Time sure flew by really fast and the appointment for painting my car sneaked up on me.  I did make some time to remove the door locks, handles, and radio antenna.  I also drilled holes for and test fitted the moldings that go across my trunk lid and rear quarter end caps.  My skills at drilling holes in a perfectly straight line definitely could use some improvement, but I was able to enlarge and file everything so that it all fit OK.

I chose to drop off my car the night before the appointment based on the weather forecast.  It ended up raining earlier than predicted so I had to drive in a light rain.  That didn’t turn out to be an issue.  Since I had removed the outside rear view mirrors, lane changes were a bit challenging.  And without the door weather stripping the wind noise was pretty bad.  My family followed me in our minivan to give me a ride home.  They commented that my car’s exhaust smelled badly of gas until the car warmed up.  It sounds like I need to do some choke adjustments and carb tuning after I get the car back from paint.  I also noted that the car burned quite a bit of gas on the ride.  I drove about 75 miles and used about half a tank per the fuel gauge.  I don’t know how accurate the gauge is, but I would expect to be able to do a bit better than that.  It probably ties back in to the gas smell my family noted.

I’ll post updates as I receive them from the paint shop.  For now I just need to be patient and wait for the car to be completed.  I was told to expect it back in 2 or 3 weeks.  The date is contingent on how much body work is required after the car is stripped down to bare metal.  You just never know what is hidden under all the primer until you strip it all off.  Hopefully there won’t be any big surprises.  I will just have to wait and see.

I contacted some local body shops for estimates on painting the car over the last few weeks.  The results weren’t very encouraging.  Most of the shops i talked to were not even interested in painting a car.  The shops make more money doing insurance work fixing fender benders and didn’t want to consider a larger job that could potentially tie up one or more of their bays with a disassembled car for several weeks or even months.  I did talk to two shops that would be willing to paint the car.  Both estimate were way above what I was willing to commit to spending.  I would have ended up with a top quality or even show quality paint for that kind of money.  But my budget and goals were far exceeded by both of those shops.

I asked Val if he knew of any shops that would be willing to take on this type of job for a reasonable price.  He referred me to a small shop that does driver quality paint jobs, takes on cars one at a time, and finishes the job in a fairly short (2-3 week) time frame.  The paint is base coat/clear coat.  He doesn’t do the disassembly and reassembly of the chrome trim.  Just makes sure the body is stripped, straight, and then paints the car.  His paint jobs are equivalent in quality to what the factory did back in 1967, but with modern urethane paint   The painter’s name is Herbie.  I called Herbie and he said to bring the car by so that he could take a look at it.

I made the drive out to visit Herbie and he went over the car.  His prices were very reasonable and he was not only willing to paint the car, but would be ready to start the job in about a week.  He also recommended adding a pin stripe to the side which he could do for a fair price.  I’m not certain about the pin stripe yet, but everything else he said sounded good to me.  I scheduled the job with him and went home to start planning and disassembling the chrome trim.  I had been a bit discouraged by the estimates I had received so far and by several shop’s lack of willingness to even take on a job of this size.  It now looks like I can have the interior and exterior completed by Spring time.

I still have a couple of days left before the car goes off to paint.  So far I have removed the backup lights, tail light bezels, trunk lock, and the door upper weather strip.  I still need to remove the door handles and locks and the radio antenna.  Then I just need to decide what chrome trim I need to drill holes for and get any drilled that I need.  Today is Saturday and my appointment with Herbie is for next Tuesday so I better get moving.

As a side note I installed new rear lap belts.  They were supposed to be the same color as my front seat belts but they don’t match.  I didn’t notice until after I installed them so I’ll try to live with them for now.  I also got my molded headliner kit in but probably won’t be installing it until after paint.  No problem, I will have the next 2-3 weeks or so to plan my next steps and the best order to perform them in.  I’ll try to snap some pictures of the car just before it goes to paint, and of course I’ll take a bunch of pictures after I get the car back from Herbie.  I can hardly wait.

Just wanted to post a quick note regarding my deluxe steering wheel.   I installed the wheel and test fitted the center crash pad again.  It only required a small dimple to get it to fit correctly.  So now I have the deluxe wheel install completed.

I also did some thinking about headliners and rear seat belts.  For the headliner I decided to try the molded headliner offered by TMI.  The install doesn’t require removal of the front and rear glass since it tucks under the windshield gaskets.  It also fits up closer to the roof fo the car so I will gain an inch or so of headroom.  I placed the order for the headliner about a week ago so I hope to be receiving it shortly.  Then I can complete the interior update.

For the rear seat belts I looked at installing 3 point belts identical to what I installed for the front seats.  I sat in the back seat and did some quick measurements.  What I determined is that the upper mount for the retractor would need to be a couple of inches above my shoulder.  I’m not sure I like that positioning.  I ended up ordering lap belts for the back seat that will match my front seat belts.  They are also on order and should be arriving within the next few days.

Once I finish installing the headliner I can install the rear view mirror, sun visors, coat hanger hooks, and dome light.  The windlace comes next.  Then the interior is done.  After that I plan to pursue having the car painted more actively.  I’ve been in touch with a few paint and body shops, but none of them are interested in tackling a project car.  It seems that insurance work and fender benders is more lucrative.  Hopefully I have a few leads on some shops that are willing to take on a bigger project.

I got around to installing the console and my RetroSound radio.  It took a bit of finagling and adjusting before I was satisfied with how the radio fit.  But the knobs fit where they are supposed to and don’t rattle.  When I first installed them they fit loose and wobbled a lot.  I used the rubber sleeves that the radio comes with along with a couple of washers to get everything to fit and line up nicely.  I think it came out fairly well.  Here are a couple of pictures of the finished product.

I believe I had mentioned in a previous post that I had a deluxe steering wheel to install on the car.  I attempted to install it, but the center pad didn’t fit correctly so I reinstalled the old wheel.  Today I did some additional research, along with posting to a popular vintage Mustang forum with a lot of very knowledgeable people.  I learned two things.  The first is that the deluxe wheel center pad was different from the standard wheel center pad.  I wasn’t able to find any pictures illustrating the differences, but I was led to believe that it was a slightly different shape and that the standard pad might even be better looking.  I did some searching of the Web and found a number of pictures of a standard pad.  All of the pictures I found showed a hole in the back of the pad to accommodate the steering shaft protruding up into the back of the pad.  This is exactly where my interference was.  The center pad I have did not have a hole in the middle so the pad wouldn’t fit over the shaft.  With the standard wheel this wasn’t an issue.  It looks like I just need to make a hole in the pad and everything will fit OK.  I have no explanation why my pad has no hole.  The pictures I found online show a hole that sometimes looks very clean and on some pads the hole looks like it was added much later.

Here are pictures of my pad.

Here are some pictures I found on the Internet of pads with holes.

Sometime in the next few days I plan to remove the old wheel, install the deluxe wheel, and hollow out the pad so that I can install it.  I’ll post a few pictures after I get it done.

The plastic repairs were complete and the time had come to paint the console.  I did some research as to whether I should paint the console or use some type of dye to color it.  The results were that I should use the same interior paint that I used to paint the dash and doors.  This would make for a good color match.  The trick to getting the paint to stick to the console was in the surface preparation and priming.  Here is a good article I used as a reference.

To begin I spent a fair bit of time making sure the console base was clean.  Since it was 45 years old there was no telling what it had been treated with.  First I scrubbed it thoroughly with a toothbrush and some Simple Green cleaner.  I went over the entire base several times to make sure it was clean.  Next I filled a bucket with warm water and dish washing detergent and scrubbed down the base using a brush to make sure I got any treatments such as Armor All that may have been used in the past.  Finally I wiped down the console base with wax and grease remover.  That was about as clean as I could get the base.

I decided that I would not attempt to redo the flocking in the storage compartment, so I used painter’s tape to mask it.  Then I applied two coats of adhesion promoter which I had purchased at the local auto parts store.  The directions said to wait no more than three minutes between coats, and to apply the color coat within ten minutes of the last coat of adhesion promoter.  So that’s what I did.  I applied four or five very light coats of the color over the adhesion promoter.  It came out pretty well and was a good color match for the old broken base when I compared the two.

After the base dried over night I reinstalled all the old trim pieces.  I had to replace the plastic light housings as the old ones were in pretty bad shape.  I made sure all the wiring was good and that the bulbs lit up.  It doesn’t look like brand new, but it came out fairly well.  Check out the pictures below and decide for yourself.

I pulled my original console off the shelf with plans to clean it up and reinstall it in the car.  That plan fell apart when I inspected it and found several cracks and a few places where the plastic had broken completely off.  Unfortunately I was unable to locate the broken off parts so I was unable to repair the console.  I had seen where one online mustang parts vendor sold new console housings, but they no longer sold the part.  My next plan was to contact a local parts vendor, Pony Express run by Dave.  I had been to his garage/shed and I knew that he had several used consoles.  When I called to see if I could purchase one of the consoles I got the bad news that Dave had passed away.  While the parts were still there, the family didn’t have a handle on what he had, where he had it, or how much any of it was worth.  I extended my condolences to the family and continued my search.  I hope they get everything straightened out soon enough.

My next stop was a search on EBay.  I searched daily for a couple of weeks.  I did find a few consoles and console bases.  One would have been perfect and the price was right.  But somebody else got to it before I did.  I also did some searching on the Internet.  I located a base but it was in pretty rough condition, so I chose to pass on that one.  I contacted Val because he had once told me he knew somebody with a console who might be willing to sell it.  A couple of weeks later he sent me some pictures and an email address in case I was interested.  There were two consoles pictured.  They were a bit rough, but they looked like they could be patched and cleaned up.  So I contacted the seller and eventually struck up a deal on a console base.  It had one crack in the same place where several of the others I had looked at were cracked. It was also missing a small chunk of plastic. but the base included all the broken off pieces of plastic.  I just had to assemble and glue together the jigsaw puzzle.

To repair the console I bought a tube of Loctite plastic epoxy.  I used this to glue the console pieces back together.  I also used it to fill the crack.  I was surprised at how strong the epoxy was, and at how well the pieces fit back together.  When I had finished the repair it was noticeable if you knew where to look, but I was happy with how the base looked.  It still needs to be painted the correct color red to match the rest of the interior.  I have the correct color paint on order from one of the Mustang parts vendors.  That means I won’t be able to paint the console for a few days yet.

At this point I turned my attention to the old console base so that I could remove the old trim pieces.  Most of the parts were in reasonably good shape for 45 year old parts.  I did some cleaning and polishing, and then touched up the black paint using a black magic marker.  The lenses for the lighting were cracked so I ordered replacements.  I also ordered new rubber bumpers for the ash tray.  All those parts should be arriving later this week.

I decided to test fit the trim pieces to the new console base, which turned out to be a good idea.  I learned that the console base was for an automatic transmission, and that it needed to be cut to fit the trim plate for the manual transmission.  I was nervous about cutting the base, and did several comparisons between the new base and my old base before I decided to start cutting.  Ford must have had somebody on the assembly line cut the consoles when needed.  I used a hacksaw blade with my hands to make the cuts.  It now matches my old console base in that area and the trim plate fits fine.

While everything was taken apart I checked all the wiring.  It is fine with no shorts or bad connections.  I was missing a light bulb for the light that goes inside the console drawer.  I looked it up in my reprint of the owners manual and picked up a new bulb at the local auto parts store.

At this point in time I’m just waiting for my parts to arrive so that I can finish up the console restoration.   That means I may not be able to get back to work until sometime early next week.  In the mean time I’ll try and snap a few pictures showing my repair and cut jobs on the console base.

Update: I’m adding a few pictures of the console base with my repair and trimming.

While waiting on parts for the interior I’ve been polishing and painting the wheels for my car.  The wheels I have are the original styled steel wheels that came on the car when it was new.  The chrome on them is not in the greatest shape but is serviceable.  The trim rings were in pretty good shape as I replaced them with new Ford trim rings back in the 1980’s and kept them away from curbs since then.  I have a new set of reproduction center caps from Scott Drake.  The best thing about these reproductions are that they attach with screws rather than being a press fit.  I lost more than one set of original Ford center caps because they always came loose and flew off while I was driving.  These center caps should stay nice and tight.

The part of the wheels that needed the most work is the painted portions between the spokes.  They are supposed to be painted charcoal grey, but mine were black on the parts that were still painted.  The rest was pretty well chipped or the paint had flaked off.  I had a can of self etching primer and another can of the correct charcoal paint so I went to work on the wheels one at a time.

I used aircraft stripper to remove the old black paint.  It took several attempts and a lot of scrubbing with steel wool and mineral spirits to get the paint off.  Then I spent a considerable amount of time taping up the wheels.  Expect to spend an hour or two per wheel, depending on how exact you want to be.  I did my best but some of the taping could have definitely been better.  Then comes a couple of coats of the self etching primer, followed by a couple of coats of the charcoal grey paint.  After painting I installed the trim rings, center caps, and reinstalled using a new set of lug nuts.

Here a quick picture I took of one of the finished wheels.  This was the first one I attempted.  I got better as I went along.

Once again I’ve been lax in keeping up with the updates.  I also need to get out and take some more pictures.  For now I’ll prepare this post and add some pictures when I get a chance.

Over the past few days I’ve mostly been taking care of some little things that needed finishing up.  I installed some more of the AcoustiShield in the rear seating area and trunk.  I did some work on my deluxe steering wheel, but I’m not satisfied that I have it right yet so I reinstalled the old steering wheel and horn ring.  I installed the inside door locks pulls and grommets, the door sill plate emblems, and put a rubber cover on the bright switch.

I pulled my old console out of storage in preparation to recondition it and install it along with the radio.  Unfortunately the base was too badly cracked and broken to be serviceable.  A reproduction console is available, but nobody sells just the base.  I don’t want to purchase the entire console as it costs just over $1000.  I’m still searching for a decent used console.  I originally planned to purchase any used parts from a business called Pony Express.  I know they had several consoles available.  Unfortunately the owner passed away several weeks ago and nobody else knows what he has, where he has it stored, or how much it is worth.  So my hunt for a used console base continues.

Another decision I had pending was what to do with my seat belts.  The car originally came with deluxe seat belts when it was new.  I still have the original seat belts but they are not in great condition.  One option would be to have a service recondition them.  There are several businesses that specialize in this type of restoration.  The other option was to replace them.  I decided to install a set of 3 point retractable seat belts in the front.  They don’t appear original but I feel much more secure with them.

I spent several days researching the aftermarket seat belts and reading some articles on Vintage Mustang Forums detailing installs performed by other Mustang owners.  In the end I decided to install the top anchor point at the roof line with a sash to extend the belt down so that it didn’t come across my neck.  I also found a way to share the bottom anchor point between the re-tractor and the front of the seat belt.  Sharing the anchor point required a special end on the front anchor point.  I found a vendor, Wesco Performance that sold the seat belts, the upper mount I wanted to use, and the special end on the seat belt.  They have an online ordering system, but it didn’t permit me to specify everything the way I wanted.  So I called their customer service line to place the order.

I was first greeted by a woman who said I would have to use the online ordering system.  When I told her I had already attempted to do so but wasn’t able to specify everything the way I wanted she wouldn’t believe me and made me prove it by telling her what model number the online system had recommended to me.  She acted a bit surprised when I rattled off the part number and repeated my problem.  She decided it must be an installation issue and handed me over to Dawn to assist me.  Dawn was even less help.  Even though I was able to give her page numbers from the manual discussing the option I wanted she said I didn’t need it and that all their seat belts shared the anchor mounting point with the re-tractor.  The instructions didn’t agree with what she was telling me but she was adamant that I would be able to share the mounting point.  So I went back to the online ordering system and ordered the seat belts.

No big surprise, but when the seat belts arrived a few days later they didn’t have the end I needed and couldn’t be installed using a shared mounting point.  I was prepared for this and knew I could install them using separate mounting points for the front anchor and the re-tractor.  I was just a bit irritated with the customer service (or complete lack thereof) from Wesco Performance.  The seat belts actually shipped from Seat Belt Solutions in Jupiter Florida, so I would recommend purchasing them direct and bypassing the inept middle man.

The actual install went fairly smooth.  I used an existing hole for the upper mounting plate.  It took a bit of fishing and finagling but I was able to mount the plates fairly easily.  I had to drill holes in the floor for the two re-tractors.  Everything else installed at the factory mounting points.  The color of the belts matches my interior fairly well.  And best of all, the access to the rear seat isn’t blocked as badly as I thought it would be.  That was the reason for my wanting to share a mounting point, as I thought the upside down V made by the webbing would impede access to the rear seat.

I’ll take some pictures tomorrow when I install the rear quarter trim panels and rear seat.  I still have to decide how I want to proceed with the rear seat belts.  But for now I need to keep moving forward.

Update: Here are a few pictures I snapped of the seat belts and interior this morning.

Dash and front seats

Seat belt and door opening – another angle

Seat belt and door opening

Retractor and front mount

Roof mount

This post will cover several days work since I haven’t posted in a while.  I got past some personal drama at home and was able to start back to work on the Mustang this week.  Since I was still waiting on my dash clock the frirst order of business was to wire things up for the radio.  I had chosen to go with a RetroSound Model Two as it has a retro sort of look and has all the features I was looking for, mainly a USB port and BlueTooth.  If money wasn’t an issue I would have had my AM radio updated with an FM conversion and both of those features.  But the RetroSound radio was several hundred dollars less than the full blown conversion, so I chose that route.  I’m not ready for a permanent install just yet, but wanted to wire and test everything while the dash was still apart.

I had a replacement radio antenna waiting so I installed it first.  It didn’t quite match the hole in my fender but a little work with a round file fixed that up.  Long arms helped run the cable up above the kick panel and behind the dash.  The radio requires both a constant 12V and a switched 12V.  I got the switched 12V off the back of the ignition switch.  The hardest part of that was I dropped the nut from the back of the ignition switch and never found it again.  I spent way too much time searching for a suitable replacement.  For the constant 12V I tapped into the cigar lighter circuit since it was handy.

The front speakers were already installed in the dash.  This was a pair of 3.5″ speakers in the stock location.  I made up a harness to extend the wires coming out of these speakers.  I also confirmed the positive and negative terminals to ensure everything ended up in phase.  For the rear speakers I had run some speaker wire about 30 years ago.  Some quick continuity testing showed there were no shorts and the wiring was still good.  I connected the radio wiring harness with all four pairs of speaker wires and wired up the rear speakers temporarily.  Everything worked, but the sound quality from the rear speakers was pretty poor.  They sounded very tinny.  I double checked the polarity and everything was in phase.  At that point I assumed they would sound better once installed in their permanent location.

By this point my dash clock had arrived.  I quickly installed it in the instrument cluster and then hooked up the cluster to test out the clock and the LED bulbs I had installed a few weeks ago.  Everything worked, but the dimmable LED bulbs didn’t really live up to their name.  I guess I can live with that.  I went ahead and buttoned up the instrument cluster.  It took quite a bit of fiddling to get everything all lined up.  The heater controls never lined up with the instrument cluster for as long as I’ve owned the car.  I got it kind of close, but it still doesn’t line up all that well.

Here’s a picture of the installed instrument cluster

It was finally time to put the steering wheel back on.  Or so I thought. I pulled out the deluxe steering wheel I had purchased about 30 years ago and looked it over.  Comparing to a diagram I had showed that all the major parts were there.  However some of the small hardware parts were missing.  A trip to the online catalog for CJ’s Pony Parts revealed that you can purchase the small parts kit for this wheel.  So now I’m waiting for steering wheel parts.  But I was able to install the turn signal lever and emergency flasher button.  The small parts kit is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow so I hope to get the wheel repaired and installed by the end of the week.

I still had those pesky rear speakers to deal with.  I had a new package tray which I had purchased 30 years ago.  I also had some speaker grilles to go in the package tray.  My plan was to install the speakers under the package tray structure and put the grilles up top.  I debated back and forth between painting the package tray or covering it.  In the end I decided that a nice vinyl cover would look better.  Not authentic but I thought I would like the look better.  I went to the fabric store and purchased a nice piece of red vinyl to cover the tray.  I carefully marked, drilled, and cut holes in the metal package tray structure, the package tray cover, and the AcoustiShield insulation.  Then I stretched the vinyl around the package tray cover and stapled it in place.  It was a bit of a struggle to bolt everything together as my careful measuring and drilling wasn’t quite as good as I had hoped.  But I got it all together eventually.  And the speakers sound much better in their final home than they did sitting on the floor of the car.

Here are a few pictures of the package tray and speaker grilles.

I haven’t posted for a while but I’ve still been keeping busy.  My instrument cluster parts haven’t arrived yet (been on back order for close to a month now).  So I’ve been working around the dash.  I did have an opportunity to install some more of the AcoustiShield kit.  I applied the DynaMat strips to the roof.  I was concerned that they wouldn’t stick but they seemed to stay in place well enough.  I tapped on the roof before and after I applied the DynaMat.  There was a noticeable difference but the vibration wasn’t as well damped as I would have liked.  I went ahead and installed the heat shield and then tapped on the roof again.  This time I was happy with the resulting thud sound with no vibration at all.  I also installed some of the AcoustiShield that go on the inner wheel houses, the kick panels, and test fitted some of the rear seat parts.

I’m holding off on the rest of the kit until some of the body and paint is done.  I wanted to leave access to the back of the panels for the body person.  I also gave some thought to how I will cover up the heat shield in the trunk.  The reproduction trunk mat will not cover the wheelhouses and quarter panels so the foil from the heat shield will show through.  I really don’t want the trunk to look like a house with no siding.  I will probably either build something to cover it up or purchase one of the trunk carpet kits that cover the entire trunk.  The only issue I have with the kit is the expense.  But I have plenty of time to consider my options.

Next I chose to tackle the carpet.  I had a carpet set I purchased several years ago.  I laid it out in the interior and let it sit overnight to help it flatten out and for the creases to settle out of the carpet.  The next day I carefully laid both pieces out and spent quite a bit of time making sure I was happy with how it aligned with the floor pans.  I’ve seen a lot of complaints online regarding the fit and finish of the carpeting.  My opinion is that the quality of the carpet isn’t that great.  However I don’t have any really big complaints about the fit.  I had to do some minor trimming and everything else just fell into place.

I started with the rear carpet.  After adjusting it I had it right where I wanted it.  I smoothed it out over the transmission tunnel and used the seat belt bolts to hold it tightly in place.  Then I laid out the front carpet.  I had to cut a hole for the shifter before I could lay it out completely.  I also had an issue with my headlight dimmer switch.  It seems that it only had one screw holding it in place, and there was no hole for the second screw.  Apparently the restoration shop that installed my floor pans failed to complete installing the dimmer switch.  I drilled the second hole and mounted it more securely.  Then I made the hole for the dimmer and inserted the plastic grommet that came with the carpet set.  My understanding is that the original carpet did not have a grommet for the dimmer switch, but I think the grommet looks cleaner so I used it.

Next up was the reproduction kick panels.  I still had the originals, but they had crumbled as the plastic hardened with age.  I was surprised to see that the new kick panels had no screw holes in them.  So I used the original kick panels as templates to drill new holes in the reproduction panels.  When I installed the panels the holes lined up perfectly.  After the kick panels I installed the door sill plates.  One thing I didn’t mention is how handy having a pick or awl will be when installing the carpet.  I used one to help locate any holes and line up the trim panels.

While I was working on the carpet I noticed a couple of items that were bothering me.  The first was the driver’s side vent controls.  The vent uses a cable to open and close the vent.  I noticed that the cable was rubbing up against the clutch linkage and pedal support.  After looking a bit further I saw that a bracket that holds the cable assembly had come detached from the vent housing.  I was familiar with the bracket as I had repaired it in the past.  It is held on by pop rivets and I used pop rivets the last time I had repaired it in an attempt to remain true to the factory way of securing the bracket.  I went ahead and removed the vent assembly, which is not an easy part to get to.  Then I drilled out the pop rivets and used some number 8 screws, washers, and nuts to secure the bracket.  Then I reinstalled the vent assembly under the cowl.

The second cause for concern was that the heater and defroster controls didn’t line up when they were all in the fully raised position.  I know they were aligned in the past because I was careful to install them that way years ago.  Either parts had shifted, or the restoration shop that removed and replaced the heater box when they did the rust work on my cowl didn’t adjust them correctly.  It was a fairly simple task to adjust them so that they all lined up correctly.  I loosened the adjustment screws, moved the the controls to the fully raised position and tightened the adjustment screws back down.  Now the controls line up properly.

Now it was time to reinstall the front seats.  I had already re-upholstered the passenger seat so I installed that one first.  I had to poke some holes in the carpet using my trusty pick and then enlarged them by poking a screwdriver through the holes.  When I got to the driver’s seat I debated whether to reinstall it and re-upholster it later or do everything now.  I was still waiting for parts so I chose to re-upholster now.  I installed new seat foam and covers on the driver’s seat, as well as recovering the rear seat.  Then I installed the front seat.  I’m leaving the rear seat until after I finish up installing the rear speakers and wiring, along with the package tray.

Here are some pictures of the work so far.  They show the dash and pad, seats, carpet, and some of the AcoustiShield kit.

Since I’m still waiting for my instrument cluster parts, I plan to tackle the radio wiring and rear speakers next.  I plan to install the new radio antenna since it is easy to drop down into the fender when it comes time to paint the car.  I don’t have my new radio yet, but I can begin preparing the speaker and power wiring for it so that I won’t need access behind the instrument cluster when I do get around to installing it.  However I know that I will be busy with personal matters for the next week or more.  So no work will be done for a while.  Hopefully my dash clock will arrive by then so I can button up the rest of the interior when I get back to work.