Fabrice's 429CJ 71 project

[Fabrice]

You are my hero!

naah, real heros can fly or spit liquid web AND they have gorgeous cars that do not leak like mine!

Well done, as you always do.

Thx Don, but I cheat, I get help from guys like you on this site

 

[midlife]

Since when does the Netherlands have mountains?  Oh, you mean the levees?

 

[timachone]

Fabrice, 

nice to see and hear from you again! Looks got. Have in mind that the front pump on my C6 1 1/2 years ago for the truck was a lot easier to pull out than on yours... 

I am in the same boat theme-wise on the Mustang at the moment, cleaning, derusting, painting etc. the whole old suspension, steering, braking and rear axle components so I am feeling with you. Will do a follow-up soon, too but... I am too busy! 

Hold on, like to hear from you every time it shows up  :thumb:

 

[Fabrice]

Oh, you mean the levees?

ahaha, yeah its boring flat. My house is 8 meters above sea level, so at the rate global warming is evolving, in a decade or two, my house should be on the beach  

Have in mind that the front pump on my C6 1 1/2 years ago for the truck was a lot easier to pull out than on yours..

Same when I did my C6, I needed pull a tad and it came out, even after decades sitting there. Its connected in straight short line to the gear of the first drum behind it, so only the o-ring offers some resistance, but this AOD is a totally different beast, it's a huge long hamburger, the pump has 3 axles going thru. Knowing what I know now, it should be easier to work on it vertically vs laying.

One thing is certain, if you have pump issues on an AOD, it would be a very bad idea to try to open/fix with the trans in the car.

"Will do a follow-up soon, too but... I am too busy! "
Same here, very busy with work atm and when comes evening, I just can't bring the energy to dive in picts and write something, hence why I've not been updating my thread as I used to lately.
Dang, I'm getting older!! :O

 

[Kilgon]

You are doing one hell of a job on your restoration. I hope that in the future whoever ends up with your car realizes and  appreciates the work and effort you put into it.  

 

[Fabrice]

You are doing one hell of a job on your restoration. I hope that in the future whoever ends up with your car realizes and  appreciates the work and effort you put into it. 

thx Kilgon, but ain't we all do the same? Most of us here are not afraid to have dirty hands!
If it ever becomes caviar for the pigs at some point, so be it. Tho, my oldest daughter seams to be interested. She have no clue about the details except she knows it takes a while to get one of these on the road :O
Till then pleasure is all mine and enjoying what I do in my little garage to the max

 

[Fabrice]

Very productive afternoon today.

The AOD is now totally dismantled and great news is that its in super condition. It also has all the goodies one can hope for a reliable operation behind a healthy V8. From the servo that was discontinued in 89, it's a OD type B, has the extra oil circuit on the governor and 4 or 5 frictions plates, so won't need to let some parts machined as I did on my C6.

The friction plates are as if it drove only a few thousands, or the driver was really gentle. No dmg or wear noticed anywhere. In fact I could have placed that trans without doing a thing and likely be happy with it for many years without any problems. Something you know only once its open...
Pity they don't have some kind of visual level of wear like batts have

Oh well, at least I know what I will have and will never worry about the trans if I take the road for a long trip!

Here some picts of the internals and the nice puzzle that they make.
Also worked further the casing, now totally oxide free and because I'm ahead of where i thought I'd be, I might after a final clean and masking very well paint that baby tomorrow if ofc weather permits it.



a little reminder of its past state



and now



Glad I even had the time to post something on time for once

Now back at ordering parts and find the right converter, yoke etc...

 

[Fabrice]

Weekend!! YEAH!

I could work on the 73! Nope it rains!
Ok will go measure the FMX to calculate shaft length and pick the right yoke: nope rains even harder now!
Ok, will go further on the AOD: nope kuz the parts are not there yet
Ok, gonna paint the casing... nope kuz it $%^&* raaaaaainnnnnnnzzzzz!!!

Pffff, ok ok, I will do what I've postponned for weeks: Remove the paint of the entire lower engine bay & frame... derust. 
Basically all the stuff you see only when it's on a bridge that most sane people spray with the most thick stone protector they can find! 

Oh well, the rain was now so loud and sooo wet, Time to get on to it!



Using my new friend, Mr PaintRemover, a metal brush (getting bald bits more every weekend) I've started with the crossmember and the all the lower tower bits where the lower arm sits..
Two passes later all started to look quite better.

Totally surprised: found near zero rust on members and the little bits of light rust I've found were gone together with the paint on the second pass.
Probably because when that stuff dries out, it rolls under the metal brush action and gums everything with it.
Don't really care how and why, all I know is that it's less work!



On side is not enough so more crawling and crawling and crawling and brushing and brushing and crawling...
Till I finally got the other side free of its old paint. However on this side, there is some rust that did not go, nothing serious, not even pits, but this means I'll be playing with acid tomorrow to remove it.
Doing that above my head should be interresting
 



More surprising even the front member that was having bubbly thicky paint was too, totally rust free!
As you know: it rained and the dutch rain, even outside, always manages to turn bare metal into brown metal in matter of hours. So after a good degreasing/cleaning session as it was time to call it a day, I've applied on the all the top parts exposed a temp zinc primer.

At some point my brush gave up, telling me that stuff is the most friendly chemical! I could confirm that while busy metal brushing above head. the tiniest drup was burning the skin as a hot cig! Good I was protected as if i was going to the moon!

Tomorrow I''ll finish both rails underneath from front to torqueboxes, get rid of that rust and I might very well be able to start to think about applying epoxy to the entire bay in a not too far future! May be even start tomorrow!!
 



Also did some plating this week so my AOD doesn't receive rusty things once all is restored in and out..

For now: I'm exhausted! If you seek a way to loose a few pounds, well, that's how to!!

To be continued...

EDIT: I had 2 orders at NPD, key parts to repair my leaking rear end on my brakes... and yesterday got a mail from them telling me one shipped and the other should this Monday.
That was the happy part of the mail. The second part was really sad. Infected by covid weeks ago and reason why my orders are late, most staff came back after 2 or 3 weeks, but 3 are now in critical condition in hospital and one died last week...
 

 

[bishoppeak]

:goodjob:

 

[Fabrice]

@bishoppeak thx man

Today was an exhausting day again.
Spent like yesterday the entire day crawling under car, on the floor, and up, and down and up...
 



Played with acid and finished to remove what was left till the member holding the trans support. Will take it from there again when I will handle the underside, so I needed create some overlap. While there, I saw brown... so I know already I will be crawling again when I'll do the floors!



Also did entire frame from torque boxes to radiator and all the rust is now gone.
Thanks to a thick layer of oil and grease from unknown origin, the car was as seen yesterday surprisingly rust free. Only a tad under the tower where the lower arms hang. Now clear of this brown misery 



At the end of this tiring day, sprayed some protective zinc, looked at it and thought: 
next step epoxy baby!!  And closed the garage lights, hungry and with muscles crying for rest!

Now totally tired, BUT very happy to finally have the entire bay solid and ready for some durable finish. looks now a whole lot better than few months ago! This also means that I'll be able to work on the suspension/steering parts finishes and install most of them (car needs to be able to roll). Which in return will recreate some really welcome space in my tiny crowded garage!

Now excuse me I nee..zzzzzzzzZZzzZ

 

[droptop73]

WOW, that car will be better than new when it's complete! Very nice work! 

 

[timachone]

Fabrice, as Jeff said, outstanding work, that car will last forever! You follow the motto: if done, then done right!  :thumb:

 

[Fabrice]

Fabrice, as Jeff said, outstanding work, that car will last forever! You follow the motto: if done, then done right!  :thumb:

Thx tim. It would be silly to spend weekends changing all the damaged or rusty metal and not do the last bits!
That's one of these activities where you think about those having space and a rotisserie and grow some jealous feelings!!  Surely doing the underside on the ground isn't the most fun part of a restoration. Oh well, it's done now.

 

[timachone]

Yes, Fabrice, I well understand that. Don't ask why... But it's me too crawling under the car, with fallin' 50 year old dirt in your eyes and ears, grabbing some old metal and saying to yourself: keep on going, keep on going, we will be finally there  :rofl:

Oh yes, I know that feeling  :beer:

But now, it's done - congratz  :wrench:

 

[Fabrice]

Mustang time again!



Because my AOD parts should arrive soon and haven't been able to paint the casing yet due to the really bad and cold weather that we have since forever over here. 
Which would become a problem as it needs to be done first.
So as the weather app gave me 2 or may be 3 hours that should be dry, I've jumped on the occasion and after a good clean in and out. I've mask the many openings of the trans and applied first primer followed by a grey metallic, finished with a semi gloss coat.



The Mustangs gods were with me and asked the sun to come help for a few. 
That unexpected help plus the heat gun got the coat dry enough for me to place the trans back inside where it could continue to get hard at its own pace...

Yesterday, everything was hard and I was happy with it even if it won't earn a beauty price due to the poor quality of the cast. It looks much better now and with the new pan that it will receive, it should be bling bling enough for the 73!
I tried to save the original one, but there were too many rust pits almost gone tru the entire thickness of the metal. As I wanted to add an oil plug/bung, this affordable after market pan was just a better move.



Not able to spray anything else as rain had meanwhile returned, not able to do any dusty things either, So spent rest of afternoon looking at some of the parts that I've received in past weeks more in details, tested their fit and selected a series of these that will need to be sprayed or plated. 
Looks like many new parts are now days stamped as "is ok to rust"... So added some on my toBePainted waiting pile like these top arm parts...



Sunday was for the 71. The next on the todo was to apply epoxy. Not a biggy, but in my garage this means loads needed be packed, protected and protections hanged to somehow by magic turn my little cave into a spray booth.
After a good clean, sanding of the zinc primer that was sprayed on during past months, I've slowly but surely terraformed my garage into a Martian landscape. After many refills and one kilo epoxy gone thru the nozzle, I ended up with the bay covered.

Started first under the firewall, then lower firewall and aprons. Then did the frame underneath, as you need to be able to jump in again to do the cross members and the lower sides of the frame...
Of course, doing that I've touch the tower with my fat a$$!! grrrrr  



After all was sprayed, I could inspect and while most was ok, some hard to reach places (deep in cowl vent and very high in cross member where the gun would not fit) have not received enough, so I will probably be busy fixing that with a brush next weekend. For the rest, aside a few details that I'll correct it all turned pretty ok.
I should not have much to do before thinking about spraying the final coats.

All with all, another productive weekend with the impression to have done something has passed!

To be continued...
 

 

[timachone]

Nice work as always, Fabrice. We only have to hope for good weather now! It's pooring rain since two months now... And it's still cold. I hate it! We have midth of May! 

 

[Fabrice]

It's pooring rain since two months now... And it's still cold.

Thx Tim. Yeah, really tired of this crappy weather. The last time I was able to spray was late august last year! We had since then a couple of warm enough weekends, but none dry. The few good days were of course during the week grrrr

 

[midlife]

You going to keep the yellow in the engine bay or go back to the satin black?

 

[timachone]

You going to keep the yellow in the engine bay or go back to the satin black?

As a child of the outgoing 80ies he will keep the yellow along with yellow spark plug wires. Match is match - what else? 

 

[Fabrice]

You going to keep the yellow in the engine bay or go back to the satin black?

It's a rare mach 1 "Bob The Builder" tribute!!

Of course it will receive satin black! Depending on brands, epoxy comes often in these colours as it is used in industrial applications. This brand is used in nautical fields. I must say it's handy as you really see how all is being covered. A white or grey would not have let me see that easy that some places like deep in cowl could have used more. If your recall my hood, fenders etc... Same was applied before primer and coats of different colours were applied.