Mach tear down, in the garage since 1989

[very fat and very dumb 40]

I bought the car in my Sophomore year (1982) of High School, the car has sat in the gargage since 1989. Every 3-5 years I start it up run it throught the gears then let it sit till next time. It was tough for me but I started tear down yesterday, she is going back to the way she rolled off the assembly line. Under the cowl is gorgeous rust free silver jade paint. I found a couple nice surprises, for you concourse guys the turn signals are the original zinc chromate, the bumper speaks for itself. It was replaced in 1984 plus or minus. I am also very pleased with the floor pan.

[Cornerstone 15]

Awesome. What are your plans? Silver Jade is a great color. How long do you estimate til you're finished?

[miketyler 15]

Wow - nice virgin floors. Don't see that too often....

[Pakrat 1,043]

Was the silver jade repainted once prior to the red? Or did some plants paint the floor body color in production? My car had 3 coats on it when I tore it down but surprisingly the floors were still that muddy red/brown factory color.

 

[jkskinsfan 19]

The entire Floor Pan in mine came from the factory painted in the original Winter Blue Metallic.

[very fat and very dumb 40]

The plan is for a rotisserie restoration but things like the front turn signals will only be cleaned. I am not going to "fix" anything that doesn't need to be. I intend to sand blast it but areas such as the floor pan and cowl will be masked off and left untouched. Sorry to say that my welding skills are less than expert so I am going to hire out the metal work to a pro, it has to be 100% spot on perfect. If I can get it stripped down in the next 3-4 weeks I could get it out of paint in March and put back together before my 30th High School Reunion in 2014, no self imposed deadlines prior to that. Haste makes waste.

 

Not sure about the paint on the floor pans, it was repainted at least once, it was root beer brown when I bought it, I had it painted Russo Red (1982 Ferrari Red). I suspect they were painted at the factory, when I tear it apart more I'll see if the firewall is painted and what not.

 

Glad you guys appreciate the photos, I've shown them to some folks here at work, they think I'm crazy to be excited about what appears to them as crappy floor pans.

[69RavenConv 286]

Beautiful. Perfect candidate for a concours resto and judging by the vert you did, it'll be a beauty. I bought my car in high school, too (a fact that amazes my wife) but unfortunately too many years in Connecticut and Ohio turned a lot of it into Swiss cheese. Keep us posted!

 

BTW, that root beer brown is probably correct for the slop paint Ford used for primer. Mine was a muddy purple color ... do you know where it was built?

Edited November 14, 2012 by 69RavenConv