Project EHR: Concluded! (For now...)

I've upgraded a number of pieces in the 2001 Bullitt interior so far including a new steering wheel, shifter and e-brake boots, e-brake handle, shifter trim and other billet bits, floor mats, pillar pods, rear shelf, console cover, and an epic Dynamat install.

And while I still have not installed the Alcantara headliner I bought, or wired the lighted visors and aftermarket rear view mirror, I'm calling this project done—for now.

Here's where I started a couple months ago.

The "new" interior has some worthwhile upgrades that make it a quieter and more comfortable place to be.

I'll update individual posts as the remaining final pieces are finished, particularly the headliner and rear view mirror.



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More Steady Progress on the '66

We've made a little more progress on the '66 the past couple weekends. The engine is now sitting in the engine bay, and the large-diameter Centerforce clutch is installed onto the back of the engine. The bellhousing and the transmission are installed as well.

We are ordering a few more needed bits and pieces this week to hopefully get a bunch more done next weekend.

The 331 is installed in the engine bay—headers and starter bolted on.

Here's the CenterForce DF021048 installed on the back of the engine.

I'll more closely go into the EZ EFI installation in another post as work progresses (and I have more pix to offer). The Worx has come up with what appears to be a stellar solution to one bit of the install—where to install the ECT sensor. I'm looking forward to explaining that in case anyone else decides to fuel-inject their small-block Ford.


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Project EHR: Billet Bits

The model year 2001 Bullitt package offered a few billet-look items including the shifter bezel and door lock pins, as well as a real aluminum shift knob and pedal covers. I wanted to remove the billet-look items and replace them with real billet, which looks better.

I found a billet shifter bezel, and even an e-brake handle on eBay, and used the Best Offer option to knock some money off each one. (On a side note, I recommend using that eBay option whenever offered, since the reply is now automatic and immediate for the bigger sellers, and the savings can be worthwhile.)

Here's the eBay-sourced brake handle and shifter surround with the Bullitt knob.

I also found a set of billet door lock pins, but they don't seem to fit like the factory plastic billet-look ones, so I've been speaking with the manufacturer to possibly make me a pair that are threaded correctly so they'll fit better (i.e., fit flush when locked).

Project EHR: Room with a (Rear) View

Two items that immediately date the 2001 interior is the stock rear view mirror and the lack of HomeLink controls anywhere.

Fortunately, Gentex manufactures a line of aftermarket rear view mirrors in addition to their OE mirrors. I bought the GENK41A, which is auto-dimming and also offers 3 HomeLink buttons to control devices in your garage or home (usually garage door openers).

I installed the mirror on the windshield, but haven't wired anything yet since I intend to do the headliner recovery at the same time. When I get the time to install the mirror, I'll update this post.

Stock mirror on left; GENK41A on right.

GENK41A on left; Stock mirror on right.

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Project EHR: Proper Pillar Pods

One of the items I wanted to swap out in the Bullitt interior was the aftermarket AutoMeter pillar gauge pods. I could have painted the black plastic of the pods to make them the correct interior color, but it's an overlay design that fits over the stock plastic pillar underneath, and frankly I just didn't like it.

Fortunately, Speed of Sound offers their gauge pillars for Mustangs. These pillars start out as stock Ford pillars so the color and grain pattern are correct, and then a pair of cool custom pods with the proper color and grain are attached. I think this design simply looks and fits much better.

To install this new pillar with existing aftermarket gauges,
I had to elongate the gauges' wiring, since those gauges
are now positioned slightly different.

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Project EHR: Rear Shelf Recovery

I found some time today to finish up the rear shelf fix-up on the Bullitt. After I removed the stock rear shelf, I covered the area in Dynamat. Then I covered the shelf insert itself in some of the extra Alcantara I had bought by the roll from Dallas Custom Steering Wheel to match the Alcantara elsewhere in the now-modified interior.

Here's the rear speaker system of the stock Mach 460 stereo.

I covered this area in Dynamat, while leaving the speakers and middle ports uncovered.

The key is to leave the speakers as unobstructed as possible,
so nothing interferes with the stereo sound. But you have to add something—or you'll see the Dynamat under the grills.

I used the black felt (right) under the speaker grills. Alcantara (top) and just about any fabric will muffle the highs and midtones. The stock grey material (left) allows sunlight through (and lets sound through too.) Speaker grill cloth would be ideal.

Here's the underside, with the felt installed. I stretched the felt a bit with my hands to open up the fabric a little more.

Before installation in the car: the felt allows sunlight, and sound, to pass through.

Here's the rear shelf covered with Alcantara, with the speaker grills and baby seat anchors reinstalled. I simply covered the existing carpet with the Alcantara using 3M spray glue. (Stock carpet seen in foreground.)

I don't know what the durability of this Alcantara will be, but the look is great.

With the additional covering, and a new layer of Dynamat, I actually had to readjust the Mach 460 Bass/Treble/Fader a bit to get the sound I wanted.

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The '66 Engine is Getting The Worx!

Don't think the Bullitt is getting all the attention—steady progress is being made on the new 331 that's going into the '66 Restomod. The Worx in Fredericksburg, VA, has been working on the '66 Mustang for me, and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product here shortly.

The new roller 302 block is outfitted with a Canton windage tray,
oil pump pickup, and a Melling HV oil pump.

The aluminum heads and intake are being reused—along with
all-new ARP hardware, Fel-Pro gaskets, and trick Cometic head gaskets.
The Millerspeed pulleys are visible, as is the new Canton oil pan.

The MSD distributor and ceramic JBAs are being reused,
but the complete FAST-EZ EFI kit is brand new.
I'm looking forward to being fuel injected!

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Facelift for the Bullitt!

The front of the Bullitt had hundreds of chips and scratches after years of racing, so I figured I'd get it fixed up. Recently, I was able to purchase new headlamp housings for about $95 each from a local dealer, and CJ Pony had a sale so I picked up a replacement piece for the bent Mach 1 lower spoiler too. These pieces come off when the bumper cover is painted, so I installed new ones during reassembly.

Before, the front bumper had hundreds of paint chips.

I removed the bumper cover and dropped it off at a body shop in Wake Forest. Two days later, I had the cover back with great body work and a great paint job for only $350. I thought that was a great deal.

I also took the opportunity to clean the now-exposed mass air flow meter housing that was hiding behind the bumper cover. The inside of the housing and the wire filaments were covered in red oil from a new K&N air filter. I also cleaned the filter itself with the K&N cleaner kit and lightly oiled it again. The car actually runs much better now.

Doesn't take long to strip the front body work from the car.

The painted bumper cover as returned from Capital City Auto Body.

In the end, everything went back together quickly, and I think the results look great for a reasonable cost.

Done! The front of the car looks new again.

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Project EHR: Leather Interior Bits for the Bullitt

The Bullitt interior updating is in full swing. Recently, I've received a box of goodies from Dallas Custom Steering Wheel.

Here's a stock Mustang steering wheel that has been pretty heavily modified.

It has Dark Charcoal leather with matching Alcantara and silver stitching.

I asked for the wheel to be extra thick
with wide Porsche grips molded to the rim.

I carried the Alcantara over to the shifter and handbrake boots with silver stitching. And we added Dark Charcoal leather and extra padding to the armrest too.

Unlike other companies, DCSW installs the boots onto your boot frame.
So you just pop them back into your car rather than gluing and stapling them yourself.

I went a bit wild here and bought some lighted sun visors on eBay for about $25. (Mine had mirrors but that was it.) Then I sent them to DCSW too for leather. I also bought a roll of Alcantara to cover my headliner and package shelf in the Bullitt too.

I think the wiring harness should plug in behind the headliner.

Stock Ford mirrors are kinda chintzy from this era.
But these are now kinda chintzy—but with cool leather! :-)

I'll update the blog when everything is installed in the next week or two.

Project EHR: Floor Mat Menagerie

One challenge outfitting the 2001 Bullitt interior is the unusual Dark Charcoal color (code 9W): it really looks like dark smoke, but is clearly not black, or even grey. Some pieces of the dash and pillar coverings and headliner appear to be another color entirely. I decided to get some floor mats since the Mustang only comes with two for the front, and well with my five- and seven-year-old kids riding in the back seats, four mats would be better.

There are two brands of floor mat I zeroed in on: ACC and Lloyds. ACC makes carpet kits for many cars, including Mustangs, while Lloyd Mats pretty much owns the high-end floor mat business. One thing to get out of the way now: you won't find an exact match to the Dark Charcoal carpet color (unless you have already replaced your carpet itself with the ACC replacement kit).

Four ACC mats with Bullitt logos (in front) are $100 (or $60 plain).
Photo shows 2 original front mats and 2 ACC replacements.

I decided that I didn't think the ACC color was quite right for me, the Bullitt logos were redundant since the threshold sill plate says Bullitt in black already, and I really wanted contrasting binding around the edges like the GT500.

Enter Lloyd Mats. Simply put, getting color samples was a hassle from the Lloyd Mat distributors. I called seven or eight and two agreed to send some samples, but only one ever did (and it took a month). Lloyd Mats sent some additional samples directly when I had given up on seeing anything from their distributors.

I'm posting the color samples here to hopefully save others the hassle. Of course if you have a common color carpet, e.g. Black, there's no benefit in seeing the samples beforehand. :)

Actual Lloyd Mat samples against clean Dark Charcoal Ford carpet.
The flash went off here, so use as reference for color saturation, not hue...

I went with Ebony "Ultimats" with Silver Neon binding. Ordering for a 1999
instead of a 2000-2004 opens up some additional Mustang logo options.

The mats fit great and add some visual interest to the interior.

The rear mats even have an angled edge that fits around the roll bar. :)

I ended up buying these from the CarID website since they had come through with the carpet samples, although I had never bought from them before. The mats were $140 after a $10 coupon online and arrived in just two weeks. (The Neon Binding, rather than a carpet color binding, was an additional $9 option, while the Mustang logos were $29, all included in that price. Silver thread was no extra charge.) The preliminary research was a hassle, but I definitely like the look of the mats.



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Project EHR: Laying the Foundation for a Quiet Interior

The first project to tackle on the Bullitt was to quiet down the noise in the cabin. The Nitto tire upgrade helped calm road noise at the source quite a bit, but the drone of the exhaust quickly grew tiresome and my four- or five-hour drives were draining. I have used Dynamat Extreme before on my '66, and it is just a great performing product.

Amazon sells boxes for about $130 shipped, which is a great price.
Each box of Dynamat weighs 20 pounds.

I removed the seats obviously, but did not completely remove the center console because it wouldn't come out without lifting the hand brake handle straight up and that wasn't happening (without breaking something). Use work gloves to avoid Dynamat's death-by-a-thousand-cuts syndrome, and a small roller or stiff plastic bottle helps flatten it all out. I did this in 90-degree heat, which helped the product lay out easily, but was pretty uncomfortable for me. :)

Dynamat on the driver's side,

and on the passenger's side,

and under the rear seats,

and in the trunk.

I used almost all of two boxes. I'll buy a third box here shortly to finish the trunk, and then do the rear shelf and roof. Not sure I will do the doors, but probably will if I have some product left.

So far, the cabin is quite a bit quieter. I'm kicking myself for not using my iPhone's decibel meter app to give concrete numbers for before vs. after, but the improvement is very noticeable even though I'm maybe 2/3 done with the project.


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Project "Executive Hot Rod" (EHR)

After owning the 2001 Bullitt for more than a year and realizing it is really a great car (just like I thought), I've decided to revamp the interior. The interior is basically stock now except for some gauge rings and a couple Autometer gauges and a roll bar.

I think the interior could use a little more contrast (specifically beefing up the silver accents with real aluminum), could be much quieter, and have a look and feel a little more like a modern car, but perhaps not necessarily a modern Mustang. It was built a long time ago, and of course Ford tried to save money on the design and finish of the car. So there's room for improvement here, but with an eye toward staying true to the Bullitt theme.

Here's where I'm starting:

The Bullitt interior has a lot going for it; I'm going to try to build on that.

Some examples of more modern design for inspiration:

2011 Shelby GT500: Leather, Alcantara, and deviated stitching.
Floor mats are darker with logo and silver binding.

2005 Ford GT: Aluminum accents and a honking fat steering wheel.

911 GT3 RS: Alcantara and leather throughout with dash gauge pod.

2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302: Leather, Alcantara, and dash gauge pod.

 I'll update the blog as I make progress...

Rat Rod: Revisited

On my cross-country journey to bring home a silver 2006 Mustang GT back in August 2009 I happened upon a slammed rat rod traveling down the highway in Tennessee. In fact, it was so wild I snapped a photo for the blog.

Fast forward two years to just last weekend when I was checking out the "Carolina Classics at the Capitol" car show in downtown Raleigh. I happened upon a rat rod that I thought was the same car. Upon closer inspection, some of the details were a little different, but the tall red wheels sure looked the same.

I spoke with the owner (and showed him a pic on my iPhone) and confirmed in fact that his buddy owns the very car I saw in Tennessee. After needing to sell the wheels for a new rear end that required a different offset, they now are sitting under this cool '28 at the show. Small world...

This car drew a crowd at the show.

This is a '28.

Embracing the term Rat Rod.

50s style Cadillac air cleaner—too cool.

L O U D

Hand painted

Street legal?