Thanks, I'm stoked on the build. It's a slow process but it'll be worth it. Just got a few more things in today, including my raptor liner kit which I intend to spray in the trunk and under the car. I also got a mustang handbrake in. More parts on the way include 90s-00's Ford climate control switches with blue illumination to match my custom gauges from speedhut, halo fog lights, and a set of black rear interior panels, mine were shot due to UV damage turning them into powder in some places. I picked up a bunch of vitrogrit blast media for my uncle to blast some parts of my car to save me time. I'll hopefully be taking the 289 to our engine guy and getting my grabber spoiler to my dad's metalwork buddy to fab up my custom version this week or next. I can't realistically get the whole car done this summer unless I'm working night and day on it, so my goal is to complete all of the exterior work before heading back to OSU at the end of September. In Oregon, it'll be way too hard to plan out painting and things like that with rain coming in the Fall. Interior work can still be completed indoors no problem during that time.
Found the source of my rusted out floorpans: a leak in between where two pieces of sheet metal overlap on the passenger side of the cowl. There's a layer of some sort of caulking with two rust colored areas. The interior of the car matches that spot. Finding more filler than I want, there's a new spot I located on the driver's side pillar for the windshield. Up at the top there is a layer of a chrome colored filler that's built up about 1/8". Not pleased with this, it's a pretty big chunk. I haven't removed it all yet, I need to get the car turned around (air hose doesn't quite reach far enough in the blasting/sanding area we've got set up. There are also a few areas in the roof that will need patching. One apparently had been filled in the past, as it has now cracked free and a quarter sized chunk is missing. We're going to cut out the trunk almost entirely and make a new one. It's just too far gone in some places to where it makes more sense to just plasma it out and use it as a pattern for a new one. Those rear quarter panels need some cutting and patching too. One of the worst spots on the car right now is the driver's side quarter window sill. It had a substantial layer of bondo built up on it. It may also need to be cut out and replaced. I wish I had more fabricating skills so that I could get this stuff done, but my dad is the one with all of that experience. I got a new set of rear interior panels in and am very pleased with them. There are a few cracks on the edges but nothing that I'm worried about. The plastic is in great shape. Also got my halo fog lamps. Tons of work but tons of fun!
That's what they used to fill the factory seams, on the A pillar, and at the top of the quarter panel, they were pretty sloppy. It's not something you'd want to grind out. Some guys will use a torch to heat it, and melt it out, but you should wear a respirator, I'm sure the fumes can't be good for you. Then once you get it out, you can clean up the area and use something like "all metal" filler to replace it, or just leave it alone...
Getting interested in an MII kit. I need new front suspension and steering components anyway and since this will be a driver, I think it makes more sense than being budget conscious and replacing it with otherwise stock parts to just do an MII swap in the future. The Street Rod Engineering kit is the most enticing in my eyes so far based on price and features since it comes with a rack n pinion setup. Mav kit is $1800, 2k with their swaybar. It'll set me back budget wise and put things like wheels and tires, steering column, V8 parts out of range for now, but nothing I couldn't recover from in order to finish the project within a year or so. Thoughts? My options as I see them are: A. Pony up and buy an MII kit, worry about the money for the other components later B. Replace the front suspension with a stock replacement kit, fab up a rack setup and my disc brakes, and eventually cobble an MII kit in there some years down the road. Save money up front and potentially finish the car sooner, pay again later.
If the investing the money in a MII suspension will prolong the completion of the car, why not just rebuild the stock stuff for now, get the car done and enjoy it, then save some money and do the swap at a later date. There is always something else to do, but if it keeps going and going, you'll never enjoy the car, and eventually you'll get sick of it, which has happened to many people before, it's either the time or money, that's why there are always projects for sale.
More blasting and sanding. This time some hand sanding of small parts like door handles, headlight buckets, and whatnot. Primed those too. I've also started developing my door panels. I ordered some 3M white carbon fiber vinyl that I'll wrap around panels made from MDF and some type of foam or something that is to be determined. I'm going to ditch armrests and likely go with leather door pulls in their place. As far as suspension goes, I'll do a stock rebuild and get an MII kit down the line when I can afford to do so.
Slow goings lately being back at college. Got the rest of the car blasted so the whole car minus the chassis is down to bare metal. Ordered the rest of my gauges from speedhut, I'm thinking a wiring harness will be the next purchase. My timeline for completion is being pushed out; I'd rather have it done right and take the time for it rather than speed through it and be disappointed down the road. In other news I lost 2nd, 4th, and reverse in my 98 Contour SVT while driving. The Mav has been the most reliable car of anyone in my family!
We're looking at a 74 Comet that needs pans on both sides, did you get the pans replaced on your Maverick?
