Ridge Runner

I have been looking for an automatic for my 2005 Gt for over a year now ,its nearly impossible to find ,it 2005 and 2006 only just like the wiring ...Fords better idea i guess! Just picked up a 2005 GT 30 miles from me for 2000. 
The kid decided to ad a radio and did his own wiring ,yep ,you guessed it ,he set it on fire! He burned the top off the fuse box ,and the casing off the harness but it didnt burn the wires . Melted a brand new battery ! I gave him 2000 for it ,got it home and replaced all the melted fuses and dropped in a new battery and yee haw the sucker fired right up haha!
I drove it around the pasture and it runs great and shifts perfect ,i could have put it back together but the kid started to strip it already . 
Today i pulled the motor and tranny and found it had a fresh rebuild tranny ,new starter ,new alternator ,front struts ,drilled and slotted rotors that dont even have the machine marks rubbed off ,new joints in the drive shaft and lowering springs . This is all going in my 2005 ,and it all cost me less than having my tranny rebuilt !
The motor has 121000 miles and runs great so it may go in my 56 fairlane . All in all it was a good day for me ,and i should have mine running  in a few days .

I have been looking for an automatic for my 2005 Gt for over a year now ,its nearly impossible to find ,it 2005 and 2006 only just like the wiring ...Fords better idea i guess! Just picked up a 2005 GT 30 miles from me for 2000. 
The kid decided to ad a radio and did his own wiring ,yep ,you guessed it ,he set it on fire! He burned the top off the fuse box ,and the casing off the harness but it didnt burn the wires . Melted a brand new battery ! I gave him 2000 for it ,got it home and replaced all the melted fuses and dropped in a new battery and yee haw the sucker fired right up haha!
I drove it around the pasture and it runs great and shifts perfect ,i could have put it back together but the kid started to strip it already . 
Today i pulled the motor and tranny and found it had a fresh rebuild tranny ,new starter ,new alternator ,front struts ,drilled and slotted rotors that dont even have the machine marks rubbed off ,new joints in the drive shaft and lowering springs . This is all going in my 2005 ,and it all cost me less than having my tranny rebuilt !
The motor has 121000 miles and runs great so it may go in my 56 fairlane . All in all it was a good day for me ,and i should have mine running  in a few days .

I shipped a box that was supposed to go to  LA. It went to fresno first ,then bakersfield ,back to fresno then some town up north then finally made it to LA. Took a week to what should have been a 200 mile trip ,it saw more of california than i ever have !

I shipped a box that was supposed to go to  LA. It went to fresno first ,then bakersfield ,back to fresno then some town up north then finally made it to LA. Took a week to what should have been a 200 mile trip ,it saw more of california than i ever have !

Ok boys n girls! First ones out of the mold ,a couple of very tiny flaws but i know what will take care of that . 
They are so small i have to be very careful when trimming them but i can guarantee they are a lot tougher than the original pieces .
Now for the rear seat panels ,i am going to completely re work my set ,re texture and make a new set of molds .  

Ok boys n girls! First ones out of the mold ,a couple of very tiny flaws but i know what will take care of that . 
They are so small i have to be very careful when trimming them but i can guarantee they are a lot tougher than the original pieces .
Now for the rear seat panels ,i am going to completely re work my set ,re texture and make a new set of molds .  

Ok boys n girls! First ones out of the mold ,a couple of very tiny flaws but i know what will take care of that . 
They are so small i have to be very careful when trimming them but i can guarantee they are a lot tougher than the original pieces .
Now for the rear seat panels ,i am going to completely re work my set ,re texture and make a new set of molds .  

Have the two halves of the mold apart ,and no damage to the mold or the two original pieces . The originals wernt to easy to get out of the mold but the new pieces should just jump right out . The first couple will be a practice run just to see what i have to do to get them to turn out like i want . 
My materials just made it in so i may try to make a couple in black this week end ,pieces this small are hard to make ,especially with my big fat fingers ! 

Dont buff until you get down to the finest grit or it is a lot more work .
I bought a buffer from Harbor freight years ago and it still works great ,i just mounted it on a pole . The buff wheels and compounds i would get a the Turlock swap meet ,those bars are at least 15 years old and started out about 12 inches long ,white is stainless and green is a polish grit . Final phase is mothers mag polish for a very bright glow . 
Make sure to wrap the nut at the polish wheel with tape or you will soon find out why . 
Wear gloves and keep a tight grip on the metal or you will find it right between your eyes ,hold the metal to the wheel gently and mage sure there is no edge to grab ,it is best to buff length wise so it doesnt  grab and wrap your stainless around the shaft . 
The longest hammer is from EastWoods ,one is actually a tack hammer ,i keep them polished so they dont mark the metal when knocking out dings . These tiny hammers also work great for very fine body work !
Sometime this summer i have all the stainless for two 56 Ford Fairlanes to buff and that is not going to be a lot of fun!

Wear leather gloves ,when it hooks up in the buff wheel it will slice you like a razor blade . Sanding scratches can be sanded out with starting with 400 grit wet sand and work your way down to at least 1500.  Heavier scratches may need 180 grit and work your way down on grit . I have removed some pretty heavy dings ,East wood has a small hammer for this that works great ,i wrap masking tape over the end of the hammer and use a block of oak as a back stop . Get the dings as close to straight as possible and you can work it out of the stainless with 180 progressing finer as you go ,always use the paper wet 

Dont buff until you get down to the finest grit or it is a lot more work .
I bought a buffer from Harbor freight years ago and it still works great ,i just mounted it on a pole . The buff wheels and compounds i would get a the Turlock swap meet ,those bars are at least 15 years old and started out about 12 inches long ,white is stainless and green is a polish grit . Final phase is mothers mag polish for a very bright glow . 
Make sure to wrap the nut at the polish wheel with tape or you will soon find out why . 
Wear gloves and keep a tight grip on the metal or you will find it right between your eyes ,hold the metal to the wheel gently and mage sure there is no edge to grab ,it is best to buff length wise so it doesnt  grab and wrap your stainless around the shaft . 
The longest hammer is from EastWoods ,one is actually a tack hammer ,i keep them polished so they dont mark the metal when knocking out dings . These tiny hammers also work great for very fine body work !
Sometime this summer i have all the stainless for two 56 Ford Fairlanes to buff and that is not going to be a lot of fun!

Dont buff until you get down to the finest grit or it is a lot more work .
I bought a buffer from Harbor freight years ago and it still works great ,i just mounted it on a pole . The buff wheels and compounds i would get a the Turlock swap meet ,those bars are at least 15 years old and started out about 12 inches long ,white is stainless and green is a polish grit . Final phase is mothers mag polish for a very bright glow . 
Make sure to wrap the nut at the polish wheel with tape or you will soon find out why . 
Wear gloves and keep a tight grip on the metal or you will find it right between your eyes ,hold the metal to the wheel gently and mage sure there is no edge to grab ,it is best to buff length wise so it doesnt  grab and wrap your stainless around the shaft . 
The longest hammer is from EastWoods ,one is actually a tack hammer ,i keep them polished so they dont mark the metal when knocking out dings . These tiny hammers also work great for very fine body work !
Sometime this summer i have all the stainless for two 56 Ford Fairlanes to buff and that is not going to be a lot of fun!

The flange does go up, but on convertibles (which I seem to work on all the time) it is removed. The two pieces of the torque box weld to the upper seam area of the toe board and should fit fairly decent. I prefer to butt weld all my repairs but you can see the remnants of the spot welds in the second picture where it is welded to the top flange of the torque box. I also prefer using two piece torque boxes. Much easier to install.

It is supposed to bend up ,for some reason the make them with the bend the wrong way . I usually hammer it flat and then put it in my sheet metal bender and bend it up . It can be hammer and dolly up

Ok ,i sanded out any imperfections ,scuffed it well with a green scotch brite ,tack ragged it and sprayed 3 coats ,go light and allow each coat to set up in between . These are wet but you can now see the grain ,i held the can about 12 inches from the panels

I made this pair of rear fold down panels for my 69 ,they are a bit dusty ,i made the molds from a perfect set of original panels ,i have black gel coat on order so i can make the panels in black ,or white for different color interiors ,white can be painted to match any interior color .

Ok ,i sanded out any imperfections ,scuffed it well with a green scotch brite ,tack ragged it and sprayed 3 coats ,go light and allow each coat to set up in between . These are wet but you can now see the grain ,i held the can about 12 inches from the panels

These things are so small and fragile ,i already dropped one twice! 
Sprayed the texture ,it looks like it is best to spray a light coat and then a couple of heavier coats after the first dries ,it is really glossy until it dries then is about an egg shell finish. Some how i will have to glue them to a wood block to make a mold because they are so small .
These will set a few days so the paint can cure well ,my materials are on back order so it should work out perfect .

These things are so small and fragile ,i already dropped one twice! 
Sprayed the texture ,it looks like it is best to spray a light coat and then a couple of heavier coats after the first dries ,it is really glossy until it dries then is about an egg shell finish. Some how i will have to glue them to a wood block to make a mold because they are so small .
These will set a few days so the paint can cure well ,my materials are on back order so it should work out perfect .

I made this pair of rear fold down panels for my 69 ,they are a bit dusty ,i made the molds from a perfect set of original panels ,i have black gel coat on order so i can make the panels in black ,or white for different color interiors ,white can be painted to match any interior color .

I made this pair of rear fold down panels for my 69 ,they are a bit dusty ,i made the molds from a perfect set of original panels ,i have black gel coat on order so i can make the panels in black ,or white for different color interiors ,white can be painted to match any interior color .

I agree with this. However, if you don't have any damages, you don't have a claim. When I got my contractor license, the most important thing to consider was water flow. And if you did something to divert it and cause damages, you were liable. You might want to talk to a lawyer, not the county. 
 

I have a couple of the big panels that are in great shape but have a couple of sanded smooth spots  ,i am going to retexture them and make new molds ,hopefully this spring.  

So i got a little bored today and decided to go to home depot ,just walking around and wind up in the paint department when i see this ,Rustoleum hammered paint in black . I thought what the hell and bought a couple of cans . I have a set of the fold down fiberglass panels and thought i would try it out and see if it was close . I scuffed the panels with green skotch brite and sprayed a coat ,let that set up a hit it with one more coat ,i would say it is damn near a perfect match for the factory texture ,i only sprayed half the panel so i could compare .  Now i didnt prep it very well so i will have to clean it off and do a correct paint job but now i can retexture some panels i have here and make some new molds ,i even have the two smaller top strip fiberglass pieces i have been wanting to make molds for ,the pieces at the top corners of the back seat for the non fold down. I want to make a two sided press mold of these so they will be smooth on the back and textured on the front as original . 

I noticed after it was well dried ,the color is very close ,and it is slightly metalic just like original . I never saw this paint at home depot before ,probably because they havent stocked the shelves in a couple of years ,today the shelves were fully stocked .