Finished soundproofing the interior:

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Nice work - you are making progress.

Looking great! More pictures please

Fired two coats of Rustoleum semi-gloss on the rear emblem & windshield wipers:

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Finished the front & rear valences:

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Ran a load of parts through the dishwasher:

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Bumpers, tops and valences everywhere:

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You ran the taillight buckets through the dishwasher and they came out that nice????? WOW

Cascade extra action!!!

My fog lights were a mess...heavy rust & pitting on the back with surface rust on the inside. Brushed on a coat of ospho, followed by two coats of Rustoleum semi-gloss:

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Picked up some heavy duty electrical tape & ran two rows across the lower edge of the rear window using the seal as a guide following the Shea installation instructions:

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Aside from the airbox and master cylinder, few parts have caused me as much grief as the rear sway bushings during reassembly. After trying a bunch of different methods to install the lower links, I lubed them up with silicone grease, cut a 2 X 4 to length and used a bottle jack on its side to press them on - it worked well:

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The finish line is in sight! Started sanding the entire car in preparation for paint. There are a few areas with surface rust that need to be treated. I refused to drop the airbox again, especially with the tank in...wrapped sandpaper around a paint stick to sand the louvers above the box. Masking this area should be fun:

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Found some more rust on the underside after removing the front valence. "Tented" the area & sprayed on a coat of ospho & two coats of rustoleum:

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Car is ready for paint!

Hit numerous areas with spot putty & re-sanded. There was one high spot on the passenger side where I cut the fender that I couldn't blend. I didn't want to beat on it with a hammer at this point, so I cut a 2 X 3 to length and used a bottle jack against the wall to push it in:

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Bumpers, valences & an Optima 34 on a trickle charger ready to go:

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A little nervous about shooting $400 worth of primer and paint with a $12.99 Harbor Freight (on sale) HVLP paint gun, I bought a spare at the same time, tore it apart & cleaned it with laquer thinner today. I don't want to get hung up in the middle of a paint job because of paint gun paint gun problems. I must admit, I was impressed with the job it did in the engine bay:

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There's light at the end of the tunnel....

Are you going to paint the final colour yourself or take it to a shop? Looks like you'll have to do alot of masking...

NO BOB!!! You can't finish it yet. It needs to make it's first run to Hershey, so you will just have to find more repair work to keep you busy until April. I could always bring Christine up if you need some more practice.


Great Job man, I look forward to see her in person.

I never knew there were so many uses for a bottle jack!

I went over-budget on my restoration about two years ago. It will be a garage paint job, shot by me.

Not looking forward to masking at all.

Thanks Don.

Time to be instead of I can't wait!

Awesome work!

Getting close...

John

Took a look at my backpad. Overall, it is in decent shape, except for the upholstery coming off the back. One of the bottom corners was broken so I used fiberglass cloth on both sides to re-attach it, then worked my way around re-gluing it with 3M adhesive:

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Your turn signal bucket is shipping out tomorrow. Anything else you need before I ship?

I was not happy with my rattle can paint job on the engine deck lid so I re-sanded it. It will be painted with the rest of the car:

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Started sorting out the interior parts. Most were covered in four years of grinding dust. Overall my interior was in pretty nice shape. There are a few odds & ends to be addressed after the car is on the road, but I am rolling with what I have. The targa pad plugs didn't stay in, so I picked up a couple packs of 5/16 hole plugs at Lowes - they look good. For the door sills, I went with stainless steel screws. I couldn't resist cleaning the dash:

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I could use a back pad "dome" light that actually fits.

Thanks Shoe, appreciate the help.

Re-connected the emergency brake cables in the cockpit with help on the from 914 world, completed the installation and adjusted the parking brake:

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Installed the back pad and dome light, I realized tonight that I have to yank it off again to attach the seat belts :

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Had to remove the speakers so I could run the grills through the dishwasher. Two of the brass inserts started spinning in the holes. One broke when I tried to remove the screw. Ran to Ace Hardware & picked up an aluminum insert, drilled the plastic out to 1/4" and installed it with a thin coat of epoxy:

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Interior is about 90% installed:

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The drivers side suspension arm is plenty strong with the Tangerine racing reinforcement welded on, but I really don't know the condition of the inside of this area. Sprayed a heavy dose of Extend rust treatment in through the drain holes. I will follow up with some Rustoleum:

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Donald (Hotshoe) donated a front turn signal bucket to the cause. It had some corrosion on it that I wanted to clean up. As soon as I hit it gingerly with a wire wheel, holes started to appear. It had a good plug on it, so I transferred the socket to my old one. Thanks Shoe!

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Installed the eyebrows with new grommets from 914rubber:

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Re-attached the rear-view mirrow with a kit from Autozone:

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I am pleased with how the interior went back together. The drivers side seat upholstery needs to be replaced, but it will do for now:

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In preparation for paint, I dumped the garage and gave it a thorough cleaning to remove four years of grinding dust. Don't want any of that crap landing on my freshly painted car:

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After reading a couple of horror stories on CV joints coming loose, I decided to install the CV's with new schorr washers and safety wire. What a PITA running safety wire in here:

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Looking good Bob, nothing like a good garage clean out! I seem to be spending most of my evenings rolling around in dust and sharp bits of metal..need to get the broom out.

Interior is looking sweet..can't wait to see the exterior all freshly painted.

O.

I know what you mean about rolling around in the filth. There was a period of time when I would regularly end up with pieces of wire from a wire wheel imbedded in my skin. Many times, I didn't even know it until I moved a certain way...then ouch!

Interior looks great, it really came together nicely.

It must feel great to get that done. Cheers

Hah!..with you on that. I get my wife to pick the wire out of my face after using the wire brush on my angle grinder - I call it the hedgehog effect.

Pushed the car out and made an attempt to turn the garage into a paint booth. Installed a window fan backwards to draw air through the garage and cracked the garage door. Was hoping for a venturi effect, but the fan is not strong enough. Pulled the dehumidifier out of the crawl space and ran the tube outside. It will remove humidity from the garage pretty quickly. Everything running (including the air compressor) was to much for my 10 amp garage circuit breaker, so I ran an extension cord down from the kitchen:

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Bent up a test panel for painting with a piece of 2' X 2' sheet metal and prepped it for paint. I am glad I did this before I started painting the car. The $12.99 HVLP Harbor Freight paint gun came with a 1.4 tip that did not allow enough primer to flow. I ended up with a very rough finish shooting primer. I ordered both a 1.7 and 2.0 tip tonight and found it amusing that each replacement tip costs as much as the gun itself . I won't touch the car with paint until I can make this test panel look good:

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Started sorting put the ECU and MPS mounting & wiring. Picked up the mounts at car shows over the last few years. Had to replace the female connectors on two of the ECU wires:

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Thanks!

Oh yeah...I have spent more than a few minutes just sitting in the car.

I guess I got lucky never getting the wire imbedded in my face, great name for the phenomenon!

Yep, my girlfriend became an expert at spotting & extracting coarse wire from my back...it became routine for a while there!

Ouch..bet she loved that!!

When you do the spray painting are you going to be able to cool the compressed air at all before it reaches the spray gun. I've got a system of copper pipes (about 40ft or so) with bleeder valves to try to cool the air and take some of the water vapour out..there's a bit about it on my blog. It's hard to say if it really works because I haven't done a ton of painting yet.

Here's a link I found useful..

Spray Painting page

..noticed the link wasn't working.

Spray Painting page

Ran all new J30R9 spec fuel injection line and fuel injection hose clamps on the engine. Working in the shed in the summer is always a good time:

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My rear tin was not aligned correctly. Had to take it off to correct some of the bends. Naturally, half of the cheese head screws were frozen. After breaking off an easy-out, I bent the tin down and used vice grips to break them loose. Used stainless steel screws as replacements:

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Mounted the ECU and MPS:

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Thanks for the link Ollie - lots of good info for an amateur. As far as cooling the compressed air, I don't have anything in place to do it. When I shot the engine bay, I drained the compressor tank immediately before spraying and used an in-line water filter. I plan on running the dehumidifier in the garage overnight before I start spraying the car.

Pulled the fuel pump and hoses out of the crawl space. It was covered in some type of ?sealant/undercoating? Cleaned it up. Consulted the Haynes manual for the original mounting location...not happening. Went with firewall mount. Cut down some 3/8" rubber tubing to mount the pump. Filled some holes with body plugs & permatex:

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Still waiting on additional paint tip sets for the paint gun, I mounted the fuel pump to the firewall and ran all new FI fuel hose and new FI hose clamps:

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Fitted the fiberglass rocker panels. Picked up all new stainless mounting hardware at my local ACE Hardware. I had a lot of holes to drill due to the replacement panels installed. I had fitment issues on the passenger side...the new sill triangels hung down further than the originals and kept the rocker cover from fitting properly. Measured the drivers side (with original sill triangles) to determine clam shell seam distance to edge of rocker cover, then cut the bottoms off with a die grinder and cutting wheel on the passenger side. Passenger side came in almost exactly the same:

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Banged a coat of ospho into the drivers side cowl channel:

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Time to send that engine tin, intake runners and air cleaner to the powdercoaters. Needs to look as good as the rest of the car...

Got some more small stuff done on the car. I am pretty much out of work now until I get the other tips for the paint gun.

Found some left over Rustoleum appliance epoxy from another project. Sprayed two coats into the drivers side suspension console. I'm glad I remembered to wear gloves:

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Had to cut back the wiring harness to gain more wire for the fuel pump connection. I am running the wire through part of the front of the engine bay seal. Used a combination of heat shrink & mastic rubber electrical tape to re-do this section of the harness:

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Ran as much of the engine bay wiring harness as possible:

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Got the battery cables ready for action:

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Thanks Jim.

It has to stop. Engine was running strong when pulled out...it will go in as it sits and I will be it until it dies. Tins and other engine items will be addressed when the engine gets rebuilt (hopefully years down the road).

Place rubber spacers between the bottom of the rocker covers and the long.
If you do that, the rocks and sand will have a way to escape and you won't start the rotting process all over again.

Rich

Nah, fit it in the budget now or you'll kick yourself later when your not so great lookin' engine is in a bright shiny newly painted engine bay (ask me how I know). I'm warnin' you, no COTM nomination unless the whole car is done

It is a mistake I have to make...it's just been too damn long since

There is a list of small projects forming that need to be completed when the road salt fairy appears in the Northeast. I will have a couple months of driving before then.

Good idea Rich. Thanks for the tip!

JZ stopped over last week to help me bleed the brakes using the old fashion pump, hold method - everything looked good. Car continues to fight me every step of the way. Coming in from mowing the grass, I saw some fluid on the garage floor near the drivers side wheel. There is brake fluid all over the caliper, disc and pads. Checked all connections and bleeder valves and found everything to be tight. I found it leaking at the top seam of the caliper. Wiped it off with a rag and saw more fluid weeping in a matter of minutes. Just placed an order with PMB Performance for front rebuild kits and new Porterfield pads:

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Your engine compartment lines are installed incorrectly Bob.

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Thanks Chris, made some adjustments:

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Screwed around for a few weeks with the $12.99 HF HVLP paint gun. Took my test panel down to bare metal multiple times. Could get a good finish, but always had fish-eye problems, cleaned guns multiple times and installed two water separators in the compressor line and started using a new air hose after talking to Zach...got the same result:

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I got myself priced in on painting this thing myself. Chatted with a few folks (including scottyb) about how much it would cost to have someone shoot the paint that I already bought - not cheap! My low compressor SCFM output limited my choices in paint guns. So I went with a low SCFM Eastwood setup for about $200.

Results yielded a finish I am happy with. I found one tiny fish-eye in a 2' X 2' test panel:

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I hope to paint the car this week.

Checked the weather around July 10th. Saw the heat wave rolling in for the next week. I had a few days of reasonable summer weather to get the car primed and painted. Carefully masked the car:

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Had some old floor lamps around so I could get better lighting near the front of the garage:

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After laying down a very nice finish on a test panel, I was finally ready to paint. Working with Eastwoods Concours low SCFM HVLP paint gun, two water separators and a new air line. Car cleaned with compressed air, two wipe downs of wax & grease remover (using a new rag for 2nd pass). Followed up with a tack cloth immediately before painting. Shot two coats of primer using the 2.0 paint nozzle. Primer went on relatively smooth and thick with no defects. Sanded entire car smooth with 400 grit to prep for paint after priming. I was very happy with the results:

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It got ugly two days after spraying primer...

Finished sanding the car, cleaned the garage, wiped car down twice with wax & grease remover and followed up with a tack cloth right before shooting color with the 1.4mm tip. About 3/4 of the way into the first coat, I noticed a few fish eyes forming in the paint. Tried applying less paint to bridge them closed, but nothing worked. Not completely realizing how bad it was getting, I shot the 2nd coat of single stage acrylic enamel:

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Cleared out of the house for the evening due to the paint fumes. Came back the next day to inspect the paint job. There were fisheyes everywhere in the paint! . The worst part about it was that aside from the fish-eyes the paint job was decent. Devastated, I tried filling all fish-eyes with a small tiny paint brush...made two passes over the car filling holes. Started color sanding with 1500 grit, hoping to save the paint job. Started rubbing thought the color down to primer while trying to get a good finish.

I need to sand the car down to primer.

Frustrated as hell, I need to find someone to shoot color for me. I am 90% certain that it is water getting through the air line of the compressor causing the fish eyes. I don't plan on painting a lot of cars. If I do, I will invest in, or build an air dryer system. What I don't get is why I didn't have problems shooting primer in similar conditions two days prior:

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