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One thing nice about restoring a classic car is that there is no shortage of projects waiting to be worked on.  Our current project car is certainly no exception.  It's a 1983 Mustang GLX which was left sitting under a tree in Virginia long enough to collect a considerable amount of rust.  Despite the way it looked though, it had a lot going for it.  Most of its parts were in good condition, just dirtier than most any car I've ever seen.  It looked as though it was driven to and from work by a group of oil field roughnecks.

Exterior Before

One of the big questions you need to ask yourself before taking on a restoration job is what you really like about the car already, what you want to change (other than stock/original part replacement) and how far you intend to go with your decision.  Restoring cars with all original parts can be extremely expensive.  If you don't mind using aftermarket parts however, you can, in many cases, find even better parts from aftermarket suppliers, made using modern technology and materials.

The first thing to do was to engage the rust problem head-on to save the exterior from any further damage.  The body was nearly perfect, other than surface rust, with just one tiny dent over the left rear wheel.  We chose to stay with the original color (Cadet Light Blue Glow) for the exterior because it looked good, the un(re-)painted areas would not stand out so much and because there were only 31 like it made in 1983.  One of the attractions of this car is that it is a little different than most Mustangs you see on the road.  Our intention is to leave the car stock for the most part, while not taking things to such an extreme that the costs get out of hand.  In fact, we are making an effort to keep costs down wherever possible.

Exterior After (first round)

Fixed spare tire
Replaced EGR tube from catalytic converter
New front brake pads and rotors
Replace/repack wheel bearings and seals
Replace left rear axle seal
New brake shoes and turned drums on rear
Retrofit A/C from to R134A and recharged
Door bushings and pins replaced (more on that later)
Monroe Sensatrack shocks (coil-over on rear)
All the fluids, filters, hoses, (1) fuse and the (1 "Serpentine") fan belt were also changed and it was given a good tune up with new cap, rotor, wires and spark plugs.

...and the big one:  Replaced fuel pump.  I say "The Big One" because I have a feeling that (probably more than one) previous owner did not know anything was wrong with it.  The engine uses very little oil (now).  It used one quart to go from D.C. to Denver.  But, the rubber diaphragm/seal on the back of the fuel pump, which keeps oil from leaking out, didn't, until it was replaced.  Before that, it used a quart to go maybe a hundred miles or so.

From this point on I switched to a long-distance advisor role, so I'll leave it to Wes to pick up the story from here...
 

Most spots on the floor had surface rust only, so I wire brushed everything and sprayed it with Rustoleum Clean Metal Primer as I went along.  I eventually took the entire interior down to metal (bottom left).  Wherever there was rust I couldn't get to well, I sprayed it with Loctite Extend Rust Neutralizer first, then with the primer.  Since I see this as a once in 25 years project, I wanted to insulate the interior in a better-than-stock way.  I started with a good sound, vibration damping and thermal insulation called "Hush Mat" (good from -30 to +400 degrees).  You can see it in the bottom center and right pictures.  It was pretty easy to put in.  It's kind of like sticking giant sheets of black licorice to your floor.  I covered everything from under the dash back to about 6" into the trunk with what I got in the box.
 

The next thing I wanted was a little bit of "comfort padding" in a few key places, basically anywhere someone riding in the car might rest their feet.  I got some .5" rubber padding through a carpet store and glued it into place with 3M spray adhesive.  The carpet I bought from www.mustangsunlimited.com and it was made by Auto Custom Carpet (ACC).  It had "jute padding" attached to the back side, so I had even a little more insulation in place.  It was molded to fit the car and really did go in pretty easily.  The one thing to keep in mind as you install it is that you will need to be able to find bolt holes, seat belt fittings, wires, etc. when you're done, so don't cover up anything that you can't find later.  One thing you can do is to stick nails up through the carpet as you lay it down right over all of your holes.  Ever since I took the seats out, I've sliced my hands up at least once a day anyway, so what are a few nail holes?

Along the same lines, anything that you take apart you will need to know how to put back together again.  I'm not so hot at wiring, so I took pictures of things before I started pulling them out:
 

1.  Clean everything with soap and water
2.  Scuff the surfaces to be painted with 400-grit sandpaper or those little 3M pads that look like they're for dishes.  I actually like them better because they bend around things easily.
3.  Clean with soap and water again
4.  Use something like denatured alcohol (I used Sherwin Williams "Ultra Clean" R7K158) to get anything like Armor All off that may be there - Paint would stick to it.
5.  Spray the surface with a Plastic Adhesive Promoter (Sherwin Williams version is: UP07226) and wait until it's ready (probably 10-15 minutes).  It needs to be just a little tacky still and not dry.
6.  Spray on the first color coat (should be just a "dusting") and wait 10 minutes.  I used SEM brand paints and I was happy with them.  They receive a lot of good comments from web sites.  Whatever you use though, make sure it's for plastic/vinyl.
7.  Spray on additional coats every 10 minutes until you have good coverage.  Not too much or you'll lose your plastic's texture.
8.  Spray on a couple of coats of clear coat, which will make the job last.  I used Spraymax 2K Clear Coat Glossy for most of the parts and SEM Clear Coat "Low Luster Clear" for the dash pad, certain upper dash pieces and inside the glove box.  You mainly just want to avoid glare in your eyes when your driving.

The reason for most of these steps is that the paint won't stick if you don't cover all the bases.  I had one spot on one piece that I just couldn't get to cover.  The original color kept showing through.  The paint would sort of drip off.  Then I remembered that I had not cleaned it with the XXX, so I started over and it finally adhered.