To me, this is a new car. My parents have owned it since 1990, and they even permitted me to drive it to school once a week when I turned 16, so it’s been a part of my life for a long time. Mom drove it daily, summer and winter, for over a decade, with merely a set of all-season tires for support; Dad’s kept it all these years because my mom and I don’t get rid of things too easily. I’ve been the car’s mechanic for a while now, and Dad still drives it a few hundred miles a year. We did a cooling flush and hoses a couple years ago. Last summer, I replaced the steering rack and rebuilt the power steering pump. This year, I offered to repair the inoperative and loose quarter windows. Little did I know that this was an infamous task among Fox-Body Mustang enthusiasts.
I have all the factory service manuals for my personal collection, but for this job I did something I rarely do and hopped on YouTube looking for help. There is a very good video delineating the process, and the video’s producer pinned this comment right on top of the comments list. In other words, I knew what I was in for, and I have nobody to blame but myself.
The Mustang convertibles of this generation were shipped to a company called Cars and Concepts in Brighton, Michigan, to have the convertible tops installed. Rocker panel braces were added (it wasn’t enough – this thing is more willowy than my Corvair), and the rear window mechanisms were installed. I’d say that Cars and Concepts did a decent job with the conversion, but I couldn’t get over the vibe that I was working on an old Bayliner. There were a lot of trim screws drilled into metal that was inches away; it wasn’t the most well-engineered thing I’ve seen, and I’d guess Ford itself was to blame for that.
I didn’t take a lot of pictures as I worked because my hands were dirty and I was not in the best of moods. Please forgive me for reusing pictures for different purposes. First, the power window motors had both failed, but that was an easy fix (aside from removing the rear seat and all the trim). The real problem was that important parts were made of plastic, including the fitting into which the window guide rod is attached. Late Model Restoration sells a kit with billet replacements, and that is what I used to repair these cracked plastic originals. (You can also see the slots in the bracket for the window’s lateral adjustment – more on that below.)
That bracket is bolted to another bracket, which is bolted to the rocker panel and provides lateral adjustment for the window. To replace the window guide rod mount, I had to grind out three rivets and use the provided screws to attach the new piece, which was way nicer than it needed to be. (By the way, that large metal rod is the guide rod. The window literally slides up and down on it; not shown here is the window regulator plate, which holds the gears, motor, and arms that move the window up and down.)
These are the new parts from LMR. The kit includes plastic bushings to keep the window tight on the window guide rod, which is literally a round peg through a square hole. The parts fit very well in general.
All of this was relatively easy if you’ve worked on cars your whole life, although the positioning of the seat belt retractor, which had to be removed to do this job, reinforced my opinion that Ford’s engineers hate mechanics (I’ve said that about the entire Big Three many times in my life, although I feel that Ford hates them the most). The hard part is adjusting the window. There are three major adjustments, not including the window “fuzzies” that help steer the window as it travels up and down. I’ve already mentioned the lower lateral adjustment, but the adjustment in the picture above controls the “tilt” of the window. You loosen two bolts (from the bottom), and you can rock the quarter window back and forth to adjust the fore/aft gap to the front window.
The next adjustment is for “twist.” If the window doesn’t seal against the front window, you can “twist” it so it does. Picture a large clock, and imagine that the window is the second hand moving around an axis, and that’s the general idea behind this adjustment. This one was particularly annoying.
After the window adjustments have all been made, it’s important to adjust the window “fuzzies” so the window doesn’t bump any metal edges as it moves through its cycle. The passenger side one needed quite a bit of adjustment; I got the idea that it was never adjusted correctly at the factory.
Unfortunately, at one point I broke the small 1/4 inch stud that allows for the lateral adjustment of the passenger window. Luckily, this bracket was bolted (not riveted, like everything else was) to the rocker panel, so I was able to remove it, take it home, and weld a new bolt to the bracket to act as a stud. Aside from a really stubborn seat belt retractor Torx bolt and an obstinate upper rear seat, everything went as smoothly as you could expect. I was, however, a bear to be around as I did this job; be prepared to be annoyed if you choose to tackle it yourself. Also be ready to pay through the nose for labor if you’re having the job done by a professional. It took me a couple of days to finish, and although I could probably do both sides in a day now that I’ve done it once, that’s still a big bill if charged hourly.
Everything went back together well, and I’m happy with the adjustments.
Now that the rear windows are working, Dad’s been driving around with the top down for the first time in a while. He seems pretty happy with the outcome, but I’ll be waiting for my next task on the convertible. It is nice to be able to repay him for the many times he’s come over to my garage to lend a helping hand, although I won’t always say that out loud as I’m struggling with another minute adjustment for window twist.
Nice job, beautiful car!
Thanks!
That looks like one of those fiddly jobs that just gets more frustrating as it goes on, until it somehow all “clicks” and comes together. At least there is access, good visibility, and the ability to view things from multiple angles for a change. Good job getting it done and the wood-handled screwdriver took me back, my Dad and I had the same set from I believe Sears back in the late 80s.
I was quite surprised to hear that the Mustang top installation was carried out by a third-party vendor considering the volumes and length of production run involved.
That’s a lovely car though in seemingly excellent condition, especially for Michigan, and not seen often anymore. Precisely the type of car and era that is the next boom in collectability for folks of my generation.
Ha ha, yeah, I used Dad’s screwdrivers for this job. As they do with my entire fleet, pictures make the car look better than it is, but it’s in decent shape. Dad had it undercoated when he bought it, and like my Firebird, that definitely saved a lot of the sheetmetal. What it didn’t save on either car was the fasteners, which are still as rusty as anything (under the car). Still, I’m a little surprised that Fox Mustangs haven’t taken off more than they have. It’s probably because there are still a lot of them out there; after all, early Mustangs never REALLY took off in terms of price.
I think it makes perfect sense that Ford reintroduced a convertible via a 3rd party. At that point in time it would have been very difficult to predict demand, specifically sustainable demand in the wake of the relatively recent death of the convertible that was due in part to years of shrinking demand. So I can see it taking a couple of years before making a decision to bring it in-house. However by that point in time they would have known of the Foxstang’s impending death sentence but hadn’t yet issued the stay of execution due to consumer backlash over the thought of a Fwdstang. Of course they did bring in house for the eventual replacement.
Glad ours is an ’07 with properly engineered glass rear side windows. They work perfectly, it still has the original softtop in excellent condition too. Had to replace the power top motor, thanks to Hydro-Electric parts are available (they got their start sourcing parts for the old early ’50s GM hydraulic power windows).
I believe Ford took convertible production in-house for the ’94 models, but honestly, these would have been fine had that window rod guide been made of metal in the first place. But as I always say, nobody planned on these cars still being around in 35 years.
I love these cars – but not the convertibles, due to the lack of rigidity, twisting and rattling. Even new, these Fox Mustang convertibles weren’t solid. We had a fleet of them in Hawaii and Florida, as these two states generate appx 35% of rental fleet profits. You can’t drive to Hawaii, and most vacationers in Florida are willing to pay big bucks for a convertible while seeing Orlando, Miami Beach, Key West and the Gulf coast. So these were important rental cars for us. When I worked in either state, I was often given one to use.
That said, sexy – yes, solid – not. I prefer my Fox bodies to remain in their birthed state of rigidity.
It is such a sweet car. My buddy sold his red one last year and still has pangs of heartache. As the Foxes age, these Mustangs, especially the Mustangs suffer torque twist and broken torque boxes through abuse or time. Anyone wanting a Fox body vehicle needs to be certain that the torque boxes aren’t broken. The convertibles are especially prone to this, as are most convertibles.
But don’t let that stop you, they are amazing cars.
I haven’t checked out the torque boxes, but I imagine they’re fine. This is a 2.73/automatic car with 90,000 odd miles on it. It hasn’t been driven hard at all, but you never know.
My dearly departed red 91 GT convt could’ve used some help with those baby windows, but there is no chance I have the patience for that. Eventually I realized I could just manhandle them manually up n down and since it was in the garage top-down 99% of the time, that was good enough.
The 7-Up I had years back had working windows IIRC.
The owner of the local dealer had a 7-Up demonstrator, and my mom and dad must have looked at that thing for months. I don’t think my dad wanted to spend the extra cash for a new convertible, and I also think he preferred the hatchback, so he told my mom that she could have either a new hatchback or a used convertible. I think Dad was surprised that she chose style over freshness, because she chose the convertible. So they got a two-year-old convertible for the price of a new hatchback.
I still want a 7-Up convertible. But most likely will be a forever dream.
This brings up an interesting topic, and that’s how the Fox Mustang was the only ponycar that ever had framed front door windows. Seems like it was one of the few times practicality trumped style.
I never thought about that. That probably cuts down on some wind noise, especially as these things get older.
It was a rather unusual decision by Ford to use the framed doors. I wonder if they were slotting the lower tier Mustang (especially the coupe version) as a sort of modern, quasi-Falcon, traditional RWD compact versus the FWD Escort and Tempo of the time.
That would explain the Pinto Four. Decades of four cylinder cars and that one was by FAR the slowest of my COALs.
Excellent work. I am as amazed that these were finished outside of the factory as I am that an aftermarket source has emerged for better-engineered replacement parts. At $99 for that kit, it seems almost more of a service to the owner community than a money-making venture.
Thanks for an interesting article!
Thanks Jeff! I haven’t really looked through a parts catalog for one of these, but I got the rebuilt steering rack for something like $100 plus core last year (it’s a Cardone, so hit or miss, but it seems good so far). It’s certainly a far cry from most of what I’m used to.
With the ‘Stang, the Firebird, and that nice new Bronco Sport, your family has a pretty good fleet.
Thanks Steve, Mom and Dad also have a 2018 Mustang Ecoboost, but Dad sure loves that Bronco.
You’ve got skills Aaron, I’ll give you that. Nice work.
And I thought replacing the headlight assemblies on my 2007 was hard. You Tube videos are SO helpful, but they don’t keep you from making rookie mistakes like snapping off studs when you remove a front bumper cover. I’m still upset with myself over that one!
Very nice looking GT there. Since I prefer the LX shape of the Fox Mustang to the GT’s Hatchback style, for me the convertible was the best of both worlds there. But back then I was driving T-Birds instead of a Mustang. I still liked them though, especially with those wheels, although they look about as much fun to clean as the wheels on my ’97 Grand Prix GTP.
Thank you Rick! I agree on the LX, especially now. But the GT is super ’80s, and I guess that’s part of the charm.
Beautiful GT! Quite lucky you got to drive it back when you were in high school, too. Growing up there was a schoolteacher family friend of ours who had one identical to your parents’. I don’t recall the exact year but hers was a pre-airbag model so it must’ve been an 87-90. Needless to say she was the “cool” teacher at school – a status no doubt aided by her attractive blonde physique as well!
I never knew these windows were such a task, but in retrospect it does make sense. Even back in the mid-90s when these cars were relatively new, most of the ragtops I encountered as a teen had temperamental rear quarter windows. They never seemed to go up or down without an ‘assist’, and never seemed to seal correctly. Back then I really didn’t give a damn, though…as long as there was a 5.0 under the hood!
Thanks! It’s probably hard for people who aren’t in their 40s to understand how cool this car was when it was new – it was certainly cooler than I was! 🙂
Great job! There is some comfort in those jobs that hundreds or thousands of others before you have had to fight through, so that there are loads of upgraded parts and instructional videos out there. I am currently working up the courage to attack another one of those – the second rear door handle on my Sedona. I did the first one a couple of years ago, so the second will certainly be faster (and hopefully I can avoid a couple of mishaps I endured the first time).
Count me as another who never knew that these were farmed out for so long. Chrysler’s early LeBaron convertibles were built by outsiders, but they took production back in house fairly soon. I would have assumed Ford did the same – but no. And that’s a sharp car!
In retrospect, doing one of these again wouldn’t be a big deal, and that’s what’s nice about occasionally working on someone else’s car – you get to learn something new without paying for it, or having to store it, or worrying about selling it. I keep telling my dad to buy an old Mach 1 like he used to have, and then I can maintain it (and drive it sometimes). 🙂
One of the best looking ‘stangs, I’ve seen in quite some time. The body kit, and turbine wheels, work so well together! Gives it a more European appearance. And a brawnier quality!
Those turbine wheels are not fun to clean! I’ve washed this car a time or two in the last 33 years (Wow, I was 13 when they bought this!).
Wow, that looks like something that would require a whole lot of curse words all right! Great Jon Aaron, and the car looks lovely.
Thanks Sajiv…I’m sure a few interesting combinations of profanity are floating around in the cosmos over my parents’ garage.
What a coincidence, at the moment I’m considering selling my 3.4 v6 swapped ’92 Firebird and buying a manual ’86 5.0 GT convertible. Similar type of cars yet sooooo different! Difficult to make up my mind though, can’t decide which I’d rather have. Advice is welcome, haha.
I’ve really grown to like 3rd Gen F-Bodies, but if you like Fox Mustangs, you won’t be disappointed in the ’86. I’m not 100% sure, but I think ’86 was the first year that the 5.0 came with the 8.8 rear end instead of the 7.5, but it also had a wheezier set of cylinder heads. No big deal these days – a stock 5.0 isn’t that fast by today’s standards no matter what the year, but it’ll be faster than your Firebird either way. It’s also the last year four the “four-eyed” front end, which I personally prefer. Just look for rust and take a good look at the underbody. Definitely take it for a ride; as mentioned here, the convertibles do not have a solid structure. Let us know how it turns out!
I wondered for a long time if non-conv Mustangs could be made into real Hardtop Coupes with the window equipment from the convertibles (and a lot of other bodging)…
I’m sure they could, but the roof rail weatherstripping would probably be an issue.
Great story and congrats to you and your family for keeping this car in beautiful condition for so long. Very cool to see this.
Not exactly. Only the new first year verts in 83 were notchbacks sent out of house to be converted until Ford geared up in factory for the 84 model year. Also, the conversion was done in Livonia, MI not Brighton. Lived about a mile away and still have my 83 GLX 5.0 5 speed vert that I’ve had since 86.
https://www.allfordmustangs.com/threads/which-mustangs-are-convertibles.126487/
Uh, check out the article from a 1990 edition of Mustang Monthly in this forum. They did a tour of the facility, and they’re converting 1990 models.
A beautiful well kept car and nice article too ~ I understand the frustration of being part way through a job and having filthy hands & not willing to touch my phone for pictures .
I too like these Fox body Mustangs and would, I think like a notchback one .
I hate door works, to me this 1/4 window fall in the same category as it’s windows inside the narrow confines of the body .
I also agree that learning by doing jobs on your friends vehicles is a great way to learn ~ if something breaks, it needed replacement anyway .
Keep up the good work please .
-Nate
Love these occasional tutorials, Aaron. I don’t know why, but I had always thought the convertible top mechanisms and alterations were more sorted out by this late in the Fox Mustang’s run. It’s probably that once the initial engineering had been completed by C&C and worked well enough, there was no need to mess with it.
So glad you could “pay it back” to your dad. I still super-love these Mustang GTs from the late ’80s.
Beautiful example of the breed.
Our ’07 ‘vert is much more rigid than the Fox era models but not as much so as the newest iteration that we rented in FL last year. The engines have really evolved too, the new EcoBoost 4 is a real rocket but even our German-derived sohc V6 has more cojones than the old ohv HP 271hp 289 of the late ’60s, and better mpg to boot. It’s all my wife needs, and I prefer a NA V6 to a Turbo 4 for longevity/reliability reasons. There’s still no substitute for cubic inches.