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Post by Jeff Roblin on May 5, 2009 10:38:24 GMT -5
Been busy on DA MERC lately. Mostly I've been fixing stuff the body shop wrecked when they had the interior out to do all the metal work on the roof........ So this is what I've accomplished the last couple of weekends...
I've colour-matched the rear interior panels around the quarter windows and on either side of lower seat cushion with paint I had created at Home Depot. It has gone on really well and seems to be fairly scratch resistent. I've also painted the panels that go around the base of the front bench seat.
I've dyed the front seat belts with automotive spray-fabric paint from Parts Source. It didn't make the fabric stiff and does not seem to come off whatsoever. The belts were faded to almost silver-gray in places and they are now jet black again.
Replaced the fan shroud. Being an A/C car, my '76 had a full shroud even with a 250 in it. I had found a '78 fan shroud but I guess in '78 they didn't have dual matched belts so the shroud would have hit the alternator pulley. I bouught the correct one on Ebay and it fit well.
Replaced the plugs and air filter
Painted my spare Magnum 500 rim. The LF rim is bent so I had bought a replacement in Carlisle 2yrs ago. Finally painted it with what I thought was gloss black....turned out that it's pretty flat so it needs another repaint.
I recovered the rear package shelf with vinyl roof material left over from doing the roof. The shelf was not real bad but was starting to show its age. I bought new rear deck speakers and installed them as well. I've now painted the speaker covers in the doors and rear deck to closely matched the body paint colour.
So it looks like I'll be ready for Carlisle!
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Post by robic58 on May 5, 2009 20:19:21 GMT -5
Hey Jeff-
How's about a few pics!!!!!!!!
Cheers,Ralph
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rod
Tire Kicker
Posts: 73
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Post by rod on May 7, 2009 10:36:37 GMT -5
Well, I've been busy as well. Got the Monarch out of storage at Easter time. Fired right up for me. I found a '77 monarch 4-door from which I bought the back seat. four magnum 500's, both tail lights, grill, front signal lights, am/fm radio, and a bunch of other stuff, all for $250. Most of the stuff I bought is really just "spares". You never know when you may need something. My drivers side bucket seat is a bit rough, so I have an upholstery shop repairing it using the perfectly matching vinyl from the back seat which I got from the '77.
I got the Magnum 500's sandblasted and am interested in any suggestions as to how to re-finish them.
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Post by hipogranada on May 7, 2009 14:48:25 GMT -5
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Post by Jeff Roblin on May 7, 2009 15:01:46 GMT -5
I have the Mopar Magnums on my car which have polished steel spokes........ What I've always done is basic tremclad rust paint in gloss black and wiped off the excess.......
Now with Factory Ford Magnums that are painted surfaces all around, that's a different story....
I would probably have a body shop professionally paint the base grey or silver that you want on the rims and then hand paint the centers.
For something different you could paint the centers dark red to match the body instead of black. Not many do that it would be different. That's something you often saw on the Olds rally rims on Cutlasses.
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Post by hipogranada on May 7, 2009 21:40:13 GMT -5
I think that's how Ford painted the Magnums originally - base color first, then the black trim on top. There is one wheel on my '77 SC that has a good sized flake of the black blown off by a hi-pressure car wash. The gold paint (SC wheels are gold and black) is underneath the black. I do like those pre-cut masking templates for the spoke areas. Masking off the rim is no big deal but the spokes would be pretty picky work. Now with Factory Ford Magnums that are painted surfaces all around, that's a different story.... I would probably have a body shop professionally paint the base grey or silver that you want on the rims and then hand paint the centers. |
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rod
Tire Kicker
Posts: 73
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Post by rod on May 10, 2009 15:23:02 GMT -5
I think that's how Ford painted the Magnums originally - base color first, then the black trim on top. There is one wheel on my '77 SC that has a good sized flake of the black blown off by a hi-pressure car wash. The gold paint (SC wheels are gold and black) is underneath the black. I do like those pre-cut masking templates for the spoke areas. Masking off the rim is no big deal but the spokes would be pretty picky work. Now with Factory Ford Magnums that are painted surfaces all around, that's a different story.... I would probably have a body shop professionally paint the base grey or silver that you want on the rims and then hand paint the centers. There is a guy in Edmonton who re-finishes rims, he wants $360 to do the 4. I'm going to talk to the guy who did the body work and paint last year. He is a retired body guy, does good work and I'm pretty sure he'll be cheaper. I am not the most patient guy and would probably find a way to mess it up. I really thought about the idea of using a red background, Jeff, I just would have to see what it looks like, I'm not sure. I have enough paint left from the paint job to do it, but then I would need a clear coat on top of it. I dunno. BTW, Jeff, I messed up my avatar trying to use a photo of my car after it was painted. I think the pic was just too big. If I email you a new pic, can you fix it for me? |
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Post by Jeff Roblin on May 15, 2009 8:18:09 GMT -5
Rod, Here's a red Monarch on Ebay with Magnums painted to match the body colour just to give you a flavour as to how they'd look on your car... Item number: 170332471861 ======== Back to the work on my car......... I was repainting the rear rims after getting new tires.......then painting the brake drums where they show through the rims........then the leaf springs.... and then I noticed something that didn't look right between the the muffler and right hand leaf spring FRAME ROT!!!!!!  I've got a six-inch stretch (and I ain't braggin') just ahead of the rear shackle that is not good.... So next week my uncle and I are into a replating job. Apparently mufflers will rot frames due to the change in temperature and moisture. This is the first car I've done frame work on. We've welded up several Cordobas and mid '70's LTDs and I remember doing a '78 Lemans in the same spots but that had coil springs. So if you have a northern car, check your rear frame beside the muffler. We don't want any nasty surprises out there!! |
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rod
Tire Kicker
Posts: 73
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Post by rod on May 15, 2009 13:10:09 GMT -5
Rod, Here's a red Monarch on Ebay with Magnums painted to match the body colour just to give you a flavour as to how they'd look on your car... Item number: 170332471861 ======== Thanks, Jeff. And I think the red on the rims looks great! |
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Post by Jeff Roblin on May 20, 2009 18:35:49 GMT -5
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Post by robic58 on May 22, 2009 21:15:54 GMT -5
Jeff-
That's a nasty patch of rust.. looks like water and crud accumulated inside the sub-frame eating at it from the inside.I'm sure you've checked the other side... how is it? And I'm surprised the body shop that's had the car for many months did not spot the rusted rail.
The beauty of unibody sub frames is that repairs by patching can be made without too much concern for alignments/ or strain points.
Good luck. Cheers, Ralph
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Post by Jeff Roblin on May 24, 2009 7:08:53 GMT -5
Rest of the underbody is solid as a rock. Like I said the temperature changes and moisture caused by the muffler has a lot to do with it to..............I can't really blame the body shop for not catching this one. Had I not been painting the springs, I would have not seen it myself........and by the amount of rot, this didn't happen overnight. I've missed it for sometime. Anyone with a saltbelt car should check this same spot thoroughly.
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