We bought our 2000 Mustang convertible on a whim three years ago, and
it's been a great little car every since.  A previous (crazy) owner
tricked it out with all the Cobra upgrades, including the suspension
and alloy wheels, and it's been mechanically perfect.  We store it all
winter, and it's never seen snow or salt -- and the kids just love
driving around with the top down all summer.

One thing that's always bothered me is the cloth seats, which were
slightly stained when we got the car.  Apparently the P.O. had left the
top down in the rain, and the seats got saturated.

We tried everything known to man to get those stains out -- no dice.
So, every time I've driven the thing, those stains on the passenger
seat have been staring me in the face, bugging me every time...

So, I at last endeavored to find leather seats for our little 'Stang.
I found them last week on Ebay (of course!) being sold by a national
used auto parts chain called A-Reliable Auto Parts, which posts under
the corporate title of "LKQ".   The seats were out of a wrecked 2002
convertible, were at their Blue Island, IL, site -- and the price was
just $175, which I thought was a real bargain.

(See: http://www.lkqcorp.com/location/sites.asp?L=65)

Thinking I was dealing with the traditional junk yard, via email I
offered to buy one of the guys lunch if he'd meet me at a nearby
airport with the seats.  (I was planning to fly over from Iowa to pick
them up in our light plane.)  Needless to say, I had NO idea who or
what I was dealing with, because they practically laughed at the idea,
responding that "we're a big company and can't do that..."   Oh,
well...

Plan B was to drive over and pick 'em up in our Mustang, and swap the
seats out right then and there.   The morning we were to depart it was
dumping a cold, steady rain, and I didn't know if we'd be able to work
under cover, so we took the van instead -- which turned out to be a
good choice.   More on that later.

The drive took around 4 hours each way, and around $60 worth of gas --
so the logic behind saving the $100+ in shipping was probably faulty!
Still, it was kinda nice to just kick back in our big Fod Econoline van
and cruise -- it's our hotel's courtesy van, and usually doesn't run
for more than 10 minutes at a time.  Probably burned out a bunch of
carbon deposits on the trip...

Once we got there, I couldn't believe it.   This is NOT your father's
junk yard!  Everything is computerized, the yard and building is huge,
organized, and clean, with a bank of computerized "tellers" who can
find any and all parts simply by typing them into their database.

I gave 'em my Ebay receipt, and within minutes a guy brought the seats
around to our van.   Talk about service!   I was very impressed, and if
any of you guys are looking for a source for Mustang parts, call them!

Today I installed 'em, and quickly discovered a couple of minor
problems.

1, The colors weren't what the photos on Ebay showed -- the seats are a
light brown, rather than a dark brown -- but they look good anyway.

2. The bolts holding the backs of the seat rails simply go through the
frame, and stick out the bottom of the car.  This means they are
subject to rain and road hazards, and, as a result, were an absolute
bear to remove.  In fact, I couldn't get 'em out with my 1/4-inch drive
socket wrench.  Of course I didn't have the right sized socket for my
1/2 inch drive (when did Ford go metric?), so add that to the cost of
"saving money by buying on Ebay"...    :-)

Eventually, with liberal application of penetrating oil, and much
grunting, groaning and swearing, the bolts -- and seats -- came out.

3. The vertical portion of the back seat has two brackets that are
supposed to attach to the frame with two bolts.  The holes on my 2000
model do NOT line up with the brackets on the 2002 seats, despite being
assured that the years were identical.   Luckily, this doesn't seem to
matter, since the bottom of the back seat snaps into place, and
securely prevents the vertical part from moving.

In the end, it took $175 for the seats, $60 in gas, a full day of
driving to get 'em, $5 for a 15 mm 1/2" drive socket, and then several
hours of grunt work to get the leather into my 2000 convertible -- but
it was worth it.  They look great, feel great, smell great -- and at
last I don't have to look at those stains!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
2000 Mustang Convertible
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"