to restore or replace

[dju]

hi all, I am giving thought to my rebuild plan trying to determine the correct sequence, etc, on how I am going to do things. So let me start this plan off with a question about whether to restore or replace some parts. On a 67 fastback, the interior vents panels; would it be better to try and restore the metal vents and install them on new panels or just buy new panels and live with what I understand are plastic vents. I have not seen, touched, sniffed the newer panels so I can't say how good or nice they are. maybe the cost or work involved might make it not worth restoring the original vents. the panels themselves are in pretty bad shape with some broken off pieces.
I have the deluxe interior, how about the brushed aluminum pieces in the door panels and the overhead console. any suggestion on how to clean those up where they still look like brushed aluminum and not like they where polished and to shiny?

thanks for any suggestions ya'll might have and I promise more questions to come over time.

dj

 

[GTchris]

I reused my upper vent panels and grills as the grills are just showing slight pitting and the panels were in decent shape. I have seen the plastic reproduction grills installed and they look okay. I have heard that it is tricky to re-chrome those original vents.

I used the reproduction abs large rear lower panels and they fit really good but, they are really shiny out of the box and had to be painted.

If you have the aluminum panels out of the car try some Bonami to clean them up. It's going to be your money and call ultimately if you can stand how they look or if you want to replace them.

You said that you were restoring your car but, I did not see if you mentioned to what extent.

 

[cmayna]

dju,
Welcome the the Fix. If you look here, you will see a build thread that I am finishing up on regarding a 67fb with deluxe interior having address most of the questions you are asking.

http://www.stangfix.com/testforum2/inde ... 838.0.html

Upper interior grilles - gtscode (owner of the car) attempted to have the original grilles re-chromed. Disaster! Thus we went with reproduction. Yes needs some modifications, but if I can do it......

Alum door panels - gtscode bought new ones and they are fantastic :thu

Door panels - Are you going to be replacing them? If so, I'd go with Dashes Direct. You will find pics of them as well as many other interior pics in my build thread above.

 

[dju]

hi GTchris, CMAYNA, thanks for the replies.
As far as what level of restoration I plan let me start by saying it will be a mild restomod. I have had the car since I was 16 and it has been almost 30 years now so since it has been setting for many years I can take a little time on this as money becomes available. I'm not in a hurry. I plan to strip the car of all or almost all of it's parts to get the rust repaired and the rest of the car cleaned up. I do not plan to be extremely anal about things but I do want to do it right this time. the $500 paint job I got when I was 18 was one of those you get what you paid for paint jobs. I have a 351C with aussie heads that needs to be build and I want to use it with a 5-speed tranny. Currently it's a 302/C4 combo. I wanted to put one of those fancy front suspensions in the front but I think I have come almost back to reality on that. I am thinking of the Opentracker parts at the moment and maybe the Totoal control adjustable shock/coil spring setup in place of the normal shock and coil spring setup. but thats TBD. probably want to go with rack and pinion and 4-wheel disc brakes. I have noticed some people go with the wilwood 4-wheel disc setups and use what looks like a manual brake booster. or is the booster somehow located behind the firewall. for anybody using the manual 4-wheel disc setups how do they feel? I remember my 4-wheel manual drum setup requiring plenty of effort when braking compared to my trucks power brakes of today. still lots more to plan and think about.

thanks,
dj

 

[Horseplay]

You don't need a power brake system to get excellent performance. Pedal effort can be controlled by system components to make it not require a lot of effort. Sizing the master being the most critical.

 

[Anonymous]

I've got a couple of cars with manual disc all the way around. I use a 1 1/8" bore master cylinder and an adjustable proportioning valve. They feel great and there's no trouble locking them up.

 

[dju]

thanks for the info guys, both the panels and brakes.

dj