This is number nine in a series of tech articles on a Mustang convertible. If you've grown up in New York State, then it will come as no surprise that road salt can take its toll. This is a 33 year old New York car and the chassis and sheet metal condition will verify it. There are numerous structural failures and cosmetic deformities. We'll repair them one by one and bring it back to its once youthful beauty and structurally sound state.
In the last article the body work was mostly complete. I've finished all the parts and it's time for paint.
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Parts is parts. There's a bunch of them. I'm still surprised, even after as many of these as I've done, at how much room these cars take up when they're apart. For some reason I neglected to take pictures of the hood, deck lid and fenders when I painted them. Just one of those moments I guess. |
| For those of you that have been paying attention, you've noticed by now that the car isn't Red anymore. That's because I'm president of the "There's too many Red Convertible Mustangs Club". I have a passion for Gulf Stream Aqua, Sooooo I painted the car GSA. It didn't matter that it's also my wife's favorite color in the whole wide world and my life would have ended as I currently know it had I painted it a different color. |  |
| The convertible top is next, and then the complete assembly. That will take a few more days. We've reached the second milestone. Once the car is in paint only cleanup and assembly is left. This is one of those celebration moments in the life of these projects. First milestone is fabrication complete and the bottom and engine compartment painted. The last milestone is the test drive. |  |
| This project began in early 2001 and here we are in late 2002 and we're very close to completing it. Unfortunately, we may not get a chance to drive it this year if the weather turns on us. Guess I should have worked faster. | |
That's it for this time and there's NOT much more to come. See you one more time in this series.
Joe Quaranto