98 Laser Red Family Daily Driver, The Restoration Finished ~Updated~

[Ohgami]

1998 Mustang Coupe Laser Red 3.8 V6 Auto

I got this car for $500 with strong motor and tranny with the infamous front end damage. This is going to be the new Daily Driver because I will be looking at a bigger family than just carting myself around like I generally do with my 84 Si CRX (Which just got stolen 2 days ago).

Here's the 1st Pics I took with my Cel Phone (a Japanese Model Toshiba 904T with a 3.2 Mega Pixel camera) when I went to look at the car. I was Impressed with the little Damage it had and the fact that there was no Engine/Radiator Damage. The Door had a Fold in it but was good none the less. I figured I could run around with that minor flaw for a while. The Interior was Immaculate, although dirty, and the rear was was in great shape too.

 

[Ohgami]

Re: 98 Laser Red Family Daily Driver

I got the car home a couple of days later and did a tear down to get all the broken stuff off.

I did a better check of the interior to see what I needed and what needed possible Cleaning. The Airbags were insanely Easy to take out. Figures since that'll be the one of the 1st things to actually go in just about any collision.

 

[Ohgami]

Re: 98 Laser Red Family Daily Driver, The Restoration

I went to a few Wrecking yards and did a bit of poking aropund to see what kind of availibility was out there for me. In doing so I came to a yard Called Garraway's that had for me a Veritible Treasure Trove of parts. I started by grabbing a Passenger's Fender off of a Dark Green 95 and to my Surprise They had a 97 Laser Red one that was waiting to be moved to the yard. On it it had a near Flawless Driver's door that I snapped up for $100 Complete! SCORE! I then Proceeded to do an R&R with the new Door.

To my dismay it looked like the Window had been broken before and the Window Motor was having issues. I then replaced it with the good one out of my old Door. I also had to replace the Key lock back.

I Went back to that yard and then grabbed the Driver's Fender (Which wasn't too bad) and the Hood Which had a couple of small flaws but nothing a touch up of Bondo can't fix. I Decided to attach them Temporarily to my car for the drive home. When I was at the yard I also nabbed a Passenger's Headlight (With a Bulb that Worked!)

 

[Ohgami]

Re: 98 Laser Red Family Daily Driver, The Restoration

The Car went off to the body shop to fix that nasty bit on the front. He installed a new Radiator Core Support as well. It was ready in about 3 Days. While it was gone I thought this would be the best time to do some cleaning.

The Center Console in the car was a mess! I proceeded to tear it down and clean. Also the lid is in ok shape but the latch is broken not only on the lid but on the console as well.

 

[Ohgami]

Re: 98 Laser Red Family Daily Driver, The Restoration

I called this guy about an ad on Craig's List for some SN95 parts. Really only wanted the Foglight switch which he was selling for $30 but he decided to let me have the whole box of stuff for $70!

 

[Ohgami]

Re: 98 Laser Red Family Daily Driver, The Restoration

I checked up with the body shop guy and he had this much done.

I saw a Power Driver's Seat at a local wrecking yard and they sold it to me complete for $40. Just plugs right in no fuss no muss. My Marker Lights came in and my Radiator Cover Panel as well.

 

[Ohgami]

Re: 98 Laser Red Family Daily Driver, The Restoration

Once I got the Car back from the Body Guy, I started the trip of putting it all back together.

I also was able to start my Mach 460 Conversion since my Door pods came in. As well as the little things that help like my Keyless Fob, Owner's manual and Lighted Sunvisors.

 

[Ohgami]

Re: 98 Laser Red Family Daily Driver, The Restoration

The Driver's Side Weather Stripping had a few holes up and down the length. I replaced it with a really nice one from a Wrecking yard.

Now I got something that very few SN95 V6 Owners have... Factory FOG LIGHTS!!

 

[Ohgami]

Re: 98 Laser Red Family Daily Driver, The Restoration

Well the end is Finally near. It took a little over 1 Month but it is at Paint right now.
I got it back to the original state and added these upgrades.
-Mach 460 Radio Set up
-Factory Double Din Upgrade
-Factory Fog Lights
-Leather Steering Wheel
-Cruise Control
-Keyless Entry
-One Touch Passenger Window
-Power Driver's Seat

Here's the Factory Fog Light Wiring with the Smoke Lenses

Here's the 01 Mach 460 6 Disc Changer installed

Here is how it looks right before I dropped it off.

 

[Ohgami]

Just in time for the T-Day festivities I got my car back from paint.

 

[ram360]

nice, the car came a long way...

 

[94darkhorse]

Thats a ton of work, and it shows. Good looking ride.

 

[Matt94GT]

looks great did u do factory laser red, tri-cote?

 

[Ohgami]

looks great did u do factory laser red, tri-cote?

Yeah pretty much but no Tricote. I like the Laser Red color it's more Dark than the usual reds so I tried to get the Side Markers and Fogs to enhance that idea. I'll do a better more thorough Paint job later this was just to get it presentable. The front Driver's fender didn't turn out the best but it looks ok, and the Rear bumper Cover has a split by the Pass Wheel well. So I'll just replace those when I go to do a better Paint job.

Thanks for the comments everyone. This is the 1st project I finished in a long time.