headers

It's Prime(r) Time, Baby!

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It’s a sunny 60 degrees today. Low humidity, low wind, perfect for PRIME TIME!

My cousin was able to make some final touches to the body this week and put on the first couple coats of epoxy primer. Kind of looks good white, eh? But not good enough for me to rethink my color choice. With the primer on it makes it feel like the car is done.

Still have a long way to go though. The primer allowed him to see some dings in the body and also where the grinding wheel was used with a little too much pressure. It will need to be touched up a bit. But overall, looking good. Hoping the 2k primer layer will help to level a lot of it out. We’ll see next week.

Today I worked on priming the headers. I couldn’t decide if I want the headers to be black or aluminum in color. So, I ended up painting the vacuum canister (for the hideaway headlights) aluminum to test out if I like it, since no one will really see that. It is shiny and bright. I like it, but still not sure if the headers will be that color. My cousin brought up a good point that if they are black, it will hide spills, oils and such much better. We will see.

My package tray ( the rear interior piece that holds the speakers ) backing was all rotted. It was suggested online to just buy some 1/8” Masonite board and trace the existing vinyl, rather than buying a new one. The vinyl is in good shape so went with that method. Will need to clean up the vinyl and maybe re-paint it, before gluing it to the new package tray. Again, we’ll see.

All in all a very exciting day. The primer really makes it look like it’s ready to be driven!

But not.

Oh, and if you have been worrying about my missing taillight, you can sleep easy now. It’s been found!

Wire Brush and Organize

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I bought some high heat paint to paint the engine and exhaust parts. Bought spray can of Aluminum, Black, and Old Ford Blue. I couldn’t paint though, it would be better to spray outside, but it was raining. Which is okay since I can’t decide if I want to paint the headers black or aluminum. Got any thoughts?

So I used the time to prep the headers for painting, by cleaning them up pretty good with a wire brush. They looked pretty nasty at the beginning, but they are pretty solid and in good shape. The clean up worked out really well.

My cousin also had done some work on the body to make sure everything is very very smooth. He also cut out the nostrils in the hood scoop. It fits way better now, and makes it seem more stock functionality for airflow, and not an add-on.

I used the rest of the time to organize the parts. It took a solid couple of hours. There were lots of parts. I organized based on groupings for body, mechanical, lighting, interior, trim, and a box for the ‘things that make it go vroom and stop’.

Only 1 major problem! I can’t find the battery, master cylinder, and a WHOLE TAILLIGHT! I hope I can find it next weekend. I’m not sure how they would just disappear, they aren’t very small.

Help! I'm Stuck!

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Well it’s 2020, and we are back at it! This is the year, I can feel it.

Ran into a bit of a delay last year, and the body work proved to be very labor intensive. Mostly for my cousin. I’m afraid of the grinder, and not a great welder. But the body work is coming to a close end, and with COVID-19 changing lots of plans, I’m back at it every Saturday.

Today I was instructed to take some additional things out of the engine bay to prep for cleaning, painting, some replacements, and to get things out of the way.

  • Exhaust Pipes and Mufflers

    • Seemingly a pretty straight forward job. Just a few bolts attaching the pipes to the headers, and removing the hanging holders. Until I got stuck of course. With everything removed, I was on the creeper directly under the pipe. It fell down, and muffler and pipe wedged in my chest. I tried to move the pipe out of the header and shimmy myself around, but an extension cord and another random piece of heavy pipe were not allowing me to move. I called out once, but no one was home. I was getting out of breadth from the panic, and then my cousin returned from the store and checked on me just in time. Wasn’t hurt but it was pretty scary.

    • For the second exhaust pipe, I was sure to be on the side of it when it released from the holder to floor

    • Will need to buy new pipes and muffler - there were some rotting holes

  • Remove Radiator

    • Overall pretty easy to remove, though messy. Radiator was drained but there was still a bit of fluid inside. AND I learned that transmission lines are attached to the radiator, since that also made a mess as well.

    • Removed the fan as well

  • Headers

    • Removing the passenger side header was not too bad, tight squeeze to get to the bolts but was fine to get out. The driver side on the other hand wouldn’t drop unless I also removed the spark plugs.

    • Headers are in good shape, could use a clean up and pain job for another day

  • Where’s the rest of the engine parts?

    • The bay looked pretty empty when I go to the garage. Not quite sure what’s missing, and not quite sure where it went, but it’s gotta be in here somewhere. I imagine doing some organizing some time soon.

Being stuck and panicking aside, pretty productive Saturday at the garage.