17 years and counting...

[MIKESVO]

Ted -
They are available on ebay. I purchased a couple of sets but have not installed them. I liked them because they were black. Most are grey or light grey.
Mike

[svono50]

Ted -
They are available on ebay. I purchased a couple of sets but have not installed them. I liked them because they were black. Most are grey or light grey.
Mike

Mike, do you have a part number and/or brand on what you have? Would be good to know, thanx.

[MIKESVO]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Striker-Bushing-79-93-Mustang-79-96-F-Series-MDS-Filled-Nylon-2-Per-Order/172001939959?hash=item280c1d51f7:g:Y48AAOSwXAFd0t3o

[svono50]

Thanx, looks like ASEPARTS Inc. offers a range of 'special' type items. My guess is the guy is a machinist who like to solve issues. Here is a link to their website for all the products:

http://www.aseparts.com/

Not so sure about the MDS filled nylon material, only because it has low impact strength, which would be something I would want for this particular application. The slippery aspect of the MDS isn't really necessary for the bushing since the clasp doesn't really slide around the bushing, it simply closes over it. I would go with an ABS or UHMW personally...now you got me thinking about making up my own...hmmm.

[Bruce]

Ted if you want to make your own I have delrin round stock left over from when I made my own. It is white though.

[svono50]

Thanx for the offer Bruce, I have material available at work that could be used for some 'Government Work' as I am pretty well sorted with the machinists there I certainly don't have a need for new ones at this time, just thinking for in the far away future...

[svono50]

Ford 999 Report

Just found my Ford 999 report I had received back in 2004 (see below). Not sure why they didn't spell my last name correctly, but what can you do . My car officially turned 34 just 10 days ago! And as of September 2019, my ownership reached 28 years with this car...where has the time gone!!

I remember getting a printout at a dealer of the same 999 report, when they could pull it up at the Service Desk, back in the early 90's. So I always knew its B-day was 1/22/86, unfortunately that dealer sourced 999 faded to the point it was unreadable, but the Ford report seems to be holding up just fine. I may end up going for a full Marti report, just to collect some additional info along with getting a replacement door tag. When I had my car repainted in 1998 the doors were shot and replaced with Ford assemblies. Unfortunately my body shop guy had a brain fart and didn't pull my door tag or the door moldings before the doors went off the recycler. I am much more bummed about the door moldings than the tag, even though I prefer to be w/o the moldings.

Report - Ford_999_196896_20040219b.pdf

[svono50]

Dash Panel Refinish

To flock or ???, that is the question. Here is what I ended up doing.

I have looked at various re-flocked dash panels over the years and, while most have been pretty darn good, most just never quite match the OEM texture/color. Also, the flocked finish is still quite 'fragile', which is one thing I have always stressed over the years. I kept mine in decent condition, but time caught up with me and over one winter's storage, the OEM flocking decided to go technicolor on me, it actually turned a brownish-green color...UUGGHH!!! Sorry, no pics of that, I couldn't bring myself to snap any pics of them in that condition.

Now, when my dash pad did the same thing, it was more of a blackish-green, I repainted it with some Dupli-Color vinyl & fabric paint, specifically Charcoal Gray (VS 11). The can pictured below is kind of old, so looking at the current Dupli-Color website shows it is still called Charcoal Gray, but code HVP111 now.



I decided to do the same with my dash panels...painting over the original flock finish. That way I would keep the original flocking texture, but give it a renewed color, basically seal it in place and make it more durable. If all went south and looked horrible, I would strip the panels and figure out something else...worth a shot in my mind. The paint color is actually a little bit lighter than the factory color, but in person it isn't as much as a difference as it looks in the pictures. The camera's flash brings out some different color tones. Also, now that the dash pad and panels are the same color, they don't stand out at all and look reasonably 'natural'.

I did remove my dash panels from the car for painting. The hardest part of painting the instrument panel was masking off the warning light lenses to the left of the tach. There isn't a 'good' way to remove them from the rear of the panel, so I took my time applying painters tape to them. I was able to remove the turn signal lenses by cutting away the staked pegs holding the lens holder in place and then epoxy gluing it back on after paint. I don't know how I would have placed painters tape down into those small recesses!

Here are some side-by-side shots of my dash panels from 2001 (original/left) and again in 2020 (painted/right):







All pictures were shot with the same camera for reference.

[Kendal Coker]

I like it , nice

[gbeaird]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Strike...8AAOSwXAFd0t3o

Do these last any longer than the 'Help!' units? I ask because I opened the hatch to do some work back there the other day, and had a hell of a time getting it to close. I looked closely and discovered that the forwardmost portion of the striker bushing had broken away. I slid the bushing forward some, and the hatch latched with hand pressure like I had adjusted it to when I first put the hatch on. It's only been maye 2-3 years, and has mostly sat, hatch closed, stationary, in the shop all this time. Really bad quality stuff. I need a replacement.

[svono50]

Those should last longer than the Help! units, but without knowing the material on the Help! units it is kind of hard to say. Since it sounds like your fell apart just sitting it would certainly be worth a shot. The hatch striker is a different size than the door strikers from what I found, so keep that in mind as well. As I noted above, I would have selected a different material based on the impact strength of the MDS filled nylon, but maybe that isn't really a concern?? I would say it is worth a shot.

As I also noted in my previous post, the one striker bolt had an overly stiff striker bushing as compared to the bushing pack bushings, so there is likely age and material differences depending on the source. Again, just another reason to give the Aseparts bushings a try. If my Dorman/Help! bushings didn't work, they were next on the list. So far though, mine are holding up.

[gbeaird]

Looks like the Aseparts bushing is for the door stirker, not the hatch striker. So far, the door striker bushings have held up well. It's the hatch unit I'm having problems with.

[svono50]

Gene, try picking up the #38424 kit of bushings and just swap out the bushings with the mods I noted back in post #88. Hopefully the material they are made of is 'better' than what you have found with yours. So far my bushings seem to be holding up well.

[gbeaird]

Gene, try picking up the #38424 kit of bushings and just swap out the bushings with the mods I noted back in post #88. Hopefully the material they are made of is 'better' than what you have found with yours. So far my bushings seem to be holding up well.

I'll try that, Ted. It's been a while, and I've slept since then, but I thought I got the 38445, since it was listed to fit the SVO, but the assembly was different from our car. I think I pulled the 38445 apart and use the bushing from there, although, I imagine I may have discovered the same thing you found and it didn't fit, so I had to use something else. Don't remember what I found, but it fit well, albeit being short-lived. I'll grab a 38424 and see what happens.

[gbeaird]

To flock or ???, that is the question. Here is what I ended up doing.

I have looked at various re-flocked dash panels over the years and, while most have been pretty darn good, most just never quite match the OEM texture/color. Also, the flocked finish is still quite 'fragile', which is one thing I have always stressed over the years. I kept mine in decent condition, but time caught up with me and over one winter's storage, the OEM flocking decided to go technicolor on me, it actually turned a brownish-green color...UUGGHH!!! Sorry, no pics of that, I couldn't bring myself to snap any pics of them in that condition.

Now, when my dash pad did the same thing, it was more of a blackish-green, I repainted it with some Dupli-Color vinyl & fabric paint, specifically Charcoal Gray (VS 11). The can pictured below is kind of old, so looking at the current Dupli-Color website shows it is still called Charcoal Gray, but code HVP111 now.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]47389[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]47390[/ATTACH]

I decided to do the same with my dash panels...painting over the original flock finish. That way I would keep the original flocking texture, but give it a renewed color, basically seal it in place and make it more durable. If all went south and looked horrible, I would strip the panels and figure out something else...worth a shot in my mind. The paint color is actually a little bit lighter than the factory color, but in person it isn't as much as a difference as it looks in the pictures. The camera's flash brings out some different color tones. Also, now that the dash pad and panels are the same color, they don't stand out at all and look reasonably 'natural'.

I did remove my dash panels from the car for painting. The hardest part of painting the instrument panel was masking off the warning light lenses to the left of the tach. There isn't a 'good' way to remove them from the rear of the panel, so I took my time applying painters tape to them. I was able to remove the turn signal lenses by cutting away the staked pegs holding the lens holder in place and then epoxy gluing it back on after paint. I don't know how I would have placed painters tape down into those small recesses!

Here are some side-by-side shots of my dash panels from 2001 (original/left) and again in 2020 (painted/right):

[ATTACH=CONFIG]47391[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]47392[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]47393[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]47394[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]47395[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]47396[/ATTACH]

All pictures were shot with the same camera for reference.

I’m about to start this little project. Did you clean the panel at all, or just blow off the dust and started painting? I was hoping you found a neat trick for removing the warning light lenses, as the ones on our car need a good cleaning. Maybe the painter’s tape will pull some of the dust and dirt out.