Progress Thread Down For A Decade - Got The Job!

[Fordfreak93]

I'm glad to hear that you're doing the body and paint with quality and value in mind. The way these cars get attention and are holding/increasing value it's a worthy investment IMO. My car turns heads and gets compliments most places I go and you don't want to have it in the back of your mind that you half assed your car and went to Maaco for paint. I think you're doing a great job and being very patient with your restoration build. You have a long road but you've already got a lot of hard issues tackled and it must feel pretty good.

Thanks man, I really appreciate the support and compliments! This has definitely been a project that has pushed me to my limits mentally and financially. The hardest thing about the whole deal has been making decisions and sticking with them. I change my mind a hundred times and cause more work for myself. If I wasn't so indecisive I might be done already, but I am also very thorough and believe in doing things the right way. This has lead me down a much longer path, but I think I'll be happier in the end.

While I was talking to my painter last weekend he brought up a great point. Take the time to enjoy the work I'm doing on the car now, when I'm done with the build I will miss these long and hard hours I am spending on it. When we take on a build we challenge ourselves to create something new and exciting by pouring our heart and soul into a project. We devote all of our free time and energy to planning and executing and overcoming problems. Having additional stress and pressure almost feels natural. When it's all over we might feel lost again and start searching for the next project. Yeah, it will be nice to have it completed and not having huge tasks looming over you, but you can only wash and wax it so many times before you want to tear into it again. I completely understand where he is coming from, as I have already caught myself thinking about my "next project". So the next time you are laying upside down underneath your dash fighting a brake booster, take a moment and think about how much we really love these freaking cars that we devote so much to them and enjoy every last painful second under there.

 

[Fordfreak93]

You're getting there brother. Glad to see you're following through it.

Thanks man! Watching your progress on the Impala is awesome, keep up the good work! That's a whole lot of car, much rather be working on my little coupe.

Hey, got any tips for removing door moldings? I want to reuse them, so I need to be super careful taking them off. I've heard the metal backing can bend easily, but I've never removed any myself.

 

[General karthief]

Thanks man! Watching your progress on the Impala is awesome, keep up the good work! That's a whole lot of car, much rather be working on my little coupe.

Hey, got any tips for removing door moldings? I want to reuse them, so I need to be super careful taking them off. I've heard the metal backing can bend easily, but I've never removed any myself.

Sooo, I figure a jack hammer is out of the question?

 

[Fordfreak93]

Sooo, I figure a jack hammer is out of the question?

I was thinking about a plasma cutter, should do the job

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Thanks man! Watching your progress on the Impala is awesome, keep up the good work! That's a whole lot of car, much rather be working on my little coupe.

Hey, got any tips for removing door moldings? I want to reuse them, so I need to be super careful taking them off. I've heard the metal backing can bend easily, but I've never removed any myself.

Fishing line slid behind it and kind of saw your way through it.

 

[Fordfreak93]

Fishing line slid behind it and kind of saw your way through it.

Thanks @Davedacarpainter, now that's a great tip! I've got plenty of that laying around

 

[Bossed]

Thanks man! Watching your progress on the Impala is awesome, keep up the good work! That's a whole lot of car, much rather be working on my little coupe.

Hey, got any tips for removing door moldings? I want to reuse them, so I need to be super careful taking them off. I've heard the metal backing can bend easily, but I've never removed any myself.

I used a thin putty knife to remove the door moldings on my son's car. I used a stone to sharpen the end of the knife. Worked like a champ.

 

[Fordfreak93]

Got after it last night, pulled the front suspension back out and put her back on the dolly. What's that saying, two steps forward, one step back!? Oh well, I wanted to paint the K-member a different color anyways and it will be way easier to stand in there to grind and weld. So I'm focusing on the engine bay now, buying panels from scott rod and welding up some other holes. I do have a question after looking at a bunch of smoothed bays, do I need to run a sway bar? Can I swap in the SN95 sway bar that mounts under the frame rails? My gut tells me that I will want a front sway bar because I do live near some good twisty roads, but I see a lot of people not running one at all up front. The fox style sway bar mounts in the bay look pretty like crap unless you box them in. What are your thoughts and experiences with front sway bars? Anybody swap a SN95 sway bar into a fox? Any feedback is appreciated

 

[deathb4dismount]

Got after it last night, pulled the front suspension back out and put her back on the dolly. What's that saying, two steps forward, one step back!? Oh well, I wanted to paint the K-member a different color anyways and it will be way easier to stand in there to grind and weld. So I'm focusing on the engine bay now, buying panels from scott rod and welding up some other holes. I do have a question after looking at a bunch of smoothed bays, do I need to run a sway bar? Can I swap in the SN95 sway bar that mounts under the frame rails? My gut tells me that I will want a front sway bar because I do live near some good twisty roads, but I see a lot of people not running one at all up front. The fox style sway bar mounts in the bay look pretty like crap unless you box them in. What are your thoughts and experiences with front sway bars? Anybody swap a SN95 sway bar into a fox? Any feedback is appreciated

The only place you should have the sway bar off is at the track. Any corner without it on the street will be hairy

 

[90sickfox]

Most people will never look down that far in the bay.

Not worth the consequences to remove the bar. Not sure about swapping a sn95 sway bar. Would make an interesting read.

 

[Nightstang00]

Thanks man, I really appreciate the support and compliments! This has definitely been a project that has pushed me to my limits mentally and financially. The hardest thing about the whole deal has been making decisions and sticking with them. I change my mind a hundred times and cause more work for myself. If I wasn't so indecisive I might be done already, but I am also very thorough and believe in doing things the right way. This has lead me down a much longer path, but I think I'll be happier in the end.

While I was talking to my painter last weekend he brought up a great point. Take the time to enjoy the work I'm doing on the car now, when I'm done with the build I will miss these long and hard hours I am spending on it. When we take on a build we challenge ourselves to create something new and exciting by pouring our heart and soul into a project. We devote all of our free time and energy to planning and executing and overcoming problems. Having additional stress and pressure almost feels natural. When it's all over we might feel lost again and start searching for the next project. Yeah, it will be nice to have it completed and not having huge tasks looming over you, but you can only wash and wax it so many times before you want to tear into it again. I completely understand where he is coming from, as I have already caught myself thinking about my "next project". So the next time you are laying upside down underneath your dash fighting a brake booster, take a moment and think about how much we really love these freaking cars that we devote so much to them and enjoy every last painful second under there.

Your 100% right. I'm currently doing a restore of a 93 fox, and I'm starting with the interior. I find myself wanting to do it all at once , but it's healthy to step back and enjoy. Document it, so I can look back at it!

 

[Fordfreak93]

The only place you should have the sway bar off is at the track. Any corner without it on the street will be hairy

Most people will never look down that far in the bay.

Not worth the consequences to remove the bar. Not sure about swapping a sn95 sway bar. Would make an interesting read.

So all of these are track only cars? I don't see any provisions for a sway bar in any of these bays. I'm not trying to sound like a dick, I'm just trying to figure out why or how they ran without one? It looks like my best bet would be to box in the current sway bar mounts so they aren't as ugly. I just see a lot of bays with no mounts or sway bar what so ever, I'm confused...

 

[Fordfreak93]

Your 100% right. I'm currently doing a restore of a 93 fox, and I'm starting with the interior. I find myself wanting to do it all at once , but it's healthy to step back and enjoy. Document it, so I can look back at it!

That's awesome Rich, definitely take lots of pics! If there is one piece of advice I can give you, it's this: DON"T TAKE YOUR WHOLE CAR APART! I jumped into a "full" restoration way before I had the actual means to complete it and I've been struggling with it ever since. I finally have the finances to complete it now, but I could have been driving and doing little projects this whole time. I have my eyes on the finish line now, even though it's still far away, and I can't wait to drive my car again!

 

[Nutty 5.o]

I can't comment necessarily on the importance of the sway bar, but having a car that had accident damage I was aware of, the sway bar mount was all mangled. I got the (expensive) Steeda sway bar mounts which at least look better and could be painted to match engine compartment. Just an option although they're pretty huge:

 

[Fordfreak93]

I can't comment necessarily on the importance of the sway bar, but having a car that had accident damage I was aware of, the sway bar mount was all mangled. I got the (expensive) Steeda sway bar mounts which at least look better and could be painted to match engine compartment. Just an option although they're pretty huge:

Thanks man! Do those bolt to the existing fox sway bar mounts along the frame rails? They look really solid, I like those. I'm exploring all my options and I really appreciate you chiming in

 

[Chuckman]

i took off my front sway bar the last season i had the car running (since i had the coyote for going around corners and the daily grind, bushings were shot anyway). im not putting it back in either (and cut the mounts out already), since its going to a street/strip car and the benefits in that app outweigh the handling advantage for me. if it was going to stay a mostly daily car like it was, it would have stayed in or had the option of going back in.

i didn't notice much of a handling difference with just the sway bar out, but like i said the bushings were about shot when i removed it.

 

[Nutty 5.o]

Thanks man! Do those bolt to the existing fox sway bar mounts along the frame rails? They look really solid, I like those. I'm exploring all my options and I really appreciate you chiming in

No problem; figured it was worth mentioning since I needed a new bracket anyway. Yes, it bolts right up. Way overpriced but it was right after deciding to buy a car and thinking that was really all I needed to have car ready to drive. I should have known better!

 

[Nightstang00]

That's awesome Rich, definitely take lots of pics! If there is one piece of advice I can give you, it's this: DON"T TAKE YOUR WHOLE CAR APART! I jumped into a "full" restoration way before I had the actual means to complete it and I've been struggling with it ever since. I finally have the finances to complete it now, but I could have been driving and doing little projects this whole time. I have my eyes on the finish line now, even though it's still far away, and I can't wait to drive my car again!

I agree , I actually have been doing that. Driving it around, sometimes with one seat lol. Here's what I done so far, 3 months. I got 99 gt seats in it now, still some work to do inside though , hatch and a few odds and ends.

 

[deathb4dismount]

So all of these are track only cars? I don't see any provisions for a sway bar in any of these bays. I'm not trying to sound like a dick, I'm just trying to figure out why or how they ran without one? It looks like my best bet would be to box in the current sway bar mounts so they aren't as ugly. I just see a lot of bays with no mounts or sway bar what so ever, I'm confused...

Ok, run it without one. What's the worst that can happen?

 

[Dan02gt]

Buddy of mine damn near got killed in a fox because of no front sway bar. When he bought it was missing the end links. He figured he would get around to replacing them in the next few weeks. A few day later he was playing around with the car and ran it up to about 75 MPH then got on the brakes hard to slow down. The brake dive caused the car to become uncontrollable and it spun out in the middle of a straight road. Luckily no traffic was around. The missing end links were replaced the next day and the sway bar was reconnected.

No way I would run any vehicle without a front sway bar that was designed to have one.