Average Joe Restoration

I've just received the latest shipment of classic Mustang parts for my 67 Mustang coupe, now I can begin the door and window restoration project.

There are a lot of new parts like door panels, window cranks, door handles, window regulators, weather strip and rubber seals, see parts list.

The existing parts to be restored include the internal and mechanical parts of the doors and quarter window, then the stainless steel trim and window moldings will be polished.

The vent window and quarter window frames will go out to the chrome shop, they have been disassembled with the glass and trim removed.

I've had my door and window broken out into project groups so I can manage my parts purchasing and restoration requirements.

• Vent Windows
• Doors
• Quarter Windows
• Front and Rear Windshields

For organizing and ordering parts this is great but this is not how I want the restoration part of the task grouped; so I've decided to group things by the type of work to be performed.

• Mechanical and internal (clean, blast, paint)
• Glass (clean and inspect)
• Stainless Steel Moldings (clean and polish)

Mechanical and Internal Parts Restoration

This task will deal with the internal and mechanical parts of the doors, quarter and vent windows. The work to be performed consists of cleaning, bead blasting and painting.

The major mechanical parts like the window regulators, door latches and strikers will be replaced with new reproduction or good used parts if they are broken or beyond simple restoration.

The window guides and tracks, brackets and bolts all get cleaned thoroughly, bead blasted and painted when required.

Door Latch Restoration

Although I could purchase new door latches and strikers I am going to spend a little time restoring these, and then I'll make that decision. If I decide to go new I will have a restored set that I can make available to somebody through craigslist.com or Ebay.com.

My door latches and door strikers like so many other had been painted over; but they are in really good shape and worthy of restoration. To remove the paint I used some lacquer thinner to scrub it off, then I continued with the thinner and a tooth brush cleaning the remaining paint and old grease from the assemblies.

After an initial cleaning the door latch assemblies and the door strikers got a low pressure run through the bead blast cabinet, then received a a dusting of protective paint. 

Glass Inspection and Restoration

Purchasing new Mustang glass can be expensive, and in my case if I buy new tinted glass I would have to reuse the existing stainless trim and window frames. If I had clear glass I could purchase new assemblies that come complete. I don't want to put out the expense or labor to replace the glass so I'll clean and inspect all of the glass to determine the usable condition of each piece.

Each piece of glass is cleaned with lacquer thinner and then washed thoroughly with soap and water. I then inspect the glass, stainless trim and frame to make sure its usable. Most of my glass had water spots so I used 3M Perfect-It rubbing compound and super fine steel
wool to remove them; this is a lot of work so if you know an easier way then please leave a comment.

The front windshield and back window both need to be replaced so I'll be ordering new or try to locate some nice used pieces.

Stainless steel Restoration

Polishing the stainless steel
is the most labor intensive task among the three, takes the most time, requires a lot of patients and your full attention if using a high speed buffer. If you relax for just a moment the buffing wheel will take the piece you are working on and throw it across the room or wrap it around the wheel.

This process takes a lot of hard work and dedication but the results are well worth it, even on new parts.

Vent windows, door window and quarter window trim all get polished to a high luster finish, then the roof rail, windshield and back window moldings get polished.

Door and vent window glass should be protected with duct tape along the trim as a precautionary measure.

Vent Window Restoration

Vent window posts are typically in bad shape and I've seen a few cases where nothing is done to make them look more appealing. Take a few simple steps to get this piece to look 100% better than it does. Before you polish the frame, tape off the entire vent window leaving only the post exposed, run the vent window through the bead blaster to clean up the post. After polishing the frame, tape off the vent window again leaving the post exposed, sand the post and then apply a coat or two of chrome paint.

Preserving your hard work

If you took the time and had the patients to polish your stainless steel trim and molding the last thing you want is a scratch on these freshly polished parts.

I've saved up quite a bit of packing paper that was delivered with the new interior and door parts in anticipation of wrapping restored parts with it for protection from the elements and potential damage.

"I'll be posting some of my findings on removing dents from stainless steel window molding in the "How To" section soon."

Classic Mustang Parts List

Mustang Door Parts List

Mustang Vent Window Parts List

Mustang Quarter Windows Parts List

Mustang Windshield and Back Window Parts List