Ford Mustang - How To Restore An Interior

You can see the difference in the painted panel. Sometimes (oftentimes, in this project), a well-timed picture does all the explaining.

The freshly repainted rear trim panels make a huge difference in the interior's finished look.

The single largest component of a car's interior is the carpet. Installation involves setting the two pieces in place, trimming the edges along the sides, and cutting the appropriate holes for the seatbelts. These things need be done before installing the seats and console.

With the recovered rear seatback already in place, the recovered bottom is next. It locks into place when the wire underneath the bottom snaps into the metal tabs welded to the car's floorpan.

Can you imagine what this would look like if we hadn't painted the trim panels? Some things are skipped over in an interior restoration when the project needs everything. New seatbelts are still needed or the existing ones can be dyed to get some color back into the belt's fabric. That's next on the agenda for Ed and Caleb.

A huge help in expediting our project, Mustang Country had already cleaned and repainted the console when we arrived to photograph the interior being reassembled. It's one of the few things in the car that was in pretty good shape initially. A repaint and a new console lid from CJ Pony Parts had it looking new again.

With the carpet and seatbelts reinstalled, placing the console back into position was the next item on the agenda.

The console's fasteners go through the new carpeting and into the existing holes in the floor.

Next, the seats drop into place and are bolted down with their fasteners. Last month, we showed the driver-side seat being rebuilt. The passenger seat shown here was less work as its frame was in better condition.

With the carpet and seats installed, all that's left is install the door panels. But first we're going to look at a couple of small details that need attention. As you can see, the glovebox mirrored the rest of interior's condition when we began. Removal wasn't difficult as it was already basically falling out.

For illustration purposes, we're showing the plastic trim piece that was reused. It goes around the glovebox and holds it in place along with a series of screws. As with the main interior pieces, the new glovebox shown here came from CJ Pony Parts.

The new glovebox slides into place through the door and dash.