Gord sanded down an area with a run on the roof, then decided he was unhappy with numerous spots. All touched up with white again to his satisfaction (I hope).
These pictures above show some of the work done to the car by my brother-in-laws. There was much more work, such as fabricating new body mounts at the front of the trunk and panels to cover the mounts, removing the back window and fixing all the rust holes in the window frame... Gordon also repaired numerous small dents. After painting today, he found 1 small dent in the hood and was going to fix it. I told him to leave it as he has spent enough effort already. Tomorrow will tell, he has a habit of getting up at 5 and working on the car.
We have the white and pearl on the roof done. We have removed the tape and the plastic so we can replace it to reduce any chance of something blowing up on the clear coat. should be finished painting the car tonight. then, back to my Mother-In-Laws place to have the final bodywork under the car done, the fuel sending unit replaced, the back deck replaced and car seat restraints added to the back seat to accommodate my two Grandchildren's seats. The end is near (Of this part anyways. I think there will always be something I want to do.).
Gordon decided the white isn't good enough. Off to town tomorrow to pickup more paint and mineral spirits. This is turning into a trial. Ah well, just think, going to look great. He also decided the blue needed touch up. At least this gave me an opportunity to sandthe door jambs and paint them. Now I am getting fussy.
We took off the tape today. Tomorrow we will be putting the back window in and replacing the fuel sending unit. I went out tonight and replaced the valence, put on the wipers, replaced the trunk lock and siphoned out 14 gallons (Can) of gas in preparation for tomorrow.
The back window is in, the repairs to the rear quarter and the fuel sending unit changed. Now it works. I have to put the inside trim back on the car, put the fuel back in the tank. Tomorrow we head home. My wife is starting to get itchy feet. I can't blame her. She has been dealing with our Grandchildren while I work on the car.
We got home today. about 300 Km (200 miles) into the trip, the wiper motor decided to retire. Fuse was good, it had variable power from the switch, so, the motor. I drove 450 Km in rainstorms, following my wife in the truck and trailer. Not fun. Hard to see every time a rig passed us. Found a motor on eBay for 125 CAN delivered. Better than the rebuild I found, 450 US plus delivery. My wife was almost in an accident on the way home. We pulled into a rest area behind a guy in a Pickup. As I passed him he was watching my car and almost drove into my wife and trailer while turning to back into a parking spot. I was really mad, but Jenny said let it go, she avoided him. Okay, do a s the wife says.
Gordon and I replaced the fuel tank sending unit on the car before we left. I had to wait until I filled up to verify, since it showed 1/4 tank after replacement. The old sending unit was definitely fubar. Broken parts inside of it. It is certainly nice to know how much fuel is in the tank as you take a long drive. The car, travelling at 90 kph (55 mph) got 25 MPG (CAN) (21 MPG US). I am ecstatic with this mileage.
Today I put the chrome trim, well, almost all, back on the car. The two pieces behind the doors, between the doors and fenders, has to go on. Tomorrow is another day. It was 27 C and I grew up in Northern BC, a much cooler environment. You would think that after 20 years here I would be used to the heat but, nope. My wife made me a headband to wear to keep the sweat out of my eyes and it has seen a lot of use in the last month. When I was about to remove the arm rests and do the back ones my son came out with his daughter and asked if we could go for ice cream. Yup, anything for my son and granddaughter. We went for the drive to DQ and I noticed a lot of looks at the car, as well as a few comments. Kind of makes you feel good, knowing people appreciate what you have done to the car. On the way home she still had her ice cream cone. Makes me glad that the interior is vinyl. Easy to clean with a cloth and soap and water. Well, that's all for tonight. God bless to all and I wish you a good, healthy evening. Chuck
I find I really like the new colour better. I didn't get any work done on the Wildcat today as I noticed some rust on the rear fenders of my wife's '08 Escape. Have to take care of that first. As I was working on the passenger side where I noticed the rust I asked my son to check the other side. A little in one spot he said. I told him to sand it out, then turned my attention back to my work. 15 minutes later he said he was done. I went around and the area he had done was really nice.... but..... I showed him two tiny lumps in the paint. So small they were hardly noticable . That's rust, I told him. We sanded it out and two small rust spots. I told him to sand them smooth like the other one. In the end, my side required much more work than his, but they are done. I sprayed Rust Killer all around before paint, or bondo. I hate rust.
Today my eldest son came in, all serious, and asked me to come outside please. I said "Okay son." and followed him to my car. He parks right beside my drivers side and pointed to the paint chip I got on the way home last week. "I'm sorry, but I chipped your paint job." he said. I laughed and told him that happened on the way home from Pierceland. "What are you going to do?" he asked. I said, watch this. I opened the trunk, got a sanding sponge and sanded the two chips out until I had a smooth surface. Then I used 300 grit to take out any imperfections, cleaned it and put primer on it. "But your paint job." he said. I said that you cannot just fill a paint chip, you have to sand it. Over the day I painted, sanded, painted, sanded and then, clear coated it. I found that the GM Light Metallic Blue is an exact match to my paint. You cannot even see where I fixed it. I showed him the finished product. He was amazed and asked if I could help him with his paint chips on his 2015 Ford Focus sometime. "Absolutely." I told him. "But you are going to help and learn how to do this." "I guess so...." he replied. I am a firm believer that you have to do something to learn it. You cannot just watch. I also put silicon into the roof rails. It would have been easier if I had small fingers but, nope.... big handsand fingers. Great for telecom, and some mechanical and bodywork. Sucked for this. I got it done though and it looks good. Another check off in the list in my mind.
Today as I drove the car to the dog park, I noticed a major voltage drain whenever the car was at idle. It would go to 11 to 11.8 volts at idle. It would go up to 13.8 to 14 volts at speed again. Definitely something very wrong in the charging system. I got home, opened the hood and started checking the wiring for a short or a ground. Everything seemed fine and everything was plugged in where it belonged. What was wrong? Wait, everything is plugged in? I checked the shorted wiper motor. Yup, someone, maybe my boys, probably me, plugged it back in. I unplugged it and, lo and behold, the voltage gauge jumped up to 13.8 volts at idle. Whew, something simple, but stupid. I probably plugged that back in, memory is a little flaky since my accident. I was glad to find out that it wasn't another problem with the car. Those gauges are really paying for themselves.
I got home from a week of camping today and found my "new" (to me anyways) windshield wiper/washer motor on my doorstep tucked in behind my wife's planter. Yeah. Now for the time to put it in. First, I have to fix the awning on my trailer. I caught the arm on a metal post and broke the short bar that connects to the trailer. My fault completely. I know how to repair it though. A couple of washers, 6 pop rivets and some JB Weld. I felt like a complete idiot after though. I may be a little lacking in the mechanics department, but I have been repairing things on the cheap for most of my life. Tomorrow I will install the motor in the car. First though, Dad's voice in my head is telling me to clean, sand, and paint it so it looks as close to new as possible. My Dad, while not a perfectionist, insisted that things are done right. I really miss him and his advice. Keith (another brother-in-law) and I spent 3 days working on an old 3 ton we bought from Dad's boss. No luck getting it going. I asked Dad if he would look at it the next day. He didn't have much time but said he would look. He walked over to it, said "Turn it over." The darn thing fired right up. I always felt he was the best mechanic I had ever seen. Engines were afraid to upset him.. Well time to play with my Grandson Luke. Have a good day all, and, once more, I pray safety for you and yours. Chuck
The motor is cleaned, wire wheeled, primed and painted and tested now. I will let the paint set overnight and install it tomorrow. This is going to be fun. I will be happy to have wipers again. I am going to keep the washer motor in my spares cupboard. You just never know when you will need it.
This morning I started by repairing our awning on our travel trailer (head hung in shame). I then turned my attention to the car. I took off the wiper motor, found that it had been off some time in the past as 2 of the bolts had been replaced and had to have the heads held in the back. Off comes the valance, didn't help. They provide you with a 2 inch by 3 inch hole to work through. Fun. I took the old one off and replaced it with the new one. Replace the valance and the wiper arms. Tested, works great. For giggles, I metered out the connections on the old motor. The winding's were shorted, zero ohms. That explains the warmth I felt when I was trying to use it. I removed the washer motor for future, waste not, want not. Next, back to sanding and polishing paint.
Thank you. I really love her and use her as a daily driver. Driving a classic is some much different than driving a newer vehicle. As my wife said "It takes a completely different skill set to drive an old car." I hadn't thought about it, but, she is right. Little things like, the size of the car, the fact that when you step on in, it goes like a scared kitty. My son's car, a 2015 Ford Focus, is peppy, but like all new cars, is computer controlled. When you step on it, the car seems to think about it before giving you power. There is a small lag. With our classics, no lag. With our classics, you stomp.... you go. The other things that that my son hates, no passenger side mirror. I told him that it was in a parking lot in Hollywood (big bang theory joke). I told him that they were an option back then. Then there is the dimmer switch on the floor. He cannot believe this was the standard back then. He is a product of the 80's. I love my car. Now, just to fix the wipers. The motor I ordered off Ebay, the relay board that controls the motor..... broken. Looking for a used one, or a new motor. You can get them, but they are $125 Can on Ebay, plus shipping and duty, over $200. Have to wait before I go this route. Well, have a great and safe day all. Chuck
