stangnet33 88 Report post Posted June 16, 2014 Looking absolutely great ! Curious if/will or why you didn't epoxy the interior ? If you live'd closer I'd give you a drum , have a couple of new sets sitting around here somewhere. Keep up the great work :thumbup: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michael2938 24 Report post Posted June 17, 2014 Looking absolutely great ! Curious if/will or why you didn't epoxy the interior ? If you live'd closer I'd give you a drum , have a couple of new sets sitting around here somewhere. Keep up the great work :thumbup: Well given that we already have the body color painted, I don't expect we'll epoxy or paint anything else in the interior. It's a good question though, I'll have to ask my father in law, as he's the painter on this project. :) I think it's a combination of doing things as done from the factory, doing only what is absolutely necessary, and saving costs where we can. We are estimating that the final cost of this project should come in under $10,000. So far the two biggest single expenses was the car itself ($2k) and the gulfstream aqua paint. The interior floors were primered and painted and the trunk area was painted body color with a little overspray going into the backseat area. Really the only interior that isn't re-painted was the roof and sail panel/quarter panel areas. Those were pretty much left as it was from the factory and wasn't really in bad shape. -Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stangnet33 88 Report post Posted June 17, 2014 I think it's a combination of doing things as done from the factory, doing only what is absolutely necessary, and saving costs where we can. -Mike Understand, this will probably have to be part of my thinking on mine. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michael2938 24 Report post Posted July 13, 2014 Latest updates on the car. The rear end is on the car and the suspension, brakes, and power steering are all coming along nicely-- all expected to be done this week. Our overall target now is to get the car done by late Aug / Early Sept. I had a local transmission shop rebuild the FMX transmission. They painted the entire thing black for some reason, so I had to spend the afternoon removing all that paint and will paint it to the correct aluminum/cast iron colors. After Removing the paint: I cleaned up the instrument cluster, painted the housing, got a new bezel with the chrome rather than repainting it like I did with the clock panel. I will not paint the argent and leave the chrome since it's not a concours car anyway. After assembling it, I decided I will still do some more work on the plastic lens since they still look a bit scratched and dull. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stangnet33 88 Report post Posted July 13, 2014 more great work ! How did you tackle cleaning up the back side of your instrument cluster, turn out nice. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michael2938 24 Report post Posted July 14, 2014 more great work ! How did you tackle cleaning up the back side of your instrument cluster, turn out nice. Thanks. I took everything completely apart and cleaned all the parts (except the circuit board) with soap and water. I sanded and wire brushed the metal housings and then painted the backside cast iron and the insides with glossy white. Cast iron wasn't correct but it's what I had and it looks nice either way. For the circuit board I just wiped down with a lightly damp paper towel to get all the dirt and dust off. I still need to test it to make sure it still works. Since I had it apart I also went ahead and painted the needles on all the gauges with flourescent red model paint. And the thing might come apart one more time so I can reset the odometer back to 0. Haven't decided yet. :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michael2938 24 Report post Posted July 22, 2014 Here is the next project. I'm not sure if this is what would normally be considered a restorable rim blow wheel, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway. It also still had the center pad and emblem but I didn't get a picture of it. Here is (sadly) the parts car that it came out of. Couldn't believe a perfectly good rimblow wheel (among other good parts) were just left to sit out in the harsh weather for so long. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted July 22, 2014 We are estimating that the final cost of this project should come in under $10,000. -Mike That is unbelievable! Kudos to you two. Fantastic job. Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michael2938 24 Report post Posted September 2, 2014 Latest update: the engine is in the car and started on the interior. Since the last update, we have put in the headliner, sail panels, door glass, swapped the door weatherstripping because apparently they were in backwards, dropped in the engine, and put on the trunk lid. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stangnet33 88 Report post Posted September 4, 2014 Looking good !! Any progress with the steering wheel ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michael2938 24 Report post Posted September 5, 2014 Looking good !! Any progress with the steering wheel ? A little. Its been time consuming and was a real pain to get the remains of the chrome trim and rim blow switch out of there. It all had to be chiseled out and it wasn't easy. This wheel was still on the parts car and sat out in the rain for who knows how many months/years. I have, however, got all the major cracks, holes and missing pieces filled for the most part. It's been sanded a couple times already as well. The last thing I did was put on another coat of filler primer then filled a couple more spots that needed work. I need to sand it down again and see whats left to repair. The hardest part has been the groove where the chrome strip will go. I do have the pad and insert all done. It just needs assembled all the way which I will do when it's all done. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michael2938 24 Report post Posted September 6, 2014 Spent a couple more hours sanding down most of the filler primer off the wheel. I'll probably spray it one more time with primer, then lightly sand it with a high grit paper. Then on to painting the backside black and scuffing up the front for the wood grain look. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michael2938 24 Report post Posted September 16, 2014 The rear seats are done, and will begin on the front seats in a couple weeks. Unfortunately I don't think I got any good pictures of the seat back, but just imagine it was red and in worse shape than these. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bossed 10 Report post Posted September 17, 2014 Lookin absolutely awesome!!!!!, congratulations to both of you for reviving this American classic. Thanks for sharing your progress :thumbup1: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michael2938 24 Report post Posted February 27, 2015 It's been awhile since I posted an update. Unfortunately we were hoping to have the car done by this point, but we are still another month or two away. A few weeks ago we did get the car running for the first time: 1 Footcutter11 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rcodenewf 44 Report post Posted February 27, 2015 Excellent Job! Coming together nicely and sounding good. Are those flowmasters I hear? John 1 SamellaEr reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michael2938 24 Report post Posted February 27, 2015 Thanks. Yep, they are the 50 series delta flows. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fvike 173 Report post Posted March 1, 2015 Fantastic work, car looks real good! What material did you use for headliner insulation? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michael2938 24 Report post Posted March 1, 2015 Fantastic work, car looks real good! What material did you use for headliner insulation? Not sure what kind of material it is, but I ordered it from CJ Pony Parts. -Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted March 2, 2015 Nice! Sounds healthy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stangnet33 88 Report post Posted March 6, 2015 Man making some great progress ! A question regarding your instrument cluster. On the pic you have that white plastic terminal stud cover on the oil pressure gauge, was there only one of those covers ? Mines been apart for along time but I thought it went on the alternator gauge. Unless there's 2 and I can't see the other in your pic. I was going to ask this on the tech threads but noticed yours in the pic. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michael2938 24 Report post Posted March 6, 2015 Man making some great progress ! A question regarding your instrument cluster. On the pic you have that white plastic terminal stud cover on the oil pressure gauge, was there only one of those covers ? Mines been apart for along time but I thought it went on the alternator gauge. Unless there's 2 and I can't see the other in your pic. I was going to ask this on the tech threads but noticed yours in the pic. Good catch. I went back to a picture from before I took it apart and you are right, it is on the other side only. Funny you bring this up, just yesterday we were trying to figure out why none of the gauges are working. We are thinking the constant voltage regulator needs replaced. Could that cover be contributing too? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
machm1970 180 Report post Posted March 6, 2015 Beautiful car! I had a Gulfstream Aqua 69 Mach, I miss it dearly. 1 michael2938 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guillaume69 150 Report post Posted March 8, 2015 I noticed exactly the same thing when I did my cluster: plastic cover only on one side. I ordered 3 more and have them now on all gauges studs (amp, oil, gas and water). Everything works fine, so I doubt these contribute to any issue. Make sure your gauge studs are not grounding to the metal casing. Have them properly centered before you tighten the bolts. That's what gave me trouble. G Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
michael2938 24 Report post Posted March 9, 2015 I noticed exactly the same thing when I did my cluster: plastic cover only on one side. I ordered 3 more and have them now on all gauges studs (amp, oil, gas and water). Everything works fine, so I doubt these contribute to any issue. Make sure your gauge studs are not grounding to the metal casing. Have them properly centered before you tighten the bolts. That's what gave me trouble. G I think we figured out a few things. Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but the plastic coverings are only on the alternator gauge because that is the only one where those studs have a full 12v going to them. All the other gauges are going through the constant voltage regulator and are only getting a pulsing 5v. So I guess there is more risk of burning down the car if something touches those on the alternator gauge. Speaking of which, I was almost going to order a new constant voltage regulator because it was getting 12v in but was only getting a pulsing reading up to 5v out. Apparently this is normal, so now I think that has been ruled out as the problem. Next, will take your advice and check the gauge studs again to see if anything is touching the housing. -Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
