One of the most attracting details in early fastback Mustangs is the fold down rear seat. Before that I knew this feature even existed I often wondered why some of the Mustangs had that MUSTANG 2+2 emblem in the lower corner of the front fenders while the others did not. The fact is that the rear seat of a fastback is uncomfortable and not too inviting to sit on as a passenger, it looks extremely good. In my opinion it looks even better unfolded. While still having my car at the painter's shop I have my garage 'empty' for restoring the set of seats and painting the hardware. I had purchased another set of interior earlier so I had everything in double and I was able to choose which to use for my build. The fold down consists of three major parts i.e. 1) the backrest support which is connected to 2) L-shaped part and 3) the flat rear part. I decided to use the parts from the purchased set as their trim was in better condition. I started with steel wool cleaning the trim before unscrewing.
All the hardware parts got some fresh paint on them. These will not be visible but as I had some signal red left available I used it. I made an order to NPD for the interior stuff and had them at my door eight days later. When compared to the carpet and seat covers the signal red appeared too orange, so for the areas where the color can be seen, like in the L-shaped part, I went with semi-matt Ruby Red (RAL3003) which gives a better match. I am not sure what color there should be used in the hinges, but I painted them black as well as the frame of the backrest.
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Ruby red test piece with backrest vinyl |
Along with the NDP delivery came the carpets which were glued to the surface using sprayable glue. After the glue got dried the excess of the material was trimmed with a knife. The trim was handled with steel wool and polished. Not a perfect end result, but I do not want to buy a repro kit which is available but rather expensive.
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The pitted rear trim at trap door latch area |
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The flat part |
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Backrest support |
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L-shaped part |
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On the right the original from my car |
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Mated with piano hinge |
The backrest stuffed part was the next one. I cut the hog rings, removed the vinyl surface, cleaned the netted frame and painted it black. The old foam was in decent condition, no mildew, and needed only to be vacuumed. The foam was set under the frame and together they went inside the edges of the new cover. I started hog ringing from the top edge center to make the best fit on the visible area, the repeated the same on the bottom edge and the sides were done the last.
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Foam dated 10/1/64 |
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Inserting listing rod |
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Frame and foam slipped in the cover |
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First hog rings to the top center |
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Moving towards the sides |
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The bottom edge with channel and listing rod |
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The support ready for hinges and padding |
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The hinge |
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Top side mounts to hooks and bottom is secured with 2 screws |
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Folded down - looks nice |
Now, this was probably the easiest part of the interior renovation. We'll see how difficult it will be with the seat. After that I'll decide if I'll continue with the front seats or shall I turn to use help of a professional.
Funny details
It looks like Ford did some production changes during the same model year. My car being from early October 1964 production and the donor car from which I purchased the interior parts is most likely 'true' '65. Here are the same trim parts from the side of L-shaped part. Note the improved design. The parts are not interchangeable, unless changing them all.
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'64 type trim on the left |
It's hard to figure out what Ford had in mind when they decided that the bumper stop bracket shall be attached with machine screws on one side and with the sheet metal screws on the other.
The whole fold down system including the flat part weighs a lot, altogether 26,5 kg.