When you receive your shipments of classic Mustang parts you should unpack your order and verify the contents are in good undamaged condition and check off the contents of the order against the packing slip.
If you have any parts that have been damaged you should notify the company you purchased the parts from within 24 hours; this will help speed up the process of receiving a replacement.
If your order was shipped with a freight carrier (typically sheet metal is shipped by this mode), you should unpack your parts while the driver is present to make sure nothing is damaged. If something is damaged you can refuse the part and make sure that the bill of lading is noted with the damage. If you do not discover and note damage and you sign off on delivery then your chances of getting a refund or replacement go way down.
I’ve been ordering my parts based on the requirements of my project groups as explained in Planning and Organizing Your Restoration; unpacking my parts and organizing them into these project groups will speed up the process of verifying the packing slip to see if anything is missing, on backorder or damaged.
My first shipment is for the interior group and should contain parts for these interior project groups: Dash, Floor, Heater/AC, Seats, Steering and Trim. After unpacking and separating the parts into the perspective project groups I can then riffle through verifying the packing slip quickly.
If you have a helper to call out the parts on the list its even faster and more fun; this is a good time to get your son or daughter involved and they’ll probably look forward to helping you with the next shipment.
Once the packing slip is verified you will need to find a place to put the new Mustang parts. Your old parts may be occupying most of your shelf space and you may be a little perplexed as to where to put the new stuff.
Since I started with the interior group I can make some space available by sending the seats out to the upholstery shop to have the seat cushions and seat covers installed, I’ll move them off the shelf now so I can use the space to store my new parts.
You will notice that the shelves will start to condense since you new parts are in boxes and packaging, this will continue as you progress. To further condense the shelves I try to put related items into existing packaging as shown in the Glove Box photo.
Although I have shelved all the new classic Mustang parts I will soon begin pulling them out again as I restore existing components.
I’ve got some interior restoration to do so I’ll get started on that and then order the next group of parts some time mid stream and then repeat this process again.