Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Henry Rifle--I hear ya. Its been 3 years since I built the Wild Canary, and although it runs great and is a blast to drive, I've ran out of things to do to it.
I can feel that "urge to create something" building in my system----

Dave, I've tried a few times, he won't sell it back to me again. He and I do this all the time, the Capri was his first, then I bought it and did some things, then he bought it back and did some things, etc. He just sold his Capri the other day to make room in the shop and I would have bought it to drop my 460 into, but I have too many projects as it is. Hated to see that one go down the road as the body was absolutely mint and lots of work was done, but it did accomplish getting his portion of the shop empty except for his T project. Seems strange to be working on a car and not tripping over all kinds of stuff!


Brian, you are suffering from the "empty nest syndrom" time for a garage mate for your RPU !!!


Don

For the fella's that doing the build and watching the creation come to life, the buildin' is at least half the fun! There is only one cure I'm afaid Brian.

Yeah Brian, get on that fancy-shmancy cad thingie you have and get a new project going. You know there is one car you have always wanted to build!!

(and why should we be the only ones with busted knuckles and cleaned out savings accounts????????? )


Don

Yeah, Brian, I agree with Don. Someone as creative as you should have no problem filling the void... I'm only about half-done with my roadster and I've already got a short list of possibilities for my next build.

Don, the T is looking great. I love the motor setup too. I am jealous (sp).

Brian you can always come over and help me, I never turn down free labor. LOL
Don tell your son I like the color, my sister had a mustang that color I think it was a 1972.
Brad

Thanks FMX and Brad. I was a little unsure when he told me the color choice, but now that I see it I think he picked a good one. You are correct Brad, they used it for several years if I'm not mistaken, and on several different models.

Today I stopped by my buddys body shop and made an appointment to drop the body off Monday AM. He says about 2 weeks to do it, and during that time we can be getting the frame and running gear painted and done.

All I have left to do on the body is glass the underside of the floor to the body, and cut the holes for the gauges. I am going to let Dan do the hole cutting as his eyesight is better than mine, and Don probably wants his gauges to be in a straight line. As soon as the floor is cured tomorrow I'll flip it back over and finish smoothing the interior wood, and maybe paint on a coat of bed liner. I know the body shop will get lots of blue overspray on the undercoat, but I want to put on several coats anyway to minimize shadowing, so that won't be any problem.

Don

thread delivers big time

Thank you, and glad to see you are posting. Noticed you have been a member for a while, but this is your first post........so WELCOME !!!

I hope we hear a lot more from you.


Don

One of the things I didn't like that Total Performance does is they mount the gas pedal on a wooden block that is glassed to the thin firewall fiberglass. I decided to install a full piece of plywood in there instead for a couple of reasons. First of all, the firewall would have the tendency to flex when you push down hard on the gas pedal, and I didn't like the way they just put self tapping screws into the wood block. I wanted to use bolts and nuts so the pedal couldn't pop loose at the wrong time.

Another thing that a flat piece of plywood will do is give the firewall carpeting a flat surface to be glued to, instead of humping up over a wood block. It would just look better, I think.

So I cut a piece of 1/2 inch plywood and drilled a couple of holes for the bolts that hold the gas pedal on. Then I used some stainless steel T nuts that have spikes on them and installed them from the backside. They are for 1/4 inch bolts, and will be much stronger than the screws it was originally designed for. I then put a thick coat of fiberglass reinforced filler all over the backside of the plywood and weighted it down until the filler cured. Finally, I glassed all around the perimeter of the plywood to tie it into the side pieces. Now there should be no flex and I can use bolts to hold the pedal to the firewall.

Another weak spot was the dashboard. It was just thin fiberglass, and I could envision it shaking under way when you get a speedometer, tach, and four other gauges in there. To stiffen it I cut a piece of 1/4 inch plywood and did the same body filler routine to bond it to the backside of the dash. I clamped it tight to really squeeze the two parts together, and am letting it set up overnight. Tomorrow Dan is going to holesaw the gauge holes in there, and I think I will also make up some simple aluminum braces to further keep the dash was shaking.

Here are some pictures of what I got done today. Just a little touch up and the body will be ready for me to drop off for paint on Monday. Sunday I plan to do some filling and priming on my own T body, and maybe next weekend I can spray it in color.

Don

Don with as much fiberglass you work with maybe you should have been in the boat business LOL
Your sons T look's like it coming along, won't be long you will have it on the road.
Brad

Don you are moving along quickly . Soon i imagine you will be doing another YouTube biography for us . I kinda like the grabber colors of the day very distinct cars they where .

Yep, it really is coming along pretty fast. What is really helping is that Don bought just about every piece we need and had it sitting there ready to go on. Sure makes it nice when you don't have to guess and actually have the part there to mock up with.

Fiberglass is my life!!! At least it seems that way. I don't even itch anymore, so I must be getting immune to the stuff. I think I am destined to have dry, cracked hands from all the laquer thinner.

Today Dan came over and cut the holes for Don's gauges. I'm glad he did it because they actually came out straight. Must be nice to have good eyesight. Then he dug in and helped me work on my T body. We DA'ed it again and filled all the little pinholes and voids with spot putty, then Da'ed it one more time, then shot two more coats of primer on it. It looks like we are finally there, and just found maybe two or three little pinholes that still need filled before paint can go on.

I am back to thinking that I might drop off my body at the body shop when I take Don's on Monday. It is coming out so nice it would be a shame to shoot it outside and screw it up. Brent can throw it in his booth and bake it when he is done. I'll talk to him Monday when I am there and see if he wants to do two of them.

Here are some pictures of Don's gauges just stuck in the holes for now, and also my body after we shot the primer tonight. Really owe Dan a big thanks, he busted his tail today to make the body as straight as it came out. Much better than I would have done alone, that's for sure.

Don

Don,

I don't have a good eye . . . but I have AutoCAD. Nice parts combo on the 'bucket, by the way.