In progress Sport pics....
Reply #272 –
It took me about an hour and a half.I was trying to protect the paint on it and the car,so,I went slow.First,it was on my blue Thunderbird (in the banner),and I had forgotten how I installed it.Anyway.......From a personal standpoint,If you have a gray car,or very light colored car (white,gold),then the lid would look good natural aluminum.If you have a darker car,as my blue one was,I would color match the lid.To me,even on my old Bird,the gas lid was distracting and looked like a big silver dot on the side of the car,and didn't really have anything it matched.It was somewhat out of place.That is my own opinion,and the ultimate decision is of the the owner and what he/she likes on their own car.I think the painted lid has a more "finished" look.
These lids can be had on Ebay fairly cheap at times on Ebay.I got mine through Ford when the Bullitts were new.Here are the steps I took to install the Bullitt lid on the Sport................
1. I removed the gas cap (so I could fit my hands in that tiny area),screws that holds the inner filler area to the car and the two rubber bump stops that cushions the fuel door when it closes.
2.I test fit the Bullitt lid.It sat in too deep for me,I wanted it flush with the body,so,I have some thick gasket material,I traced the gas lid onto it,then cut it out about a 1/8 of an inch smaller because the back of the Bullitt lid is tapered.After making the gasket "ring" and tpuppies it to fit around the gas lid hinge,and cutting holes for the 6 fasteners,fit the lid and the gasket to the car.Everything was flush,I'm happy.
3.Using the gasket as a template,I fit it to the car,and checked that all 6 gas lid fasteners would have a place to bolt down.3 didn't.I used a Sharpie marker to draw dots where I needed to drill or remove metal (all very simple mods,and the stock lid can be re-installed if need be).
4.Looking at the gas lid area,at about the 8 and 10 o'clock positions,I drilled two holes through the body and the filler are plastic and metal framing for the gas lid fasteners.
5. At about the 3 o'clock position,I used my Dremmel and cutoff wheel to remove about a half square inch of metal that was in the way.
6. I taped the car off REALLY good and painted the recessed gas lid area of the body black.
7. I applied a very thin layer of black RTV to the lowest flat area of the body where the gas lid fits to hold the gasket in place.
8.I installed the gas lid with black cap screws (1 inch long allen head bolts,whatever) and small washers and locking nuts (5/16 head) after making SURE it was centered.It's easy to let it fall a little and bolt it on crooked.
Note: if you're keeping the gas lid natural aluminum,you will still have to bey new fasteners (I used stainless buttonhead screws on the blue car).The bolts that come with the gas lid new will not work.Half of them are decoration only.I removed them all (just unscrew them) and tossed them away for the new fasteners..
9. Took pics of the gas lid so people here wouldn't yell at me.
10. Done.
Topic: In progress Sport pics.... (Read 41193 times)
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