Wow, so little achieved this month. Bummer!
What have I done? I shot some paint (rattle cans) on suspension components. I got the steering column almost ready to put back together. Story there, and part of what I'm writing about tonight. See, I got everything painted black, and then I decided that I wanted to paint the control arms, retainer springs, and linkages in the engine compartment the same color as the wheels - I think having them stick out will be a nice contrast to the rest. I could be wrong - it certainly wouldn't be the first time. We'll see.
Of course, the problem is, I got no paint. I haven't chosen it yet. Recall last month, I fired off a couple of e-mails to paint suppliers about "what's the right paint to use on wire wheels?" Well, it took about 2 weeks, but one of the suppliers got back to me and recommended Acrylic Enamel. So, I looked around, and the stock colors in Acrylic Enamels include the Tangerine twist and also Omaha Orange - both of which I was eyeballing for that job. I just couldn't tell from their on-line colrs, though, and then I found a paint chip with "Bright Tangerine" (a DuPont color that is factory stock on some newer Mustangs)... All the pictures on-line look too red for the tangerines, though.
So, I spent $4 at the paint place that was willing to talk to me (PaintForCars.com), so they would send me a paint chip card. Weeeeeelll... The post office sent me a notification on July 15 that the chip set was being picked up that day. It arrived today. Yeeup. 10 days. To go from Trenton, NJ to Pasadena, MD. Hell, I could've driven there in an afternoon. D'oh.
So, the pictures absolutely do not do the paint chip justice. I've decided on the "Omaha Orange," and I think I'll buy it right here. A couple pics below.
Aside from the paint, Tuesday afternoon I brought my front spring perches and rear brake backing plates to the machine shop to have the bushings pressed out. They should give me a call in the next day or so. I don't expect that to set me back more than $100. More than I really want to spend, but those things were pretty badly worn out. As for the front brake shaft bushings, though - they're a danged tight fit. Those bushings are in most excellent shape, so no changing them out.
Speaking of the front brake shafts, I went ahead and removed the original grease fittings. This turned out to be a bit tetchier than I hoped, but right about where I expected. The old fittings broke off when I tried to remove them, so I brought them down to the drill press and ever so carefully drilled them out. It took me 4 different sizes of bits to slowly widen them out until they'd pull out. Amazingly enough, though, I managed to not ruin the holes or even scratch my fresh paint job! Yeah, I know - amazing!
Tomorrow I'm taking the old axle housings up to Schwalms, up in Pensylvania. If nothing else, I'll save on the shipping.
Brought the axle housings up to Scwalm's today. Sorry, no pics, but it was interesting to get shown around thep lace a bit. Sorry, can't remember the feller's name, but he does a lot of the painting & whatnot - he's the one that showed me about. They had three (?) Model A's of varying years sitting about, one was just a rolling chassis with engine installed. They had just about every part you can think of in bins on the wall. Pretty friendly folks, it seems. A friend at work told me they do danged good work, but "if you have to ask how much, you can't afford it." Well, I had to ask, just so I'd know how much to shell out. I thunk to ask them if they had any motor mounts, and they said no, that's one thing that was durned near impossible to get. It seems Mr. Ford had a design flaw in those, and they all crack. They sent me up the road a bit to Gene Renninger's - maybe they'd have one.
I drove up the road a bit, and had more excitement than I cared for. It was rainy, and if you've ever been to Lancaster, PA... Well, then you know about the traffic. In short, it's a pain. It's a touristy area, and the little two-lane roads are backed up with cars and horse-and-buggies. Somebody decided at the last instant to stop to turn into a restaurant, and everybody had to slam brakes. I purt near hit the guy in front of me. The guy behind me purt near hit me. I was watching in the rear-view, doing as much of a slow-roll as I could, and not hit the guy in front, when I saw the tractor-trailer jack-knife behind that guy. I was saying a whole bunch of fast little prayers and bracing for the impact. The guy in front of me moved, I started rolling, and then I saw the semi right next to me. He'd had the presence of mind to get off the brakes and straighten things out, but he still clipped the guy behind with his flatbed. I came out of it unscathed, but it was pretty close to scorched undies, regardless. I had to run across the street to call in the police, and the guy behind's van got crinkled enough that he couldn't open doors, but no one seemed to be hurt. It was a near thing, I'll tell you what.
After that, I went on up to Renninger's. I popped in and kibbitzed with him a bit, and spent a few more bucks than I had planned. He had all of three motor mounts, and they were all cracked, but in better shape than mine. He let it go for $20. I also picked up some spring-frame welts, and 4 new hubcaps. He was a bit more expensive than other places, but it's nice to be able to sit down & B.S. with someone a bit, right? And I didn't want to waste his time, so what the hey.
Last modified on 10/09/12