stangs-R-me

There is more than one weatherstrip difference between coupe and f/b so I think you need to clarify exactly what you are referring to. Doug

Now that I'm back home I looked at the 3 spare instrument bezels I've got in my basement. In this pic you can really see the reflections in the chrome rings where the "argent paint" should be applied ... never noticed this before. Kind of blows my mind that they did not feel the need to do this final step to finish it off completely. If Scott Drake were the manufacturer (rather than Dynacorn), I think this would not have been overlooked. I'm not all that thrilled that I'm going to have to mask off a brand new part and attempt to duplicate the factory argent painting. Give me a large open surface to paint and I do fine ... small circular rings such as this is more fine "artist work" with an air brush ... that definitely is NOT me nor do I have or ever used an air brush. Also studied my 3 spare clock bezels, and noticed there is no argent paint detail so hopefully SD's repro is ready to install. Doug

Here is the Scott Drake announcement that was in the March 2014 Mustang Monthly (pg 63) ...

The '69 instrument bezel is listed on Scott Drake's web site, so I just assumed they were making it as well. There are quite a few things on their site that are obviously not made by them, so it is quite possible what they are listing is actually the Dynacorn repro. They also show the '69 3-spoke steering wheel pad on their site, and the one I recently got from CJP had a Daniel Carpender label on it ... have a hard time believing they both repro'd this. Doug

REALLY ... thie repro bezel is NOT 100% finished and installation ready ?? I find that hard to believe that Scott Drake would be offering something like this that needs final finishing / is not assembly ready. Would be kind of silly letting the consumer (or restoration shop) do this final step as if done poorly, it would reflect on them. Doug

That $77 is for the clock block-out panel (std interior w/ map light) ... deluxe bezel is $176 !! $231.00 to rechrome & detail an instrument cluster bezel when you can get the repop ... http://www.cjponyparts.com/instrument-bezel-deluxe-1969/p/IB41/ ... for $130 ?? Then another $176.00 to rechrome & detail the clock bezel. I'm guessing the repro Clock bezel will be similarly priced to the instrument bezel, so $260 is much cheaper than $407 (or group buy less 10% = $366.30). Unless the repros are inferior to the originals in some way (certainly not going to be brittle or broken like most of the original 45 yr old bezels out there), I'm going repro !! Doug

Good article ... that was not what I was talking about though. There was a picture in the "paper" version of Mustang Monthly showing the bezel at some recent show and the caption stated it was their latest repro. I went on Scott Drake's web site yesterday hoping to see it mentioned somewhere there but no luck. Don't have the magazine at the moment but I'll be back home Wednesday night, and give more details / try and scan the page and attach it here. Doug

YES IT IS FINALLY BEING REPRODUCED ... In the latest Mustang Monthly, Scott Drake was at some show (SEMA maybe) and was touting it as their latest REPRO. Did not mention when it will be available, but I'd guess sometime this year. I've been waiting for this myself !! My current clock bezel is one that I hand painted the silver on back in the 80's ... it looks pretty good to an untrained eye. My dash cluster is a nice un-touched original, but chrome is no where near "like-new". I was a little anoyed when the dash bezel became available "solo" ... without the matching clock bezel, I saw no reason to get excited as I will not replace one without the other !! Doug

Left side Metuchen 07B - Feb 7, 1969 others in my tag collection from junked cars: Fastback left side Metuchen 13A - Jan 13, 1969 Cougar Conv: left side Dearborn 17D - April 17, 1969 Mustang Coupe: left side Metuchen no door tag (9T01F163511) Can't say I've ever noticed a '69 or 70 with the raised stamping like the right plate ... I'll be looking this summer though !! Doug

I've read to use a soldering iron to melt / solidify the carpet around the holes. I read this AFTER installing new door panels and messing up the new carpet in a spot or 2 ... so I personally have never tried it. I'm sure someone on here will chime in who has tried this method !! Doug

Power Vent is a pretty rare option so if there is no other hints of it being power vent originally (heater controls also don't have a "power vent" setting) ... I'd be willing to bet a previous owner swapped in a used A/C car dash pad because it was available and in nicer shape than the original. Doug

I was going to say the same thing as I swapped in '70 glass into my '69 back in the late 80's and am 99% sure I did not get regulators with the '70 glass ... which would mean I had to of re-used all 4 of my '69 regulators. Don't remember having any problems or doing any modifications during the swap and all 4 windows crank fully up & down with no difficulty or binding. Doug

Heard about this earlier in the week. Driven past that museum many, many times going down to Florida over the years but never stopped. As a die hard Ford man, I'm not into Corvettes and does not help that none of my 3 kids or my wife are into cars. It always caught my attention as we drove by though, and would have gladly made it a stop if ANYONE else in my family had any interest. My brother-in-law has had many Corvettes over the years (currently has a newer Grand-Sport Roadster), and he said it is a pretty neat museum. This same B-I-L bought a 2010 V6-MT LS Camaro around the time I bought my 2011 and we did a ride swap one day to compare. Well that Camaro did not last too long as he traded it in on a 2012 V6-AT base model Mustang a year or so later ... he and his wife liked it so much that they traded it on a 2013 V6-AT Premium Pony Package a year later !! Anyway, back to the museum ... thought I'd read that the sink hole was contained within the foundation so they may just be able to save the building. It will be interesting to see what they do. Doug

Thanks Guillaume69 ... I again learned something NEW about Mustangs today; or more specifically ... Export Mustangs !!

Yes, the console compartment was factory flocked, but after 46 years of use it can seem like it never was. I've never seen a N.O.S. Ford console insert, so I can't compare ... but his flocking job looks much heavier ... which as he said was the look & feel he wanted. Great idea to do the glove box ... only Mustang glove box I've ever seen flocked were '84-86 SVO, none of the other Mustangs from '79-86 were. Doug

You can even swap in a Cougar Dash Pad & Cluster, door panels, rear qtr. trim panels ... pretty much the whole interior. Consoles are the exact same, just used different woodgrain inserts. Seen the XR7 Full Instrumentation / Tach Cluster & Dash Pad in a few '69-70 Mustangs over the years. Doug

I've seen the White High Back interior in a few (non Shelby) '69 Convertibles over the years and in one very original looking Coupe on e-bay. Never noticed in my Illustrated Facts Book that the White Hi-Backs were only available with Int. Décor Group. Also never noticed that white upholstery on the std. lo-back seat follows this same rule ... learn something new every day !! So what color is your Coupe ... or what color do you plan on ?? Sticking with RED like her previous 3 or going with something different ?? I always thought the white hi-backs look good with Winter or Acapulco Blue. My brother had a Winter Blue '69 Conv. we were going to do a white deluxe int. décor group hi-back interior to, but he never got that far !! There was an Acapulco Blue hi-back 390 conv. running around my town when I was a kid that I always drooled over and that was the look we were going for but sticking with his orig. Winter Blue color. Doug

No problem, glad my post was helpfull. If you have not already seen them, here are pics of the HIGH-BACK interior in my Coupe ... http://www.1969stang.com/gallery/stangs-R-me-Deluxe-GT-Hardtop?page=3 Doug

High backs were not available in the 1969 Grande'. Since there was only ONE upholstery pattern for the High Back Seats in 1969 ... Mach 1 style with "color-keyed stripe" on the front seat backs (instead of the Mach 1 red stripe) which was std. on Shelby & Boss 429 ... it was the same upholstery whether you had std. or deluxe interior. YES ... upholstery on the 1969 LO-BACK Seats varied depending on interior but NOT the High-Backs. Doug

Back in the 80's a friend had a car with an 8-track player. He would pick up 8-tracks at rummage sales and half the time the labels had already falled off so he had no idea what he was getting. He liked it that way, as those tapes were like a cracker jack prize. 8-Tracks at that time were 10-15 years old and he said these used tapes were always a crap shoot ... sometimes he would not even get one play before the tape broke !! Now fast forward 30 MORE YEARS ... I'll bet there are not too many 8-track tapes that you find at a flea market that are playable unless they were never played. Doug

That's not a bad price either if you want it to show correct KPH speed with available speedo gears. Basically the same price as the new repo's (only available w/ MPH). Doug

That is NOT a Ford '69-70 vintage AM/8-Track so wiring is not going to match any factory diagram. I've never even heard of that Voxson brand. Can't get 8-tracks anymore anyway, so you may as well put in something new !! Doug

Sounds like he wants the BUMPER body color, not the spoiler !! Doug

You should be able to figure it out with simple math. Check your GPS speed vs. speedometer speed at 3 or 4 various speeds. Do the math to see if the ratio stays the same ... I.E. going 60 Kph but speedo reads 55 = speedo reading 91.7% of actual speed (55 divided by 60 = 0.916666). If the ratio difference stays the same at the various speeds you compared, then a simple gear swap should work making your MPH speedo read correct KPH. Chances are, it will not be the same at all the various speeds, but if you make it correct at 60, then the middle range of the speedo will be accurate. If you need to speed up the speedo, get a gear with LESS teeth. If you need to slow down the speedo, get a gear with MORE teeth. (multiply existing teeth by the % difference I.E. 20T x 0.917 = 18.3T or 18T) Doug

Ah yes, the simple lighting of the past. With all the bulbs used on current cars as a reference, it would look like something is missing. Back up lights did not start becoming std. until the mid '60's and the side marker lights became mandatory in '68 ... so a '69 had a lot more bulbs than what was common just a few years prior !! Doug