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Topic: TC Freshen Up - WIP (pics!) (Read 8214 times) previous topic - next topic

TC Freshen Up - WIP (pics!)

Reply #30 –
Quote from: fluke;322653



My helper, rather I want her there or not.


What's the saying? Dogs have masters; cats have staff :D

She looks a lot like my old cat Bandit (RIP). His orange was a little more reddish, though, and he had a little less white. I wish I could get another kitty, but with mom gone and dad getting up in years it's definitely not an option (and my allergies have gotten a LOT worse in the past 10 years...according to my allergist, they've never seen anyone react as violently to cat allergens as I do).
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
5.0L Speed density
Explorer intake
'92 Mustang GT cam
GT-40 racing heads
Unequal length headers
Custom-made duals
19# injectors
65mm TB
AFPR
T/C header panel
11" brake upgrade
T/C rear sway bar
Electrical mods: too many to list :D

TC Freshen Up - WIP (pics!)

Reply #31 –
Quote from: Quietleaf;322691
What's the saying? Dogs have masters; cats have staff :D

She looks a lot like my old cat Bandit (RIP). His orange was a little more reddish, though, and he had a little less white. I wish I could get another kitty, but with mom gone and dad getting up in years it's definitely not an option (and my allergies have gotten a LOT worse in the past 10 years...according to my allergist, they've never seen anyone react as violently to cat allergens as I do).

She is truly, absolutely rotten. :D She has been known to climb in the engine bay when I have the hood open (even cold motor, so its not just the heat) and get in front of whatever I'm doing in there for attention. She almost walked her way in front of a spray nozzle today and would have been a orange and Toyota black kitty. :evilgrin: Nah, I'd never spray her with paint. I love my pets even though they can be super attention hungry. :D

I'm luckily enough to not have bad allergy issues, at least not anymore it seems. I am lactose intolerant though so that always opens up a whole new world of stomach pain if I eat a little too much of the wrong thing. I have only myself to blame usually though; ice cream is just too tasty to pass up sometimes!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
'86 Turbo Thundercat (Cougarbird)
'02 TrailBlazer LT 4x4
'08 Chevy Cobalt

TC Freshen Up - WIP (pics!)

Reply #32 –
Nathan , Looks like your cat has a friend doing the same thing here friend. :D





D & P ;)

TC Freshen Up - WIP (pics!)

Reply #33 –
LOL! omg.. exact same expression too. That's pretty funny!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
'86 Turbo Thundercat (Cougarbird)
'02 TrailBlazer LT 4x4
'08 Chevy Cobalt

TC Freshen Up - WIP (pics!)

Reply #35 –
:D I got plenty of nice weather today and got a lot done!




It's not perfect but it is a lot better than before! No more holes!!







I even got to painting the door handles today. Also got the Turbo Coupe emblems back in the sides. I used contact cement. Next is all the window trim that is peeling and/or faded. After I give her a good wash I will do that, as well as re-pinstripe her. I'm gonna give her plenty of coats of wax and start keeping her under cover when she isn't on the road. Need to keep her away from all of that nasty pollen, tree sap, and pine needles and leaves. :)

EDIT: Oh yeah, I took the VHT Nightshade tint back to the store today. Changed my mind about it. Decided I liked the orange 'popping' like that. I was afraid I wouldn't like the tint.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
'86 Turbo Thundercat (Cougarbird)
'02 TrailBlazer LT 4x4
'08 Chevy Cobalt
 

TC Freshen Up - WIP (pics!)

Reply #36 –
Was gone most of the day so all I really got done was giving her a good car wash at home, and some electrical repairs. Had a few lights out. Turns out two were just bad connections so I checked everything out and found some corrosion and got rid of it with contact cleaner, screwdriver, and swabs. Happily it wasn't a wire messed up anywhere. The lights work fine now, though I do have one bulb out for sure that I need to pick up next time but it's just a rear marker light (the little one). I also found my WS6's car cover that was only used for a few weeks before when I lived in Florida before I moved. Since I no longer have that car the nice cover is now my Thunderbird's and it fits well. Hopefully that will cut down on the amount of crud this thing seems to attract here in the woods. You should have seen how much crud I cleaned out of that back glass after I removed the window trim there again.


Fresh and clean! No wax at all at the moment though. Still working on stuff. Will wax her later.




Better shot to show these wheels. They tend to disappear in photos but you can actually see them in this one. Yeah yeah four lug, I know. I have no reason/need to upgrade at the moment. It's low priority for me. Engine and suspension is more important goal for now because those need attention. The four lugs on 5 spoke thing doesn't bother me, I usually forget about it and don't notice.

Now the bad:


Rust under that window trim. Luckily, I checked, it's not deep at all. Thankfully I'm going to get rid of it before it spreads.


This spot seems to get everyone, and it's getting me too. It's somewhat spread up the inside of the door but its nothing I can't at least delay right now until I can do more drastic measures and put some metal there (if it even needs it). I will sand away what I see here and prime and paint it up. Will at least look nice for the summer.


This isn't really a "bad" but it's the ugliest part of my car. I've never done anything at all to make it 'pretty' in here. It needs some scrubbing of the caked on filth and light rusty junk. I don't want to take anything out yet (like that valve cover that's pretty ugly) but I'm gonna try and make it look better with it in there first. I plan on a rebuild of this engine sometime after this summer (likely over the winter when I'm driving my 4x4 anyway). Many of these parts are being replaced anyhow so I don't want to overexert myself on the current mess. I will clean it very well, get rid of as much ugliness as I can, and lacquer it up a bit though. It wont look amazing in there anyway though with the little bit of blow by I'm getting no matter what I do, but I can try at least.

So yep.. painting the rest of the trim this week, cleaning up the engine bay, and making a run to the store to find some paint that CLOSELY matches whatever the heck this white paint is (it isn't stock, a custom paint job from previous owner like 12-15 years ago) and going to paint that front lower bumper/air dam and do some little touch ups here and there just to fill in chipped places in the paint with something other than..well.. a chipped place. Not too worried about the white paint. I just wanna hit up those rusty spots after I grind them away. It still looks half decent other than having chips in it here and there. I'll get the whole car repainted after it has a nice engine set up going on. ;) Need some more power (don't we always?).
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
'86 Turbo Thundercat (Cougarbird)
'02 TrailBlazer LT 4x4
'08 Chevy Cobalt

TC Freshen Up - WIP (pics!)

Reply #37 –
It's looking really good man! Keep up the great work!

TC Freshen Up - WIP (pics!)

Reply #38 –
Quote from: Watchdevil;322992
It's looking really good man! Keep up the great work!

Thanks!


Okay, I've hit a snag today messing with the window trim. I need new dew wipes (already knew this). I can't remove all the trim without removing the dew wipes too. Simple enough. Well, I thought I'd just go ahead and remove the dew wipes.. well, I also see I have to remove the window run channel.. great.. now I've hit a problem. The problem? My passenger window motor recently died. Window is stuck up. Can't remove the run there until the motor is replaced. So.. can't proceed until I have the money for a new motor, install new motor, get the window down, remove all the parts, and can't really reinstall without making a mess without the new dew guards and new replacement parts so I have to wait to get those before I can remove the trim to paint it too. :beatyoass: So my $5 job turned into much more now.

- Window motor (I assume well over $100.. replaced a window motor in my WS6 and it was over $200)
- Dew guard replacements (like $30 total + shipping I think)

Another problem I foresee is that the dew guard replacement kit doesn't come with all the snaps and connectors. I highly doubt mine are going to be usable (another reason I am afraid to remove them at the moment) if they are anything like the back glass window trim's clips they wont be. Years ago I nearly lost the rear trim while going down the interstate from clips snapping due to age/rust (the little loose pieces). Luckily I noticed it before it completely came loose and placed it in my car and reinstalled when I got home. Since all but about 3 of the clips on the rear were broken (or lost on the interstate) I've used double sided 3m to attach it each time (which works for THAT, but it probably wouldn't for the dew guards). So, I'm kinda stuck at the moment. The trim looks pretty bad, and so are the dew guards. I wouldn't mind trying to work on the trim best I can with it on the car for now and redo it again later when I have the money to replace the window motor. Would at least look better than it does at the moment. I'll see what ugliness I can remove from the bottom portion of the dew guards (what's left of them haha) and try to clean it up enough I guess. I really hate to leave it the way it is right now because its quite embarrassing.

yep, just have to make do with what I can right now and move on. :D I know it's kinda py but I just can't afford a motor at the moment and I want to fix it right (mechanically). I'd hate to screw with it and get the window stuck in the down position. At least it is sealed up to the top good right now when the motor went out.

EDIT: Okay, I'm gonna wait until I can inspect things more. My power door lock on that door also just went out so I'm thinking its just connection issues. Moving on to other things until I figure that out.

Next up: fixing some weather stripping under the door. Fixing the rusty stuff on the door and in the back glass area and resealing that. Heading to town (45 minutes from here) right now with the car and going to see my buddy over at Autozone and see if I can match up some paint to that car and figure out what the heck that owner used on it, and pick up sealant/weatherstripping adhesive since I'm out and my other tube is dried up (doh). Plenty of stuff to fix on this car besides painting that trim for now. lol... Gonna cash in on a free lunch at Penn Station while I'm at it.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
'86 Turbo Thundercat (Cougarbird)
'02 TrailBlazer LT 4x4
'08 Chevy Cobalt

TC Freshen Up - WIP (pics!)

Reply #39 –
Window motor at the wrecking yard here is $15
Fox-less at the moment

TC Freshen Up - WIP (pics!)

Reply #40 –
Quote from: hypostang;323055
Window motor at the wrecking yard here is $15


Nice, no yards here with cars as old as mine though. They crush 'em. :punchballs:

I hopped on Rock Auto though, and much to my surprise it looks like I can get one for $30 or so. Motorcraft part is $63 or so after I return the core, but I think the other would be okay. I haven't checked all of the possibilities in the door yet but if it does turn out I need the motor its not a big deal afterall. Freakin' motor for the WS6 was over $200! :mad: Every car I've owned except my truck right now has had that same window die on me. :beatyoass:


So.. for updates sake:

Bought a little touch up bottle of some white duplicolour that almost matches (Ford Performance White) and some spray can of another colour that also almost matches (would have gotten Performance white again but no one in town had it in the new cans). I touched up every chip on the car I could find in the white paint. It's not wonderful... but at least its not a chip with dark showing through under it. Can't tell from far away. Again, not too worried about the white.

Bought some 3m weatherstripping adhesive since I was out and resealed some sagging stripping on the drivers door.

Degreased the engine bay with some very cool cleaner - spray it on with the engine hot, let it sit and smolder for 10-15 minutes, then rinse off. Got off to a good start for cleaning the engine bay tomorrow! Looks much better already!

Told a friend about this website. He has a Lincoln LSC for sale (wish I could buy it.. but I don't have the spare money for it). That car will run, it's pretty cool and sounds great. Told him to join here and put up a topic for it. Hopefully we'll see him here soon. Too bad he's selling it though.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
'86 Turbo Thundercat (Cougarbird)
'02 TrailBlazer LT 4x4
'08 Chevy Cobalt

TC Freshen Up - WIP (pics!)

Reply #41 –
I will eagerly await engine compartment pics :D
Fox-less at the moment

TC Freshen Up - WIP (pics!)

Reply #42 –
Quote from: hypostang;323058
I will eagerly await engine compartment pics :D


I'll take a pic of it like it is now, but I don't want to share until I've done some more scrubbing in there. :D
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
'86 Turbo Thundercat (Cougarbird)
'02 TrailBlazer LT 4x4
'08 Chevy Cobalt

TC Freshen Up - WIP (pics!)

Reply #43 –
Ugh, have some new engine troubles today after a short 6 mile drive just poking along to go fill up with fuel before the prices get jacked up for the weekend. Posted some pics in the Engine forum...

anyway.. before I found that mess I check my mailbox, had mail, and wasted no time in opening it:


I have a cover on there again! :) Huge thank you to hypostang who sent that to me. MAD PROPS!


Now I just hope my 'bird is gonna be okay long enough to bring her to Owensboro. =\
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
'86 Turbo Thundercat (Cougarbird)
'02 TrailBlazer LT 4x4
'08 Chevy Cobalt

TC Freshen Up - WIP (pics!)

Reply #44 –
I'm glad I could help :D
Fox-less at the moment