My 7 month SN-95 bottom restoration project! (Video)

Goose17

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Well, the day is finally here. I just spent hours putting together a video to partially show what the heck I’ve been consumed by for the past 7 months. This project has taken many, many, MANY hundreds of hours to get the car to the level I am happy with. If I knew then what I know now, I would have NEVER taken on this project. I have spent countless full days and nights in my garage plugging away at this project. The car came out of an older gentlemen’s collection from the northeast. It was described to be “like new.” I got a big surprise the night before it shipped. I opted to go through with it since I figured some rust treatment chemicals would solve most of the problem. I was incorrect in my assessment. The problem was much worse in person. I started the project with the intent to just soak the bottom with various chemicals. Then I needed to remove the driveshaft for access. Then I needed to remove the exhaust for access. Then I needed to remove the rear ended to get the exhaust out. Then... Then... Then... the project just kept growing and growing. The realization finally hit me that I was well into a full bottom restoration. I knew I was fully committed when I pulled the fuel tank, fuel lines and brake lines. There was no turning back. Having never done anything like this before, the learning curve was STEEP! What surprised me most was the car went back together... one piece at a time and it actually started on the first attempt!

I finished the project with a full polish/paint correction and an interior detail. The car now has 141 miles on the clock and will be art on wheels in my climate controlled garage.


The video captures about one tenth of what I had to do to this car:


 

DAVESVT2000

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Wow that all looks concours correct, nice job.

Did you negotiate any cash back from the seller ? Do you feel he was dishonest on purpose ?
 

MachME

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Watched the video, still waiting for the rust, lol. Nice job.

I would have used iron x, washed, then spray paint coverage and or fluid film depending on the area.
 

04Cobra03

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Wow. That was incredible. Nice work! I assume the car was kept in a dirt floor barn it’s whole life or something like that to make it rust with no mileage on it? That as quite the undertaking for sure.
 

Goose17

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Wow that all looks concours correct, nice job.

Did you negotiate any cash back from the seller ? Do you feel he was dishonest on purpose ?

I don’t think it was on purpose. He listed the car “like new,” but I’m guessing he wasn’t aware of the bottom. The day prior to the shipper picking it up, he pulled it out of his collection and put it on a lift. That’s when I got the message and video.

Watched the video, still waiting for the rust, lol. Nice job.

I would have used iron x, washed, then spray paint coverage and or fluid film depending on the area.

It was my lowest mileage car and my most rusty bottom. It now is rust-free after a shit ton of work. My chemical of choice was Boeshield Rust Free. I sprayed and soaked the bottom many, many times with it. I also used Evaporust baths for parts.
 

Goose17

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Wow. That was incredible. Nice work! I assume the car was kept in a dirt floor barn it’s whole life or something like that to make it rust with no mileage on it? That as quite the undertaking for sure.
I think the previous owner had it in a garage, but somewhere along the line of previous owners it was kept in a damp environment.
 

specracer

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The 93R with 33 miles on it at Barrett Jackson looked similar, not that bad, but similar. Obviously didnt look like there was any type of moisture barrier on the prior owner(s) floor, and wet in general.
 

dom418

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Looks like it was mostly surface rust luckily. What color paint did you used on the underside? It matches very well to the factory color. Great job Goose, came out great
 

Goose17

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Looks like it was mostly surface rust luckily. What color paint did you used on the underside? It matches very well to the factory color. Great job Goose, came out great

Thank you sir. I learned a bunch doing this project. As for the color... there is no paint code for the bottom color. It’s called a “slop mix” and is comprised of all the leftover body paints. Fortunately I had a couple of brace pieces with good clean paint that I was able to remove and take to a paint shop to color match. First batch was too glossy, so I got a second batch with flatteners added and then mixed the 2. The end results look as close to factory as I could get it.
 

coposrv

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Mother of god that must have been a lot of work.

I’ll be more than happy to let you work your magic on mine next. The second one always goes smoother.


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Dirks9901

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What state did you pick that up from? Where was it stored?


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Goose17

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Mother of god that must have been a lot of work.

I’ll be more than happy to let you work your magic on mine next. The second one always goes smoother.


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Thanks! (Funny)

I have been amassing parts to do a full restoration on my 89 Mustang GT vert. I probably would have started that project this winter had the 94 not taken center stage. Maybe next winter the pain of this project will have been forgotten and I’ll be ready to hit the 89.

What state did you pick that up from? Where was it stored?


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NY in an older gentleman’s collection. He bought it at auction a handful of years ago. I’m pretty sure it was corroded when he bought it. There was some evidence of corrosion concealing to get an auction sale.
 

CobraBob

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Great video and great restoration! You did an awesome (first) restoration.

I know the question was asked above, but did you ever get a reduction/cash back from the seller? The selling price wasn't including time to correct a bad rust issue on the bottom end, meaning your time to fix it is MONEY & TIME that you didn't expect to spend. I would have expected the seller to offer at least some cash back since he wasn't aware of the rust issue and had to know it would have to be addressed by you. Unless the price you paid was already a great deal.
 

oldstv

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You got a valuable lesson in detailing, know where the stopping point is before you start. I know your pain all too well. Good job on a well deserved car. Hopefully one day you will get your money back out of it.
 

Goose17

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Great video and great restoration! You did an awesome (first) restoration.

I know the question was asked above, but did you ever get a reduction/cash back from the seller? The selling price wasn't including time to correct a bad rust issue on the bottom end, meaning your time to fix it is MONEY & TIME that you didn't expect to spend. I would have expected the seller to offer at least some cash back since he wasn't aware of the rust issue and had to know it would have to be addressed by you. Unless the price you paid was already a great deal.

Thanks Bob. I gave the seller a considerably lower offer than his asking price since I was in the process of buying my 2020 GT500 at the time. He accepted and this was before the corrosion was discovered. I did not renegotiate after the fact.

You got a valuable lesson in detailing, know where the stopping point is before you start. I know your pain all too well. Good job on a well deserved car. Hopefully one day you will get your money back out of it.
No plans to sell it or any of my other cars. I plan to give them to my sons some day unless I need money later in life.
 

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