Home
Before the Restoration
After the Restoration
After the Restoration (2018)
Goodbye
Restoration Journal2001:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
2002:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
November
2003:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
2008:
August
2017:
April
June
August
Car Dolly
In-Dash Tach
Send Me Email
Watch a Clip
Have a Listen
References
Library
Barracuda Owners Email List
Restoration Journal
July 1, 2001
Disassembled the other disc brake setup that I bought. Most all of these bolts are rusted, so it takes some heat and holding power of the vise. Procedure is: remove caliper from knuckle, remove hub/rotor from spindle, remove backing plate, remove steering arm from knuckle.The calipers are in decent shape; probably a little better than my other set. But the difference isn't enough to justify spending the time to clean them up, so I'll use the other pair.
The rotors have about the same amoutn of meat on them as the others, but they are much more rusted, and they have very long lug studs in them for some reason, so I'll use the others.
5 of the 8 caliper pistons were in good shape, so I've got 9 good ones to choose from when I re-assemble them. The brake lines that attach directly to the caliper were not salvagable, so I'll have to buy them. But I did get the hardware that was missing from the first set (bracket that hose attaches to, clips that hold pads in the caliper).
July 2, 2001
Year One was running one of their 10% off sales, so after some comparison shopping, placed an order with them. Not nearly as large as the order earlier in the year. Jim's Auto Parts is generally cheaper, but after the 10% discount, the prices are about the same. Any parts that can be had at your local parts store should be purchased there; things like bearings, for example. But for some restoration parts, you really don't have a choice.Finished taking apart the remaining hub/rotor and organized all the parts. Used Simple Green and a brush to clean up the greasy parts that don't need to be de-rusted (ie. nut and washer for the spindle, the grease cap, etc).
July 4, 2001
Took the grinder outside to do some major derusting. Cleaned up all the parts associated with the right front wheel - the hub, rotor, knuckle, splash shield and bolts. For the areas I couldn't reach with the wire wheel, like the back inside part of the rotor, I used a wire wheel on my drill. Much to my surprise, I was able to reach all the nooks and crannies.All those parts are ready for painting now.
July 5, 2001
Put a coat of POR15 on the parts I derusted on the 4th. It's very cool to see these old, rusted parts get cleaned up and look almost new again.I then cleaned up a few parts that Scott called and said he needed. Essentially all the latches for the trunk. He's going to be fitting the trunk lid soon, so need to be able to close it.
July 6, 2001
Took the parts I mentioned above over to Scott's. While I was there, I picked up the pieces I had dropped off at the media blaster the previous week. Now I can take them home and paint them (see June 25th). Left the K member and transmission mount with Scott, as there were a couple broken welds he's gonna fix for me.He's been working on the trunk primarily. Not only did he have
all the rust damage to fix, but he also had collision damage from 30 years
ago to deal with. The area around the left tail light was poorly
mended - there was a lot of bondo, and some welds that had never been properly
done. He removed all the bondo, straightened the metal, and fixed
all the welds. He also has all the patches in the trunk done.
Here are the pictures (click on one for full-size version):
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
July 7-8, 2001
A weekend of painting. As I said above, I picked up some parts that had been media blasted, and I wanted to get some paint on them all before they started rusting again. Not much to talk about; just several hours with a brush and can of POR15.Here are the parts as I got them home:
 |
 |
 |
Here are the parts after a coat of POR15:
 |
 |
 |
I thought I should take a couple pictures of my restoration process.
I should really have the wife take a picture of me at the wire wheel, as
that comprises a pretty big portion of the time spent. Instead we'll
show my painting table (that's a WorkMate under the plastic), and a few
before/after shots:
 |
 |
 |
 |
July 9, 2001
Just a little painting - top coat on some of the parts that had been sandblasted, and a coat of POR15 on the upper control arms.Also bought a mirror on Ebay, so I can cross that off my shopping list....
July 10, 2001
Yet more painting. Finished all the sand blasted parts except for the driveshaft.Also used a garden hose to clean the sand out of the axle housing. After that, I went in the basement and picked things up and organized parts. The only "productive" activity was getting the new bushings in the lower control arms. And then the pivots in the bushings. No special tools required, thankfully.
July 12, 2001
Didn't get any real work done - just spent an hour or so readint the FSM. Needed to get familiar with the rear axle, so I know what parts to buy, what work needs to be done by a shop, what I can do myself, etc.July 13, 2001
Using a dremel tool, I enlarged the holes that the bolt passes through on the leaf spring hangers that I purchases. For some unknown reason, they weren't large enough for the bolt that came with my leaf springs from ESPO. It was a pain in the ass, and decided I'd take the other hanger to a shop and let them do it. With a drill press and the right size bit, it should be quite easy.I then tackled a job I'd been putting off - cleaning up the exterior of my sure grip carrier. I used a screw driver to scrape off most of the grease/dirt/gunk. And then I used a wire brush and Simple Green to get the rest off. It looks pretty good - not as good as media blasting, but a clean enough surface to paint.
July 16, 2001
Started cleaning up the left front suspension. Used the wire wheel to derust the hub/rotor and splash shield. Then took a drill and wire wheel bit to get the areas the wire wheel couldn't. Then put a coat of POR15 on both of them, after masking, of course.July 17, 2001
Continued working on left front suspension. Put grey top coats on hub/rotor and splash shield. Use the wire wheel to clean up the left knuckle, as well as the pinion snubber that I removed from the carrier.I then masked the knuckle, right UCA (had to do some touch up painting, as the ball joing replacement process took some paint off of it), and pinion snubber. Then painted those 3 parts with POR15.
Doesn't sound like a whole lot, but that all took 2.5 hours of work. And it was muggy and hot - I was a sweaty, dirty mess by the end of the evening.
July 18, 2001
Took both rotors to a shop over lunch to have new races installed and get new surfaces turned on them.Did a little painting - put top coats on the parts mentioned on the 17th. I then started loading parts into the car to take to a local shop. They're going to inspect/rebuild my differential, and replace the bearings on my axles.
This is when I noticed that the chunk I bought on ebay uses the small (7260) yoke, and my driveshaft has the large (7290) yoke. So I either need to get a conversion U-joint, or use one of the yokes from 2 other chunks I have. That is, if they will work with my sure grip. I couldn't figure that out before the end of the night, so the trip to the shop will be delayed at least a day.
July 19, 2001
Didn't have much time for the car tonight. Just organized parts, essentially. Tried to install new bushings in UCA, and wasn't able to. I'm sure I'll write more about that in the days to come...One more thing - given the advice of people on the email list, I came to the conclusion that the yoke from the original 657 carrier might swap with the small yoke on the sure grip. However, I really don't have the tools to remove the yokes to verify that they use the same number of splines. Decided that for $30 (the price of a conversion yoke), it's easier to just use the small yoke on the sure grip.
July 20 - 25, 2001
Vacation!July 26, 2001
Went to the shop over lunch to pick up my rotors, which were getting resurfaced and new races installed. Had a surprise - the inner race on one rotor was not seating properly; you can turn it with your finger. The machinist said that's not good - the hub is not usable. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do about it; either use one of my spare rotors, or try to find a special race that would fit snugly. The front suspension is turning out to be a pain even after it's off the car.Then went to see the car at the body shop for the first time in 3 weeks. One of the quarters is in place! Scott also said the engine bay and trunk are ready for priming. He's making good progress, but I doubt I'll have it back before September now.
The engine bay:
 |
 |
New quarter panel & left front floor:
 |
 |
Right rear & right front floors:
 |
 |
Trunk extension repair:
Evening's work on the car consisted of determining which lug studs I needed to buy. I decided that I will use the rotor I was originally going to use, and just swap in a spare hub. That will involve removing the studs - I'll buy new ones to replace them, in case they get marred in the removal process.
I then started removing the bushing shells from the right UCA. I spent about 90 minutes on it, and still don't have one out. But I can see that I'll get it out eventually. It's just slow going; using various tools (dremel tool, vise, hack saw, hammer) to cut it up in the UCA, and then collapsing it so I can remove it.
July 27, 2001
Got the old bushing shells out of the UCA. The second one was much easier than the first, after figuring out what the right tool was: a hacksaw. You need to be careful not to cut anything other than the shell. But after just a couple minutes of making a nice, even cut through the shell, you can then compress it enough to rotate it, and pull it out of the UCA.July 28, 2001
Back to the wire wheel to clean up the hub that will replace the ruined one, as well as the replacement strut rod that showed up at my house a couple days ago. Then spent the rest of the day painting those 2 and some other smaller parts.July 29, 2001
Bear came over to see my pile-o-parts in the basement. The pile of stuff that's ready to be bolted back on the car is getting extensive.He wanted to "do some car stuff". Didn't have anything fun to do - there's nothing glamorous about refurbishing parts. So, he offered to help w/ a really grim job - degreasing the transmission and steering box. So, on a hot sunny day, me, Bear, a bucket of Simple Green and some wire brushes could be seen on my front lawn. Very messy - oil/grease getting splattered all over the place.
But both the transmission and the steering box are nice and clean now. The difference in the steering box is amazing - it was black, coated with an 1/8" of grime. Now it's all clean and bright again!
In the evening, I tried to install the new UCA bushings, using a hammer and a vise. That didn't work. I don't want to ruin anything, so I'll probably take them to a shop to have them pressed in.
July 30, 2001
Read the FSM to learn about the steering gear box. After doing that, I decided I really didn't want to take it apart. It was working fine while in the car, and there's very little play, so I'm gonna leave well enough alone.I did finish de-greasing it. And I checked the fluid level; none! I'm wondering if that just happens over the course of 30 years, or if one of the seals is leaking. I'll find out when I fill it back up. If it is leaking, an email list member said I can just fill it with axle grease, as opposed to taking it apart to replace a seal.
I then painted the pitman arm (still attached to the gear box), and my new steering arms.