Progress Thread Father Time: High-$ anti-dent defense system

Had one of those in my gun safe and it wasn't worth a damn. Didn't meaningfully bring down humidity. Bought a heating rod, instead. Bringing UP temps in the safe brings relative himidity down, which is already in a dehumidified garage. Seems to keep rust off of the guns pretty effectively. The Pellet gun rusted on the outaide of the safe while nothing on the inside did.
 
When the boys painted Father Time, they put on some LMR door locks, and this might be the most anal I've ever felt, but I did not like them. Happened to have an NOS OEM lockset in my stash, and put them on tonight.
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Took the time to ensure the window tracked properly, & replaced and freased the slides.
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While Black Jack has newer expensive Daniel Carpenter (I think?) panels that I like more, the OEM black panels are holding up well:
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Picked up some billet door handle bezels, matching the window switch bezels, and I think I like them. Definitely like the idea that I wont be dealing with the cracked plastic OEM pieces on this car, again.
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Did the same on the passenger side and corrected an issue where my passengers couldn't open the door on their own. Just had to replace the inner handle.
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Not pictured, but I managed to crack the glove box cover piece, but fortunately, they are available from LMR and one is on the way.

Finally, knocked out the rear hatch lock. I know this is anal, but I can't stand the blank Ford logo on the key, and I know this is silly, but can you see how the non-OEM locks have slots that are offset the opposite way compared to OEM?
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Not sure what you mean, man. First pic shows the OEM key with the Ford logo. Last pic shows the non-OEM key with "FORD" missing. Also, the locks look different in the way the keys slot in & the black paint that scrapes off.
 
Replaced spark plug thermal boot socks:
This was only a cosmetic swap, but the engine bay has a black/blue/silver theme going, and 2 things stand out to me:
1. the white spark plug boot socks
2. the red HVC coil (do they make in black?)

So, I got some black plug boots and swapped 'em on. They're more for the wires than than the boots, as the Accel 9000s come with ceramic boots. Just one incremental step cleaner:
From this:
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To this:
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Appointment for tint, today:
I think I bought this car with the tint that's on it. From when it sat in the sun while I was deployed 2010-2011, it's never looked the same. The sun baked the paint, and the tint became translucent. Today, I think I'll be going with 3M ceramic, which never fades, at 20% on sides and back, limo (5%?) for the moon roof, and I haven't decided up front, yet. I'll talk to the tint guy. Don't wanna limit visibility at night, but also want to maximize heat rejection. Pulled both door panels, yesterday in preparation. Wanted to swap the passenger side one with black jack, which I'll do while Father Time is at the shop.

The pre-tint pic:
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Coil for aesthetics:
Installed HVC II coil in black, instead of the old HVC I in red. It makes the engine bay look a little cleaner. After install, I noticed that the crank trigger wheel is red too. Oh well... that's too much work to change to be worth it. And, it can only be seen from particular angles. It doesn't look bad to my eye, anyways, whereas the old, dirty, red coil was right up top.

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Catch Can upgrade:
I'm in no big hurry on this one, but I got a tip from Tom Schwenzer, who owns War Admiral, that the Vibrant Gen 3 catch can does the best job of containing oil vapor. I'm not convinced that anything venting directly to atmosphere is gonna be great, but it's worth a shot, and it looks better, to boot. Unfortunately, it's a lot wider than the old one and won't fit in the exact same spot. Gonna have to ask a friend to help me fab up a bracket that keeps things looking good.
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There are simple PCV systems you all get to run (utilizing catch cans, etc), then there is CA SMOG that limits all that.

I may just try and find something that’s simple to use and remove for SMOG appointments then reinstall.
 
I selfishly took the car out without taking pics. Just had a little me-time with it. I opened up the e-cutout, and cruised to a nice restaurant in Pinehurst, and came back home. After yesterday's alignment, which was perfect thanks to "Automotive Performance and Chassis" in Apex, NC, I wanted to get out on the road. What a fantastic experience. I got after it 2-3 times. The boost settings on the EBC, and tune seem consistent with the old days. It was blowing the tires off in 2nd at 8psi. So, naturally, I turned it up to setting 2: 12psi and tried again. Much better! What a blast!

Doesn't do it justice, but the best I can do, for now.


View: https://youtu.be/8O58LLWBkSc?si=YZ5muZwtvVt9MbIz
 
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No Speed-O?
It's one of the few remaining things on the to-do list. I installed a driveshaft pick-up & connected it, but couldn't get it working. Need to look into why. I need that to tune with 'slew rate control', which is like traction control but allows acceleration at a defined rate in each gear before pulling timing.
 
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With Father Time back from PPF on the hood, top of front fenders, front bumper, rear bumper, and splash panels behind all tires, there's nothing, really, to take any pics of. But in my 2-car + golf cart garage, parking gets a little tight. So, I came up with an anti door ding defense system. It's very high brow: 550 cord & pool noodles.

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I should patent & sell it to exotic car owners with pre-cut cords... or better yet, built into the fabric of the car cover.