used a...  4 Original Cobras used a small rubber grommet in the body opening where the front quick-jack or over-rider mounting hardware passed through. We ordered reproductions from Finish Line. While installation requires a bit of silicone spray lubricant and some patience, the parts greatly improve the looks of the quick-jack mounting area.  5 Our Roadster looked so...  5 Our Roadster looked so much better, but we went the extra step and installed Finish Line's brake-duct mesh screens, giving the car a more racy and aggressive look. Installation was accomplished by sandwiching the mesh between the body and frame, and tightening the body-mounting fasteners. A few dabs of silicone around the edges of the mesh were added for security.  6 At the rear of our Roadster,...  6 At the rear of our Roadster, the kit's taillights use mount-ing studs with nylon locknuts-it's a simple and effective way to secure the light hous-ings. As up front, we removed the stock 1157 lamps and replaced them with Mustang Project's new Cobra specific taillight modules included in its kit.  7 The Cobra light kit from...  7 The Cobra light kit from Mustang Project includes one electronic flasher module, but we're running a hazard circuit with our wiring, so we ordered a second module.  8 Laws vary by state, but...  8 Laws vary by state, but in Florida you can be ticketed for not having a device to clean your windshield, so we purchased the optional wiper kit from Factory Five back when we initially ordered our Roadster. The installation requires careful measuring, cutting, and flaring of the wiper-motor's cable drive tubing and assembly of the tubing, gear boxes, and motor. This is another job that requires some patience.  9 The windscreen requires...  9 The windscreen requires assembly of the main glass and the two side mounting bars. The bars were previously cut to length, and the mounting holes were drilled, so with the help of your author's good friend and neighbor Russ Aljoe, the windscreen assembly was carefully lowered into place and secured to the frame. For a more finished look, we used Mike's Replica Parts' ( www.replicaparts.com) polished windscreen trim plates where the side bars entered the body opening.  10 The Le Mans-style fuel...  10 The Le Mans-style fuel cap included with the Roadster kit is designed to use the stock late-model Mustang fuel-filler neck and fuel cap. For simpler refueling, we opted to use this Stant InStant Fill fuel cap (no need to remove the screw cap under the Le Mans cap). We called upon the crew at SoFast Racing [ www.sofastracing.com; (541) 928-5858] to perform their stud-welding technique on our Le Mans cap for a stealthy, hidden-mounting configuration that will keep the top side of the Le Mans cap looking clean.  11 When it came to installing...  11 When it came to installing the FFR supplied 2-inch rollbar assembly, the instructions called for drilling a hole and using a cross-bolt in double-shear to attach the rear down tube to the main hoop. The idea of a through bolt, even in stainless, wasn't thrilling to us, so out came the credit card again for a blind rollbar attachment kit from Tangent Technologies ( www.tangentkits.com). This kit is akin to the handle-bar clamp on a bicycle, and uses a wedge-lock clamp inside the down tube. It's super clean and still secure.  12 The body openings where...  12 The body openings where the rollbar passes through used simple rubber gaskets on the real deal. But we wanted to bling it up a bit, so we added these polished aluminum trim rings from Mike's Replica Parts to all three openings. They come complete with gaskets and attaching screws, and they're clearcoated for durability.  13 The original Powered By...  13 The original Powered By Ford emblems worn by the 289 and 427 Cobras are available in reproduction from several sources. Once again, to add a modern touch and some personalization, we opted for these great-looking fender badges found on the Shelby GT Mustang. We can't tell you where we scored them, but we have seen them for sale on eBay.  14 We bonded these aluminum...  14 We bonded these aluminum mounting brackets to the back side of the body to attach the side louvers. We had purchased new louvers from Finish Line because we had accidently thrown away the stock ones. They can be attached to the mounting brackets via bolts, rivets, adhesive, or, as in our case, with industrial-strength Velcro.  15 Most real Cobras have...  15 Most real Cobras have body-colored louvers, but we painted ours the color of the stripes for a slight contrast.  16 The replica license-plate...  16 The replica license-plate light assembly requires some additional wiring before mounting to the decklid. Two lengths of wire were soldered to the lamp terminals and then routed through the decklid cavity to the body harness.  17 The decklid access is...  17 The decklid access is normally left open, but we found this great aluminum cover plate from Dark Water Customs [ www.darkwatercustoms.com; (512) 506-8979]. It simply rivets over the opening and makes for a clean-looking trunk.  18 Another product we found...  18 Another product we found on the Dark Water Customs site was this front splash shield for rear-wheel openings. These nifty shields cover the gap between the body and frame, and prevent tire splash from entering the cockpit.  19 Due to the shape of the...  19 Due to the shape of the Cobra's body, it's prone to paint damage at the front of the rear-wheel openings. Because of this, we had ordered Factory Five's carbon-fiber rock guards. When our Roadster was at KR Performance & Restorations ( www.krpandr.com) for paint, we told the guys to bury the guards in clear for a super-slick look. Some painter's tape helped us line them up on the body for easy attachment with double-sided tape.  20 With the Roadster's trim...  20 With the Roadster's trim and other exterior bits handled, it was time to move to the interior. We covered all of the exposed aluminum with Mr. Gasket's G-Muff Titan-Lite sound-dampening material, just as we had with the foot-box panels and firewall earlier in the build. The carpet supplied by Factory Five comes precut and ready to install, though we added some vinyl edging to several of the larger pieces. The seatbelt trim bezels are from Mike's Replica Parts.  21a Both the under-door carpeting...  21a Both the under-door carpeting and the foot-box carpeting require careful installation so that the precut carpeting covers completely...  21b ...Some areas require...  21b ...Some areas require small amounts of trimming; we even had to custom-cut a few patches to cover certain areas.  22 We left the transmission-tunnel...  22 We left the transmission-tunnel top last on the installation list so we could access the drivetrain and wiring for any last-minute changes. Instead of riveting the cover in place as suggested by the build manual, we opted to install the top panel with stainless Phillips-head screws so that it can be removed for future service. Note the Mr. Gasket Neo-Foam pad on top of the tunnel; it gives a nice padded feel to the carpet.  23 We didn't glue down all...  23 We didn't glue down all of the carpet in the car, as the main floor carpets, as well as the tunnel carpet, are secured with strips of industrial-strength Velcro. This allows for easy removal of carpet sections for service access and cleaning.  24 Our Cobra's interior finally...  24 Our Cobra's interior finally matches the paint and bodywork. The seat mounting brackets shown here are from Breeze Automotive [ www.breeze automotive.com; (508) 533-6455] and give the stock seats a slight tilt for more thigh support. The wiring seen here is for the heated seat elements we'll install.  25 The original 427 Cobra...  25 The original 427 Cobra used the Mustang's four-speed shifter mounted in reverse, which gives the Cobra that famous forward-arched shifter. While Factory Five provides a similar shift handle in its kit, we upgraded to the look of a true four-speed shifter with Finish Line's dummy reverse lock-out function. The shifter bolts directly to most any five-speed, though our TKO-600 required us to drill the mounting holes in the shifter handle to match the TKO's mounting bolts.  26 With the shifter handle...  26 With the shifter handle in place, we topped off the installation with the supplied Factory Five rubber shift boot and trim ring. To dress up things, we added a vinyl shift boot from Mike's Replica Parts over the rubber boot. The vinyl matches the seat and dash trim, giving the shifter and trans tunnel a more finished look.  27 Since we chose not to...  27 Since we chose not to install a water-based heater, we felt the next best thing was to upgrade the stock Roadster seats with heated seat elements from WarmSeats. The kit includes carbon-fiber heating elements for the seat back and bottom (for two seats) as well as wiring, switches, and instructions. Installation is simple in just about any seat and the switches can be mounted on the seat, dash, or console.  28 The Factory Five's base...  28 The Factory Five's base Roadster seats that came with our kit are comprised of a fiberglass shell with wood support structure and foam cushions. After carefully removing a bunch of staples and rolling back the seat covers, we installed the WarmSeats' heating elements. A few well-placed cuts in the foam allow the wiring to be hidden and not show through the vinyl cover.  29 Once the heating elements...  29 Once the heating elements are properly placed, it's simply a matter of pulling the vinyl cover into place and installing new staples to secure it. Once the seats are installed, all we'll have to do is connect the wiring (shown earlier) to them. Hang tight everyone-we're almost done!
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