The Tragic Tale of ElSuperPinto

There is SO much more to be done... and some more that got done... pictures are horribly out of order, but I'll do my best to explain what's going on here.

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These pictures are both of the right-rear quarter panel. I don't know how or why, but it's the only significan rust on the car. It's been badly repaired once before I bought it, and I get the honor of doing it again, correctly.

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I mentioned that the vinyl was gone and replaced by Plasti-Dip... and that it went badly. Here you can see said bad plastidip. I did some research before trying this, and found multiple people who had applied Plastidip directly over primer with no issues. So I peeled the rotted vinyl, removed all that damned trim, used a wire wheel in my grinder to get to bare metal, used a little filler, shot a couple coats of Rustoleum Zinc-Rich rust inhibiting primer from rattlecans, and plasti-dipped over it. The Plastidip reacted badly to the primer and filler, and on top of that, it mildewed after a few rains, and let little spots of surface rust appear on the top of the roof (picture coming).



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I mentioned that Weatherpack connectors are easy to deal with when you have the proper tools earlier, and here we are, harness repaired!
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The fuel pump and filter are in the way of the new tank that's going to be installed soon (and where in the hell is my grommet for the fuel hose through the trunk floor?). The decommissioned in place factory fuel line is still there. Yes, I know I'm missing a bolt in the shock mount. Bolt was missing when I bought the car, that problem will be remedied soon, when I ditch the air shocks (made up my mind on that today).

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Slightly re-routed brake lines, fuel hose, and fuel pump wire, including the modified mounting tab and the completed driver's side subframe connector installation.
 
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More pics I took of things that I've done in the past few days, or things that need to be addressed.

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Here you can see the soaked crossmember from the leaking power steering rack, and my dad's hoarding problem, which is burying the Capri you can kind of see the bumper of behind all the other :poo:. (This is in no small part why virtually nothing ever gets done on that car, I'm all about helping him work on it, I'm done helping him spend 3 hours digging it out to do so and 2 hours cramming all the :poo: back in around it after. I'm not belittling him for it, it IS an illness, I just don't have time to deal with it and the car both, so he needs to deal with the illness first so I can help him with the car.


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Peeling undercoat, peeling undercoat everywhere. Who in the hell undercoats a car in TEXAS? (This car has been here since the day it arrived from San Jose Assembly in 1975).

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The brackets for that stupid brace are still there. Going to bring home my cut-off tool and get rid of them next weekend. Don't know what I'll do about the chewed up pinch weld behind said bracket, probably just grind it smooth and leave it.

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Need to clean up and polish the "new" Pypes exhaust tips ($10 junkyard find... not sure they're staying on the car, I'm seriously considering ditching the 90-degree bends for a pair of 120-degree bends to move the exits further back than right at the door gap.

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I did mention that the Plasti-dip experiment went horribly wrong, didn't I?

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The cowl hood is doing worse. I enlarged the hole that had been cut by the previous owner for air cleaner clearance, riveted down the scoop, and then paid someone to glass it in, smooth it with bondo, and prime it in black primer... It showed up looking "okay", but a little rough, but I only paid the guy $100, so for what I paid I wasn't that mad... then it rained, and water went everywhere it shouldn't have, and has continued to do so. In the first couple days after a rain the hood weighs about 10-20lbs more than it does dry thanks to water retention, and since virtually none of it drains out, it's all in the bondo. This hood is destined for the trash heap, I have another hood, uncut, sitting in storage. Once I figure out what the long-term fix is going to be (leaning towards and Eleanor-style scoop, since they're actually closed), I'll switch them out.
 
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Traction bars look pretty good, think they will make a big difference?
Is your exhaust set up changing?
No idea on traction bars. We'll see when the other side gets done tomorrow. As far as the exhaust, probably. Tips are only a couple inches above pavement with air shocks deflated, and I don't think the new KYB shocks will have it sitting much higher.
 
I'm really digging the car's stance with the new rear suspension parts installed. One of the traction bars is all the way in, and the other adjusted nearly 2" out to install them as sits right now (haven't driven it yet), so we'll see what kind of adjusting they end up with, was kind of suprised by that. I have new front shocks in the garage waiting to go on, but I think I'm going to address the fuel tank issue first, starting with pumping the now five month old 93 octane with Sta-Bil into my F150 (where it'll be burned up in about 3 days with my 100 mile commute) and getting the fuel cell out of the trunk and re-locating the fuel pump and filters to a new location so I can install the new factory-style tank.

My to-do-list as of right now looks like:
1. Dial-in Traction Bars
2. Fuel System
3. Front Suspension
4. Rack and Pinion
5. Motor Mount Rebuild
6. Roof and finish coupe conversion
7. Hood
8. Interior
9. Body work
10. Paint (probably farming that one out).

Other things I'd like to do are:

-Junkyard F150 Coyote Swap (I've estimated that at $10k in parts alone going with a new Tremec manual trans, and only farming out the dyno-tuning).
-Manual Trans Swap (regardless of which engine ends up in the car long-term).
-Air Conditioning (again, regardless of which engine ends up in the car) I'm strongly considering a back-dash installed system from Old Air Products to help keep the engine compartment clean (would only have the compressor and the two hoses easily visible.
-Rear Seat Delete.
- Custom Audio, possibly with DVD.
 
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Drove it around the block this morning.

Something in the right rear pops when putting the car in reverse (this trans has had a harsh engagement in reverse since I bought the car), so either something is loose back there, or its related to the odd adjustment I had to make to the traction bars during installation. For the 1/4 mile or so I drove it though, the car definitely felt more solid, there was zero flex going over the dip where my driveway meets the street, and the car has always noticeably flexed when backing out at an angle like I did this morning.

I'll fight with it later. Should've been in bed 15 minutes ago and I need someone else to put it in gear while I watch the suspension and nobody's home. Off tomorrow and get a bonus day off with pay next week because I'm taking a class during the day, so plenty of time to figure it out.
 
So.... between rain, sleep deprivation, being sick, and yard work... nothing's been done on the II in nearly a month, except for one single thing... I found the source of the popping sound in the revamped rear suspension!!!!

Got home from work yesterday morning, and walking past the II on my way to the front door like I always do... something bugged me about the lack of progress enough that I stopped, put my soda on the decklid, and laid down under the car and took a good look at the rear suspension. All of the bolts are tight, but there's just a little bit of play between the right side traction bar and the bracket for it at the front. Either tightening the hell out of the bolt to draw the bracket together a little or installing a shim or two will fix the issue (I'm leaning towards shimming it).

If it doesn't rain or get cold this weekend, the new fuel tank is going in.

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Is this a hint at things to come.... ??
Nah, just a 5.0 Coyote out of an F150 that was sitting around at the shop (something in it went "boom", it was getting replaced).

Just couldn't resist teasing everyone (though don't think I haven't thought about it).

Back to reality:

https://classicautoreproductions.co...975-1978-mustang-ii-fiberglass-induction-hood

MAH PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!!!

But damn, that's expensive...

Then again, I did spend $2100 on the EFI system, so what's another $575, right???? :crazy:
 
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