G
Guest
·Howdy All -
It's been a while since I posted, my new job keeps me traveling a lot.
You may or may not remember me - I have a '68 coupe that I have been
working on for several months. Today I went to the shop and checked it
out. The mechanic has completely removed everything in the engine bay and
under the chassis. He power-washed it three times, rotary wire-brushed
it and scraped seam sealer and other gunk between each washing. Once it
was pristine, he shot the underside and engine bay with sealer, primer and
then several coats of gloss black paint. It looks SO FREAKING GOOD!
Better than I expected!
I knew the car was in good shape when I got it, but my mechanic told me
that he could not find anything other than light surface rust anywhere
except where the master cylinder had been leaking, and that area was not
badly corroded. He was able to sand it down and seal, prime and paint it.
I also had him remove the cowl to check for and treat any rust. Once it
was off, he only found a small area of light surface rust. So he sanded
the whole area to remove all the surface rust and is sealing and painting
it tomorrow. He's going to put on several coats so it should last another
40 years! He's also tack-welding a screen inside the cowl so that leaves
and junk won't be able to get in and rot.
While he has the front fenders off, he's sanded and power washed
everything he can get to. He's repainting all of it and putting on new
seam sealer everywhere.
The engine going in is an EFI 351W roller motor out of an SVT Lightning.
We're putting in a cam, headers, 24# injectors, and a Mustang computer
which we're getting reprogrammed for performance.
The tranny is a T-5 out of a 5.0 Mustang. We're putting 3.73 locker gears
in the rear end. I wanted to go with a 9" rear end, but we're going to
stay with the 8" for now. If it breaks, I'll pony up for a 9".
The suspension is all Grab-a-Trak - new upper and lower control arms, 620
coil springs, 5-leaf rear springs and a Shelby drop. Right now it has
15x8 rims and 225/60s all around, but we figured out that I really need
17's unless I want to be at 2900RPM in 5th gear at highway speeds!
The power steering pump is shot, so it's being replaced, and I got the
"make it new" power steering kit from Mustangs Plus, so the steering
should be nice and tight.
I got the disc brake conversion from Mustangs Plus, so it will be disc
front. Disc rear is in my future, just not at this point.
Man, it's been a crazy ride. It's true. This kind of project is just
a hole in the road into which you pour money. But, man, when I saw that
car looking all smooth and glossy, it was all worth it. And it's still a
good month and a half or two from being done!
Anyway, just wanted to check in and thank everyone for all the great
advice. I am not anywhere close to being a mechanic, so I know I've
probably asked some really irritating questions, and you have all been
really great!
There are a ton of digital pix at the shop, I am going to go by soon with
my USB thumb drive and copy them, then I will put them on my web site and
send this newsgroup a link.
Cheers!
Thomas Cameron
It's been a while since I posted, my new job keeps me traveling a lot.
You may or may not remember me - I have a '68 coupe that I have been
working on for several months. Today I went to the shop and checked it
out. The mechanic has completely removed everything in the engine bay and
under the chassis. He power-washed it three times, rotary wire-brushed
it and scraped seam sealer and other gunk between each washing. Once it
was pristine, he shot the underside and engine bay with sealer, primer and
then several coats of gloss black paint. It looks SO FREAKING GOOD!
Better than I expected!
I knew the car was in good shape when I got it, but my mechanic told me
that he could not find anything other than light surface rust anywhere
except where the master cylinder had been leaking, and that area was not
badly corroded. He was able to sand it down and seal, prime and paint it.
I also had him remove the cowl to check for and treat any rust. Once it
was off, he only found a small area of light surface rust. So he sanded
the whole area to remove all the surface rust and is sealing and painting
it tomorrow. He's going to put on several coats so it should last another
40 years! He's also tack-welding a screen inside the cowl so that leaves
and junk won't be able to get in and rot.
While he has the front fenders off, he's sanded and power washed
everything he can get to. He's repainting all of it and putting on new
seam sealer everywhere.
The engine going in is an EFI 351W roller motor out of an SVT Lightning.
We're putting in a cam, headers, 24# injectors, and a Mustang computer
which we're getting reprogrammed for performance.
The tranny is a T-5 out of a 5.0 Mustang. We're putting 3.73 locker gears
in the rear end. I wanted to go with a 9" rear end, but we're going to
stay with the 8" for now. If it breaks, I'll pony up for a 9".
The suspension is all Grab-a-Trak - new upper and lower control arms, 620
coil springs, 5-leaf rear springs and a Shelby drop. Right now it has
15x8 rims and 225/60s all around, but we figured out that I really need
17's unless I want to be at 2900RPM in 5th gear at highway speeds!
The power steering pump is shot, so it's being replaced, and I got the
"make it new" power steering kit from Mustangs Plus, so the steering
should be nice and tight.
I got the disc brake conversion from Mustangs Plus, so it will be disc
front. Disc rear is in my future, just not at this point.
Man, it's been a crazy ride. It's true. This kind of project is just
a hole in the road into which you pour money. But, man, when I saw that
car looking all smooth and glossy, it was all worth it. And it's still a
good month and a half or two from being done!
Anyway, just wanted to check in and thank everyone for all the great
advice. I am not anywhere close to being a mechanic, so I know I've
probably asked some really irritating questions, and you have all been
really great!
There are a ton of digital pix at the shop, I am going to go by soon with
my USB thumb drive and copy them, then I will put them on my web site and
send this newsgroup a link.
Cheers!
Thomas Cameron
