Build Thread 1978 Mercury Cyclone. The pig is in the pen.

Husky44 said:

If I buy you a Go-Pro, will you post video?

Been gone a while. Good to see you are still at it.

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Thanks, back at ya. Glad to see you back. I have a brand new JVC version of a GO-PRO. (at least it was new when I bought it)

It has exactly one video's usage, where I did a little vid of me welding my intake. Turns out I'm camera shy. I look like a deer in the headlights. I've yet to use the thing since. Imagine, my smart ass being intimidated by a stupid little box.

Husky44 said:

No No NO!!! I don't want to see you on camera, I want you to strap it to your head. I want first-person fabricator/drinking-storyteller-Mike video.

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Ohhh,....well that I can do.

Hmmm....seems I remember something about doing body work. All of the monotony, sore muscles, dust everywhere, application, sanding, more sanding, followed by more application and even more sanding.........What was it?...........


Oh, I remember.

I FREAKIN' HATE IT!

I guess this is just a teaser of what's in store for me when I move onto the body, but that'll happen only when, (and after) I get the dash done.

As you read, you're thinking surely you must've made some progress, lest why would you update?

Firstly, I did in fact make "progress". Secondly,.. Don't call me Shirley.

I intimated earlier that I had solved the dilemma of having to blend the turns that start at the end of the dash, and move onto the doors. I said the solution to the problem literally bitch-slapped me off my rolly-creepy thing.

That solution was in fact so clear to me, I set right out and welded the hell out of the dash, cutting the turn radius' of the door bar right in the middle, and welding that little stumpy-dude onto the dash. No easy task I tell ya, as those stupid little half bends want to get all kinds of wonky when you try to set them up prior to sticking them permanently.

As I always do in the end, I just take my best stab at it, and weld the piss out of it.

Fortunately this time, it worked out.



For the last several days, I've slaved away on multiple fronts. The welding, followed by a buttload of grinding. Modifying all of the insert mesh, and trim to match the new dash shape.


Finishing (or at least getting them close enough) the "three amigos" that are the cover panels that make up the bottom of the dash, and THAT is where all of the bodywork has come into play.



You can't necessarily see it in the pic, but the sheetmetal follows the drop for the column. Sanding a small, piece of rolled 20 ga. sheet metal that has compound curves that run in two different directions can only be described as hell on earth. Getting it close enough to put in a coat of epoxy primer took a bagillion minutes.

All of those pieces have to be removable, so they also had to have the requisite (say it,........you know you're thinkin' it.....SAY IT!)

Never mind,...I'll say it for you.

Bagillion holes.

All drilled, and tapped w/ another one of those weanie assed little "break off if you look at it wrong" 4-40 taps.

I broke one off in the bend radius. Took an hour to fracture it out of the crater that I caused trying to get it out.

Yet,....I persevered. Like Clint Eastwood playing Gunnery SGT Highway on Heartbreak ridge,....I Improvised,......I adapted,......I overcame.

Now that I had the three pieces in place under the dash, It left me just enough time to work on the end caps. I got one done.



Now I know that this looks kinda goofy from this angle, but remember the door will hide this when it's open for the most part. They'll be black, so they should look less like a malocclusion after that.

As for the new flat spots that cap off the bend radius' I think I got a solution for that as well.



The tweeter portion of my component door speakers. It'll need a place to live, I guess this is just as good a place as any.

So,......I still have the other side to do. maybeee....a half day ? After that it all comes back out, and the dash bars get several coats of filler primer, another buttload of sanding,...and about 3 coats of satin black acrylic urethane. After that...... this bitch is done.

Noobz347 said:

Have we gotten to the part where the engine will be mid mounted yet? If so we should have a fully developed sketch of the gills at least.

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No said the finger. I'd be following somebody else's lead then.


There is already a guy on FEP that has rear mounted a TT'd Coyote in a LX/GT hatch.
The guy is looking to build a "supercar" along the lines of an Italian/German exotic. Unfortunately it doesn't quite reach his goals. To accommodate the "mid mounted" engine, he has to sit uncomfortably close to the steering wheel, and he has had to push the rear wheels back IDK how far.He's using a C-6? Corvette rear suspension that has forced him to widen the rear quarters to the point of cloning over a late 80's IMSA vibe. So what he's got is actually looking more like a race car, than a 959 wannabe, but hey,....Who am I to challenge someone who wants to do it differently?


All-in-all, it woulda worked better had he had a longer WB to start with,....maybe he'll scrap the whole idea, and build a Futura instead?

All kidding aside, He did pay money to have a rendering done in 4 different colors. If it comes close to looking like the drawing, he'll do OK.

See there's more than one masochist out there that loves to be punished when he goes into the garage.

Imagine.

Imagine going to work, and having to scale a 30' high wall everytime you went. I'd guess you'd agree with me that it would be a real pain in the ass, and you'd avoid going if you could. When you did go, there'd always be that stinkin' obstacle standing in your way.

That obstacle is/was the dash. Everytime I'd go down to the garage, that damn thing would be standing in the way of progress. And just like climbing a 30' high wall, progress was slow and painful. Sometimes, (alot of times actually) I'd avoid dealing w/ the damn thing altogether, opting instead for a row of double stuff Oreo's, a 16 oz glass of 2%, and either this computer, or the TV.

(wonder I ain't huge)

Remember when I posted the pic of the white leather and detailed my plan to use it as one of 5 colors that would be in my interior?

I decided against that.

Not that there is gonna be that many less colors in the interior, I just decided against white being one of them. So, I took the ex-cow back to Tandy Leather, and exchanged one bovine hide for another.

The new color, and the new look are more in tune w/ my overall plan for the interior.

I chose saddle tan, and the condition of the hide was listed as......."distressed".

Poor ole Elsie must have had a rough life. This particular hide is marred, and nicked where he/she met up with one barb wire fence too many. There are holes where ticks bit the hell outta the poor thing, and various wrinkles, texture changes, scuffs, and cuts.

Perfectly suited for an interior in a car named after a slow assed, low-riding, poisonous Arizona lizard.

Even exchange, I no sooner got home, and I got out the three amigos, and covered two of them.

[video=youtube;ngMPMXbfRVc] ]View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngMPMXbfRVc[/video]




I removed the dash, sanded it and then loaded it up w/ rattle can high build primer.



I finish sanded the gauge pod, and primed that dude w/ etching primer, and that brings me to the viewer participation portion of this update.



Here they are. Winkin,& Blinkin, Ying and Yang, Zig and Zag. One oval, the other obviously rectangular. Both are probably not gonna be able to be covered because of their weird shapes. I think I'll have to paint them instead.

The grill mesh will be gold, and the outer shell will be either be a color matched hue that'll match the new leather, or satin black to match the bars.

I'm thinkin' color match, but you guys are welcome to chime in and offer your suggestions. I do pay attention and appreciate the input.

The other option (and one I'll pursue on Monday) is to take them to an upholster, and ask if he can cover them for me. I kinda feel that I can cover the rectangular piece myself, but don't wanna chance ruining any of the leather on a folly, when the remaining stuff has to cover the top of the dash, and both doors.

The dash bars are days away from being black. Once painted, the AC evap will go in permanently, and the wiring will begin. Two-three weeks of that, and I should be able to.........................start it.:

02 281 GT said:

Self-imposed though they may be, I think the majority of us would love to have your problems. Then the simple ones like figuring out why your H/C/I car won't idle right would be child's play.

I stand by my original statement that this interior is going to put far more expensive cars to shame.

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RacEoHolic330 said:

I agree with 281. I love every part of it so far, and it's only in raw form right now. I think Mike's car is going to turn the Fairmont haters into Fairmont lovers. We'll, except for those that will settle for no less than 8 cylinders

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Thanks guys, I appreciate that. Unlike the guy that thinks putting a coyote in the back seat will make a mustang a super car, I have no such dilusions as a result of my goofy tubular dash.

A5literMan said:

I vote satin black to match the bars. I think it would have more "flow"(if that makes sense) and would "show off" the rest of your work. Btw that dash is just sick. Can I ask what other colors you're thinking of throwing in there?

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The color palate is set. The carpet is some factory nutmeg brown-gold color. The seats, bars, and headliner will be black. The mesh is gold, the a pillar trim, and the quarter panel trim will be the same color (or as close as it can be matched) to the leather color. The door panels will be two tone, w/ speaker pods standing proud of the door panel painted black, and the rest of the door covered in the leather. Lastly, all of that nit picky trim crap that needed all of the drilling, and tapping will be black.