November 23, 2010 - Exhaust, shocks and Paint Prep

O.K. , I have not posted in a few but the work keeps going on. The transmission is fixed and we had the pipes bent too. The were done by Brooks Muffler and they did a great job. I called and spoke to Billy and he knows Denise and I told him what she would like. I hope we got it right. The car has that muscle sound, very different from before.

The chrome tips were a nice touch.

So , while Mark was test driving the car, he noticed the front end was a bit soft and needed some attention. Big surprise! He asked me to get the ball joints so he can replace them while he still had the car. After we installed one side, we noticed the control arm was the real problem. I was able to get the entire control arm with the ball joint for about $54.00. We took the front end apart and off to the blasting booth we went. I blasted the springs and painted them with clear paint. I liked the silver accents and it will be easier to see when they are clean. I also replaced the shocks on the front and back. * TIP , we got beat up by the springs. Use the spring compressor that attaches to the inside of the spring. There is not enough room to use the set of compressors that fit to the outside of the spring.*

I have not cleaned and painted the rear undercarriage yet. I will be doing that while prepping for paint. I will be using the Bed Liner product that most of the other areas under the car have been sealed with. Now, on to the paint prep. I removed the Rocker Panel Clips and drilled out all the mounting holes. When I removed some more of the bubbles in the finish, I uncovered more rust. I am so tired of that stuff. That is one thing I will ask God about , one day.

On Thursday of last week, I moved the car from Blair's Auto Care to start the paint prep. Given the number of things that have been unexpected, I needed to accept a more realistic delivery date. We are now going to shoot for Christmas. Leo Freels ( A great friend from high school) has offered me a place to do the prep work. He and his family have always been into cars. THANK GOD! Brian has a great garage and a very hospitable personality. That and a kind heart gave me a nice place to work on the messiness part of the job. (I don't think they really like a Ford in the garage, they are Mopar or Chevy guys, whatever... That is how nice they are!)

I have , again, removed the interior and have begun to do the prep work. I have another crazy friend that will be part of the painting process. Jeremy Bender has the knowledge in the painting process and will be a big help.

I have gotten a demo of what needed to be done on the car to "block"it.

The fenders are back off and I need to seal up the areas that I don't want to get dusty.

I jacked up the front of the car and wrapped the entire front with plastic.

I took the rear bumper off and need to get back to Blair's to blast the hardware and some of the smaller parts.

The rear fender extensions are in great shape. They may have already been replaced.

I tried to wrap up the dash area too while we are sanding. This will save a bunch of cleaning time.

The doors need to be repainted. Especially the driver side. Remember the little gas line issue?

Here are the parts. I need to bag and label them and get them to Blair's.

Here she sits to enjoy her last Thanks Giving , less then super cool.

Nov.6th Transmission and Trunk

So, we thought that we would have the car running and out for a test drive over a week ago but that was not "in the cards". We installed the torque converter that we received months ago and unfortunately only after it had broken the transmission pump did we find out it was the wrong one. We got a 26 spline converter not a 24, the packaging did not have the model of the converter or what it was designed to fit. Jegs was very understanding. They sent a new converter and also replaced the transmission pump too. Sooo, all is well just 8 days later then I wanted.

Today I wanted to clean the trunk and paint it with the truck bed liner that we used in the engine compartment. The trunk was not very nice looking yet.

Guess what?? When I removed the old liner and the pad in the bottom, I found rust! I removed the rust in each of the fender wells and around the gas tank. This also uncovered the fact that the previous owner riveted new panels for the lower quarters. Time is now my enemy.

I think it turned out nice. I am also going to add the soundproofing to the bottom and then replace the liner too.

Now for more engine photos. We have the engine all together.

Now it was time to put the hood back on. Mark blasted the hinges and painted them too.

The hood lined up great! We have a bit of work to do on a small high spot on the fender to get the look I want.

There are still a few spots on the body that need to be repaired while we prep the body for paint.

The car goes to have the pipes bent for the exhaust on Monday. More picture to come.