Build Thread Want To Blow 5 Years And $50k On A Foxbody? Step By Step Instructions Inside!

[RacEoHolic330]

stprorolla49, where do you typically jack the back of your car up from with the IRS. Do you do it from the pumpkin, or from the back end of the subframe itself? Obviously the lower control arms are the best spot to jack up one side or the other, but I've aways wondered about jacking up the whole rear end at once.

 

[stprorolla49]

stprorolla49, where do you typically jack the back of your car up from with the IRS. Do you do it from the pumpkin, or from the back end of the subframe itself? Obviously the lower control arms are the best spot to jack up one side or the other, but I've aways wondered about jacking up the whole rear end at once.

I always jack it up from the pumpkin. It's a little difficult because the tailpipes sometimes get in the way so I just have to do it carefully. My car is way too low to get the jack under it, so I built a pair of wooden ramps out of 10" wide plywood stacked together in decreasing lengths to gradually get the car up a few inches off the floor.

 

[RacEoHolic330]

Good stuff. Forgot about those low tailpipes. I may wind up doing something similar. Thanks for the info Mike.

Talked to my painter today. He is picking up the car on Friday. Pictures to follow to prove it's actually getting painted

 

[stprorolla49]

UPDATEEEEE!!!

 

[RacEoHolic330]

Dammit Mike. I was trying to hide the fact that my car is unfortunately STILL sitting in my garage! The 10 degree weather and snow we had last week meant that the delivery of the car to the shop couldn't happen. Figures.

I got busy the past week with work and haven't had the chance to take some time off to get the car over there. Fingers crossed for next week sometime. The weather better cooperate. I just need a damn sunny day.

 

[bird_dog0347]

It's sunny in Texas, been like 65-75 for a week or two now... have you considered moving to a better place, like Texas?

 

[madspeed]

well screw you

 

[RacEoHolic330]

I do need to move south. The northeast sucks. I hear Sugar Land is nice. I'm a Cowboys fan, so I'd fit right in

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

I do need to move south. The northeast sucks. I hear Sugar Land is nice. I'm a Cowboys fan, so I'd fit right in

Yeah you should move down here. Then you can deal w/ the mass hysteria, school closings, and milk and bread shortages at the grocery stores everytime the weather man predicts the likelihood of actual accumulation of snow.

 

[Noobz347]

...and you can grow a mullet.

 

[88LX5.Oh]

Yeah you should move down here. Then you can deal w/ the mass hysteria, school closings, and milk and bread shortages at the grocery stores everytime the weather man predicts the likelihood of actual accumulation of snow.

If the weather channel predicts snow, our Walmart is a damn mad house.
We can get 3 inches of snow and my whole town will shut down. Almost looks like a ghost town. It's ridiculous

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

...and you can grow a mullet.

It has been several years since I saw my last mullet,........maybe in the places where the Dollar General cant keep enough white sheets in stock for the annual KKKlanaplaooza, Rooftop antennas still exist, Dental records are useless for identifying the locals when they "tump over", and is too damn remote to even drag a mobile home into?

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

If the weather channel predicts snow, our Walmart is a damn mad house.
We can get 3 inches of snow and my whole town will shut down. Almost looks like a ghost town. It's ridiculous

I was in that very Walmart....(Think it was in Jonesborough) Proof of Alien life realized after standing in the checkout line at 9:45 PM on a Friday night.

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

What size square steel did you use for the lower core support? I need to R&R my lower support and that looks like the best way to do it. Looks like 1"x3" to me. Nice work by the way.

 

[RacEoHolic330]

Thanks. The radiator support is 1.5" x 2" stock with a 1/16" wall. 3" would have been too wide to allow the bottom of my radiator to sit on the support the way I wanted it to.

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

Thanks, it looks bigger in the picture (i know that sounds bad) . I'll be doing this fix/mod to mine as soon as I convert my 110 welder from flux to gas so I can get cleaner welds and penetration.

 

[RacEoHolic330]

This post is not really a progress update, but rather a recent development story.

I have officially decided to ditch my current painter. I made my final call to him last week and was told he'll call me back once things 'clear up' later in the week. Well, it's Wednesday of the following week and I still have no call. I'm done chasing someone around to pay them thousands of dollars to do work for me. Madmike had mentioned previously that he was concerned about how long the painter may keep the car if it's this hard just to get it to him. I'm actually worried about the exact opposite. The fact that he is so busy leads me to believe that he may rush the job to get it out of his shop. No thank you...not taking that chance.

Enter: new painter. I made contact with a shop that I have passed many of times that always seemed to have older cars/hot rods sitting outside. Stopped into today to discuss my little project with them. Showed them pictures of the car and how it sits and discussed my goals and expectations. They (father and son) were very responsive and very willing to answer my questions..almost downright excited about the project. They showed me two cars they were working on. One was an early 70's Bug and the other was a '66 Mustang coupe. The bug was yellow and the coupe was red. Both looked really nice under the harsh lighting of the shop despite the fact that the guy told me that both of them were budget jobs. No body work, no sanding... just prep and shoot. Both car owners just wanted paint on their vehicles at the lowest cost. Apparently the wife of the Mustang owner wouldn't even ride in the car until it had paint. It was previously 50 shades of primer grey. I was honestly impressed with these 'budget' paint jobs. Both of which were done in a single stage urethane paint...which leads me to my next develoment.

I've decided to paint the car with single stage urethane as opposed to base/clear. Not only will it cost a little less (savings which will allow me to pay the painter to spend more time on body work), but it seems to be the choice for show-quality solid color paint jobs, especially black. I actually painted the car with single stage 7 years ago in my driveway and it has held up great, even with living in the sun all 7 of those years.

The good news is that this painter is slow right now, so he said he can take the car as soon as I'm ready to give it to him. That basically means I'll be calling him to get the car as soon as he can. He said he will probably have it for 2-3 weeks to paint the shell. The plan is to get the other parts done during the spring and then bring the whole assembled car back to him for buffing before the trim goes back on. I feel good about this father/son duo and have a lot of confidence that they will deliver. Stay tuned...

 

[gearheadboy]

I can't imagine the conversation that ended with you feeling good about single stage paint after all of your hard work. I'm certainly not bashing but having been in the body business for years I just can't dream of a good reason to go single stage over base/clear. I'm sure you have done your homework and will have a great job, I'm just gonna have to fast forward to the finished product to feel good about it. Good luck. I am glad you are back underway.

 

[RacEoHolic330]

I'd like to hear why you don't like single stage. I haven't committed to anything yet, but I do always appreciate the opinion of someone in the business. Everyone has their preferences, but I'd like to know why yours is swayed so strongly towards bc/cc.

 

[David Pepiton]

I'm not a body guy but from what little experience I have with painting I know that the SS will take much less spraying time depending on how many coats of each is applied. i know the BC/CC method usually provides a better "gloss" look and can be touched up much easier since SS is a little more about technique and experience. Also the BC/CC is usually more resistant to harmful UV rays. However I know that Black is the color of choice for SS paint because of the depth it can provide in comparison to BC/CC methods. The SS will be a bit stronger due to a thicker coat being applied.

there are pros and cons for both SS and BC/CC and in my opinion since it sound like your going with a solid black car i think for a deep long lasting dark color SS is the way to go. if it were a white, red or yellow type i would say BC/CC.