SSRFUZZY

Found some pulleys and brackets locally, just have to clean them up before we use them.

We got the other parts we were waiting for that were back ordered. After 3 and a half weeks we find that the warehouse messed up and sent (2) rt outer wheelhouses in stead of a RT and Lt. Figured contacting the company and getting a replacement sent ASAP and an RMA to return the incorrect one would get us back on track. After talking with the customer service person they will send a call tag for the one I have and not send a replacement till they have the one that was incorrect back at their facility and checked. What? That'll put us two more weeks out waiting for another part. That or I could just order another one and they'll process a re imbursement later which could take 6 weeks to get a refund. THAT AIN'T HAPPENING EITHER.

I build cars all the time and understand back orders and incorrect parts, but not when they're one after the other on the same project and from the same supplier. It makes for a very irritable customer and potential loss of a job going out the door due to unforeseen delays not on my part, but on the suppliers part. I like to keep good schedule while building a car so that one rolls in, one in process, and one ready for delivery, It keeps the money rolling from one project to the next without being strapped for cash to get a problem corrected. This usually works very well. until something like this puts you a month or more behind schedule. Now you're back logging and taking up room in the shop that could be productive building something else.

I've got several more Mustang projects scheduled over the next year and if this isn't corrected satisfactorily, I will be buying those parts from another company. A projected loss of revenue for them of $50-60K just this year.

SSRFUZZY

My Son has been working on the Ranchero to try to get it up and running pretty much on and off all week. After numerous trips to the parts store and one to an ole scrap yard we finally got all the pieces needed to try to fire it up. Had to solve some electrical issues like someone had the ignition switch out and didn't put it back in correctly. Once that was re adjusted, we could turn the key and it would turn over.

Ran through a quick check list: lines are on, exhaust tight, electrical components wired, brakes bled, trans filled, oil filled, anti freeze in, check for leaks.. I think we're good to go.

Poured a little gas in the carb and bowl to get it primed. Had the boy turn the key and she was attempting to fire up. Little more fuel and same thing. re adjusted the distributor and tried again. this time she fired up, but a little rough and slow. Adjusted the distributor again and tried again, this time with success as it stayed running on it's own and accelerated fine.

We did find an exhaust leak whee the PO had welded the resonator to the down pipe, so I'll get the welder out there today and fix that. Meanwhile we'll go back through the brakes again as they seemed to have faded a bit over night. Probably still have some air in the new lines somewhere (hopefully that and not the master cylinder).

The boy is happy, as it is one step closer to being able to put it in his Mustang come spring time.

Now to find another magnum wheel (we only got (3) 14"x6" with the car and (1) odd 15" steel) and a set of usable tires for the winter. Not looking for new, just usable as these are dry rotted and ready to blow.

SSRFUZZY

Haven't found a rim yet, still looking. welded the exhaust leak. We re-bled the brakes again till we got full streams of fluid and they seamed fine. After about an hour they were on the floor again, so I'm thinking the master cylinder went bad. We hooked up the fuel line and put 5 gallons in the tank. Got it up and running. Idles fine and comes up to 2k rpm but levels off and won't rev higher. We've looked over everything we could think of and no improvements. Only two things left would be the Duraspark II brain box (looks original)or the carb (looks like it was rebuilt at some point). I did find the mixture screws are frozen solid, so I can not adjust them unless we remove the carb and tear it down.

Any other ideas on the lack of RPM, we're open to suggestions at this point. We'd like to drive this around for a while to make sure everything is kosher before pulling it to put in the Mustang.

SSRFUZZY

Found a set of rims and tires about two hours drive from me. Emailed and agreed on the price, but when I asked about coming to pick them up, I haven't gotten a response back yet That email was last week Thursday. Guess he didn't really want to sell the rims.


I tinkered with the ranchero again for a little bit yesterday, and got fed up with not being able to get it above 2500 RPM's. put it on the ground and got it ready to slowly drive out side and park it till spring. Got it to the end of the drive and went to back up, What? NO friggin reverse. That's great. I had the kids come out and help push it into it's stall. It rolled back a little further than I intended to so I put it in drive and gave it some gas. WHoa! what happened. It revved like I was doing a burn out on the ice (which I was, it wasn't moving on the ice). Must be something inside on the column that tells the Duraspark controller it can produce more vacuum to move the vehicle. I've never had one with Duraspark and so far I'm not a fan. Anyhow, it'll set outside till I have more time for it again.


With that outside we rearranged the shop and got the 69 Fastback inside along with the rotisserie. The rest of this week will be spent on the Mustang while I await parts for the other projects. While the boy's at the School's advanced construction house build this morning, I'll get the rotisserie set up and ready to go for the new frame rails and floor pans.

Just might be some pics later tonight after the Pinewood Derby.

SSRFUZZY

I did get some things done today but kept getting interrupted.

Put the Mustang in the air on stands and took some measurements to set up the rotisserie. Found some metal to make braces and brackets and started cutting and welding them in place. Then set the new pieces on and began figuring out which ones need to be welded first and how well the all fit together.








When the boy got home from school he started removing the front suspension from the car. He couldn't find my spring compressor tool so I showed him and old school way to remove the springs safely. At first he thought I was nuts, but once he saw how well it worked dear ole dad ain't half bad.




Still working on getting the rear suspension out. The bolts were so rusty there wasn't a head on them anymore.




That's about when we ran out of time as we needed to load up the Pinewood derby track and head for the Races. The kids had loads of fun racing double elimination and then grudge matches against the siblings or adults.

We'll see if I get left alone tomorrow to get some more done on the Mustang.

SSRFUZZY

Between running errands, Painting a motor cycle at my buddies shop due to his painter not showing up for work, and a funeral for one of my customers' wife. I did manage to get some work done in the shop today. finished removing the rear axle assembly and leaf springs and took all the parts off the rotissorie to get ready to put the body on it.





Yea it was a bit of work to get it out, but it's out of the way and progress can be made.




After the boy got home from school we put the body on the rotisserie and worked on drilling spot welds and cutting panels out of the way in preparation for the new frame rail to be installed.





By the time we came in tonight the New frame rail is welded in place and the LT trunk floor too.




Tomorrow we plan to work on the wheel houses and hopefully have the qtr panel on too. Who knows? We Might even start on the other side.

SSRFUZZY

Didn't get in the shop till after 11-11:30 today had to take the boy to the DR then scout office paperwork and some misc stuff around the house.

Once I did get working I was moving right long and even forgot to take a few pics during progress. Had the inner wheel house welded in and the underseat panels made and welded in, then moved on to the outer wheel house before realizing the camera was still in the house from last nights uploads. So anyway here's where we picked up with photos.







Had a few interuptions throughout the afternoon, small repairs and estimates to write, then right back at it in the shop. By 7 I had everything accomplished I had planned on for the day.









I'll get some rest tonight and hit it hard tomorrow again and hopefully have the rt side all done by the time I come in the house.

SSRFUZZY

Hit it hard yesterday and got quite a bit done, but when I came in late last night the photo hosting site was down, so I had no chance of posting photos.


Tore straight into the rt side and cut everything out that was getting replaced, then began with the frame rail and trunk drop off (they pretty much have to go in together).







Got them fitted and welded then moved on to the inner and outer wheelhouses.




Everything seemed to be going along fairly well. except for the fact I had scraped my head on the side scoop sharp metal edges at least 5 times. I've got start putting some masking tape on them before I finish scalping myself from them.

Patched up the under seat panel like we did with the other side, and then prepped the qtr panel for welding. Slow and steady welding and cooling time in between welds help eliminate the warpage of the panels.








That was it for last night. Today we head out to tackle the front frame rails, torq boxes and fender aprons.

SSRFUZZY

Not a lot of pictures today as I was just working away, sparks flying, grinder wizzing, air hammer making lots of noise, and the welder fusing metal back together. I did get the Dr frame rail in along with the fender apron, torq box and to panel, but somewhere along the working part I must have twisted wrong or for too long and now my back is out with a pin level of 12 if I stand up or lay down. Bending over or sitting is great. Just can't walk well.

Anyway here's the shots from today.













Grinding the welds will be the boys job tomorrow, I think I'll be taking the day off. May even take a trip to the ER if my back does improve a little by tomorrow. Time for an Ice pack.

SSRFUZZY

Spent 6 hours up at the ER Sunday morning only to come away with a prescription for muscle relaxer. They made no adjustments, traction or otherwise. They took blood and urine samples and ran some dye through me for the CAT scan. Which tuned up NADA, ZILCH ZIPPO.

I made an appt. with my Chiropractor this morning and he actually got my back to move around. felt a little bit better and was told explicitly not to work in the shop today. Well, I tried as best I could not to go out there but I just couldn't sit in the house any longer.

I hobbled out to the shop and gathered a few tools to break down the door hinges and install new pins and bushings. At least I could sit on a stool for that easy job. The the boy got home from school and finished sanding the front fenders and doors with 400 grit. After dinner we mixed up some epoxy for the sealer coat and started spraying color. After 4 coats of Orion Silver and 4 coats of clear here are the front parts.










Now to go in and ice my back as it flared up during the spraying process.

Tomorrow is supposed to be snowy and rainy all day long. Man I'm gonna be so bored tomorrow if we get the amounts they're predicting.