choopacabra530

iTrader: (1)

While on the subject of making old parts look new again.

I am in the middle of my 3/78 SA restoration. Everywhere possible I am buying OEM parts. While I can buy a new windshield washer bottle, I cant find any of the radiator overflow as they are NLA.

Any tips on making cleaning and making the overflow bottle look new again?

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

I used some high grit sandpaper on my coolant/washer bottle. It came out looking
less yellow, but still not brand-new white. Not using my washer bottle and it has a
working pump on it as well if you would like it.

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

Well, finally got some free time today to actually do something other than other people's car
work

Got some 60 grit sand paper and started sanding some of the filler off. I am out here
sweating for an hour before I remember we have an electric sander! Grab that and basically
did the whole hour's work in 5 minutes. The right tools make all the difference! I got the
drivers side area in front of the tower done for the most part, and some of the tower as well.
When I was grinding the welds, I nicked a little of the silicone or whatever it is that is on the
shock tower, but some filler and sanding later, and it is contoured nicely! It helped to go back
over it with some 150 grit paper to feather the edges a bit and make it a smooth transition
from metal to filler.

Picture is a little fuzzy, but that is a camera phone for ya!

paulymc27

I just read this thread all the way through and it is very good. It makes you think about you car in places that you never thought before......off to the car.....

iowa_hawk1

iTrader: (4)

Do you restoration gurus have advice for making the side molding look new again? It doesn't appear to have been painted originally.

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

There is a black dye that is made for rubber moldings. You can sponge that on, but
make sure not to get it on the paint. I believe after it sits for a bit, you wipe it off.
Hold on gonna google...

EDIT: No wiping, it soaks in. Just be careful!
http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Black-.../dp/B000FOIJXQ

iowa_hawk1

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the response. Seeing no contradictions I have placed an order. I'll let you know how it comes out and post before and after pics. Do you think I can use it on the mirror housings as well?

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Seem to remember one called "Back to Black," too. I used steel wool, then a silicone soak, to do mine. Much easier since they were off the car at the time, though.

Banzai

iTrader: (13)

No they were factory fresh when new but get nicked & faded over time. They do make dye's to restore them back. DD is right, the best way is to remove them from the vehicle. If you plan on keeping the car long term this is the way to go. In the long run, short cuts just aren't worth it. They can also be painted with a trim black color. It hides all the imperfections and gives them that factory fresh look again. Re attaching them is an important step too. Personal perference I suppose, but I like the thin tape. Too thick and you can see it underneath or it makes the trim stick out from the body too much. It should fit nice and snug. The mirror are plastic too but I'd think paint would give you more color options. 79's should be a metalic grey to be correct, not sure if the trim color was changed to more of a black in 1980 but i'd say there were slight color variations even comming off the line. It's all about paying attention to the details.

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

Bumpin from the dead again. Haven't been getting much done lately, my sister just got out of
the hospital from chest pains. Turns out severe anemic All is well now, she seems better as
the days go on.

Got the coil bracket finished and mounted. Everything is very dusty from the bodywork I have
been doing, plus now I am unraveling the harness once more to feed it through the fender, if I
can actually get it off this time.

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

Made more progress today. Got tired of contorting myself just to get under the steering
wheel, so I took the seat out. Man, I swear no one has cleaned under it since it was bought
off the floor! It was dirty with what looked mostly like sawdust? I did find about 2$ in change
though. Anyways, on to the pictures.

Does anyone know what the box and blue wire is for? I think the box might have been for
the stock amps or something, not sure about the blue wire. Both under the seat.



Got the brake (and clutch pedal) out. Had to bend my arm in the WORST feeling position just
to get the long bolt out. Brake side has the bolt, but the other side of the clutch has the nut,
lock washer and regular washer. I am in the middle of drilling a new mount for the master
cylinder right now. Before, the mount was 3" down giving me a 4.3:1, but I have the new one
at 1.75", giving me 7.5:1. Hopefully this will make it easier!



Gave up on trying to get the rod out of the Booster. The rod that went into the slave just
came out, the one that connects to the pedal is stuck inside the rusty booster. Went to Home
Depot today with the nut and fork and found the thread pitch to be 10X1.25. No one has
metric threaded rods around here! I think I might have to settle for a bolt, then cut off the
head and weld it to an appropriately sized rod that will fit in the brake master. Also, I am
going to have to get some sheet steel and cut it to fit over the gigantic hole the booster left.
I'll drill the holes and mock up the mount to the pedal before I weld it in. I am thinking of
welding it to the inside of the car, so when I push the brakes I am not pushing against the
welds, more of pushing the plate...

rwatson5651

iTrader: (5)

The box is associated with the factory stereo, not sure exactly what it do tho.

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

Throwing down some more pictures!

Got the brake pedal hole finished. Then proceeded to get over excited, and spend the next
30 minutes putting the pedal assembly back into place. Let me give you a hint on how it goes
down: The brake pedal has 2 plastic bushings, one on each side. Then a metal tube is
inserted through it. Between the brake/clutch pedal, is another tube, then the clutch pedal
with the same bushings/tube setup as the brake had. So I get it the 14mm bolt through the
clutch and through the middle tube, and with some work FINALLY get it through the clutch
pedal.... but pushed the tube out! Ugh. After another 10 minutes it finally sets all back to
stock, put the washer, then the lock washer, then the nut on the end and tighten it.


And the brake pedal moves 2 inches left and right....

TOTALLY FORGOT THE BRAKE ROD. So down it went, with many foul words. Put the rod back
in, get everything situated and bolted down, and had to work with the brake pedal return
spring (used drum brake tool, worked great) with uber cramping hands.




There it is, as it sits. With moving the brake rod up to 1.75" from the top of the mount, it still
will push the brake master in, but stops just a HAIR more than 1/16" from bottoming it out
(with the adjustment 3.4 the way out).

Also got to pull my harness through the firewall as well. The first 3 inches were tough, I didn't
want to remove any of the stock tape holding the harness from where it splits, but after the
initial 3 it was a breeze.




The last pictures wires coming out of that small hole should be taken care of tomorrow. The top
wire goes to my fan's switch on/off, the blue is the MSD ignition kill, the red is the push button
starter, brown is electric oil temp and the last is my mechanical oil pressure tube. There is a
grommet right beside where the accelerator cable comes out at that I have routed the hood
release to, I will route the oil temp/pressure lines through that as well. Can't win every time

Should be pulling the fender tomorrow to see where and how I want to route it, then remove
the drivers radiator shroud so I can cut a rectangle piece out for my 2nd gen fuse box. Plans
for that are to have it recessed into the shroud about 3/4ths the way in but still have a little
room to pull the fuses without having to disassemble the shrouds anymore.

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

With some help from j9fd3s I finally made the fender my bitch:




It seriously took me 2.5 hours to pull it. EVERYTHING was attached to it, the
bumper, the door, the car, the power valance, etc etc. I couldn't get the headlight
lid off and ended up taking out the whole bucket to make it easier.


"Left to do"

• Drill hole for harness pass through
• Mount harness along inner fender
• ?Possibly make frog arm braces?
• Cut drivers side rad shroud for fusebox
• Fab relay holder
• Install headlight/fan/starter/horn relays
• Bolt everything back

Then onwards to paintwork and it should be...."done" (for now).

mazdawat

nice work dude. will pay off in the end

Directfreak

iTrader: (2)

UPDATE ON THIS? PICS?

You aren't using the trailing?
But you are using the holes to mount your ignition?

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

That is disturbing; your ignition solution.

I like what you did with your brake pedal, though. I'm doing the same with my clutch pedal. Did you drill a new hole in the pedal further up? Is that what I'm seeing in the picture?

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

Nope, no trailing for me! I was originally going to use the stock spark plug holes
as the mount for the ignition coil, but I was thinking that it may stress the
housings seeing how the coil is so far from the engine. New mounting will be
where the AC went.

Yes I drilled a hole further up. Power brakes have a ratio of 4:1 (rod:hinge/foot)
and non power brakes are between 7:1 to 8:1. I measured the distance from the

foot pad to the center of the hinge dowel, divided it by 7.5 and drilled. I can't
remember how far down it was but I believe about an inch and a half? I believe
7.5:1 is the highest ratio you can get and still have master cylinder travel. When I
push the brake pedal it will begin to brake, and too the floor it is at the dead
bottom of the cylinder. Anything higher and I would think the master cylinder
would be bottomed out and the pedal would not be on the floor.

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

Bumping from the dead!

Been busy working, then suddenly laid off (2nd time in 1.5 years!).

Now that I have free time again, goin back to my Rex!

Ordered a 16" fan from ebay to use as a pusher. Turns out... that is too big, and it won't sit
flush without laying on the "radiator tube". So that was a no-go. Went and took some actual
measurements, and ordered 2 10" fans. I had to cut the tabs off one side of both fans to
squeeze them in. Tested them after mounting and no rubbing/grinding or any issues!





Sylvania PureVision headlights (15$ at advance each) replaced the stock Hella lights. The stock
lights worked but the drivers side low beam tab broke off
Ordered some "heavy duty" headlight plugs for my new lights, turns out 18g wire is "heavy
duty" now. So I stripped it off and replaced it with 14g wire, and ran my passenger headlight
wiring. The stock front turn signal had a clip that held the wires, I managed to remove the turn
signal wiring and retained the clip. I use that clip for the headlight harness now, the signal is
wired in the pocket below the headlights.



Here is the area where the side turn signal and ground come out of. The wiring will be hidden
behind the headlight motor when I put that back in, and the wiring for the motors will be
hidden and through the whole as well.



Fed the stock harness through a 3" hole I made through the fender support. The stock wiring
harness grommet actually fits PERFECTLY in this hole which is why I did it The outer hole is 3"
as well, I slit some 1/8" vacuum line and epoxied that over the hole's edge. You can see the
wiring mounts I am using, they use the same double sided tape that holds emblems on, so
having these every 8" should do well in holding the slimmed down harness.



Wires go down to here. I drilled a 1.5" hole and fed the remaining wires through. The only
wires going through there are Passenger headlight motor, Front and side turn signals, Horn,
low coolant wire, W/R power wire, and my switchboard. Switchboard is in the cabin, I mounted
it under the DC player where the 2nd din used to go. No pictures of that though.



Aaaaand out this side. You can see the relays I have for the switchboard mounted on the
drivers side radiator support. It is right behind the 2nd gen fuse box. You can also see the non
power brake mount in the back ground. The brake booster footprint was too large for the
master cylinder so I got this plate drilled and then welded it on. I hate using bondo but it
would be the only thing to make the paint smooth Custom lines will be ran straight down
with the passenger front hardline going up and around the trans tunnel and through the
frame. All brake lines are hidden and the stock soft line holes on the shock towers are welded
shut.



Here is the mock up of how it will look. All the wires will be hidden from view. The only wires
that will be seen is one for the alternator, two from the dizzy, two for the coil, one for the
electric oil temp gauge, and one for the coolant temp. The mechanical oil pressure line runs
through the firewall. You can see where the MSD would impact the hood, so I cut a chunk out
of the hood support and will be fiberglassing that in.

ztfdrake61

Looking good!

Redliner223

iTrader: (6)

I'm bringing this old tread back from the dead.
Divin, I'm looking to restore my air cleaner. What paint and primer did you use?
Why did you decide to do a two tone paint job inside and out?
lastly what is the official air cleaner color? Ford blue? I might look into powder coating it if possible.

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

The official, original color is indistinguishable from Ford Blue. I have the cans in the garage still and will get you the color & brand. The primer is just a sandable red primer from the same maker.

The two-tone coloration: the outside is a highly metallic paint that I used for a number of highlights in the engine bay, but I wanted the interior to be original color, but without the rust

I have a spare air cleaner that eventually I'll restore to complete factory color. Already have the white label for it squirrelled away.

Redliner223

iTrader: (6)

If you could do that for me I would greatly appreciate it.
Did you reuse the rubber o-ring on the bottom or did you replace it?
One last question what did you do with the charcoal canister on the lid? Did you just cover it and paint the rest of it or did you just paint the lid?
I've got some rust coming up where the clips hold the lid down and some rust is forming on the bottom.
Thanks Divin

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

I masked the charcoal canister and painted the rest. The rubber isolator that mates the air cleaner to the carb I pulled out, let soak in silicone for about a week, and re-used. It's working fine.

I'll get you those paint IDs tonight.

Redliner223

iTrader: (6)

I apologize, I meant the o-ring inside the air cleaner. In the second picture you removed it when priming but put it back on in the third picture. Did you use any special high temperature glue to keep it in place or did you use an off the shelf type of rubber/metal adhesive?