Removing chrome on a '72

mrcoffee12 · 03-03-2005

Hey, I'm 17 and my first car of my own is going to be a '72 Coupe, it's been parked for about 14 years in my dad's friend's garage and he just wants it out, we're getting it for free, the body is in amazing shape for a car of it's age, no rust, even being a Seattle car from the beginning. However it's one of the ugliest colors they painted them that year, Bright Yellow Gold Poly, or Gold Glow, 6F in the VIN. My dad and I are going to repaint it, we have all the tools and some knoweledge on how to, (we're going to check some books out before hand also) but we're not sure how to go about removing all the chrome trim, and the vynil top which isn't in good enough shape to keep. I'm posting pictures so if somebody could please let me know how to go about removing the trim WITHOUT destroying it, that would be great, also with the vynil top, is it safe to just take it off and paint underneath or do we need to do some sort of extra primer or what?

Pictures of it in it's current state in the guy's garage are attached.

P.S. The spot you see on the rear driver's side is where it started to rust and they sanded it off before it ate anything away, I'm not sure what the grey spot of spray paint is. The back bumper was taken off because it was dented a little bit, the tali light panel rusted somehow, we've already ordered a new one though I may be asking for help on how to replace that. And the upper left part on the rear end is in the trunk, they took it off when they took the bumper off, I don't know why.

Fordgazm · 03-03-2005

If the strips are just stuck on , you can get them off with some heavy fishing line by sort of sawing them off . I usually wrap it around 2 screwdrivers so it dont cut my hands . it can be a pain though . Good score , thats a cool car .

mrcoffee12 · 03-03-2005

I'll have to check it out when I'm there this weekend, hopefully that's the case. I'll try to get some better pictures when we bring it to our house after I clean it all up and what not. Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures every step of the way so I can post them here and let the world see the progress.

As of right now I'm not sure what I really want to do with the car, I know I'm going to paint it and we'll rebuild the engine this summer, put a 4bbl carb & intake on, headers, etc., but I don't know how stock I want to leave it, the car is still 100% original as far as I know, maybe not Ford factory oil filter and I guess the stereo is aftermarket, but should I keep it all original and just make the basic engine upgrades to give me the power to defend the honor of real cars against the Japanese imitations?

At some point after I'm out of college and have my life goin the way I want I think this car would be a great candidate to become a show car, it has 136,000 or so original miles I believe, I'll be the 4th owner, and I'm going to be damn careful with it as such, no excessive speeding, no havin too much fun with it, etc., although it will probably be my semi-daily driver for the next 7 or 8 years at least, unless gas prices become too rediculous. I'm going to join a local Mustang club once I get it road worthy, so that I'll be around people who will enjoy and respect it as much as I will, but anyway, I'm sure nobody really cares about my dreams for the car so I'll just shut up now.

Fordgazm · 03-04-2005

If you plan to show it , it may be better to leave it stock . I say whatever way you go , do it extreme . Like either all original or all resto modded . Good luck and keep us updated .

Fiat Freak · 03-04-2005

With all of the smog equipment installed on the stock engine and exhaust, this model year is not destined to be a collector's classic.

However, completely stock is a value all it's own to some collectors.

I say value is a relative term, and it is your car. This is, however, your best opportunity to return it to its original glory as a stock auto.

Looks like you have a great start any way you go....a FREE car is always worth something.