73 on a slow road to recovery... by Done Yet?

8 minute(s) of a 308 minute read

First off I would like to Thank all of you guys for the compliments.
Second Ive been told to SLOW DOWN on my project!!! LOL I hate to disapoint anyone but thats not gonna happen. Ive been putting an average of 30 hours a week on this car, while working my regular job. Im so close to that first ride I can taste it. If anything the work time will increase a little bit. I guess pretty soon i will be getting hate mail PMs sent to me from other members LOL....

Ok on a more serious note I'm looking for some advice. My 3" exhaust comes too close to the vent lines exiting my gas tank. In the pic you can see the rubber hose comming from the vent laying right on my pipe. I tried to reposition the exhaust but still a no go. Right now I'm leaning towards pulling the tank cutting back the vents welding them closed and running a vented gas cap. I'm all ears for any advice on how to correct this problem in a different fasion. Thanks Guys Rob

10-9-2011

Bad weather but still some progress..

Working on the Fat Mats (rattle trap xtreme) in between raindrops LOL. I was able to get everything except my doors done, I doubled up on the mat over the exhaust system. I will get the doors during the week. This stuff once stuck down will not come back up! I hope I dont need to remove it for any reason.







I Jumped the gun one more time, The metal trim on the lower section of my pakage tray was painted white with the rest of the car. I overlooked painting this section black before the rear glass was installed. Live and learn the hard way, It was a real PITA But I sanded and masked it off and painted it black.



Next I steam cleaned the rear seats and cleaned off the plastic trim. Once clean these pieces were installed into the car.







Now for something out of the norm, My side view mirrors did not get painted with the rest of my car. I thought they would look good painted in a satin black. My wife and kids disagreed and thought it would look bad. I went ahead and took my mirrors apart sanded and painted them. I installed one on the car to see if I liked it, what do you guys think? Be honest.... Im kind of up in the air If I like it or not.

10-12-2011

Exhaust issue resolved....

After talking to Pypes Exhaust, There tech line said that they didnt have a fix for my clearance issue. So This is how I corrected the problem. The first pic is of the tail and over the axel pipe. The blue tape is a 2" section that will be removed to shorten its length. The green tape on the tail pipe will be cut and then the 2" section will be welded to lengthen the tail. This will let me still use the factory hanger location on the tail pipe. Now this system fits much better and gives some room between the pipe and the fuel tank.







BEFORE MODIFICATION:

AFTER MODS TO PIPES:

The problem is the lengths in the last two pipes in there 3" system. I hope this info might help someone else with the same clearance problem.

10-23-2011

Still under the back of the car....

I was installing my new rear brake lines and hose.... Houston we have have another exhaust clearance issue. The drop down hose is right ontop of the over the axel pipe in its stock location So to fix this issue the brake line comming from the master cylinder and bracket were moved to the center above the rear end. Now my new brake lines were to short and too long. The long one was shortened and double flared, and a new line was bent for the short side. And a new bracket was fabricated to secure the hose to the top center of the rear end cover. Heres a pic of that work.





Next up was making 2 heat shields and installing them between the exhaust and the fuel tank where the vents and fuel line exit the tank. The first pic is of the heat shield I used..... Yes it is a Ford heat shield dont yell to loud LOL.









The jack stands were then moved under the frame rails to let the rear end hang down to check the strectch on the rear brake hose. The hose was fine but I noticed the R/S muffler was very close to my rear U-Joint.

So once agian the exhaust system was losened up and shifted over.

And last I went to hook up all of my new fuel tank vent lines and noticed 2 of the nipples comming out of the fuel tank had broke free do to the exhaust pipe pushing on them. So the tank was removed fuel drained and is airing out until I decide if I will repair it myself or take it to someone.



Im also fighting with my right side rear brake light lens. It has a very small water leak that doesnt want to go away. I have had it in and out several times even glued the gasket to the lens. I think I have a bad gasket or a hairline crack in the lens letting the water in. My fun meter was "PEGGED" after having my head in the trunk while spraying water on the leaky lens, when the wind blew the trunk lid down on my head Ouch.. and when backing out of the trunk my head then hit the corner of the spoiler double ouch... It was time to pack in the tools and walk away.