Full Frontal

[gregski]

Brake Master Cylinder Comes Out

This corner is a bear to wire wheel and clean, very crowded in there with the wiring, master cylinder, and steering box all living in there. Well at least the cylinder comes out, note the cotter pin that holds it to the brake pedal on the inside of the cab.

I cleaned it up a bit just for the hell of it to show you all the crud that was inside of it, although I will trade it in for a new one.

 

[gregski]

Removing The Transmission

Well it was more like a controlled drop! All I had to do is undo the speedo cable, and apparently some throttle linkage, and two long bolts that held the cross member to the chassy and with a jack I gently lowered her down, I was too lazy to drag her out into the open to take pictures so you will just have to trust me that she is resting on the floor of the garage

anywho, could someone please explain to me why in the world the throttle linkage is hooked up to the transmission? that must be an automatic car type of thing cause I have not seen it on sticks, it may explain why some carbs say they are for automatics as well, and not all carbs are created equal

 

[alcougar1968]

thats the kickdown for when you go to wot. basically it forces a downshift when you jam on the gas when passing and such. much like you would with a manuel trans

 

[gregski]

thats the kickdown for when you go to wot. basically it forces a downshift when you jam on the gas when passing and such. much like you would with a manuel trans

you mean I'm supposed to downshift when I go to pass in my stickomatic and not just lean forward in the seat saying "go go go" - jk, lol

 

[gregski]

The Cowl Braceseses Were Next

I decide to remove the Cowl Brace, plural I guess as there are two of them one per shock tower. Anyway as someone pointed out these are not to be mistaken for an Export Brace as that is an [ahem] performance doodad and a single piece that ads stiffness to your ride.

So here they are off the car and as they meet their date with destiny, aka the wire wheel. I may be getting too comfortable with my big 4 inch as I am beginning to hold the piece with one hand and work the grinder with the other. Just a matter of time till it kicks back and slams me in the face, you read it here first folks. (Full face shields on!)

 

[gregski]

Front Cross Member Cleaning

I think I mentioned the "handlebars" aka the front cross member in the syster post 1968 289 H2O regardless here it is all cleaned up. I am thinkin' black for the sheets and gray for the sticks that way we will have some contrast. Some guys differentiate based on stationary and moving pieces, but we don't wanna split hairs. So this part will end up gray.

 

[65fastbackresto]

Your doing alot of extra work

Yea and look who saying this, the razorblade guy....LMAO

Anyway, cheap and inexpensive rust remover, white vinegar and distilled water, half and half, let the bad parts soak for a week or so, they`ll come out so pretty a scotch brite pad will finish them for you, I swear it works.

 

[gregski]

Anyway, cheap and inexpensive rust remover, white vinegar and distilled water, half and half, let the bad parts soak for a week or so, they`ll come out so pretty a scotch brite pad will finish them for you, I swear it works.

I tried pure vinegar on the roof of my car and it didn't do squat. I imagine diluted it's even weaker. But in all fairness I did not submerge the entire roof in it for a week, I just kept it wet for as long as I could before it evaporated.

 

[gregski]

Wheel Wells

well although the engine bay is the primary concern, I am also going to clean up and paint the area hidden behind the front fenders, this is where some of you will say take off the control arms / suspension and do it right, and I'll say well I don't wanna do that cause I won't know how it goes back together, like I said with the engine and the transmission and you all see how that ended up, LOL

anywho for now I keep poking at the nooks and cranies with a long flat screw driver and a hammer, like an ancient Pyramid builder or something, uncovering tons of chunks of dirt, when you poke in there you may think you got it all, then you bust out a piece that is and inch and a half thick, THICK people, the area below the upper control arm was designed to collect dirt and dust, it's like a little 8 by 3 inch tray, a tinny cookie sheet if you will for grime, yes it does have two drain holes on either side but those probably clogged up as the car made it's way on to the loading dock from the factory, jk

so here's what I dug out of there

 

[gregski]

Almost Ready

So this is where we're at, almost ready for paint. However I doubt I will be able to paint the engine bay on Father's Day weekend.

 

[65fastbackresto]

Vinegar

Wont work without distilled water, it needs something in the water to work right. Try this on surface rust and you`ll find out pretty quick, about 10 minutes actually. Watch this video, if you can stand this guys foul mouth, he can teach you something.

YouTube - ‪Classic Car Restoration-How To Prep Your Surface Rusted Metal. Part 2‬‏

 

[gregski]

Watch this video, if you can stand this guys foul mouth, he can teach you something.

YouTube - ‪Classic Car Restoration-How To Prep Your Surface Rusted Metal. Part 2‬‏

I love My Friend Pete, I've seen tons of his video, emailed the guy back and forth too, great guy.

 

[robbz28]

By all means Greg, do your car in whatever manner suits your needs and you feel most comfortable with, it looks like great prep work so far, I just wanted to comment that removing the control arms requires removing two bolts and they fall right off....lower is just the one eccentric bolt and the strut rod. Anyway, keep up the good work. Not sure if you mentioned in there what you were going to paint it with, but I used Eastwood Underhood black with ceramic....gave it that nice dull black finish with the added bonus of ceramic. I also noticed that you masked off your decal...I can understand that, but they do make new ones =)

 

[gregski]

I also noticed that you masked off your decal...I can understand that, but they do make new ones =)

I did not know that, I usually skip those pages of the catalogs, LOL, serves me right.

 

[gregski]

Father's Day Weekend

Rule Number 1 of Father's Day for the uninitiated, the Father does what the Family wants to do... ie Family Time, pronounced No Work On The Mustang. We had a nice father's day weekend, went to the lake and got a sunburn, and my wallet, and blackberry stolen... minor set back point being I lost another weekend.

 

[gregski]

Steering Linkage Removal

Heck I removed everything else, why not drop this thing out of the way right? This would allow me to clean out all the crud behind the steering box, and learn me about steering linkages, a win win in my book. Plus I won't end up with everything covered in POR15 black, I hate it when it looks like someone just took a rattle can to the engine bay and bombed it all.

So two bolts on the passenger side, and three bolts on the driver side, and whalla...

 

[gregski]

Steering Link... WTF ?

Ok, undo two bolts on the left, drop the idler arm, remove three bolts on the right drop the .32 caliber bullet... What The F... ???

Ok, had this been a 9mm or a .40 Smith & Wesson sure no problem, but a .32 behind a manual steering box that's just bizzare, LOL

by the way I have no clue what I am talking about when it comes to guns and amo, I just googled it

 

[65ShelbyClone]

Sounds like a carjacking and possible murder. .32 auto is in the pocket pistol/Saturday night special category along with .25 autos and .380 autos.

 

[gregski]

Fade To Black

there the engine bay is done, how long did that take?, one, two, three weekends, what? THREE FRIGGEN MONTHS - well technically I did fart around with the engine once I pulled it out for a while

can you do this job in a weekend?, all the props in the world to you [youngsters] if you can, maybe a solid three day Holiday weekend, with no interruptions, and a helping hand or two, but not for a married guy with children and other obligations, just being realistic, and setting your expectations, remember this is not a race or a contest, you will feel way better if you take your time and do it right

did I get any on my skin, well heck yes I did, that stuff is expensive, and I didn't want any to go to waste, yes I did wear jeans and a long sleeve when I painted, this stuff went through my jeans

now about those control arms, LOL, yes they will be coming off later on when they get new bushings, yes they will be painted with POR15 as well, the sticks will be gray and the arms black

what's up next for Greg? well I am going to tackle the rusted floor boards, but don't hold your breath waiting on a thread, there's been plenty of floor board threads in the wild already

pic 1 - all prepped and ready for paint

pic 2 - after the first coat

pic 3 - after the second coat

pic 4 - well you get the idea...

A huge THANK YOU to all of you who have followed along, read, posted, tried to help, much appreciated.