Quarter Trim Solution

Well, I've probably built more suspense into this than it deserves. But in my defense, it has been a niggling problem that has bothered me for quite awhile. In review, I've been looking for a alternate solution to the factory external quarter trim. Those goofy-looking, backward-facing chrome "C's" that reside just behind the doors. Unfortunately there aren't many options available. You can delete them and weld the holes shut - but then you have this featureless 1/4 panel that looks...well...featureless. You can add the brake scoops. The choice being the CS/GT's that are non-functional - which seems a bit silly. Or the Shelby scoops, which require drilling a large hole in the panel for ducting the air hose back to the rear brakes. For a RT66 cruiser? That seems a bit silly as well. Which leads back to the factory set-up - which for me, has too many styling cues from the 60's that really date what is otherwise, one of the most beautiful designed bodies out there. There's a very good reason why our 60's Mustangs are still seen in movies and commercials. Good design never ages.

So what is one to do? Well turns out, as most discoveries do, that it took an accident to lead me to the solution. Not a painful accident, just an incidental accident in the sense that I didn't mean to do that on purpose. I was sitting there pondering the factory trim for the nth time. As you guys know, the chrome part of the trim has 3 pins that go through a body-painted base molding then into the 1/4 panel where they are retained from the inside by sheet metal nuts. I was thinking, 'why don't I toss the chrome piece of the trim and just use the base molding? It's body color and adds a subtle feature to the 1/4 panel w/o too much clutter. I wanted to see the molding-only look, without the chrome trim, but of course it wouldn't hang there as the method of attachment requires the chrome part. So I reached over and found a button-head screw lying on the floor and stuck it in the top hole of the 3-hole pattern and stepped back for a look.  I went back to the car, pulled the screw out, tossed the molding, and put the screw back. Close but not quite there. Headed to my fastener bins and dug out 3 flanged stainless button-head screws and stuck them in the 3 holes. And bingo, there was the answer - maybe not 'the' answer, or even 'an' answer - but it was 'my' answer. For a few weeks, I just left them sitting there in the holes. Occasionally, I would stop and take a look and see if they continued to float my boat. I was happy but not 100% happy. Then one night while shopping at Ring Bros for their door strikers - I spotted a line of machined washers they make that come with a corresponding unique button-head screw - in stainless of course. Bought a couple for a test run and liked the results.

Even better, it ended up solving another design problem I've had - those equally ugly rear quarter reflectors. I tossed those as well and put the machined washer/button-heads in their place. In the end, I'm going with the motto, simpler is better. For my tastes, it is a cleaner look and feels a bit more industrial, a bit more racy. I like it. Feel free to throw rocks. I'm still open to alternate suggestions. Maybe this will stimulate an even better answer. Gosh knows, we've all sat on the floor staring at those quarter panels long enough :)

Apologies for the photos. It looks much better in person. The flash ruins the look.  I've also stuck some of the button-heads in the 1/4 end caps but I think I'll end up going with the standard trim back there. That part of the car is one of my favorite views of  the 67/68 bodies. The long, thin trim across the deck lid and the 2 hockey sticks on the end caps.

Ring Bros - 304 stainless steel button-head and machined washer

Quarter trim holes filled with button-heads

Rear reflector holes filled

 

 

 

End caps with button-heads...hmmmm...maybe not...

Christmas Bling

Well, like Dennis, I've been occupied elsewhere lately. But got a little Christmas cash from the in-laws and thought what better place to spend it than on SusieQ. As you know, I've been wanting to button up the rear quarter area but needed to figure out what I'm doing with the quarter panel trim. I think I've finally got that figured out and bought some parts for a test run. I've tried them, and although not 100% happy, I'm happier with the results than anything else that is out there - that being, simply weld the holes shut, install the OEM trim, add the Shelby brake scoops or make something from scratch. Ideally, I'd like to make something from scratch. I have it in my head what I would like to see there but realistically with a business to run, there just isn't time in the pipeline for it. And like Alex, I have a porch falling off the back of the house as well :/

In preparation for sealing up that area, I wanted to rehab the door strikers first. I didn't want to seal that area up if for some reason I needed to get to the back side of those strikers screws to get them out. Been there, done that. Those door striker screws are notorious for not coming out. I have a REALLY cool impact tool in the tool collection - specifically bought for having fought that battle before.

But I got the strikers out intact and was trying to decide what to do with them. Blast and powder coat, blast and zinc plate, blast and chrome - or drop $65 and buy a pair of billet stainless ones from Rings Bros? Since my solution for the quarter trim was coming from Ring Bros, I just decided to splurge a little with my Christmas money and spring for the billet pieces as well. They arrived this week and like everything from Ring Bros, are perfect. I should just hang them on the wall than install in the car. Beautiful craftsmanship. Here's the pieces in the flesh. Hopefully I'll have the 1/4 panel solution installed soon and I'll post to gauge your reactions.

Of course, now I'll probably have to lay out for the billet scuff plates as well!!!

Splash Shield Upgrade

Trying to get these splash shields knocked out so I can get the front fenders mounted. As I mentioned, I thought I could do better than staples for attaching the rubber gaskets to the metal shields. Grabbed my trusty  McMaster-Carr catalog and found some plastic snap rivets that looked like they would work. 

Using Alex's staple placement as a guide to where to place the rivets, I marked the metal shields and drilled a set of 1/8" holes along their perimeters. I then placed masking tape along the edges of the rubber gaskets and using the newly drilled holes as a guide, transferred the hole pattern to the masking tape with a pen. From there, it was a simple process to use a gasket punch to punch the final holes into the rubber gaskets. I did this by clamping a short piece of 2x4 in my bench vice and using it as the base while punching the holes. This gave a nice crisp hole through the rubber gasket material. 

Before final assembly, I sandblasted off the original paint from the metal shields as it looked thin and of poor quality. Finished them off in the powder coat booth with a nice even coat of satin black. Once they cooled, it was quick work in attaching the rubber gaskets using the McMaster-Carr rivets. I like the look and think the rubber will stand up better with the rivets rather than the small bearing surface of the staples. Time will tell!

Drilled holes in shield and corresponding holes in gasket

Assembled front shield

Assembled rear shields

Sitting Down to a Dish of Elephant...

As restorers, we all know the saying, 'How do you eat an elephant?'. Well this morning I woke up to it pouring down rain. Typically Saturday morning is my weekly long training ride. I'm a pretty serious bike-racer and with all the hours I put in at work, Saturday is about my only day for getting a long ride in. With my ride cancelled and grass cutting out (yes the lawn tractor still lives - charred...but alive) I thought it an opportunity to get a little wrench time in at the shop today. 

So off to the shop for some Mustang lov'in and a helping of elephant. I've been stumbling around the front fenders for 3 years so I decided to focus some attention there and get those things finally mounted. Of course, they can't go on until the splash shields are on. Ahhhh the splash shields - those rusted hulks of metal we all know and love - and replace with those fine 'reproductions' from China. The ones that never come with the rubber seals attached so that one has to guess where the staples go. 

As you all recall, I wasn't afforded the honor of dismantling my car. It came to me instead in 25 cardboard boxes and 17 coffee cans. But the collection of boxes and cans has been steadily diminishing as I've work my way towards completion so it didn't take long to locate the splash shields. Ran into the office, jumped on the InterWeb, found Alex's site, chose the proper day - October 26, 2010 and voila - there is was in all it's glorious detail...

How to Make a Splash (Shield)

I was thinking of calling this post 'Homage de Alex' as without his detailed instructions and photos I would have been up the creek as I didn't have the original shields for comparison or the knowledge of how they came apart.  One of the great things about this community is not only do we have the support of one another - we also have a repository for our collective efforts that are available to others.  

After a quick read, I decided the engineer in me just wasn't going the staple route and that I could attach the rubber seals with push plugs instead. But I first wanted to mock the shields up to make sure they actually aligned. How long could that possibly take - 15-20 minutes? Well 2 hrs later and about 1 mile of walking around the shop beating, drilling, cutting, bending...followed by more beating and cutting, I finally had the rear driver's installed. 'Reproduction' part is a term I use loosely. 'Kind'a in the ballpark is a little closer. Most accurate is probably 'Outside the Ballpark in Extended Parking'. I'm not going to jump on a soap box here as you all know the quality/fit of some of this junk that passes for parts. At one point I was thinking I could make some very cool shields out of stainless and cut them on the waterjet but who would ever see them and did I really need to go that route? In conclusion, 1 shield fitted, 3 to go.

 

Garage Find!

As prototypers by trade, there is nothing we throw away as you never know one day to the next what small piece of steel, aluminum, delrin, nylon, wood, etc you are going to need. Same for fasteners. We have every standard/metric button head, cap head, 12 point, flat head that Man has ever invented. But...occasionally it gets to be a bit much as there is only so much available floorspace and the robots gets grumpy when they are feeling squeezed. Which means our annual Clean Up Day has finally arrived!

In the midst of the clean-up today, under a pile of cardboard boxes and dust, I spy this large hulk resting under a cover in the back corner of the shop. We pushed it out onto the main shop floor - peeled the cover off it and lo and behold - a 1968 Mustang convertible!!! Candy Apple Red - 80% restored but still needing about a 1000 15 minutes job to complete. I had the boys give her a quick sponge bath and here she is. Maybe I'll get inspired and try to get a few of those 15 minute job off the to-do list.

Catching the Lawn Tractor on Fire

So my favorite thing to hear after a long bike ride:

"Dear, the lawn tractor won't start..."

My response:

"Did you turn off the gas petcock the last time you used it?"

The response:

"No"

My response:

These is no response because that line of reasoning is going no where anyway.

I know the problem - because the petcock wasn't turned off, I have a cylinder full of gasoline 

instead of air. So the piston is hydraulically locked in place due to 2 pints of gasoline sitting 

above it. I pull the spark plug and proceed to turn the engine over - thus ejecting the gasoline 

out the spark plug hole. If Hans Solo had been nearby - this is where he would have said 

'I have a bad feeling about this'. Just as I turn the key in the ignition, I wonder - "is there any 

way that the spark plug wire could short against the engine block and create a spark here? No

way - the odds of that happening are approximately....well...1 in 1. Instantly I have 2 pints of 

gasoline, air-ignited, burning all over that greasy engine covered in 10 years worth of dry grass 

and leaves. I am shirtless, in shorts, wearing flip flops and a baseball cap. Quickly my 

engineering mind goes into action...

Plan A - beat out fire with baseball cap. Right - moving on to B...

Plan B - run to outside hose only to find hose not connected to outside faucet because it is still 

winterized and wrapped inside large black plastic garbage bag secured with The Tie Wrap from Hell. 

Plan C - run into house yelling things like 'FIRE' - 'NEED WATER' - 'HELP'

Plan D - run water out of kitchen facet into spaghetti caldron while watching tractor burn through 

kitchen window - bail on Plan D as it is apparent that the need for water is grossly more pressing 

than the speed of water coming from the faucet.

Plan E - run to bike - grab water bottle - return and shoot pressurized Gatorade/Coke mixture 

directly into spark plug hole. Follow immediately with 2 quarts purified water from Britta filter 

pitcher retrieved from refrigerator.

Total length of incident - 23.7 seconds. Incident report and wife debriefing to follow.... 

rj  

Shop work

Guys, apologies for not many postings regarding the Mustang. She has been sitting patiently in the back of the shop waiting for some love to come her way. But that doesn't mean I haven't been in the shop - or working on cars. Unfortunately I can't share much of what I'm typically working on due to IP issues with our customers. But this video we shot on Tuesday is discreet enough that I don't think anyone would mind - but interesting enough that you might enjoy. We've been working late nights and weekends on this as it is on a tight deadline. It's fairly self explanatory given what we do for a living.

rj