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Fox 500 Project - Interior Gear - Inside AdditionUpgrades From the June, 2012 issue of 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords By Steve Turner Photography by Steve Turner
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Long-running project might be an understatement when it comes to Fox 500, but I've always said you are never really done with a project until someone else is holding the title. So if you enjoy toying with Mustangs, it's nice to keep them going. Honestly, I had hoped this one would be "done" a long time ago, but I knew it would be a while. Since it began with the at-the-time outlandish concept of transplanting GT500 power into a vintage Fox, it was bound to take a while. Any project of this scope will create its share of complexities. The mechanical end of things actually went along pretty smoothly under the tutelage of Paul's High Performance (www.paulshp.com). Then the paint went downright swiftly over at Motor City Solutions (www.motorcitysolutions.com). When I received the functional and beautiful car back at home, that's when things really slowed down. It's easy to let life and daily work get in the way, but I have been chipping away on it a little bit at a time. Of course as you get closer to the finish line, the excitement builds, and it makes it easier to make progress in chunks. It came time to bring another installment to you to see how the finished interior will look. Admittedly some of this is a facade, as there are some quirks that need attention and the matter of an audio system to install. However, you have to admit that it's quite a transformation from the worn gray interior that this car arrived with. Horse Sense: You know how the factory door panels warp with time, especially if they get a little moist? Well the reproduction panels from TMI Products not only look great, but they are far more rugged than particle-board stockers. The TMI units are built to last.  Much of the remaining work...  Much of the remaining work to be done is out back. It looks nice with the black panels and fresh carpet from LRS, but Fox 500 has to have some tunes. Sure there are still a few loose ends here and there, but the next major move will be adding some audio gear back here.  Before installing the refreshed...  Before installing the refreshed panel it was time to bolt in Fox 500's new rear seat belts (PN LRS-61168LP) from LRS. Proper new belts not only provide safety, but really make the interior look fresh. It is worth mentioning that you should never throw anything away when you are stripping your interior down. The reproduction seat belts are great, but they don't include the plastic dust cover. If you don't have these, you'll need to track some down.  With the rear trim panels...  With the rear trim panels in place it was time to slide the new TMI Products headliner in place. We opted for a black cloth unit with extra cloth material for the T-top openings.  When Latemodel Restoration...  When Latemodel Restoration Supply main man Shannon Guderian told me his plan supporting Fox resto parts all those years ago, I knew he was really onto something. Working on a project like this only hammered that home. It would have been impossible to revive this interior without several large orders from LRS! From the proper screws and armrest trim to fresh new shift boots and armrest pads, they have the stuff to refresh your Fox.  Before getting too deep into...  Before getting too deep into the interior it was time to darken the windows before the interior panels were in place. We placed a call to Kowalski's Glass Tinting, and main man Scott Kowalski came over to my garage and applied the tint. Untinted cars just don't look right, and Scott's handiwork transformed the look of Fox 500.  Here's the headliner slid...  Here's the headliner slid into its proper place. I really snuck up on trimming the cloth for the opening, making sure there was plenty, especially for the corners. At first I tried to reuse the stock retaining strips, but those were worn and stretched. A fresh pair of '81-'88 Mustang T-Top Headliner Retainer Strips (PN LRS-50290) from LRS really did the trick.  Like building a new house,...  Like building a new house, it's best to run your wiring before you start finishing the walls. As such, I ran all the necessary Scosche wiring from Crutchfield—speaker and RCA connections—for the pending audio system. The infrastructure is in place to support the head unit, amps, and speakers.  Every so often there are moments...  Every so often there are moments in a project that feel landmark. Putting in the rear quarter trim panels felt that way. It was really no big deal. The panel was trimmed for the cage, and took a bit of push and pull to get it by the bars, but it went in pretty easy. That said, it felt like the car was making some progress at that moment.  Using a trusty door-panel...  Using a trusty door-panel tool from Crutchfield, I pushed the headliner material into the retainer strip. In addition to the retaining strips, we also tapped LRS for the '81-'88 Mustang T-Top Beaded Felt Weatherstrip (PN LRS-50080).  Finding black interior panels...  Finding black interior panels is challenging. Finding them in perfect condition is next to impossible. So, until they are reproduced, we are left to making the best of what we have. In this case our black panels were a bit scuffed and scratched. To remedy that took a bit of light sanding on the scuffs and some prep cleaner (PN SEM-38343) and plastic paint (PN MET-FL7) from LRS. (And, yeah, it needs a new pull-shade mount!)  LRS offers reproduction speaker...  LRS offers reproduction speaker grilles and the proper installation hardware in case you are missing clips or screws. We opted for the kit (PN LRS-18978H-K) including all of the above. The grilles are only available in gray, so we used that same interior paint to turn them black.  After tucking away the headliner...  After tucking away the headliner material it was time to cap off the opening with the reproduction '81-'88 Mustang T-Top Trim Cap Set (PN LRS-50000) from LRS. Be sure not to overtighten these screws, as the caps will crack. That's why many people buy the reproduction pieces.  Before installing the rear...  Before installing the rear headliner trim panel, you need to install these retaining plugs to keep the rear of the headliner snug. A typical Mustang hatchback requires four of these, but it seems that the bracing in a T-top Fox blocks the holes for the outer two. As such, just two would have to suffice.  Now things are really coming...  Now things are really coming together as I laid down the fresh black Auto Custom Carpet from LRS (PN ACC-8293CP-BLK). The carpet comes in one piece, so you do have to trim the opening for the shifter, parking brake, seat bolt holes, etc. In the case of Fox 500, there was some trimming necessary around the Maximum Motorsports cage.  As you can see, the gray carbon...  As you can see, the gray carbon theme carries over from the seat inserts to the dashpad. To further add silver contrast to the black, I updated the faded HVAC controls with a silver overlay (PN 1350-93-S) from UPR Products. It really brightens up the center stack without going to the traditional white-face look.  With the headliner in, the...  With the headliner in, the path was clear to install the new sunvisor rods and cloth sunvisors from TMI Products using the proper chrome screws from LRS. TMI offers all the rod variations, including those for T-top and sunroof cars.  It can be tricky to line up...  It can be tricky to line up the mounts with the holes in the roof, so be patient. I later installed the retaining clips after I tracked down a pair of black examples.  This felt really good. I've...  This felt really good. I've had these sweet TMI Products' seats in the boxes for far too long. After tracking down the necessary bolts and brackets, I bolted up the rear seat back and popped the lower seat into place. It's really starting to look like a car again.  Atop the silver face a set...  Atop the silver face a set of UPR's black, billet knobs (PN 1003-89-62) with polished inserts supplanted the worn stockers. These units match the rear coat hooks. The knobs slide on, but you have to glue the inserts in with a dab of silicone.  Before moving on with the...  Before moving on with the carpet, I sealed off the shifter opening with a fresh lower shift boot (PN LRS-7277G), reusing the stock metal ring. LRS offers the ring as well if you need it.  While in the back seat area,...  While in the back seat area, it was a good time to button up the panel with these sweet, black billet coat hooks (PN 1024-30) from UPR Products. These install with a round mount in the stock location, and the hook slides over the mount and is held still with an Allen retaining screw. The black and polished two-tone worked with Fox 500’s interior theme.  Some of the nicest parts going...  Some of the nicest parts going into Fox 500 are the new door panels from TMI Products. Fastidious in their attention to reproduction detail, TMI offers a full complement of reproduction door panels for all manner of Foxes. For this project, they created a custom set. Before we put them in, however, it is necessary to slide in the door panel push pins (PN LRS-N802900S) from LRS.  Though the TMI panels are...  Though the TMI panels are far more rugged than the particle board stockers, it's still not a bad idea to keep the water away. Fortunately, LRS stocks Door Panel Moisture Vapor Barrier (PN LRS-23704AA) sheets. These are computer-cut to fit, and they should be adhered to the door to seal it up. However, since Fox 500's panels will have to come back off to add door speakers, I installed them on the panels instead to make removing them easier down the road.  Capped off with a new door...  Capped off with a new door handle bezel (PN LRS-22634K) and mirror cover from LRS, this is the TMI door panel for Fox 500. It departs from stock with its gray-carbon insert and lower carpet in lieu of a map pocket. In this shot you can also see that I bolted up the new front seat belts (PN LRS-61109HP) replete with the appropriate plastic sleeves (PN LRS-61172FK) from LRS.  Here's a contrast for you....  Here's a contrast for you. The worn and poorly painted door switch gear (right) that was in the car when I bought it compared with the freshly restored gear it will wear now. This complete makeover is courtesy of new power door-lock switches (PN LRS-14028A) and power window switches (PN LRS-14529A) in a new window-switch panel (PN LRS-14527E) from LRS.  Fortunately I bought most...  Fortunately I bought most of a black interior that was in great shape, including the door pulls. Though the plastic was in good shape, the arm rest pad was well worn, and the chrome trim was discolored. After removing the old pads and trim, I installed the new LRS chrome trim (PN LRS-24150A) with an electric staple gun. Just a couple staples are needed to hold the strip in place.  After the new chrome strip...  After the new chrome strip is in place, you can slide on a fresh armrest pad from LRS and secure it with the proper screws (PN LRS-24141A-K).  Ah, that looks much better....  Ah, that looks much better. With the door pulls freshly revived, it was just a matter of bolting them up. That's much easier if you have the right hardware courtesy of LRS. The company offers the four needed fasteners in its '87-'93 Mustang Door Armrest Screw Kit (PN HDW-24140A).  The finishing touch on Fox...  The finishing touch on Fox 500's revived door arm rests were these Door Armrest Plugs from LRS (PN LRS-24057APR and PN LRS-24056APR). They just pop right in.  Moving to the kick panels...  Moving to the kick panels I have some painted pieces, but I need to track down some real black ones. These aren't reproduced yet. In the meantime, I fastened the panels in place with this '79-'93 Mustang Kick Panel Clip Kit (PN LRS-02354AHDW).  What's this? Yup, the gear...  What's this? Yup, the gear that got this project rolling, the seats revived by TMI Products have finally taken their rightful place inside Fox 500's cabin. TMI offers numerous factory and custom combinations of its seat covers, so you can go full resto or custom like these.  After installing the center...  After installing the center console, it was a good time to install the shift book and bezel from LRS. Somehow I forgot to order the necessary clips. If you need all of the above too, LRS has a kit with all the necessary gear (PN LRS-7277JK), including the lower boot.  With the kick panels in place,...  With the kick panels in place, a new scuff plates (PN LRS-13208A) and the matching screw kit (PN LRS-13208HDW).  With a fresh UPR overlay and...  With a fresh UPR overlay and knobs, a dinged up A/C control trim bezel just wouldn't do. LRS came to the rescue again with this reproduction unit (PN LRS-04567C).  With new carpet up front,...  With new carpet up front, new carpet in the hatch is a must. The fresh ACC carpet from LRS (PN ACC-8793HC-BLK) slips over hooks in the folding floor assembly and is retained by a screw on each side.  The finishing touch was a...  The finishing touch was a fresh set of Cobra-emblazoned floor mats (PN ACC-7993BLK-135) from LRS.5.0
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