Wowza Mikey, yet again you show you have a gift for making a fine rear end. You dont have any daughters, do you? Ehhh, never mind, ignore that question. 
Build Thread 1978 Mercury Cyclone. The pig is in the pen.
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The pictures won't pop up for me, but I finally figured it out! "Just a flesh wound, come back you coward..."
Monty Python in Search of the Holy Grail. One of the all time best movies ever.
And yes, Mike is the black night.
I've just come to realize that it's the give and take part of building a car. There is literally something on my hands or forearms where a previous build left it's mark on me where I can point to it and say:
"And this was the time back in 1978/83/90/96/03/07/12/16 where I was tryin' to......."
1. Poke a hole in a piece of plastic, and the awl slipped, and went through the bottom of my hand.
2. Drive out a stud using a hardened SBC oil pump drive as a punch, and it shattered, sending a triangular chunk of shrapnel into my arm.
3. Socket shattered on a 460 head bolt while trying to do a final torque at 140 ft lbs and I drove my left hand into the pinch seam at the firewall with full force cutting a trench on top of my left index finger.
4. Buffer caught the antenna I had removed off of the right fender, and set aside (to avoid hitting it with the buffer) and when it got tangled into the antenna cable as a result, pulled my right index fingernail completely off when my hand got forced into the buffer.
5. another hand collision.
6. Cutting a piece of 1/4 aluminum plate for a motor plate w/ a Skill saw, and the blade hit the end of my thumb.
7. Cut off wheel exploded and blew into my right eye permanently damaging my eyesight in that eye.
8. The finger incident of 2016.
Last edited:
- Dec 19, 2010
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Right eye...I've had splinters of steel dug out of my eye, but fortunately haven't lost any vision. Not due to injury anyway.
- May 8, 2006
- 703
- 240
- 84
- I seem to end up bleeding on any big project. The good news is that they tend to work well if I hurt myself. Just thinking out loud, but I think your ahead of me on this one. If I don't end up hurting myself, before I finish the white car, I'm going to have to sacrifice a bucket of extra crispy chicken to the car spirits.
Today I had the full day to myself to work on the Monster..
Paint chip count: 3
The day starts with a list of all the bolts, screws, rivets, glue, and various odds and ends that I thought I was gonna need to do what I thought I could do.
Home depot is first on the list.
They have NOTHING that is one that list.
I wanted black headed pop rivets ( They had none, HD doesn't carry rivets anymore of any color). I wanted black headed sheet metal screws,..they didn't have them. I wanted 1/4-20 black button head screws. (I needed 4, they had 2,.......Did I buy those two?) No,...I sure as hell didn't. All they ever have at HD anymore are empty drawers, or the wrong screw where some lazy customer threw the bag when he found the right size. If they cant even keep 4 screws in stock,.....screw them.
I leave.
I go to AZ, O reilly's, and Advance. Each time coming out empty handed. Although they had rivets, they force you to buy an assortment of them, and the ones that you need are never enough,....So I move on.
I go to Fastenal. A bolt house.
They do not have any black rivet, or sheetmetal screw. Now I'm just pissed.
I leave there too, now not knowing where I'm gonna find this junk that I need,...then there it is,....The competition for Home Depot that should spell the demise of that sorry assed place.
Lowes.
They have every single thing I need excepting black headed rivets. I buy the aluminum ones and decide to just paint the heads after install them.
I'm back home at noon,..and start at it. I install the hood, create paint chip #1,
T
Then try to install the MRT hood lift strut kit that I've had new in a box for several months now.
Just as soon as that piece of crap system is installed, it comes back off. Partially because the loss of reinforcement in the Monster's hood, but mostly because of how badly this system puhes the hood out of alignment, that system (compared to redline) isn't worth the powder to blow it to hell.
I now have for sale a barely used MRT hood lift strut kit for a fox mustang,........cheap.
Guess I'll just have to rely on a regular ole prop rod instead.
After I readjust the hood and the fenders to accommodate it, ..I start looking at how that has affected the door alignment. That passenger side door needs to come forward.
I install the headlight buckets. For whatever reason, what should've been an easy job took a really long time as they simply did not want to go where I wanted them to be. It was such a pain in the ass to bolt and unbolt them whileI dicked around with adjusting them, I removed the outside headlight to make getting at the two bolts easier. Once tackled, I tried to put the driver side headlamp back in, and because I'm using stinkin' Chinee halogen headlight assemblies,..it just wouldnt fit right. So I grab the spring that attaches to the corner of the bucket to keep tension on the headlight assembly, with a pair of pliers to remove it, and pulling on it causes it to break. When that happened, I slammed the pliers down on the bumper.
Promptly creating paint chip #2.
I scrounge around and find another one of those springs, fidget and fuss with that crap until I got it where I wanted it, and bolted it down. I adjust the headlight to some middle point, and call that close enough.
I move on to the splitter.
Stuff was on the car when I built this thing, and taking that stuff back off, naturally has caused some mis-alignment Trying to get the 10 bolts and screws that hold the splitter in place caused me to have to move it around too much,...and thus created paint chip #3.
The G-vents go on w/o incident, and does the solid cowl piece.
I got my mustang gaskets from LMR, so I decided to see what would fit.
Hood/firewall gasket: NO
Door gaskets: Yes
I was supposed to get a hatch gasket, but what they sent me was some thin rubber strip instead of the gasket I was expecting, so I'll have to send that crap back too.
So,.....all talking aside,...these are your take away pics from today:
Paint chip count: 3
The day starts with a list of all the bolts, screws, rivets, glue, and various odds and ends that I thought I was gonna need to do what I thought I could do.
Home depot is first on the list.
They have NOTHING that is one that list.
I wanted black headed pop rivets ( They had none, HD doesn't carry rivets anymore of any color). I wanted black headed sheet metal screws,..they didn't have them. I wanted 1/4-20 black button head screws. (I needed 4, they had 2,.......Did I buy those two?) No,...I sure as hell didn't. All they ever have at HD anymore are empty drawers, or the wrong screw where some lazy customer threw the bag when he found the right size. If they cant even keep 4 screws in stock,.....screw them.
I leave.
I go to AZ, O reilly's, and Advance. Each time coming out empty handed. Although they had rivets, they force you to buy an assortment of them, and the ones that you need are never enough,....So I move on.
I go to Fastenal. A bolt house.
They do not have any black rivet, or sheetmetal screw. Now I'm just pissed.
I leave there too, now not knowing where I'm gonna find this junk that I need,...then there it is,....The competition for Home Depot that should spell the demise of that sorry assed place.
Lowes.
They have every single thing I need excepting black headed rivets. I buy the aluminum ones and decide to just paint the heads after install them.
I'm back home at noon,..and start at it. I install the hood, create paint chip #1,
Then try to install the MRT hood lift strut kit that I've had new in a box for several months now.
Just as soon as that piece of crap system is installed, it comes back off. Partially because the loss of reinforcement in the Monster's hood, but mostly because of how badly this system puhes the hood out of alignment, that system (compared to redline) isn't worth the powder to blow it to hell.
I now have for sale a barely used MRT hood lift strut kit for a fox mustang,........cheap.
Guess I'll just have to rely on a regular ole prop rod instead.
After I readjust the hood and the fenders to accommodate it, ..I start looking at how that has affected the door alignment. That passenger side door needs to come forward.
I install the headlight buckets. For whatever reason, what should've been an easy job took a really long time as they simply did not want to go where I wanted them to be. It was such a pain in the ass to bolt and unbolt them whileI dicked around with adjusting them, I removed the outside headlight to make getting at the two bolts easier. Once tackled, I tried to put the driver side headlamp back in, and because I'm using stinkin' Chinee halogen headlight assemblies,..it just wouldnt fit right. So I grab the spring that attaches to the corner of the bucket to keep tension on the headlight assembly, with a pair of pliers to remove it, and pulling on it causes it to break. When that happened, I slammed the pliers down on the bumper.
Promptly creating paint chip #2.
I scrounge around and find another one of those springs, fidget and fuss with that crap until I got it where I wanted it, and bolted it down. I adjust the headlight to some middle point, and call that close enough.
I move on to the splitter.
Stuff was on the car when I built this thing, and taking that stuff back off, naturally has caused some mis-alignment Trying to get the 10 bolts and screws that hold the splitter in place caused me to have to move it around too much,...and thus created paint chip #3.
The G-vents go on w/o incident, and does the solid cowl piece.
I got my mustang gaskets from LMR, so I decided to see what would fit.
Hood/firewall gasket: NO
Door gaskets: Yes
I was supposed to get a hatch gasket, but what they sent me was some thin rubber strip instead of the gasket I was expecting, so I'll have to send that crap back too.
So,.....all talking aside,...these are your take away pics from today:
Today I had the full day to myself to work on the Monster..
Paint chip count: 3
The day starts with a list of all the bolts, screws, rivets, glue, and various odds and ends that I thought I was gonna need to do what I thought I could do.
Home depot is first on the list.
They have NOTHING that is one that list.
I wanted black headed pop rivets ( They had none, HD doesn't carry rivets anymore of any color). I wanted black headed sheet metal screws,..they didn't have them. I wanted 1/4-20 black button head screws. (I needed 4, they had 2,.......Did I buy those two?) No,...I sure as hell didn't. All they ever have at HD anymore are empty drawers, or the wrong screw where some lazy customer threw the bag when he found the right size. If they cant even keep 4 screws in stock,.....screw them.
I leave.
I go to AZ, O reilly's, and Advance. Each time coming out empty handed. Although they had rivets, they force you to buy an assortment of them, and the ones that you need are never enough,....So I move on.
I go to Fastenal. A bolt house.
They do not have any black rivet, or sheetmetal screw. Now I'm just ****ed.
I leave there too, now not knowing where I'm gonna find this junk that I need,...then there it is,....The competition for Home Depot that should spell the demise of that sorry assed place.
Lowes.
They have every single thing I need excepting black headed rivets. I buy the aluminum ones and decide to just paint the heads after install them.
I'm back home at noon,..and start at it. I install the hood, create paint chip #1,
T
Then try to install the MRT hood lift strut kit that I've had new in a box for several months now.
Just as soon as that piece of crap system is installed, it comes back off. Partially because the loss of reinforcement in the Monster's hood, but mostly because of how badly this system puhes the hood out of alignment, that system (compared to redline) isn't worth the powder to blow it to hell.
I now have for sale a barely used MRT hood lift strut kit for a fox mustang,........cheap.
Guess I'll just have to rely on a regular ole prop rod instead.
After I readjust the hood and the fenders to accommodate it, ..I start looking at how that has affected the door alignment. That passenger side door needs to come forward.
I install the headlight buckets. For whatever reason, what should've been an easy job took a really long time as they simply did not want to go where I wanted them to be. It was such a pain in the ass to bolt and unbolt them whileI dicked around with adjusting them, I removed the outside headlight to make getting at the two bolts easier. Once tackled, I tried to put the driver side headlamp back in, and because I'm using stinkin' Chinee halogen headlight assemblies,..it just wouldnt fit right. So I grab the spring that attaches to the corner of the bucket to keep tension on the headlight assembly, with a pair of pliers to remove it, and pulling on it causes it to break. When that happened, I slammed the pliers down on the bumper.
Promptly creating paint chip #2.
I scrounge around and find another one of those springs, fidget and fuss with that crap until I got it where I wanted it, and bolted it down. I adjust the headlight to some middle point, and call that close enough.
I move on to the splitter.
Stuff was on the car when I built this thing, and taking that stuff back off, naturally has caused some mis-alignment Trying to get the 10 bolts and screws that hold the splitter in place caused me to have to move it around too much,...and thus created paint chip #3.
The G-vents go on w/o incident, and does the solid cowl piece.
I got my mustang gaskets from LMR, so I decided to see what would fit.
Hood/firewall gasket: NO
Door gaskets: Yes
I was supposed to get a hatch gasket, but what they sent me was some thin rubber strip instead of the gasket I was expecting, so I'll have to send that crap back too.
So,.....all talking aside,...these are your take away pics from today:
The Monster is Beautiful Mike . You have out done yourself
Chips are small Mike. You should be able to make them almost disappear with the left over single stage. Touch them up, give them a few days to harden, then lightly color sand and buff. Don't think you'll make them go completely away, but it would take a concerted effort to see them.Today I had the full day to myself to work on the Monster..
Paint chip count: 3
The day starts with a list of all the bolts, screws, rivets, glue, and various odds and ends that I thought I was gonna need to do what I thought I could do.
Home depot is first on the list.
They have NOTHING that is one that list.
I wanted black headed pop rivets ( They had none, HD doesn't carry rivets anymore of any color). I wanted black headed sheet metal screws,..they didn't have them. I wanted 1/4-20 black button head screws. (I needed 4, they had 2,.......Did I buy those two?) No,...I sure as hell didn't. All they ever have at HD anymore are empty drawers, or the wrong screw where some lazy customer threw the bag when he found the right size. If they cant even keep 4 screws in stock,.....screw them.
I leave.
I go to AZ, O reilly's, and Advance. Each time coming out empty handed. Although they had rivets, they force you to buy an assortment of them, and the ones that you need are never enough,....So I move on.
I go to Fastenal. A bolt house.
They do not have any black rivet, or sheetmetal screw. Now I'm just ****ed.
I leave there too, now not knowing where I'm gonna find this junk that I need,...then there it is,....The competition for Home Depot that should spell the demise of that sorry assed place.
Lowes.
They have every single thing I need excepting black headed rivets. I buy the aluminum ones and decide to just paint the heads after install them.
I'm back home at noon,..and start at it. I install the hood, create paint chip #1,
T
Then try to install the MRT hood lift strut kit that I've had new in a box for several months now.
Just as soon as that piece of crap system is installed, it comes back off. Partially because the loss of reinforcement in the Monster's hood, but mostly because of how badly this system puhes the hood out of alignment, that system (compared to redline) isn't worth the powder to blow it to hell.
I now have for sale a barely used MRT hood lift strut kit for a fox mustang,........cheap.
Guess I'll just have to rely on a regular ole prop rod instead.
After I readjust the hood and the fenders to accommodate it, ..I start looking at how that has affected the door alignment. That passenger side door needs to come forward.
I install the headlight buckets. For whatever reason, what should've been an easy job took a really long time as they simply did not want to go where I wanted them to be. It was such a pain in the ass to bolt and unbolt them whileI dicked around with adjusting them, I removed the outside headlight to make getting at the two bolts easier. Once tackled, I tried to put the driver side headlamp back in, and because I'm using stinkin' Chinee halogen headlight assemblies,..it just wouldnt fit right. So I grab the spring that attaches to the corner of the bucket to keep tension on the headlight assembly, with a pair of pliers to remove it, and pulling on it causes it to break. When that happened, I slammed the pliers down on the bumper.
Promptly creating paint chip #2.
I scrounge around and find another one of those springs, fidget and fuss with that crap until I got it where I wanted it, and bolted it down. I adjust the headlight to some middle point, and call that close enough.
I move on to the splitter.
Stuff was on the car when I built this thing, and taking that stuff back off, naturally has caused some mis-alignment Trying to get the 10 bolts and screws that hold the splitter in place caused me to have to move it around too much,...and thus created paint chip #3.
The G-vents go on w/o incident, and does the solid cowl piece.
I got my mustang gaskets from LMR, so I decided to see what would fit.
Hood/firewall gasket: NO
Door gaskets: Yes
I was supposed to get a hatch gasket, but what they sent me was some thin rubber strip instead of the gasket I was expecting, so I'll have to send that crap back too.
So,.....all talking aside,...these are your take away pics from today:
It's really nice to see the monster with the panels on. It'll be beautiful there buddy. Good job.
hsean
10 Year Member
what a beautiful car i love everything you've done with this car .i can't wait to see this car done kind of reminds me of a ford version of the grand national.this car is worthy of a magazine feature
MY 85 GT
10 Year Member
The car draws on several G body GM inspirations, and the GN, and the Monte carlo SS were what I was looking at when I integrated the front and rear bumpers,...Good eye!
Thanks guys,...it is starting to look like something , and I am really excited to see the benefit for all of the dirty, ass draggin days of hard work, finally. I am one week from having been at it for 3 years.
You. You are the reason the car looks the way it does. If not for your over the top hard work, this car would still be sitting in primer,...I'd still be btchn,....and more than likely working on G hood #4 instead.
So,...Thanks especially to you Dave,....I can't say enough about how pleased I am with the end result. If not for the contaminants that came as a result of the environment that you had to work with, your work would have left me with no work to make the paint beautiful.
So then the request for reader comments section today is to ask about the cowl paint. The original plan was to carry the satin black all the way back to the windshield. But considering that I am doing the thing at the front of the hood to keep the orange contrast against the black balanced,...do you guys like the current paint with the black cowl piece, or do you think I should take the black all the way back?
Yep... You'd both be pretty well sloshed, talking about what a great job you'd be doing if you weren't.
Just what I need. Pics of you two doing body shots off the monster.
You know, when you first mentioned the idea of leaving it orange, I thought you'd got lazy and didn't want to paint it black. Now that I've seen it, I kind of like it myself. I say leave it.
Baahaahaahaahaa!Yep... You'd both be pretty well sloshed, talking about what a great job you'd be doing if you weren't.
Just what I need. Pics of you two doing body shots off the monster.
Hey, what makes you think there would be any alcohol involved anyhow? Mike, do you know what noobz is talking about?
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