1970 Convertible Restoration

[Vicfreg 771]

Visited the body shop last week, making good progress.  I got my NPD Ford tooling shaker hood and am happy to report that it only needed minor tweaking to get aligned.  I also have billet hood hinges, apparently they needed some tweaking, I will report back on that after I go back there on Wednesday.

The current work is focused on getting my Maier Racing one piece front spoiler fitted up. That is a very nice piece of work heavy fiberglass, and fits really well.  Just a few things to do and it will fit fine.

I was at Carlisle Ford show this weekend, and searched for a decent 1970 hood trim piece. As you know, the NOS ones are hard to find and expensive.  I did have a good friend offer to let me use his to make sure the hood and headlight trim line up correctly, will be bringing that up there to the body shop on Wednesday.

I also will bring my front bumper, and the associated mounting brackets up there to ensure that they clear the spoiler/valence combination and that the bumper lines up correctly.  

To answer the other questions....  the car will be in the paint booth twice. The first trip will be very soon, and will be the initial prime coat over the body work that has been done.  Then, out of the booth, and back into the shop to be block sanded. After that back into the paint booth do do the base coat, hood stripe, and first clearcoat.  In the end we will end up with 3 layers of clearcoat.

The place that is doing the work is the same shop that painted my '68 coupe.  The main business is called Klassic Rides.  The shop where my car is located is called GunnerZ, which is a sister business to Klassic Rides.  Both are located in Newton, North Carolina.  Klassic Rides painted my '68, it needed a lot of work.  GunnerZ is primarily paint and body for cars that don't need an extensive amount of work.  

My car has been "waiting in line" for 8 months to get started.  The current wait time is approaching a year.

But, my '68 was painted 15 years ago, and the paint job is still flawless.  

PIcs below of my '68 coupe in 1967 Marina Blue Metallic, a '63 Corvette in my final color of "Sebring Silver",  and the ongoing work on the '70 convertible.

My guess is that I will have the car back sometime in July or August.

 

[Vicfreg 771]

Oh...the pictures of the front spoiler make it look pretty large. That is because the front bumper is not on.  I will post an update once the bumper is on and correctly fitted.

[RPM 1,190]

Coming along nicely. Ya, anything OE shaker related is stupid money. My shaker hood trim ring which came on my $25 shaker hood circa 1995 had a crack on the rear center. Around 5 years ago a fellow Mustanger had a pristine ring for sale at $200. I couldn't see spending that much as I had one that could be repaired. I'm afraid to check out prices today. 

 

[Vicfreg 771]

I agree.  There is a guy who goes to Carlisle that sells Fiberglass Reproductions.  That is who I got mine from.  They are a fraction of the price, and look good  I am obviously building a Resto-Mod not a Concours car.   http://www.fordramair.com/new/products/shakers.htm

I got the trim ring and backing brackets from NPD.   The NPD hood came pre-drilled for the shaker ring.

Some pics below.  

[Mike65 475]

Vic looking good. I love the color on your 68 Mustang, it looks like the color that was on my 68 Mustang GT I had back in the 80's. It was a Pontiac color from a 1977 Trans Am.

 

[Vicfreg 771]

Making progress.  Getting front end mocked up with the spoiler and bumper.  Some hood adjustments needed, but nothing serious.   

Used billet hood hinges.  Good news is that they are really strong, and the hood does not move/wiggle/etc.  Bad news is that the bolt holes were just a little off, so needed to move one of them.  Oh well, 53 year old mass produced car..... to be expected.

Will bring up the hood trim and headlight extension trim tomorrow so they can fit/align everything.  Then off to the first trip to the paint booth next week.

 

[Vicfreg 771]

Uploading some pics from the last 2 weeks.  Car is being cleaned and wiped down, will be masked off by Thursday. Then paint goes on next week.  Yay!

 

[Vicfreg 771]

[Vicfreg 771]

[Vicfreg 771]

Once everything is painted, windshield glass will then go in with the windshield lower trim, post trim and header trim, and the cowl panel.  Then the car will be assembled.  The hood is on already and aligned, so that will consist of fenders, splash shields, front fender extensions, stone shield, front spoiler, trunk lid, rear fender extensions, rear bumper (this will be painted body color) , and rear valence. They will do all the door and trunk weatherstripping and final alignment, then the car comes back home.

It will go back in a few months to get the convertible top installed.  As the car will be fully loaded then, I am going to have them do a final front ride height check, and front end alignment.  I can adjust my ride height with my Viking coil-overs.   Will also have them charge the Vintage Air system and start it up.

More to come...

 

[Mike65 475]

Vic, it is getting close to paint. Can't wait to see it in paint.

[Vicfreg 771]

Car should be back home in a week or so...final assembly of body panels, then I get to start bolting on all of the rest of the parts that have been sitting in my garage for the past 5 years!

 

 

[Vicfreg 771]

[Mike65 475]

Looking good Vic, love the color.

[AusTex70 43]

Nice trunk set up, please share some details. 

[Vicfreg 771]

Car is finally home.

Will start final assembly after Labor Day

AusTex..  I think I have previous posts on trunk, will look when I get back home next week.

 

[RPM 1,190]

Outstanding! What a transformation from those first pics you posted. 

Kudos to you and Mike, and all involved. Adjust for final ride height? It looks spot on in those pics to me. 

Vic, if that you in the first pic at the back of the tow rig?

 

[Vicfreg 771]

RPM, Thanks.  It’s been a long process, now the fun part starts, which is bolting all the stuff I have onto the car. Some of it it’s been in storage for a few years, so there’s still a few “surprises” when I unpack things.

No, not me at the tow rig, those were the folks from the paint shop, delivering the car

Yes, the right height is at its final adjustment. After the alignment was done, made the final tweak on the Viking coil overs on the front and adjusted the right height to make sure I wouldn’t have any tire rub on the inside of the front fenders, as I’m running about 5° of caster.

 

 

[RPM 1,190]

I went from 5° caster to 7 and didn't notice a difference. But my hands of stone might have sumpin to do with it. 

 

[Grabber70Mach 107]

That turned out great.

[EastYorkStang 63]

Are you going to put a vacuum flapper on the shaker ?

[Vicfreg 771]

No vacuum operated flapper.  I disconnected the actuator and I’m leaving the flapper open.

I may consider in the future, putting a manual, choke cable and knob to open and close the flapper, I don’t plan on driving in the rain or winter….

 

[Vicfreg 771]

I started putting on my black powder coat trim on today, as you know, the lower Grill moulding is a real pain in the neck to install and takes lots of patience. But I think it’s coming out good, hood molding goes on next.
 

 

[bigmal 225]

Looks great

 

[ThePoose 37]

The car looks awesome. And that blackout trim makes it look angry.