Some General Restoration Q's/advice Wanted

thibble · Mar 7, 2015

'65 289 2v coupe, auto, mb/ms.

Restoring as a drive to church / local burger joint car gatherings, no formal judged shows.

Front fenders had a lot of surface rust which father in law (original owner), painted rustoleum over with a brush.

Is it worth the time to have these cleaned up or just replace?

Drive train has about 115k on it. Sitting for a very long time although I hand spun the engine with the plugs out and it turns free. I drove it into the garage 15 years ago and no smoke/knocks.

Rebuild the motor and trans or get crate stuff? I don't really have the time or interest in rebuilding motors anymore and don't know the cost benefit over dropping it at a local shop to do a long block or just buying a ready to go crate.

For the paint / body.

Should I bring the car in with windshields pulled or let the body shop do that step as well?
Any other paint/body tips?

rbohm · Mar 7, 2015

surface rust is nothing. in fact it is a preservative as long as it is left undisturbed. so when you get ready to pain the fenders, strip them down to bare metal, hit them with some por-15 rust converter, and then primer-sealer, body work, sand, reprime, and paint.

as for the engine, as long as it runs goods leave it alone. just change the fluids in it so they are fresh.

as for the rest of the paint and body, let the body shop strip the car and do the body work, and then reassemble the car. that way if the paint gets damaged during reassembly, they have to fix it before it goes out the door.

thibble · Mar 7, 2015

Thanks, solid advice. Any worries about no-lead gas and original valves or is the light driving (4k miles a year or less) not really a factor?

7991LXnSHO · Mar 7, 2015

Repro fenders do not match the originals. They take tweaking to get close enough. So if the factory ones are easily save able, I prefer cut out and weld. But if it will take a boatload of Bondo, replace and kill the cancer with extreme prejudice.

Are you possibly thinking about the need for a numbers matching restoration? A good, basic build on a Ford small block is not rocket science and should not be very expensive. But a 331/347 will bolt in and nearly look stock. So how fast do you want to cruise?

I just read some of the original test results on the non hardened seats on unleaded gas. According to military and postal service tests, unless you are towing or operating at 4k RPM for extended periods, it was not as big of an issue as they made of it. Replace seats only when doing a full rebuild, IF you keep stock heads. I do not know the engine code or heads you have to know if they are worth the work.

Glass, let someone with experience remove and store it. Not breaking it is just an ulcer causing experience, and I assisted one summer in the glass shop.

thibble · Mar 8, 2015

Cool. The fenders are perfectly straight and no rust through or even bubbles, they simply had light surface rust and FIL brushed on heavy coats of red rustolieum. That stuff is a pain to sand through but if the repro's need work I'll spend the dollars on prep work for the originals.

I'm not overly concerned about matching numbers because I'll never sell the car, or seriously show..... and if I toss in a crate the original would still be in the barn for my heirs to decided what to do . Just too shaky and don't have the attention to detail I used to have to do my own rebuilds.

Looking at the economical route vs power. I don't need to go fast. I was wanting to do something with it to freshen it at my '67 lost oil pressure when a bunch of broken up valve stem seals collected on the pickup screen. With this engine being even older I figured at the very least rings, bearings, block service, and basic head service.

7991LXnSHO said:
Repro fenders do not match the originals. They take tweaking to get close enough. So if the factory ones are easily save able, I prefer cut out and weld. But if it will take a boatload of Bondo, replace and kill the cancer with extreme prejudice.

Are you possibly thinking about the need for a numbers matching restoration? A good, basic build on a Ford small block is not rocket science and should not be very expensive. But a 331/347 will bolt in and nearly look stock. So how fast do you want to cruise?

I just read some of the original test results on the non hardened seats on unleaded gas. According to military and postal service tests, unless you are towing or operating at 4k RPM for extended periods, it was not as big of an issue as they made of it. Replace seats only when doing a full rebuild, IF you keep stock heads. I do not know the engine code or heads you have to know if they are worth the work.

Glass, let someone with experience remove and store it. Not breaking it is just an ulcer causing experience, and I assisted one summer in the glass shop.

rbohm · Mar 10, 2015

thibble said:
Thanks, solid advice. Any worries about no-lead gas and original valves or is the light driving (4k miles a year or less) not really a factor?

at 4000 miles per year, and a fresh valve job, you could drive for approximately 20 years before any possible issues might crop up. and that is assuming that you use a fuel that has no lubricant additive(an additive that is in all fuel these days, so no issues there).

7991LXnSHO · Mar 11, 2015

Edit, 3500 RPM extended use for valve seat recession. That is still pretty wrapped up on the highway for most rear gears.

7991LXnSHO said:
I just read some of the original test results on the non hardened seats on unleaded gas. According to military and postal service tests, unless you are towing or operating at 4k RPM for extended periods, it was not as big of an issue as they made of it. Replace seats only when doing a full rebuild, IF you keep stock heads. I do not know the engine code or heads you have to know if they are worth the work.

Glass, let someone with experience remove and store it. Not breaking it is just an ulcer causing experience, and I assisted one summer in the glass shop.

thibble · Mar 15, 2015

Nice. I don't remember what the RPMs are at highway speed, haven't driven this out on the road since the late 70s....but I wouldn't think 65 - 70 mph with the autotragic tranny would be taching high.

I'm still wrasslin with the thoughts of getting a local machine shop to go through and freshen the motor.. or dropping in a slightly hotter crate.. Base coupe values being what they are the car has more sentimental value than the restoration is going to cost anyway.

n8rfastback · Mar 20, 2015

I would run the 289 like it is unless it gives symptoms of needing a refresh. Or unless you just want more power! I'm all about the more power option!

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