Progress Thread Street/strip 427w In A Gt Hatch- Slow Progress

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cam is a custom thru comp (who woody uses for his customs). solid roller, .676/.673 and 256/264

trans will be a 4r70w (was hoping to find a good buildable core here in the next month or so for mockup, providing i can save enough $$$). going to keep the 4.10 rear i have, its already 31 spline and is fresh (with an extra carbon clutch to boot), just needs c-clip elims/9" ends and the tubes welded.
 
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If possible I'd like to keep it "in the family" IE a late-model Ford color. Was kind of leaning towards moonlight/royal (depending on model, code km) but the metallic scares me. Was also looking at azure blue but some pics it seems a little too light and I haven't seen a mach 1 IRL for too long (and like every thing else is probably a metallic too but can't remember for sure).
Ok, I looked back roughly ten years worth of Ford solid colors. Here's a list from lightest to darkest(paint code/name)3
1. CI/Grabber Blue
2. W8096H/Fleet Blue
3. M6957D/Bright Atlantic Blue
4. M6970D/Denim Blue
5. M6961D/Atlantic Blue

There were a couple others I couldn't pull up on our computer too.

Like I said, all solid colors. No pearls or metallics. I'd try to show you pictures if these colors, but you wouldn't be able to tell much from them. The first color is the traditional Grabber Blue that was reused again starting around '08 or so. The last one almost looks black.
 
are you certain about the atlantic blues? bab is what i originally planning on when i started this project, and every time i see it on a sn99 (saw one today actually) it has that metallic sparkle (not nearly as bad as blue flame though, i parked next to truck in that color yesterday at lunch and wow thats a lot of flake). i think its a little too light/bright for me now though. grabber for sure is too light and doesn't look right on a fox imo.

trying to google that fleet blue real quick, but not having any luck.

this popped up on bookface last night, it's about exactly what i'm looking for, cant tell if its got any flake or not (kinda looks not), also not sure if its an oem color or not
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are you certain about the atlantic blues? bab is what i originally planning on when i started this project, and every time i see it on a sn99 (saw one today actually) it has that metallic sparkle (not nearly as bad as blue flame though, i parked next to truck in that color yesterday at lunch and wow thats a lot of flake). i think its a little too light/bright for me now though. grabber for sure is too light and doesn't look right on a fox imo.

trying to google that fleet blue real quick, but not having any luck.

this popped up on bookface last night, it's about exactly what i'm looking for, cant tell if its got any flake or not (kinda looks not), also not sure if its an oem color or not
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Same name almost, you're seeing Atlantic Blue Metallic (even though it's a pearl that makes the sparkle) on that car. It's roughly that tone, but solid.

The fleet blue color I used to see on a lot of E150-350 vans. I thinks Sears vans were that color for a while.
 
You really limit yourself on it being a solid color, there aren't many mainstream ford solid colors beyond Grabber Blue. I understand though. I think to find an attractive solid blue you might want to step outside ford's limited world.

Solid blues really haven't had any popularity in the past decade or two. What you might want to do is go to one of the local automotive paint stores and look through their catalogs and chip books for the paint system they sell.

Even the modern renditions of hemi orange and grabber green for dodge have some pearl in them.
 
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Pearl i think is OK, it's the flake that bothers me. That being said, how well do the modern metallics like sonic spray for a newbie? I'm actually really digging the moonlight blue (Ford code km) just don't know if I can really pull it off.
 
Pearl i think is OK, it's the flake that bothers me. That being said, how well do the modern metallics like sonic spray for a newbie? I'm actually really digging the moonlight blue (Ford code km) just don't know if I can really pull it off.
It's crazy how they pop, the kona blue i'm putting on my car doesn't have any metallic in it.

Pearls really aren't tough to shoot. It's good to go with a slower reducer/thinner for the base to allow the mica chips time to lay down. Consistent, even overlap, roughly 60% when shooting. Get a test panel to practice on. It really does help.
 
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are you certain about the atlantic blues? bab is what i originally planning on when i started this project, and every time i see it on a sn99 (saw one today actually) it has that metallic sparkle (not nearly as bad as blue flame though, i parked next to truck in that color yesterday at lunch and wow thats a lot of flake). i think its a little too light/bright for me now though. grabber for sure is too light and doesn't look right on a fox imo.

trying to google that fleet blue real quick, but not having any luck.

this popped up on bookface last night, it's about exactly what i'm looking for, cant tell if its got any flake or not (kinda looks not), also not sure if its an oem color or not
18156995_277598669353757_8058192303656551894_n.jpg


Looks like Deep Impact Blue to me, google Save a Fox project. Looks fairly close
 
got about 99% of the filler work done last week, just a few pinholes left to deal with. of course it won't stop raining around here until saturday, so i wont be able to get a fresh coat of epoxy on it to seal it up until at least monday afternoon/evening. after that, i dunno :shrug: gotta rebuild the bank account after paying taxes and buying the primer/guns/supplies to get here. i'll probably get the front suspension on sometime next week, then maybe start getting doors/fenders disassembled/stripped/repaired/epoxied while i save up some $$$$.

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Nice work brother. I understand the tax thing. $2300 extra from me. At least I'm paying for a replacement MOAB with my taxes, that makes me feel a little better.

Good progress though, it looks good.
 
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i "only" owed 500 this year (most to state, so no mother bombs from me), but combine that with ~$200 in vet bills, $400 in ira fees, $250 for primer (and w&g), $150 for sprayers, along with all my normal bills, it means that the only reason i actually (barely) put more in the bank than i spent last month was selling the tko.

and i may get a couple unpaid days here in the next week. the meremac monday was only about 1-2 blocks away from the work parking lot. tuesday it was about a foot deep in the lot apparently according to my boss. was supposed to crest today, and they cancelled work so havent heard if it's actually in the building yet (though i would be surprised if the front wall didnt just fall in).
 
I know, it's been a month since the last update. Got unhappy with some (a lot actually) of the bodywork (mostly cause i stopped at 80 grit when i should have went to 180), so went back and fixed it. There's another solid 80+ hours of filling, sanding, and refilling and re-sanding to get to this point (most of that is due to sloppiness on my part, and a lack of motivation due to lack of visible progress).

Anyway, finally got all the filler and old epoxy blocked down to 180 Wednesday night, cleaned and hosed out the garage after work yesterday, and then sprayed 2 more coats of epoxy this morning and it looks a :poo:ton better.
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Now the question (which I asked a similar question in the 101 thread) is, do I go ahead and throw on 3-4 coats of surfacer on Monday/Tuesday while I'm in my 7-day recoat window and then let that sit until I've got all the big pieces test fit, or leave it as is and when I'm ready for it just scuff the epoxy down to 180 again then surfacer? I bought a gallon the other day just so i would have it when the time came, but I'm kinda leaning towards option 2.

btw @Davedacarpainter I was so tempted to go ahead and spray that surfacer this afternoon that I had to leave the house to not just do it, and went and saw the s-w guy again. $430/gallon for the color I'm looking at, and that's just the color, no reducer etc. Nason was $200, and Spies (chroma was priced close enough to the spies to count it out) is close to $1k (both sprayable iirc) for the same color. Avoiding the ppg based on what the net says. Thinking of using a different clear than any of those though (probably SPI, that's where I got my epoxy).
 
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I've been painting since the laquer days, so this kind of taints my answer a little. I'm always for allowing primers to harden up for longer periods of time.

I guess I should say i'm for allowing the primer to shrink back would be more accurate. Allow all of the solvents to escape first.

I'm with you on letting it set till after fitting the panels, then high build. That way if you need to do anymore straightening you'll easily take care of that with the last coat of primer.

Crazy how expensive this sht is, huh? I'm not really current on what the retail prices are, your quotes kind of laid my ears back.
 
Finally, I'm putting parts back on the car!!! The past year has seemingly been nothing but welding, grinding, and sanding, feels awesome to finally be doing some bolting (even if all it is, is test fitting). Of course, nothing on this car is without setbacks.

Setback #1: Remember how I've mentioned this car has been hit in the front? Well, that reared it's ugly head at about 6:00 last night trying to install the new K,

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You can see where the frame buckled/kinked right in front of the stock K and bunched up the metal. The frame was pulled (maybe not enough?) at the time and there's been no "weirdness" with the way the car drives, so I'm guessing this is where the metal was just stretched out and the shop doing the work just didn't care. Also note the bit of weld there (not mine).

Here's the drivers side, not kinked as bad but more weld (ignore the driplet of body filler that fell through the strut tower)
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After a couple test taps with the bfh, I thought for sure I was going to have cut some out of the kink and weld it back together, but a bit more oomph with the hammer gave me this:
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As an added benefit, all this garbage fell out of the hole between the k-member bolt holes on the pass side, apparently one little rock plugged it up :shrug:
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Now this morning, after 2 cans of cheap spray bombs, then a trip to wally world for two more, the inner fenders are all one color and no bare surface-rusting spots.
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K and control arms are in (not all the way tight yet, needs grease and it's all coming back apart anyway):
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Then after a tearing apart the spindles, going and getting yet another new hub for the passenger side, then another store trip for some degreaser and a container (which I thought I had), then somewhere between 1-2 hours of scrubbing and soaking, and then another store trip for some gloss black engine enamel (again, thought I had more than I actually did), here's the spindles ready to go on.
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I'll get the rest of suspension together tomorrow after cutting grass.

Next question: I have both a 99+ pbr setup AND the 04 cobra setup. The cobra setup worked WAAAAAY better, but when I moved the rotors just got thrown in the back of the truck and stayed there for about a week (half of which was raining). Of course, those rotors now look like they sank with the titanic. I want to use that setup if I can (I think a 25" tall skinny instead of the 26" I got would clear just fine, the non-racing wheels were never a problem), but don't know if I fell like bolting all that rust to this car even if its just for mockup.....
 
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Strange coilovers are finally on. 12" 150lb springs. Reusing my existing Strange shocks and MM cc's. Threw on the GT rotors and the 17x9 245/45 wheels that I've had forever, was a bit concerned they wouldn't fit, but there's just enough clearance.
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Also salvaged the power steering rack off the old K (which has been sitting in the bed of the truck since I took it off). Thinking of going with a manual rack just because it's less crap that can go wrong, but :shrug: this thing needs new tie rod ends if I do end up using it (and new castle nuts, no idea where mine are so it just has a couple old lugs nuts on it now to hold the wheels straight.

Finally on all four again. Ignore the blood puddle, even though I drained the rack before I put it on, as soon as you push on the rod ends and it "steers" it just pukes fluid :rolleyes: who knew?
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So last week I bought this junkyard fresh '98 4r70w, which promptly bled all over me carrying it from the truck to the garage :(
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Also got the converter for it, will probably do the first start with the trans and converter as-is so I know everything works (whenever that will be)
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Monday I made a Summit order for head gaskets, bolts, and headers. Pip got curious about the big box
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So here's why I love Summit. You'd think a standard 351w head bolt would work for this, and it really should, but, well.....
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Yup, the head of that bolt is blocked from going into the hole by the big 'ol solid roller spring. oops

One call to Summit, and a full refund and exchanged for a set of studs (that are unfortunately are on back order until next week:( ) with no questions asked. :thumbsup:

Since all i'm trying to do is test fit this monster, not a huge deal right now, a couple g5 on the corners will do.

Head gasket, Fel-pro MLS (yes, its upside down, i noticed it after i took the pic and fixed it :doh:).
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Heads on and taped up ready for a test stab. This is going to be AWESOME.
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Headers out of the box. Came with adapter plates, which i'm not going to use since the high-ports have the right pattern already. Just the painted ones since I know theres going to be a bit of grinding/bending/bending before they fit like I'm going to want. Btw, even though theres bungs for the O2's, the collectors themselves arent drilled. Found that a bit odd but NBD.
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And of course, already have an issue (which research before hand prepared me for). Flange sticks up above the valve cover rail. Shouldn't be a big deal, a little flap wheel or mill action and she'll be perfect.
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Got that far today before I was waiting for ups to deliver a new block plate.

Tomorrow I'll get the trans and block together, and see how much i'll have to manipulate the headers to fit around the trans. If all goes well, may even get the assembly in the car.
 
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Since you and I have the same trans, I can ask this. What are you doing to it to insure that it'll survive, are you gonna keep the l/U and OD functions, and how are you gonna accomplish that?
You do nice work BTW.
 
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