[Iwannagofast]

well my roommate forgot to pay the e bill so power got shut off and only thing i could think to do is work on the car.

well i need a heater core so that what i went to work on (removing dash and seats)

first thing i noticed was my carpet is horrible and needs to be replaced badly.

second the drivers seat was only held in by two bolts...on the front left bracket the bolt had been ripped outa the body along with about 2 square inches of sheet melt.....Recommendations on how to fix this?....and then on the rear left bracket part of the bracket on the seat broke off.

the main big part of the dash is cracked in several places and some of these places are where other dash parts need to mount to it...so it leaves loose pieces.....I may look at prices to replace it.

decided ill probably paint most of it black as it goes back together so what all do i need to do this the right way....ie. what paint to use and how to scuff it or watever i need to do.

also

HOW DO YOU REMOVE SPEEDO CABLE FROM GAUGES????

and im doin all this in my apt parking lot so as i take stuff apart i have to fit in the back of the car...

[JBIGBOOTSY]

My seats broke like that too. I just drilled thru the whole floorboard, and used a long bolt with washers from underneath the car.

[duckfart]

get some "seat frame connectors" stiffin that seat right up

[Iwannagofast]

Any help on disconnecting the speedo cable....i can get the gauges pulled out far enough to be able to tell

[flyin ryan]

That sheet metal that ripped is your floor pan... you'll have to add material to it to cover up the whole or replace that side floor pan. You could also do what was mentioned above but if you have subframes just purchase the cross braces which tie both seats into the subframe so it'll never happen again.

[Mr_Will]

Originally Posted by Iwannagofast decided ill probably paint most of it black as it goes back together so what all do i need to do this the right way....ie. what paint to use and how to scuff it or watever i need to do.

clean the living hell out of it with dawn dish soap after that go over it with some glass cleaner that has amonio in it (household glass cleaner usually does) it will remove any armorall type stuff that is in it. This is the most important step, if there is any protectant on the dash you will have to respray it. They make a vinyl dye prep spray but the glass cleaner will do about the same thing.
It would be wise to also pick up an adhesion promoter.
VHT dye and Eastwood are both decent and your best bet if you dont have access to a spray gun and compressor. If you have access to those there are better choices out there.

[Iwannagofast]

no ill be just using some type of rattle can paint

[Mr_Will]

get the VHT dye it is a rattle can. If you krylon it you will be redoing it again in no time.

[95project]

I used Dupli-color...pick it up at autozone. works great, but you have to clean and reclean the surface before applying. When you think its clean, go over it 2 more times...literally. it will save you time in doing it later. Duplicolor also has cleaner, prep, primer, gloss coat etc in many colors.

[87StangGT]

Originally Posted by Iwannagofast Any help on disconnecting the speedo cable....i can get the gauges pulled out far enough to be able to tell

Push in little white tab and it should pull out.

[ddarkslayer]

they sell floor pans on americanmuscle

[Notcho]

Back when I had mine apart I couldnt figure the speedo cable out either lol.. then I pushed the white tab and it came off so easy lol..

My stock drivers seat mount was broke at the exact same place when I bought the car. I just welded it back together.

When you paint anything, make sure to clean it REAL well to get all the dirt, hand oils, armor all, silicone cleaner off (or whatever else you or a previous owner used on it) because if not the paint will "fish eye", or have little bubbles where the paint doesn't stick, and it will look bad.

On a personal note, my notch used to have a gray interior. The guy I bought it from painted it black. he did a really good job, it looked awesome when I bought it, but now that I drive it every day, the paint is starting to wear off in places like the kick panels, rocker panels(the plastic strip that borders the carpet and the door jam), arm rests, etc.

Something to think about..

[Iwannagofast]

Originally Posted by 89 5.0 LX Back when I had mine apart I couldnt figure the speedo cable out either lol.. then I pushed the white tab and it came off so easy lol.. My stock drivers seat mount was broke at the exact same place when I bought the car. I just welded it back together. When you paint anything, make sure to clean it REAL well to get all the dirt, hand oils, armor all, silicone cleaner off (or whatever else you or a previous owner used on it) because if not the paint will "fish eye", or have little bubbles where the paint doesn't stick, and it will look bad. On a personal note, my notch used to have a gray interior. The guy I bought it from painted it black. he did a really good job, it looked awesome when I bought it, but now that I drive it every day, the paint is starting to wear off in places like the kick panels, rocker panels(the plastic strip that borders the carpet and the door jam), arm rests, etc. Something to think about..

Mine wont be an everyday car so the paint should last a while

[Iwannagofast]

ok so i worked on it some more....got the dash out but now im stuck...i cant really tell how to go about gettin the heater core out....do i need to take that metal frame out and how to i get the heater core housing pulled out far enough to get the lid off

[EscortSportage]

the speedo cable is a pull n push, kinda thing i beleive u have to squeeze it to, its funny cuz i got it off fine but i cant get it back on...i tried like 5 times to get the thing clicked back in and it always comes un done...i cant remember when was the last time i saw the gauage move

[Notcho]

I just replaced my heater core this weekend. I did it without removing the big black box and without disconnecting my AC, which is full of freon.

I took the dash/dash frame off in one assembly. That way you don't have to deal with the huge mess of wires that are attached to the frame, plus its less work.

First thing, you have to take the glove box out, and the panels under the steering column. Then you can take the whole console assembly out, radio, etc. drop the steering column and lay the steering wheel on the drivers seat. Take the panel off that holds the headlight switch, etc. The switches have locking tabls that you can push in and take the switch out the front to remove the wires. Take the gauge cluster out.

After that, I took off the long screws on top, some are behind the defroster panel, and the other two are behind each speaker panel. Then I took the two bolts at the bottom of the dash off, they hold the dash frame to the body of the car, and they are behind the plastic kick panels right by the door seals, one on each side of the car. The last thing you need to do is loosen the nut on the bracket that holds the dash to the clutch quadrant. You just need to loosen it a few rounds, and the dash will slide off. It takes a 10mm wrench.

I set the whole dash assembly on the floor of the car, with the seats still in the car.

Then I took the hoses off of the heater core.

Next thing I did (I have a working AC and I didnt want to discharge it) was go under the hood and remove the bracket from the AC accumulator (metal cylinder). Remove 2 nuts and the 1 screw in the clamp. It is a little hard, but the bracket will come off and out. Then remove the 2 large nut/washers. These hold the large black box. There are 2 more bolts inside the car above the box, and one below the box by the carpet. It is kind of hard to see.

After these bolts are off, you will be able to move the box a little. Not a whole lot, because remember the AC lines are still attached to the AC evaporator core, which is inside the box.

You should be able to see a little cover on top of the box, and 2 screws holding it closed. This cover is actually held on by 4 screws but if you are like me, and you dont want to discharge your AC, you will have to do it this way, and you won't even see the other 2 screws. The heater core is under this lid.

This is the hardest part... the part that really took me the longest. Try and get the old heater core out without damaging it; its good practice before you attempt to put the new one in. Lift the lid, and prop it open, then pull the heater core out. You really need 4 hands to do this, because it is a pain in the ass. The lid is VERY hard to keep open far enough to get the heater core out. It really helps if you have 1 person under the hood pushing on the heater core pipes. I ended up accidentally cracking the plastic lid on mine on the right corner near the screw hole, which actually made it a hell of a lot easier.

After the heater core is out, the MOST important thing you need to do is scrape all the old glue/sealant that Ford put on from the factory. This stuff kind of holds the heater core in place, but it gets really hard over the years, and it will smash your new heater core when you tighten the lid, causing it to start leaking again within a short time.

After that, I got a heat gun and dried all the engine coolant/antifreeze off of the temperature control door, which has a foam cover on it. In the process, the lid got warm and actually became more plyable. I didn't think about this before, but it actually made it a lot easier to install the new heater core.

After you get the new heater core in, its all back together in reverse order.. of course if you don't have AC, or if yours is already discharged, you can take the whole box out.