Paul Masson's 71 Grabber

As per POST # 85, I have landmarked the placement of the cowl wrt the firewall and side posts. I'll fit the two pieces with the tabs up against MY firewall and sides, then "Fill In" the blades width...

In hind-sight, I was probably a little quick on the 'cut it in half' trigger, but it'll be ok!

 

Just take your time...

 

No worries:

I've already cancelled the insurance and am looking forward to a winter's worth of weekends in the garage. No rush for it now. The snow will be here in a few weeks...

 

I got the donor driver's side cowl piece stripped of it's extra bits and temporarily clamped in place for a test fit. I also started welding in the holes that I drilled through the firewall flange that is under the lower cowl. I used a flattened 1/2" copper pipe about 6-inches long to keep the welding puddle from falling through the holes.

Once both halves of the lower cowl are freed of their excess material, they will be sandblasted, welded together while clamped in situ and then coated in POR-15 before being glued into place.

 

Don't forget to check the wiper arm shaft location once the top cover is back on.

 

My plan is to set it all up with the wipers bolted in before the cover goes on. That should be around Christmas time

Thanks for the heads-up though, I think I remember Thomas (Tody) mentioning this a while ago, too.:Handshake

 

Wow Paul, you have it going your way, nice work!

 

In preparation for cowl installation and painting, I managed to convince a good friend of mine to let me help him assemble his new sand blasting cabinet in MY garage instead of his! It will live here for a while until I get all the parts blasted. It's big enough that the two lower cowl halves will each fit inside the cabinet.

I added the 'seal of approval' on the front of the cabinet for him.

 

That is pretty cool. Even matches!!

 

I have the same one! Make sure you seal the seems, before you use it.

 

Thanks Dave! The reviews on the Princess Auto site did talk about the need to seal the seams. What did you use? I was just going to use Dow-Corning 732 silicone (the price was right, if you know what I mean...)

I see you have a cloth or something stuffed into the side flange. Are you using this as an air inlet? I was thinking of mounting a check valve on top of the unit to act as a vacuum breaker to prevent imploding the cabinet when the shop vac is turned on. Are you running the PA light? Nice of them to sell that and the 12V adapter seperately, eh?

 

In the side, I'm using a floor scuffing pad, as a filter, so the shop vac doesn't suck up all the media. Originally I used silicone, but it pealed off in no time, I gave the instead a coat of brushable duct sealer, and it seems to be holding up. The light sucked, so I bought a few led lights from Canadian Tire. I also made the legs a little longer.

 

What type if led lights did you use? Battery lights?

 

I have this same drill but with a quick chuck. Best drill I have ever owned.

 

Started using the sand blaster cabinet on the weekend. I got the manifold pretty much cleaned up, and it's looking good! I also started on the lower cowl piece that I had seperated from the donor car parts. It's looking really clean!

On another note, my cousin will be picking up a set of Ford Aluminum Slot Rims with "Maverick" center caps for me today. I stumbled across them while window shopping on Kijiji. I know I don't "need" them, but I couldn't pass up the chance to own a set. So, it looks like I'll be swapping out the 4-lug stuff and replacing it with 5-lug discs on all four corners. So much for the 100% stock approach.