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This car was passed from father to son. The son happens to be an ex Special
Forces soldier who was stationed a stones' throw from me at Bragg, though
we never met. When I was approached to build this car, I had my doubts
at first. But the more we talked, the more I became interested.
He wants this car restored to better than original, with a few tricks,
and will one day pass the car down to his son. I like the heritage for
one, and I like the client, which goes along way. Its hard to turn down
a fellow soldier. I figured, I have torn so many of these cars apart for
frames and parts for other famous cars, it might be fun to put one back
together for a change.
Besides, once we got to the details on how the car was to be built, I
wanted to do it as much as he did. It really will be one sweet rocket
of a ride.
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| We are trying to save costs where we can, so a full rotisserie
restoration is out of the question. I did want to get to the frame and undercarriage
though, so we improvised. We modified our rack to lift the body from the
frame, so we could clean and coat and reassemble as easily as possible. |
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| Here you can see the body lifted from the frame so we can
roll it right out from under the car. |
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The frame wasnt damaged, but was old and in need of restoration.
We used POR-15 as usual for the frame coating.
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| Wile in the air we cleaned, repaired and coated the undercarriage.
Then reassembled the body on the frame. |
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| Here you can see it going back together, smooth as you please.
(Yeah right. What, are you new here??) |
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| The inner and outer fenders were removed for repair. |
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| The entire engine bay was stripped for restoration. |
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The car came stock with 4-wheel disc brakes. We of course replaced all
of the steering and suspension, as well as brake components and lines.
The core support was repaired and painted.
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When time or money prevents you from bead blasting, your left with two
methods, manual and chemical.
Manual involves alot of elbow grease and sanding, chemical involves a
special solution that helps release the paint from the car.
NEVER acid dip. And no, I don't care why you think acid dipping is good
or what TV show you saw it on, if you know anything about restoration
and really stop and think about it for 30 seconds, you should come up
with 5 or 6 reasons NOT to acid dip. But what do I know, I only do this
for a living.
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| The fenders had some previous repairs that were very questionable... so
we took care of that. |
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We applied a 'wash' primer for insurance and to buy us alittle time
for bodywork. This step is especially important in a place like Houston
where it can get very humid.
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| We did away with the granny side trim, so there were alot of holes to
weld in and smooth out. |
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| The fenders were repaired and then POR15 applied to the insides for additional
protection. |
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| The hood is stripped clean, and repaired where needed. |
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The engine we wanted was the Ford Racing Super Cobra Jet 460 which puts
out roughly 550HP, which you may remember us using on other Ford projects.
However,...
After months of the run-around, I finally get an inside line that tells
me the factory delay is that Ford has ran out of 460 blocks and is going
to discontinue the engine!!
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Doesn't this sound familiar? Several times over?
Hell, I have 6 or 7 460 blocks here, give me the damn parts list and
once again I'll do it myself. I remember back when you used to be able
to order a crate engine and it came to your door ready to go.... ah, the
good 'ole days.
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| Rear end was removed, restored and reinstalled. |
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| Now the body is primed and ready for blocking smooth. |
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After alot of precision blocking, its time for paint.
We are going with Pearl, to keep the original look only with modern style.
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| Wetsanding and buffing gets all of the panels looking laser smooth. |
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| The engine is complete, and ready for installation. |
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| The C6 trans was built to hold the power, then the driveline was bolted
together and installed. |
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All new brake hardware, including the Hydro-Boost.
No one yet makes fuel or brake lines for this car, so we have to bend
and flare those by hand.
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| U-joints replaced, driveshaft cleaned, coated and installed. |
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| Rear tail trim is polished, as are the lenses and all reinstalled with
new bulbs and hardware. |
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| The customer liked these computer renderings of what the bumpers would
look like with some shaving and smoothing, so we got to work on making his
bumpers presentable for chroming. |
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