Build Thread 1978 Fairmont. I bet somebody back home’s thinkin’…I wonder why he don’t write..?

According to the 10 day forecast if it can be trusted at all, I’ll be driving out of rain when I head for Panama City on the way to the spring Emerald Coast Cruise. Once there however, the weather is supposed to be 75 degrees and mostly sunny for the three days that the thing runs.

Then Ill leave there, and drive back........into rain. I’m so glad I got street tires on all four corners, as opposed to those drag slick looking drag radials.
 
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Just an observation/opinion/suggestion - the Cyclone vinyl on your rear window should have a samurai mixed in with it now instead of just the angry face. ;)


And I'm curious how well the visor mounted camera will work given that the visor isn't really a solid attaching point. :shrug: I hope it does so we can get a glimpse of the :poo:eating grin you're bound to have on your face at some point during your exhibition. :D
Right now, the visor is tight against the front of the headliner, but now that you mention it, with the added weight of that camera attached to the end while accelerating under full throttle may cause it to swing loose..I can attach it to the windshield with one of the numerous adhesive backed mounts i now have i guess, i just didn’t want to have to scrape a sticky spot off the glass if i decide to move that mount.

And the look on my face will likely be more wide eyed with my mouth open, because it’s freakin unpredictable now,...when the rear starts to come out from behind the car at 60,...it hardly makes me smile.
 
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I've got pop corn set aside just for this.

On my friends race car he mounts cameras in front of both back wheels so he can see how the rear reacts under different situations during testing and tuning. He's even had the mounted under the car to see drivetrain movement.

I need cameras.
 
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I've got pop corn set aside just for this.


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The weather is supposed to be 59 and mostly clear tomorrow..I’ve been messing with the cameras, and their various mounting options..I fired them all up and did a small test vid to see how well they’re gonna work. Only one of them is truly great, and obviously it is the GoPro...the other 3 Chinee appear to be sketchy. Trying to decide how to prioritize what I want to capture based on the available brackets/widgets/ potential vid quality and mounting surfaces has me frustrated.

The only camera that I think I’ll be able to use to capture what my eye sees is again, the GoPro. It has a really wide angle lens. My two choices are to either strap it to the head band mount, or a chest mount. One is too high, and the gauges will likely be obstructed by top of the steering wheel, and the chest mount will only see the gauges..The sound is another issue..The cameras mounted to the front and rear glass will likely get overwhelmed with wind noise, and the one looking back at me may, or may not suffer from vibration if left on the visor, and if mounted rigidly, could have all kinds of chassis harmonics transmitted to it. More than likely, I’ll have to shut off the mics on these 3 el-cheapos.

By “ wearing” the go pro, it puts it in a much more insulated place,...and if it’s mic is as good as my ears are, then it should hear all the good stuff that I hear while driving...(to include any noises that I might make.....it’ll be a once and for all confirmation as to whether or not I talk to myself while driving) If only it wasn’t a little too high, or a little too low.

nonetheless,....4 cameras are onboard tomorrow. If I had somebody outside of the car, I could do a few drive bys. But since I don’t, will have to consider putting the GoPro on a tripod, and hoping that nobody steals the damn thing by the time I get turned around afterwards...

Even if everything goes great though, I gotta cut/edit/merge and splice four separate view angles into one video,...

So it won’t be the weather,....it’ll be more likely the video editing learning curve that will get in the way of any significant update.

The oil needs changing before any shenanigans though....I think this is the original break in stuff, now with about 1000 miles on it....time for a change.

it’s got regular 10-30 crude in it...Wonder if it’s too soon to switch to a syn product.
 
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No,....there is no video....

No,.....I did not drive the car....

No,.....I did not change the oil....

As far as the car goes, I didn’t do dick.

It was all part of the plan though...I’m at my barber at 9:40 am for my monthly cut, and a professional shave. I’m at the eye doctor at 10:40 for my eye exam, and replacement glasses.
Im done with lunch at 12:00....I have the whole freakin afternoon to mess with the car..

But first i needed to get the 4r70 that I’ve had on a pallet for about 2 weeks to the freight terminal, and get that thing out from behind the car..and get it to Steve in florida.

The freight terminal is 20 minutes from my house,..I get out my hoist, put that thing on the bed of the truck, tie it down, and go.

Once i get there,....the day starts to go to hell.

A freight terminal dispatch office is the poster child for bad customer service. The guys behind the window don’t want anything to do with somebody that doesn’t drive an 18 wheeler. I stood for ten minutes looking at the guy that couldn’t be bothered to look up from his all too important work.

I walk down the terminal a few offices over, and the person there slides the glass aside to tell me that the place i was standing before was correct. So....I go back and stare at the guy,...trying to burn a hole in the top of his head.

He finally begrudgingly opens the glass.

”Are you here for a pick up?” he asks.
No, i have a shipment to drop off,....I have a order number.
”Do you have a bill of lading?, I can’t do anything w/o a bill of lading.”
No,..I didn’t know I needed one..

He opens the glass, and hands me the blank B.O.L....Then shuts the glass before I can ask if he has a pen.
I have to look for one. I find it a couple of windows over.

now that I have it..What the fck am I supposed to do with this thing, I wonder..

I get into my email confirmation of the prepaid shipping confirmation i got when I originally placed the order..Turns out I actually have a preprinted bill of lading in pdf form...I stare at the hole I’m melting in Mr helpfuls head..he opens the window...

I actually have a pdf of my Bill of Lading that came to me when I placed the order..Can I email it to you, and you can print it.

” I dont have the ability to do that here”.

I transpose the info on the one I have onto the blank one he gave me..a few minutes later, I hand him the bill.

He looks at it.

“Is this an automotive transmission?”

Yes.

“Is it on a pallet, or in a crate?”

On a pallet.

” We can only accept a transmission that is completely drained, and in a crate”.

Im standing there wondering how the other shipper managed to deliver my 4l80e....on a rubber tire, sitting on a pallet..NOT in a crate.

So,...i’ve lost an hour, and now i gotta go back home. The trans is on my truck, and i’m not taking it back off...I figure that it can’t take that long to build the four sides and put a top on top of the base, and when I get that behind me,I figure that i’ll just leave it there, and take the thing back to the shipper tomorrow.

At least that was how I figured it.

I was wrong.

The crate...aka transmission coffin took the rest of the day, into darkness to build from scratch.
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And is now complete...and strapped to the back of the truck.
Ill take it back tomorrow. With a printed bill of lading..

Just let mr personality ignore me tomorrow...

Im practicing this right now...

” Is your site manager here,...or do you have a customer complaint department that I can speak to?

He don’t want me to talk to one of them.
 
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I have a problem with the LTL shipping places only covering rebuilt and remanufactured auto parts at their scrap or core weight value. I doubt places like Marshall Blueprint Engines get this kind of hooey, but individuals and small shops get the oil shaft treatment.
I will be glad when Fastenall goes back to shipping if they already haven’t.
 
This morning I called the agent that secured my shipping quote from AAA Cooper, and told her how yesterday went. Not that I expected them to do anything about it, but more of a " What do I need to do this time around, now that the thing is all boxed up so this won't happen again".

She tells me to print the Bill of Lading that they have provided, call the shipper to be sure that they don't have special restricted dock times for drive up customers, and to let the facility manager know about my experience.

I did all of those things.

Then I went back down there at 7:45 AM. I arrived at 8:10. Walked up the ramp, went to the dispatch window, and Mr personality immediately gets a forklift driver to offload the crate, takes my bill, makes a copy, and hands it to me.

Im outta there at 8:12.

Something changed between yesterday and today......whatdya spose?

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When I get to work, I get a confirmation email that the shipment has left the facility, and is enroute. I was worried that the added weight from the crate would push the trans over the 200 lbs I had guesstimated when I last checked using my "bust-o-nutmeter" by lifting just the trans by itself..and they'd weigh it at 235, and either refuse to ship, or upcharge the piss outta me.

But they didnt...it gone.
 
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After looking at the night time shots, it really is apparent that i need to spend some serious time behind a buffer. The paint is very hazy in low light. Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours trying to correct that. While i can say that it is much improved, my body work/paint prep before Dave came to paint the car, is rearing its head.

Sandscratch swelling is apparent everywhere. And you cannot buff that away. The driver‘s side quarter panel extension is cracking at the rear where i sectioned in replacement metal to build the new tail light panel. In the daylight, the paint looks great, but under interior lighting, a much different overall condition is visible.

Im not that bummed about it, despite the fact that a professional painted the car, it’s my work underneath that is fouling the end result, and,....labor and airfare aside...this paint job cost me nothing.

This Upcoming Thursday is driving day. The forecast just went from suspect, to very good. By the time i’m in the car an hour, it’ll be sunny and almost 70. By the time I’m in Panama City 3.5 hours later, it’ll be 80. And I plan to leave at 7 AM.
I wasn’t planning on messing with charging the AC, now it looks like that might not be a bad idea.
 
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I reminded myself today how it was that the overall appearance of the monster was so in need of a serious detail.

It happened because I freakin hate doing sht like this.
Buffing, polishing, waxing,......I hate it.

But it’s done. The Monster is all shined up for his big drive to the beach on thursday, so he can get all covered in bugs on the way there.
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And despite the fact that the substrate is failing underneath..I still got a decent shine.
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