Now Complete Restoration / Pulling my 1969 'Bee down for strip and paint

[birdsandbees]

Thanks Dino!! Was starting think I was talking to myself in here.. LOL.

[Dino]

 

I don't post as much as I used to because I'm usually doing something school related, but I'm always looking at the progress you're making.   

[Lennard]

You are doing an awesome restoration job sir!

[birdsandbees]

Thanks Lennard.

So far into this $ wise now that I thought I'd better pull up my socks and do it all right. Not going to be concurs, but I'll sure sit and smile in the lawn chair while sitting beside her! 

[Lennard]

Thanks Lennard.

So far into this $ wise now that I thought I'd better pull up my socks and do it all right. Not going to be concurs, but I'll sure sit and smile in the lawn chair while sitting beside her!  

It always cost way more than you initially thought it would.  I see the same thing happening with my '68.

[moparnation74]

Looking GREAT!  Like the look on your backing plates and fantastic job on the manual box

[birdsandbees]

THANKS!

Got lucky and found a pair of correct length bleeder screws in town today. RPM'd the castings and installed the wheel cylinders and hoses. Scuffed and painted my front shocks semi-gloss black today as well.

I'm also a VERY lucky man, wife told me she was going to visit her dying aunt in Sarnia this weekend (and did).. but also had an ulterior motive in mind. She knew I needed a bigger blasting cabinet and had bought me one off kijjiji and picked it up in London on her way to Sarnia.   Cabinet was used to blast 3 items... guy sealed it while putting it together and also has an optional rolling unit.

[moparnation74]

Awesome Wife!

[Charger-Bodie]

Here are my backing plates done in base and flat clear. trying for durablity.

[birdsandbees]

Nice! Thanks. 

[66FBCharger]

Great thread.
On your manual steering box, is there a reason you cleared it instead of using RPM? I'm planning on doing my manual box in the near future.

[birdsandbees]

I think it was bumping into that old can of tremclad clear that swayed me. It's specifically to prevent oxidization on copper / aluminum etc and with the box being aluminum I just felt it was the way to go and be done with it. The cover retaining bolts, cross shaft adjuster bolt & lock nut and the big adjuster lock nut were all RPM'd.

[birdsandbees]

Great to finally find someone that sold a correct... EXACT.. reproduction of the '69 sway bar links. I compared it in detail to my originals, right down to the washer profile, and it is correct! Unfortunately I snapped one side of mine on strip down, so needed some replacements. Thanks Jeff Brown (521 reproductions) for selling it and if not you to whom ever is producing it.  

Another tray into the "easy bake oven" for preheat and coating with RPM.

[birdsandbees]

Not a lot accomplished today, but even a bit each day will get me to the finish line.

Tore the rear backing plates down and have them degreasing so I can paint them like the fronts. Wish they still made stuff like this today... original Ebrake cables in both rears not seized! Can pull the cables easily by hand. I bet the replacements I got to be new and "shiny" won't last 2 years.  

Also ticked off that my new brake hardware, nor the new adjuster kits have the rectangular springs for the end of the upper ebrake strut plate. Something else to find...  

[birdsandbees]

30 years later and I now understand why my drivers side rear brake use to hang up.... need to get my TIG out and rebuild the lower two wear pad spots.

Finally got my engine, scatter shield and rear end housing back today. Engine is painted with helicopter paint.. impervious to fuel, etc. Unfortunately I may be done for now and can't even unload it. Stopped to push a soccer mom out of a snow bank and on the third push I felt a huge POP as if my left bicep muscle popped off my inner elbow. Arm in a sling.. just great.. one hand typing sucks tooo....  

Also pissed off car still isn't in paint. Promised it needs one final sanding and it will be in pre-paint primer before Christmas so it can sit and then be painted in January... I'm at the point I'm not holding my breath. Wanted my car back together by my 55th BDay in March, looking like it's going to be 56th.

[Lennard]

Remember,  quality takes time. And get well soon!

[hemi-hampton]

When you say Helicopter paint do you mean IMRON Polyurethane or something else? LEON.

[birdsandbees]

I know it's not Imron... I'll have to have a better look next trip over. George does a lot of Ferrari's that owners want painted to match their copters and they lobbied to keep solvent based paint available and not water base.

Car is being painted with solvent base as well, from House of Kolors.

[birdsandbees]

Wife's sister brought my two nephews over last night to unload my truck for me... now if I could just get back to work. One arm just don't cut it, but I guess I'd better wait and not screw myself permanently.

Transmissions blasted and done in "Twinkle Dinkle". I was willing to leave them bare as original.. but resto shop owner would have none of it. Tempted to blast them clean again and coat in RPM.... 

Rear axle housing in semi gloss... multiply coats and lots of sanding to remove all pit marks. Lakewood scatter shield all pretty in orange..

Engine all painted up nice. Water pump housing and impellor were just set in place for transit.

[tan top]

 nice  work ,  good stuff   

[Dino]

It's a joy following your progress. I can only imagine how stoked you are!   

Baby that arm. Mess it up now and it'll haunt you forever. What news on that front? Your buddy doc look at it yet?

[birdsandbees]

Partial distal tear of my bicep tendon off my elbow. Currently black / blue and beige swollen from the center of my bicep to my wrist. No surgery for us old guys... should be 80% again in SIX MONTHS!   

[Dino]

Surgery is the last ditch effort. Too much can go wrong. Time is the only medicine here unfortunately. Oh and when they say 80% that actually means 80% of what your best effort is so it's plenty for daily activities. Don't worry about that part. You'll also be able to regain plenty use out of it long before the 6 month mark but be careful. Tendons don't get a lot of blood supply which is why it takes a while. They are also easily re-injured so once you feel it's doing well, take it easy still.

[birdsandbees]

Being a good boy and putting my arm in a sling before I venture into the shop. Keeps the ambidextrous in me from kicking in. Not accomplishing much, but I did get my rear drums painted so they can sit in front of the heater to bake and then I can RPM the bare casting around it. No matter how I take the picture, it looks orange.. but it is Ford Red engine paint and in person it is Red! Just couldn't bring myself to play sloppy line worker with a brush, so I sprayed it. Also knocked my rear yolk seal out of the transmission, I have a new one to put in but I can't reach the box down that it's in with one arm!  

Any Canucks will notice those drum part numbers. They're from CTC, 1989, when we still had good steel ! Both had never been turned until last week.

[birdsandbees]

Decided to tape off my newly cut brake drum surface and clear coated the bare cast and over the Ford Engine Red.

Hoping to let my arm rest a bit and then get my distributor and a few other things installed to my engine, so I can start getting it ready for flywheel / scatter shield and transmission installation. Also have to change my valve seals.