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Post by oneowner88lx on Mar 23, 2010 19:59:49 GMT -5
Another.
The guy who sprayed the car is a pro body guy who paints cars full time with 20 years experience. He said me and my son "did an outstanding job on the body work and prep". Hearing a pro say that made us feel real good about the work we did.
The paint around the rear tag is original. It was in good shape so we left it.
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Post by oneowner88lx on Mar 23, 2010 20:01:13 GMT -5
This was taken in the paint booth right after the base and cleared were sprayed on. The painter took it with his cell phone and sent it to us. We were so pumped up seeing that picture!! The paint booth is at his house in a barn. We were lucky to find this guy. He turned the car around in less then a week.
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Post by oneowner88lx on Mar 23, 2010 20:05:48 GMT -5
The painter dropped the car off at my house the next day in an enclosed trailer no charge. Paint is a day old here. He dropped off the bumpers and spoiler a few days later. Amazingly the other parts match perfectly but a pro painter can make that happen.
We were glad that part of the project was over. That was a rough couple of months working our butts off and being dead tired all the time. Not to mention I was working out of town during the week and doing tons of over time too. Life was not easy. But hard work makes you tougher.
That is me in the picture looking it over.
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Post by oneowner88lx on Mar 23, 2010 20:09:15 GMT -5
This picture really shows the shine well. The base and clear are Utech which is a very high quality brand of paint. The metalic is extremely uniform on the car.
We really struggled with the roof during prep. It had about 50 low spots, dings, dents all over it. It was bad. It was one of the most difficult parts of the body to get straight but with patience we were able to pull it off.
Because we were tired and worn out, and my wife was bitching about "wanting her husband back" we paid extra to have the painter come back and paint around the door frames, paint the body side moldings, and hang the stick on body side moldings. We hung the bumpers ourselves since that is not really that hard.
We also spent a lot of time working on door latches, lubing and adjusting windows, fixing power door locks etc. All that stuff works perfectly now. Doors open and close just like on my original survivor car.
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Post by oneowner88lx on Mar 23, 2010 20:12:24 GMT -5
Here is the donor car. Don't let the pictures fool you, it was a major pile of junk. Had rust in the frame too.
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Post by oneowner88lx on Mar 23, 2010 20:13:56 GMT -5
We picked it up for $800 and they drove it 40 miles to my house. It idled silky smooth. It was amazing how well it ran being the rest of the car was total trash. It had a Jasper long block. We ended up having to pull the head, put in Boport springs and lifters, have the valve job and valve guide clearances gone over. Now in the mustang the engine is real strong.
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Post by oneowner88lx on Mar 23, 2010 20:17:52 GMT -5
Here it is after we stripped it. The junk yard hauled it away for free. We stripped the car in under a month. Our life was pretty much on hold because we wanted to get that car out of the garage and get back on the Mustang.
We bought the car for $800, kept engine, trans, rear, and front brakes. Sold off the other parts and were able to get $1,000 back out of it. We could have gotten more out of it but just didn't have the time to mess with it. Financially it worked out well but it was a lot of work parting it out and selling the parts. It was not easy money at all. We were glad the day the shell got hauled away.
Kind of sad to see the car end its life like that but that is the fault of the previous owners not caring for it running it in the ground and making it the pile of junk that it was. The junk yard promptly crushed it.
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Post by oneowner88lx on Mar 23, 2010 20:21:51 GMT -5
Swapping in the clutch pedal assembly. That is a job I hope I never have to do again. Had my son do the majority of that job. He didn't mind. If he is turning bolts and getting dirty he is happy. He doesn't like body work too much though.
We bought a complete 5 speed swap from a local junk yard. That was before we found the turbo coupe. So we have an extra trans and sold off the turbo coupe hydraulic clutch set up.
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Post by oneowner88lx on Mar 23, 2010 20:27:13 GMT -5
Here it is after doing the 5 speed swap. Lot of work but getting rid of the auto trans was the best thing we ever did. We had the flywheel resurfaced and put in new clutch, throw out, and pilot bearings.
We still have to put the rear interior back in. We are going to use SEM soap, SEM plastic prep, and SEM adheasion promoter to prep the panels. Then use some Late Model Restoration interior paint. We did the seat belt sleeves already and it is durable and matches perfectly. But it is critical to use the SEM prep process or the paint won't hold up over time.
We replaced the ash tray door with a good used one and repaired the spring. Works perfectly now. You can see how the ash tray door looks brighter then the faded, stained, dirt ground console. We are going to pull the console and dash probably later this year and refinish them to get that new car look.
We are running the Mustangs original 3:73 open rear. We plan to swap in the turbo coupe 3:55 traction lok later this year. I plan to stay with the original rear drums and axles and will sell off the rear disc set up.
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