built67

i don't mind it being labor intensive...what i would mind though is getting it painted and seeing waves in the body because i didn't do a good enough job. thats what worries me the most. i love doing everything myself, i just want to make sure i can do it right. if i was to send it to a shop for body work what do you suggest? i was thinking pulling the motor/trans, doing the front suspension/ steering/brakes, then sending it out to get the body done from head to toe. id get it back in primer, do the wiring, interior, drop the motor and trans in and make sure its running right, and then id send it out for paint. would the shop be able to do the undercarriage with my new rear/suspension/etc under there?

68droptop

Do a burn out. Drag cars don't get 200 on them before doing a burn out. If the gears are installed properly you'll be fine.

BuckeyeDemon

a shop isn't going to want to detail your undercarriage with parts installed. it's best to detail under those parts as well (not to mention a shop probably isn't going to want to spend hours trying to clean, mask those parts and paint around them.

bag and tag the car, get it blasted, metal work, paint and then install your detailed piece parts and assemblies.

i don't know if you have financial constraints but that process is labor intensive.

my uncle said it takes on the order of 700 hours to bag/tag a typical 60's car, replace one panel and paint/buff (doesn't include all the other parts, the paint was for the body alone). if you estimate $50 to $75 an hour, that will give you some idea. he only does show cars.


if you are worried about waves, you can see them easily in the primer stage and you can rework if it's a concern.

Norm Peterson

For a drag car, every single thing in the powertrain is a wear part or breakage point that may only go a few thousand total miles before being refurbished/refreshed/swapped out for something different. Is that what you really want in the car that you want to be able to just hop into and go, every single time?


Norm

68droptop

If the rear end is set up properly I would not worry about it. Very few people properly break in there Vehicals now. I was a tech at a ford dealer for 12 years and the only Vehicals we ever had problems withe the rear end on was explorers and f150. I can't remember having a mustang in for a bad gear. The quality of Parts is a lot better than they use to be.

Norm Peterson

There is a difference between break-in that's only a little bit outside good guidelines and outright abuse. No matter how well the parts are finished, there is still a final micropolishing that occurs between the specific ring and its pinion for the specific installation during the initial running. This generates plenty of heat, which isn't all that good for the lube or ultimately the gear teeth if it's allowed to get too hot.

What's wrong with having a little patience, anyway?


FWIW, I suspect that the heavier use of F150's as cargo-haulers and Explorers taken off road has something to do with their apparently higher rate of failure.


Norm