Faux Gas Cap Mod

[GT4MT]

So- at the request of lone sailor and TheDutchGun, I'm throwing out my thread for replacement of the faux gas cap on the trunk lid of the S197.

I kinda hated that damn thing right from the start....in the past, I likened it to a rednecks dinner plate belt buckle. No offense intended to those who do like the look and currently run them and no offense to any rednecks, and certainly no offense to anyone who likes to wear dinner plate size belt buckles.

I know everybodys seen one, but for all the new members that seem to sign up from continents other than North America....




I just thought it didn't fit with the look I was going for, which was a little more subtle. ( I can appreciate the irony of saying subtle about a car with long tube headers......) Anyway....so I decided, like all good mods, to change it up, but the question was with what. While perfect for the application,didn't like the looks of some of the aftermarket inserts, whether they were ribbed or the honeycomb style.

So I thought...screw it...I'll just take the damn thing off and run with nothing. Two sided tape...no big deal. Little did I know that Ford made the faux gas cap both hurricane AND tornado resistant.

First suprise....the entire backing surface of the faux gas cap is covered with two sided tape. There are numerous ways to remove emblems with two sided tape, so I'll leave you to decide which works best for you.

Second suprise- Ford, in thier wisdom, decided to put two LARGE locator pins on the backside of the emblem to assist the efforts of the hard working guys on the line in Flat Rock. Observe.....






So.... I was left with a trunk lid with two sizable holes in it. (hope the pic shows it clearly)

[GT4MT]

So now I gotta figure out what to do with this. First thing I do is go to my body and paint guy and say...fill the holes maybe? He basically shot down the idea saying something about the sheetmetal not being really well suited for welding in new metal to fill the holes, and he wasn't gonna do a half assed job with bondo or any like product. Besides, it wouldn't really be cost efficient to do all that work and re-paint, which made sense.

I was prepared to go that route as a last resort, but he suggested covering it with something....but what. Absolutely had to be factory looking. My first thought was the front fender tri bar/pony emblem off the V6 model. Long story short...got one off E-bay and I'll be damned if it wasn't quite wide enough. Didn't look right anyway.....

So....got talking with my body and paint guy again, throwing ideas around to see which OEM emblem would do the trick. That's when the idea of the pony on the front grille first came up. Would it be flat enough to stay on the trunklid, and would the sizing be right? Back to E-bay and found the gen-u-ine Ford part. Trimmed the two locater pins and got to work....





Basically filed the edges that are going to make contact with the trunk lid to ensure good adhesion, got some high quality two sided emblem tape, and taped up the entire back surface of the pony, which is tricky because it's concave.

Then dig out a bright light, an X-Acto knife and a bunch of patience to trim the two sided tape around the silhouette of the pony, which is a real bitch around the legs and hooves. It helps to cut a little short as well, because the last thing you want is tape sticking out from behind the emblem.

[GT4MT]

There's no real easy way to actually mount the emblem on the trunklid, other than to have a really good eye and get it so it's centered and covering the holes at the same time. Only suggestion here is to use scotch tape first to get a feel for it, because the emblem tape grabs really well and you don't want to be taking it on and off any more than you absolutely have to.

All in all...pretty easy mod, just need a little patience.
I was screwing around with tinted taillight covers in this pic.....didn't like it as much as I thought I would!!!






So there you have it....hope everybody enjoyed...thanks for checking things out!!

[lone sailor]

Well done. Always enjoy the view.

[Arbour88]

That looks great!

Good job.

John

[smellslikewetdog]

I dont know bout the rest of you ,but I look forward to reading Mike's input.Your colorful commentary keeps me entertained.I also agree with the rest of the guys ,that pony mod is a big improvement...Ford!...take note!

[Sonic Mustang]

I like the mod but I also like the CDC Blackout Panel with the GT Emblem as well.

As seen on the Silver Vert

[GT4MT]

Thanks for the kind words all- always a pleasure!

Considered the CDC panel pretty seriously Sonic, but decided I wasn't partial to the ribs running across it. It's a good looking mod, but not what I was looking for- the pieces fell into place with that Pony emblem. Probably one of the reasons I'm refusing to change the front grille to the Elenor style....just like that Pony too much!

[TheDutchGun]

Thanks for the write up Mike. I can't say I'm a big fan of the CDC blackout panel. But that section of my trunklid happens to be painted black anyway.

The running horse is definitely under consideration for me, but I most likely won't do it this year. I'm also afraid of removing the fake gas tank cover and finding that they painted the black around it. That would ruin my day for sure.

[GT4MT]

Originally Posted by TheDutchGun

I'm also afraid of removing the fake gas tank cover and finding that they painted the black around it. That would ruin my day for sure.

Might be able to roll or compress the two sided tape under the emblem a little bit to tell for sure?? Hard to tell from here man, but considering how much of a pain in the ass it was to remove the emblem, I hate to say you might be right on that one.

And I'm not saying "hard to tell from here" as a joke either....depends on the shop that did the work and whether they wanted to do a thorough job. If I had to compare the time it would take to remove the emblem or just mask it off......

[BottleFedGTS]

That mod looks awesome man... and the taillight tint looks good too.... IMO

[digiti]

wow, that looks 100% better.. *takes note of it for when he buys a 05+ Mustang*

[Lost_Stang]

Hello,
I just purchased my first Mustang this spring.

Vista Blue GT Prem Convert.

I added the Ford Racing Package.
X-pipe
computer
exaust (these are mean!!)
cold air intake
short throw shifter
GT 500 stainless pedals

I also ordered the the 18" rims and the 3.55 rear end.

I have installed the stripes on the hood and deck lid, however I struggled with that crazy faux cap on the trunk so I stopped. I may finish the stripes if I ever get the energy to try and remove the cap.

My next challange will be to look at pulling a few extrs hp's out of the engine without spending allot of cash......

Headers?
High Flow Cats?

Not sure what else can be done outside of adding a 3k to 5k turbo or supercharger...... That is not in the budget.......

Roll On.............

[Lost_Stang]

I like what you did with the horse on the rear deck lid.


So, if I use fish wire to remove tape on the belt buckle....LOL? Do I have to worry about those two placement pins.

Can I just simply remove the cap, or is this going to require a good deal of force to pop off?

[GT4MT]

Originally Posted by Lost_Stang

My next challange will be to look at pulling a few extrs hp's out of the engine without spending allot of cash......

Headers?
High Flow Cats?

Welcome to MC Lost Stang!! Don't mean to sound like an asshole or anything, but if you're looking to pull some extra horse's out of the engine without spending a lot of cash, headers and high flow cats aren't really what you're looking for.....least if you're looking at long tubes.

'Course, I guess that depends on what you call spending a lot of cash!!!!