My first car resto has begun, as mentioned in the member area I've done restos on boats (fiberglass and epoxy) but never a car. So I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions along the way and looking for advice. I'm sure many items will come out of order so bear with me. If anything I ask about is overkill, let me know but I'll probably do it anyway I've gone through a ton of threads already and realize how much I don't know about cars (except motors.....not fords).

We're in the process of taking the car apart, it had been redone by the po with lots of new metal (fenders, rear qtr, floors, interior etc) but the car has some problem areas where the paint is starting to bubble. I'll post some pics later today. I figure lets just strip it bare (everything that can will be removed) and start over, with a complete media blasting. The engine will start with a mild 289 only since this will be the daily driver for my son who will be 15 in a week, but we ALL know the car will eventually end up with a lot more power.

I want to start buying what I need for when the car comes back from blasting.

Subframe connectors - Was looking at what Tinman has because of the factory look to it but think Maier gets farther onto the existing subframe which will add more support. Since the car will be bare metal clean I can weld them in.

Paint no color - anything that is not getting color will get 2 coats of POR15. What is the best product to use under the car to deaden sound and protect the POR15? New cars come through with a rubberized coating, is that available or is there another product.

Paint color - I've had great success with Dupont 2580 CR Chromate Epoxy Primer. Anything not covered in POR15 I'd like to prime with the 2580. I've had great success with this product with parts in a salt water environment. I figure it will add a lot of protection to the car as well. Only downside??? is the recommended topcoat is Imron. This is what I've used in my past projects and don't have a problem with the car being Imron, would probably have to go with Basecoat 6000 since I'd like to do a 2 stage paint. I've never sprayed anything but Imron over this product so I don't know if other systems will work. The other advantage of this primer is the ability to prime the whole car then do body filler over the top of it. The Chromate 2580 is the only primer in this line that you can that with. From my understanding you can not do filler over primers. Another reason for this being the choice.

Seam Sealers - Wow, where do I begin. Which seams need sealing? I guess I'll need a lot of advice here.

 

I promised pics, took them just need to post them. Car has been sitting but we managed to get out there yesterday pulled the motor and tranny. Going to pull the pan on the motor to see how much damage its got, planned on a complete rebuild but wondering what's happening in there. The tranny fluid was black, if we don't go with a AOD then this is going to be rebuilt too. Will post some pics tonight......I hope.

 

Here are some pics, the car is in good shape but we're still taking everything down to bare metal.

 

Now the not so good....or maybe good since it opens my options for power.


This was the first indication that we're in big trouble.


Sure enough, big trouble


Not liking the color of the first 2 rods or bob weights


Gonna scrape the tar off the head to fill some pot holes


No pics but the first 2 rods have oval journals, the crank is cut pretty deep. The block has no spun bearings (cam or main), the cylinder walls look good and the heads are good.

Now do I just build a new 289 or a 302 or do I go with a 351. My son has a lot of respect for our fast boats I just don't know if I should trust him with a fast car.

Most importanly we're having a lot of fun working on the project