Stainless Tank

The weeks are dragging now as I can’t wait to get to Mustang Maniac and do more to my car, things that are done now are very visible. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but a conversation with Adam and Yogi soon had me focused on the plan of action. The fuel tank I had with the car looked OK, all be it painted a little tired looking, but on full inspection using their internal camera showed some rust around the sender fitting and internal lower seams. To be on the safe side Adam ordered me in a special fuel tank. Not sure what to expect I was sent of to go and pick it up from the stores, oh boy, I was not disappointed. A full polished stainless steel tank was my new bolt in part.

We had to clean up the trunk from light dust to allow the sealer to stick the paint and that in turn would not allow any fumes into the car and stop vibration.

Yogi applied the sealing strip around the edge and we both removed the plastic wrap from the tank. Now at this point we were both very careful as the inner stainless edges of the tank are razor-sharp. The tank was eyed into position and laid onto the sealer strip, the holes were lined up ready for the bolts.

The next step was the filler tube, gaskets, screws, clips and rubber. Previously I had cleaned up the tube, clips and rubber. Adam had a look at my cleaned up rubber tube and chucked it in the bin with a laugh. He was of course right, although it looked pretty good but not brilliant, I would always thinking to myself that it should have been a new one. We fitted the gaskets onto the filler pipe and feed the tube through the rear panel, the rubber was slid up the pipe and the clips roughly fitted. The screws to the back panel were tightened only as a rough guide to stop it turning. The rubber was slid down the pipe to the tank and clamped in place and the pipe screws fully tightened up.

The next job of the day was a slow process but brings this classic Mustang back into the twenty-first century. The task was a specialised stick on matting that will stop any road noise and metal resonance through the car. This particular matting was a special order via Adam, the matting is only a couple of millimetres thick with a very sticky backing. It’s applied like sticky back plastic and heated with a hot air gun to make it easier to mould the mat into place. Yogi showed me the first steps and left me to get on with the task in hand. I found this very therapeutic with instant visible results.

First step make sure the floor holes have the correct plates in place with a little sealer around the edges to stop water ingress.

Second step was to lay the matting. We started from the centre and worked our way out to the edges. Peel a little of the backing and position in place then roll the matting across the surface smoothing down as much as you can.

The hot air gun softens and allows the mat to be pressed into place with the idea to make as much surface contact as possible.

before smoothing
after smoothing

Like laying a complex carpet the pieces should fit together and form a complete coverage, this set of pictures shows my thought process. I started with the front foot wells, bulk head or fire wall up to the insulating matting, then moving onto the rear foot wells. The seat platforms were covered each side and the last parts was the remaining section of the centre tunnel.

Under the rear seat will need to be completed as will the door panels and inside the kick panels, but as the time was getting late (very late), I decided to call it a day (or night) for now. The results so far look amazing. OK, so this matting is not cheap and weighs in a little, but the benefits are well worth it for a weekend cruiser.

dynamat23

Over the last couple of weeks I have been asked what was used to get the effect of paint job. Well you need somebody who knows what he is doing, in this case that was Paul who had patience and dedicated time to complete such a fantastic job. The ingredients he used are listed below, but this does not include the cleaning chemicals, rolls of masking tape, rolls of masking paper or surface wipes etc etc.

The paint colour was Acapulco Blue with a slight twist of metallic, the amounts used are as follows:

Etch Primer – 2lt

Surface Primer – 15lt

Rubberised Underbody Coating – 6lt

Thinned Base Coat – 7lt

Mixed Clear Coat – 8lt

2k Black Primer – 1lt

2k Satin Black – 3lt

2K White Semi Matt – 1/2lt

Matt Clear – 1/2lt

Brushable Seam Sealer – 1lt

As you can see Forty Three litres of sprayable materials in total and one litre of brushable seam sealer.

I was thinking last night that as the trunk now looks so good, there is a very good possibility that I wont put carpet over the whole trunk floor, just so I can see the fuel tank and great the paintwork. The stainless steel fuel tank will visible from behind the car of course. What do you think I should do, carpet or not carpet the trunk?

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First Dash Fittings

This week at Mustang Maniac I had a mail to say it was cold and snowing randomly. I took the hint and packed some thermal clothes and drove to the yard. I emptied my boot and took more of the cleaned up parts to the car to see what I needed to do. Adam and Yogi had a conversation to see what was the best way forward and the general verdict was the under dash fittings. That was going to be the wiper actuator arms, wiper motor, hand brake lever and the drivers fresh air vent. I was also given a few grommets to seal some holes such as the fuel line and the gas pedal to the fire wall. The idea was to fit these parts before the main wire loom gets in place and in the way.

The first job was the wiper actuator arms, these are stamped left and right for good reason as they have limitations to how far they will move.

wiperlinks5

The ends of the arms have three bolt holes that will attach to the underside of the dash. The fittings also have a gasket to seal the water from the inside of the car. I reinforced this with some gasket sealer before I bolted it to the car.

As this was a newly painted cowl I inserted the bolts into each fitting and made sure that the paint would not stop the bolts going into the holes. A small bead of gasket maker was applied to the rubber gasket and moved under the dash. The original gaskets were made out of leather believe it or not! The next trick here was to put the windscreen wiper arm lug through the hole without damaging the paint work. I started on the left side as that was the easiest access and out-of-the-way as a dry run for the more tricky drivers side. With the fitting in a rough position I inserted the bolts and took them up to finger tight. I tightened up the bolts in sequence until they were tight.

wiperlinks3

The driver’s side was awkward to get to due to the brackets for the dash gauges, variations of wobble bars and spanners were needed to tighten up the bolts which is a lot easier without the wire loom in the way. Again a dry run with a bolt to clean the fittings. the same procedure of gasket maker was applied and gently located through the hole.

drivers side

As you may recall from a previous post last year my old two-speed wiper motor was involved in some sort of under dash fire resulting in all the wires burnt away before I got the car. A two speed replacement is pretty rare and I wasn’t able to track one down. The resolution was a new upgrade replacement from New Port Engineering.

close up of damaged wires
damaged and melted
original on the left of course
back view

I created a post for the replacement of the wiper motor, click here for the quick link and I posted a YouTube video of it all working, click here for the video quick link. Anyway, same process to fit the wiper as before. The motor was already mounted on the bracket that has two bolts at the bottom and two at the top which are slot ins for the bracket. The most difficult part of the process is to fit the actuator rams onto the link pin from the new motor. this requires a lot of patience and little persuasion with a something small to tap the arms in place. I coated a generous layer of copper slip grease inside the arm holes and the pin. The final step is to clip the “e-clip” to the top of the pin to stop the arms lifting of. That will test the patience of a saint.

slot bolts
bottom bolts
arms located to pin

Feeling pretty pleased with myself I moved to the fresh air vent on the drivers side. this is a case of three bolts attached to the underside of the cowl. A gasket sits on top of the vent to stop draughts.

mounted in place

The control wire for the vent runs under the dash and to a bracket. This bracket sits on the visible side of the dash, and the bolt holes are on the end of the hand brake lever. After I fitted the air vent the hand brake or emergency brake needs to be fitted. The two bolts at the bottom go through the fire wall and the wire through the hole next to it filled with a rubber pipe to seal the hole. The top of the hand brake is on the inside of the dash and the air vent bracket bolts will attach to hand brake lever to form the sandwich and hold it all in place. I refurbished the hand brake lever previously and for the quick link click here. With the rubber for the hand brake in place I applied a small bead around the hole to make sure water proof and draught proof.

bottom or brake lever
handle
air vent bracket

All in place and took a while, yet nobody will see it. The final part was to fit the gas pedal grommet, this is simply slid up the inside section of the pedal and the domed part of the grommet faces into the engine bay.

grommets
gas pedal grommet on the right

 

 

 

 

 

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The Engine Is Back In

During the week I was sent a teaser picture by the guys from Mustang Maniac. What was that picture? It was of my engine. Now there is nothing new about that, as I have posted (quite) a few of them myself, but this was a little different. The engine was sitting at the front of my car. The guys were happy that the engine was ready to go in. It was going to be a weekend for me as it was my first engine refit and I couldn’t wait.

enginfit3

On arrival the brake lines were finished and Yogi has excelled himself yet again. Now I love doing the brake lines, but I must admit, Yogi does them better than me. The brake reservoir was in, connected up to the three way splitter box and not the four way original and the pipe work to the disc brakes are now in place. It’s a different car already to look at. I would be happy with the drum brakes and they would work if it was only me on the road. However I am worried about other nutters on the road that do stupid things in front of me. I know I can stop the car where I want to when I want to, but I can’t cater for the excellent braking capability of modern cars, and in comparison my drums were not going to be able to stop me as fast in an emergency. I always drive with plenty of space between me and the car in front, but you just never know. My new disc conversion will give me that extra stopping power should I need it and safety peace of mind. The brake reservoir now has front and rear split for the brake lines. Should the pipes leak or fail on either the front or back, then I have would have the other independent half to stop me, at some point that is. The original brake booster set up was a single reservoir for all four corners of a drum brake distributed by a three way splitter, so if one corner brake cylinder leaks, then the whole lot gets dangerous. With a brute of an engine like the 289ci you need it to stop as well as get of the line. Drums are notorious for fade when they get hot, on England’s roads the inclines can be quite step, so constant braking down a long hill could cause issues. But in the USA everything is pretty much flat, apart from a few places like San Francisco of course, so it wasn’t so much of a problem then.

Mustang Maniac had ordered me in a particular disc conversion kit that I was after for my car, and it arrived at the end of last week. Yogi and Adam wasted no time in bolting the parts to the car.

The discs are vented and slotted along with four pot calipers for superior stopping power assisted by the new brake booster reinstalled last week.

Once the discs were in place the steering bar, steering ram, tie rod ends, idler arm etc. fittings were all bolted into place. The tie rods were just finger tight as the geometry has to be completed at some point before the road testing. Due to the full three inch opening of my powder coated headers, there needs to be an extended steering ram spacer fitted. I have covered this on a previous photo set, click here for the quick link or look up Steering Ram in the search.

With all the brakes fitted and piped up and the performance springs now in place, the outer shock tower covers could be fitted. This was pretty much the underside of the car completed apart from gearbox, prop and exhaust etc.

Engine Fitting:

The engine was attached to the crane and aligned up to the front of the car. John, Yogi, Chris and Me were all there ready and waiting to put the engine in. I was on crane duty listening to the instructions to lower, push forward or back etc. The guys were either side of the engine bay to guide the freshly refurbished engine in place and trying not damage the fresh paint work. There is a secret to getting the engine in with the hood still fitted and is a closely guarded. Shhh here is some of it! The engine is moved into the engine bay sideways just under the hood, then lowered a little, twist it quarter of a turn so it’s the correct position and lower down again. But I didn’t tell you that! Anyway, as I was on crane duty I still managed to grab a few pics of the process.

With the engine almost in place, the long mount bolts were slotted through to take the weight. I have a few pics here of the engine mounts after their refurbishment, not that you will ever see them, but I will know of course.

The nuts and bolts were finger tightened on and the crane disconnected from the engine. There she was all sitting pretty and ready to go. The tape was still in place over the carb inlet and the old rockers cover still there for now. We will test fire the engine and then replace the rockers with the ones I want a little later. The distributor cap is an old one and will be replaced so it’s only there to keep the insides of the distributor clean too.

With our hard work and with no damage what so ever, John decided to photo bomb a picture for me! 😀

enginfit12Just to keep the silicon pipe work fresh and the engine clean the Mustang Maniac logo heater pipes were just pushed over the water fittings before the final trim ups as they are much to long at the moment.

So there you have it – a major milestone was completed, the engine was in, the heart of the car ready to start beating in the near future. The rear wheels are on the car and the fronts will be on as soon as the steering column gets fitted in place. Then the car will be ready to roll where ever it’s needed to go. I am so chuffed with the results of seeing the painted engine in the engine bay, the brake pipes, the steering and suspension, I can’t find the right words to express it, and that’s a true first for me!

enginfit16

I may be a bit biased here, but I think it looks great even with the old bits still on it. Thanks to the Mustang Maniac guys, yet again.

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Pedals & Pad

Saturday arrived and it was stupid cold on the way to Mustang Maniac, my breath was leaving a mist in front of me as I walked to the car. The sky looked heavy, but I was going to enjoy myself regardless. I arrived after battling through flurries of snow that luckily didn’t settle for too long. As I arrived I was told that a full English breakfast down the local pub was the order of the day to warm us up. Adam kindly treated us all to breakfast. Thank You Adam. We arrived back all warmed up and I was eager to get on with my tasks for the day. Yogi told me what needed to be done, dash pad, brake booster with the brake pedal box fitted inside and throttle link. I was happy apart from the cold.

First job was the dash pad, a thick lining that was attached to the inside of the car to stop the noise of the engine and insulate the inside of the car. The solid pad had cut out holes that were removed depending on the configuration of the car. Things like heater box and heater pipes, wire looms needed to go from the inside to the outside.

front
back

The pad had to be tacked in place with large plastic studs and align the holes correctly. You can also stick the pad down, but as I may need to move bits about to fit them, I will leave that sticky bit till last after all the fire wall fittings have been made.

The next job was the brackets for the brake booster that bolted to the inside the of the car. It sort of goes without saying this was really a two-man job to hold in place while the first couple of bolts held it all together. But, I found out that if you put your hand through the steering column hole you can hold the inside pedal box and bolt the brackets on enough to hold them in place while you do them up tight. The throttle pedal link was a simple three screws through the firewall.

inside
outside

My designated jobs were done, but I was eager for more. Adam turned up just at the right time to see how I was getting on. We had a discussion about the next jobs and he decided that the heater box and steering box could be fitted. Both of these were two-man jobs and Adam stayed to help me with it all. We fitted the heater hoses first the heater box so we didn’t have to fiddle around inside the car at a later date.

inside heater box
from the outside
inside steering post
engine bay fitted.

The end result for the day was a nice looking bit of work so far. The only trouble is that the work took longer than I expected so there aren’t too many pictures to show, but you can see the end results. The photo I forgot to post last week was the shocks fitted in place, so here elusive picture is.

axle&shock

Next week we might be in a position to put the engine in the car!

 

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And We’re Off

The day of work at Mustang Maniac couldn’t come round quick enough for me, clock watching only seemed to make the time go slower. Why was I more eager this week than previously? The simple answer is that I would be working on my freshly painted new shell fitting new parts. I wasn’t sure exactly what I would be doing as that was down to Yogi to let me know.

Before I get onto the day’s events I have to make a statement “I am a doughnut!” Happy now Yogi? I had to put that statement within the first paragraph or Yogi was gonna tell everybody about my daft as I was getting tired school boy error. It was one of those funny moments shared between a professional and his apprentice! I may explain it later depends how this write-up goes. 🙂

I arrived at the offices early to find Yogi with a fancy wipe clean Snap On board with a list of parts on it. We had our usual chat and listened to the conversation taking place. The list was new parts for my car and I was asked about what I wanted to do with the car stance. More of that a bit later. The important parts were going to be the upper and lower control arms which as the name suggests controls the efficiency and operation of the suspension. Old worn parts here could cause problems when it goes to the Geo Workshop later for tracking, camber and toe set ups. New parts it was to be especially around the suspension and steering. I walked into Al’s (Yogi’s) workshop and there was car still covered and looking very peaceful under her cover. I was informed that the fuel line has been fitted first as it’s a major pain to fit after the parts are fitted. The line hasn’t been fastened properly yet as the brake lines will need to go on as well at the same clips, but you get the idea anyway.

We discussed the plan of action and what we were going to do, shortly after we planned the day the parts turned up fresh from Mustang Maniacs stores.

leaf springs and all parts
upper control arms
lower control arms

The first job was to lift the car of the trolley, This was done via large axle stands and a large lengths of wood that would be supported under the car. The ramp was lowered until the strain was taken up, slowly the clamp bolts were undone and the trolley lifted away. The supporting blocks of rubber were mounted onto the ramps and another milestone was reached. No photo’s at this point as it was all hands to each corner and simultaneous actions required to prevent damage. This can be done in front and back but takes a while. A celebratory smile from myself was brighter than the sun that just started to show through the clouds. We (being Yogi and me), got a work table out and unwrapped by refurbished spindles, tie rods and their relevant bolts. Things were getting really exciting.

restored parts
Spindles and tie rods

The bottom control arms were fitted into place via the single heavy bolt and left to dangle, these were the first parts to be bolted back onto the car and I couldn’t believe that I was actually doing it. Yogi was prepping the bits showing me what to do and then letting me get on with it. I learned a little saying that is so true: “Finger tight, until you know it’s right.” This was the order of the day that allows you to move things around to fit should you need too.

controlarms

The top control arms were fitted into the inner wing mounts and the spindles bolted into place. This joined up the two control arms. The Tie rods were next to be bolted into place which linked the control arms to the front of the chassis.

We decided it was time to bring in the axle over from the panel shop where I had been working for the previous couple of weeks. The main axle shaft was black and the diff painted to the original Red Oxide primer colour scheme as it would have been straight from the factory.

The stainless steel shackles for the leaf springs were mounted to the rear chassis legs. The front of the leaf springs were lifted into place and lightly bolted lightly into place, the rear bushes were fitted into the chassis legs and the back of the of the leaf springs also lifted up into place, a little joggling around to get the bolts aligned through the holes to hold it all in place.

What followed was a complicated procedure of resting the axle on a support and lifting one side over the leaf springs to be seated correctly on the top of the leaf springs locating lug. The shock mounting plates were then clamped to the leaf springs and axle via the large U-bolts and tightened up, hard. The rest of the rear suspension bolts were now tightened up as well.

axle on leaf springs
shock plates & u brackets

After lunch it was back to the front again, we were going to fit up the new spring perches that were a couple of bolts onto the lower control arm.

The uprated 1″ anti-roll bar will make a big difference to the handling of the car as well as the Export brace and Monte Carlo bars that will be fitted. Due to the size of the anti-roll bar this now runs very close to the tie rods and is a two-man job to fit with damaging any paintwork on components. The anti roll bar U-clamps were put into place to hold the bar and then the bottom mounting arms and bushing fitted to the lower control arms. Once we were happy with the alignment we bolted it up properly.

During this point of fitting the anti-roll bar bushing kit I had a couple of the rubbers in my hand and noticed they were different. I started to panic having a senior moment thinking that I had fitted the wrong parts somewhere. I held my hand out to Yogi with the parts to show him the different parts. He looked at them, turned one over and it was of course the same, simultaneously he laughing out “doughnut”. A few minutes of laughing followed with me saying “I can assume that this will not be mentioned outside these walls then”. To which Yogi laughed back with “not if you mention that you are a doughnut in the first paragraph of your blog!” I agreed. But, as I have called myself a doughnut and ‘fessed up to my school boy error, I needn’t of mentioned it earlier, does that make me a double doughnut? But it was worth it and I thoroughly enjoyed the banter. The final quick job rather than the fitting the front springs and shocks was to hook up the hand brake cables to the tunnel brackets so that they didn’t get in the way.

Now it was almost time to put the car away and Terry and John popped in to see how progress was getting on. But before we covered her back up I bestowed a little prezzie on the car my lovely wife got for me:

cover

It was a great day, and I loved every minute of it, thanks to the MM guys.

Previously posts I mentioned that I would get some pics of the inside of the car, I haven’t forgotten:

roof
spare paint for any emrgencies

I can’t wait for next week. 🙂

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Merry Christmas

I just wanted to wish all my fantastic followers and guests to my little ol’ blog a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. In the New Year I hope to continue bringing you lots more pictures and updates on my car, even the finished article? You just never know!

Mustang Xmas

Not so sure I would want to drive a convertible in the snow – but, what a great picture.

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She’s Back – In Full Colour!

After a what seems like and eternity and day my car is back. Now I must point out that Adam at Mustang Maniac has been leading me a merry dance here. They have been telling me the paint is bad, the primer is reacting with the top coat, the work load is so much it will be another month etc. the bunch of wind up merchants and all little lies. In the mean time, of course the car has been going along as smooth as silk without any problems at all. The guys confessed that it was so it could be a surprise for me and an “early Christmas prezzie”. I am so glad it was a surprise, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep otherwise. I turned up to see Adam as usual to do a bit more work on my rear axle, but Adam said “I got something to show you in the yard”. I was shown to Yogi’s workshop where a car was sitting under a static dust sheet. I had a double take to realise that it was mine. Now I’m not saying my jaw hit the floor, but it have a bruise on my chin, OK, a slight exaggeration there, but I think you get my point! I should have realised what was going on when the whole gang walked over to me, before I walked into the workshop. I am not ashamed to say that they witnessed me just melt into the floor. I didn’t know what to say – and yes, that does make a first for me.

The car is stunning.

The paint job is so much better than I could have imagined it to be. So much so that I forgot to take full set of pictures, but I will soon sort that out don’t worry. To quote Yogi “it’s as good as it gets”. The outside is Acapulco blue and almost pearlescent depending on what light you look at her in. The inside is wonderful cream on the dash and door tops to match the headliner I am after. I have managed to get more pics from Adam during the painting process who has now let me have them. Paul has done an amazing job he honestly has.

The final prep of the primer.

Masked and painted.

Underhood is going back the traditional satin black for the stock look.

All assembled and painted.

Arrival back to the Mustang Maniac yard into Yogi’s workshop. The guys had put her over the hydraulic ramps so she could be lifted up to fit the underside and rolling gear.

When I got there she was covered in a static wrap sheet to stop the dust ready for the grand unveiling. Then I was let loose to take some pictures but I forgot the inside in my excitement.

The paint is just like cream and liquid to look at. The under seal of the car is immaculate, the interior is incredible with the cream dash and A pillars. The roof has even been done in a black to match the floor pan even though you will not see it. The attention to detail is second to nothing I have seen.

Side view and wheel arches, even the underside is brilliant.

rear arch
front arch
rear
from inside the trunk

Under the hood is amazing and seems a shame to put the hood down on it.

I really have had an excellent early Christmas Present from Paul at the paint shop who has worked flat-out on my car, and ALL the Guys at Mustang Maniac and Yogette who have kept the big surprise for me. Their hard work, knowledge and guidance has allowed me to have a shell that looks this good, so much better than I ever expected it to ever be. The big day that I had been waiting for had finally arrived.

Thank you all so much.

I was told that “now that the car is painted the hard work begins”. But hey, I am happy – just bring it on! 🙂

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A Glimpse Of Colour

As each batch of photos of my car in the paint shop are sent to Adam at Mustang Maniac I get more excited. The new process for letting me get to see them, a single teaser photo, followed by the rest of the batch once Adam has sorted them out, or thinks I have sweated it out long enough. 🙂 I know Adam has been keeping a real close eye on the progress and has supplied the colour swatches for the interior paint. The preparation and speed of progress on the car is just amazing, so much so that I am beginning to wonder, will I get an early Christmas prezzie in the form of my car fully painted? These few pics show more primer and blocking work before the colour top coats are applied.

The trunk has had the inside cleaned up to remove any light rust and the bits I inevitably missed. The shiny steel almost looks to good to paint, but seeing the top coat of colour on an outside panel soon changed my mind.

Engine.

Now the paint has dried out, but not yet fully cured as that won’t happen until the engine runs and gets hot of course. In the mean time I replaced the parts I intended to: The water thermostat and chrome thermostat housing, water temperature sender unit, water heater elbow connection and new distributor vacuum advance valve.

thermostat anti airlock hole
chromo housing
vacuum advance
water sender left below distributor cap

The egine now looks like new, all except the old distributor cap and rocker covers that I put back on for now, that’s just to keep the dirt and dust out until we are sure the valves don’t need to be adjusted. Then the proper ones will go on in the car later.

I AS I have been busy behind the scenes too, I have added a couple of walk through photo sets for refurbishing the starter motor and replacing the water thermostat on the engine.

Quick Links:

Photo menu – Electrical – Starter Motor Refurbishment click here.

There are lots more photos in the above link.

main case
brushes
All apart.

Photo Menu – Engine Bay – Water Thermostat Replacement click here.

Again more photos in the link above.

engine block face
old housing and thermostat

Those sharp eyed among you will notice that the distributor looks a lot better than it did. It has of course been restored, as soon as I have sorted those photos out I will post a photo walk though of that distributor refurbishment process. Watch this space!

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Primer All Over

The week was another anticipated trip to Mustang Maniac where I was going to finish painting my engine and putting a few bits back on it ready for the car to come back from paint. Somehow I don’t think my painting is up to the standard of the paint job my cars body work is getting. I’m not sure where to start, on the bodywork or the engine? So I think I will start with the bodywork. The car is being primed and block still at the moment and any hidden metal joins are being sealed up and coated to make the whole thing look seamless. An attention to detail many don’t consider.

The hood has now been masked up and given the primer treatment now and the parts are coming of and going on the car like you wouldn’t believe.

hood ready and doors off
doors & trunk

With the car bits removed they are all treated and sprayed in exactly the same levels of details.

paint11

The parts when cured are then put back on the car for fit and keep them all together ready for more block work.

I so want to get down there to see how it’s all done!

As I was saying earlier the engine intake manifold was back from shot blasting and John kindly jet washed it all out for me to get rid of the debris left overs, after all the last thing you want in your car’s engine is sand! The intake was allowed to dry thoroughly by the time I got there a few days later. The exposed surfaces were now showing signs of light surface rust again as expected from the exposed metal and elements. The gasket faces needed to be cleaned up again and I lightly polished up the faces ready for the gasket fitting.

close up surface
part polished faces

The gaskets were laid over the intake ports and the intake was carefully lowered onto the gaskets making sure they did not move.

The head was lightly bolted down finger tight and then torqued to the thirteen or fifteen pound required to hold it in place. The pot of blue paint used from the engine block was now opened and two coats of engine enamel applied when they were cured. A cover of masking tape was placed over the carb intake holes to stop any undesirable debris getting in the engine.

engpaint19We decided that the best plan here was to know put the old rocker (or valve) covers back on just in case we needed to adjust any of the springs back up again to save damage to new covers and gaskets. I also then mounted the fuel pump back on the side after it had been cleaned up along with the fuel pipe to the carb.

before treatment
rusted
heavy surface rust
bare metalled
self etch primer
silver top coat

With the pump in place there was not a lot more I could do until the paint has fully cured.

The story so far for the engine. Next week I may be able to get the senders fitted and the fittings for the pipe works. Then it will start to look a bit more like a working engine rather than the work of art that it is at the moment.

engpaint20

You just know full well it’s gonna stay looking like this. I have even bought the soft tooth brushes already to clean it when I get her home!

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