Progress Thread 88 Gt T-top- Project problem child

[Davedacarpainter]

Pulled her outside and pulled the plastic off. It’s not bad. I’ll for sure be doing a cut n buff though. But it’s coming along.

Gonna try and do the doors, rear bumper and fuel door tomorrow and maybe get them mounted on Monday.

You know, I really like those wheels.

Good work Bill.

 

[General karthief]

Way back when we painted first gen stangs with the fender extensions we put fender spacers between the fender and the extensions to space them out a little, that way the paint didn't bridge and flake off when color sanding and buffing, also made for a cleaner transition.

 

[billison]

Way back when we painted first gen stangs with the fender extensions we put fender spacers between the fender and the extensions to space them out a little, that way the paint didn't bridge and flake off when color sanding and buffing, also made for a cleaner transition.

That was one of the problems with the original paint. The drivers side line between the front bumper and fender was missing from such a thick layer of paint. That’s part of the reason I’m painting it all apart... that and I’m not great at painting lol

 

[General karthief]

Yea, when they painted my green vert (no not booger green) it looked absolutely beautiful but within a year it started to flake right at the seam where the bumper and the fender bolted together at the top corner,. It's the little things that will drive you mad.

 

[billison]

I’m trying real hard to keep the little things little .

 

[billison]

It’s starting to look like a car again!!

Ran into a couple snags. The drivers door ended up catching a dent somewhere, short version, it wasn’t ready for paint . I did the fuel door, passenger door and rear bumper. I ran the mess out of the paint on the bumper, so the bumper got put outside to think about what it did wrong while I focus on the rest.

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Bumpers can be a pain

 

[billison]

I’m actually not even mad about it. I learned a ton doing it. I know where I messed up and was able to make the adjustment. It got bumped down the list for now though. Gonna keep pushing.

 

[Mstng93SSP]

Looking good!

 

[95BlueStallion]

Lots of progress since I last checked in. Nice work brother!

 

[billison]

Got a few things done . Not as much as I hoped.

Both doors are mounted . All the wiring for the doors is now fished and connected. Have the doors roughly aligned. Passenger fender is mounted and roughly aligned. Drivers fender will hopefully go on tomorrow. If the weather breaks I’ll start on the hatch and spoiler this weekend. Otherwise I’ll be cleaning the carpet and getting it and the seats installed.

Couldn’t get any pics I was happy with. But here she is. Ignore the dull spots. Been spot sanding some of the nibs and what not when I see them.

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Looking good Bill. Just think, someday I'll be doing that same stuff, though we'll all be much older by then

 

[billison]

I feel much older after digging in the kick panels dealing with those wires last night. Then to add insult to injury, I realized I put the hinges in the wrong spots. Luckily I have spares so swapping wasn’t so bad, but laying on the ground trying to fish that cotter pin back in about killed my back.

 

[billison]

Using the snow day to get some polishing done. It’s not perfect but it’s pretty good.

 

[billison]

No new pictures but I’m busy at it. The both quarter panels and the rear roof have been wet sanded and buffed. I dug out the main t-top trim. Got them stripped and in primer. Took advantage of the lmr Black Friday sale and got all my weather stripping ordered. Weather is supposed to be nice later this week, hoping to get the rest of the paint done .

Pushing real hard to have it pained and assembled by New Years . My availability is about to wildly change. We’ve decided to send me back to school started in January. I’m doing a 2 year program at a local technical school,’so I’ll be doing that a few nights a week. We also got pregnant again “ surprise to us!!” . Baby number 3 will be here in June. So with that said, my absolute deadline is now June. I’ve accepted that I won’t be able to get it perfect, but I’d rather have a nice car with defects that I can drive than a a time suck I don’t get to enjoy. Again, with that all said, if it all turns out as good as it is so far, I will have a very very nice car.

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Congratulations on the new baby Bill!

You’ll have the car done by then.

 

[90sickfox]

Congrats man ! I'd rather have a decent car to drive over garage furniture any day.

 

[billison]

that’s exactly it. I started this right after my second son was born and he’s not ridden in it yet. That really got to me when I realized that.

So I’m gonna push real hard and get this done and make a mental list of things ill come back to later.

 

[billison]

Made a list of things left to do. Roughly 30 things on the list.

Got one of them done today. Stripped, primped, sanded and painted the t top trim and frame. ( one part is still drying)

 

[billison]

Just a quick update to say that dealing with door glass is a pain.