When the interior goes into your car, you know the end is near. You start pushing your work nights and weekend workdays. Grass goes uncut, household honey-dos stack up and are threatening to get you fired as significant other. But at last, you can see the end of the tunnel, and for once, the glow you see isn't the light of an oncoming train. Lazarus has finally reached that point. After months-and years-of work, we have finally reached the stage where the interior gets installed. Seats that sat complete in the attic for the last six years can now be assembled and placed in position. Carpet that was bought five years ago from John's Mustang as a Christmas gift can now be laid down. Seatbelts from Ssnake-Oyl can now be applied next to the CJ Pony Parts headliner and the carpet. And now that the dashpanel and engine have been installed, we can take a trip over to Tampa and have Classic Auto Air complete our A/C system.
The first order of business...
The first order of business is the Sport deck rear seat. Since the side panels and the door were in great shape, all we did was scuff them and paint them with semigloss black. The side panels were installed in their original mounting holes but left loose.
Our next project was to cut...
Our next project was to cut and apply the carpet we received from John's Mustang to the various panels for the fold-down. These were glued down using 3M trim adhesive. We used the original carpet as a template for our cuts.
Next, we used the new '71-'73...
Next, we used the new '71-'73 Sport deck seat mounting-hardware kit from AMK to replace the worn, rusty screws on all the parts of the deck.
The original mounting for...
The original mounting for the door left a great deal to be desired. After setting the center door, we began to play with the side panels to give us the correct position. We also set the trim panels in position, since the lip for these fits between the door and the side panels. We ended up moving the side panels in at the top and out a bit at the bottom for a good, even fit.
The rear window trim piece...
The rear window trim piece received a bit of strip caulk at the factory. We did the same. This was performed to prevent the panel from rattling.
Though the hood bumpers that...
Though the hood bumpers that we received from AMK aren't an exact match, they were close enough so that no one would know. We did have to remove a small amount of material in order to make them the correct length. These were then screwed into their new homes.
Our seatbelts were-at best-tired....
Our seatbelts were-at best-tired. However, we were fortunate that the Deluxe buckles and tags were still in great shape. We were also fortunate to find the correct clip covers for the shoulder harnesses (arrow) through a new old stock parts vendor. The belts were sent off to Ssnake-Oyl for refinishing.
Though the webbing on the...
Though the webbing on the belts looked safe, after 28 years of sitting inside the Mach 1, they had lost their sheen. They also had sealer on the webbing and tensioning pulls. Another annoying problem was the elastic that holds the shoulder harness-it was worn out.