Part 5 (last one for now!)

And so we get closer to presen-day state with this car. There is still a significant list of things it still needs to be deemed reliable enough to drive without worry:

• The front end, specifically the passenger side, is tweaked. My thinking is that someone slid the car into a curb with the front right side. In a future update I will go over everything I’ve replaced on the passenger’s side to correct the alignment issue, which has helped, but has not remedied the issue 100% (sorry, I won't be including the work in this update and we’ll just have to jump back in time!). Effectively, it seems that the upper strut mount is pushed up and in just a cinch, causing the passenger side front wheel to have extra negative camber. Even after replacing both control arms, the strut mount, and performing a home redneck alignment, the car visibly sits about 3/8” lower than the driver’s side and the top of the wheel is recessed in by about ½”. Weirdly, everything in the engine bay measures out correctly according to the FSM and the car drives (surprisingly) well, so I’m completely lost at this point in trying to figure out how the hell the car is doing it. I know these 4th gen unibodies are softer than cheddar cheese, but I can’t seem to find any wrinkles or bends anywhere at this point in the process – maybe something under the front fender? The only part I have not replaced is the K-member (I suppose it could be bent?), but after we build an engine for this thing (who knows when that will be…), I will just buy a tubular one. Unfortunately, I think any potential fix is beyond my capabilities at this point and the car just needs to go to a frame shop. I am currently getting quotes on some collision places near me to take a look at the car but haven’t settled on any specific place just yet, mainly because none of them seem to be very responsive to this request.
• Fuel pump and sending unit needs to be replaced. Fuel pump works fine but I don’t know if it is original and the gas gauge stays on empty even with a full tank.
• Car needs a tune – it runs a bit rich for my liking.
• We will need new tires sooner rather than later. The current ones came with the wheels and are old, worn, and (hilariously) the fronts are directional but the tread goes in the same direction.
• Needs a proper alignment done at a shop.
• Need to redo the tint – I scraped the door tint but don’t want to touch the hatch glass in fear of ruining the defroster circuit.
• Interior still needs a full detail and to be put back together.
• Do another fluid flush on every fluid.

But enough with the problems, let’s get to some solutions! As mentioned in part 4, we performed a paint correction on the car. Let me just say this: black paint is far and away the best, most satisfying color to return to glory.

For this detail, I performed several steps – keep in mind that this process took me several days, working on it as time allowed:

• A turtle rescue! Yes, somehow a living, breathing box turtle decided to find its way into my garage. No idea from where – we don’t have a lake or pond anywhere near my house… I carried him to a creek that’s a few blocks away and set him free.
• Foam soak and two-bucket wash with a TON of detailing brush work to get years of grime and dirt out of all the crevices.
• Iron decontamination.
• Wet sanding on the passenger side rear quarter panel – it took a scrape against something beige and there was a lot of paint transfer. Unfortunately there is a minor dent, but nothing a PDR pro couldn’t take out in the future.
• 2-step paint correction – these cars look hilarious without the wing on them!
• Rust converter in some small spots.
• Pinhole touchup paint on the front hood and other small areas.
• 1-step paint sealant.
• A consumer-grade ceramic coating.
• Glass cleaned and tires dressed.

Eventually I want to do a full wheels-off detail, but for now we just focused on the paint. I also have started on the interior, but not enough to warrant putting it in this post just yet. Overall, as much as I hate to say it, the car could really use a repaint down the road. For 24-year-old paint, it came out great, but it's still only a solid 10-footer IMO.

For the rest of the post, I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

The last few pictures are me taking it to the gym for a couple shakedown drives – no, the car is not registered in Alabama… we don’t talk about it. It will totally pass emissions here in GA, don’t worry about it, stop asking. My gym is in Mexico anyway… Funny enough, looks like it is already attracting Mustang attention!

I do have to apologize: I will be taking a slew of photos in its current state, since I just realized that I don’t really have too many pics of the car post paint correction! Sorry about that. Trust me when I say that it looks 100x better than when we first acquired the car. In the next update, I'll go over the aforementioned front passenger suspension work, the interior detail, and other minor fixes that I've already performed. See you guys "soon!"

 

Posted a couple pics in the latest update! Car came out fantastic for what I had to work with.

I am definitely one of those that likes the sleek beak! I've never been a fan of "upbadging" cars, so to me putting a WS6 hood on a non-WS6 car seems a bit weird. I don't care if folks do it, but it's not really my style. Feels a bit like throwing an M badge on a 325i or something... Having said that, if a hood is clearly an aftermarket one (think SuperHawk or a large cowl one), then I would lean that route!

 

Cut and buff came out great! She bounced back really well.

Th alignment item, you would think the frame wheel well would give before the k member would. The stock design is pretty hefty, but it's possible it shifted even though it's got alignment bowls?

You replaced a arms so that takes ball joints creating a height shift out. Spinldes the same?

I'm with you if the car was hit hard enough to throw alignment out you would see the stress evidence somewhere. Unless the holes where the uper a arm mount got deformed somehow?

 

That turned out nice. Nice work on the wet sand. Did you rotary any of it? I had a few spots in mine that I had to rotary. What coating brand did you use? Look into Undrdog. I install it a lot on customers cars and the Pro + is on both the wife and I's daily drivers. It is one of the best coatings out there right now. It is very user friendly. I have Koch Chemie C0.02 on my Camaro. Its becoming one of my favorite ceramics.

 

Thanks for the kind words!

I’ve considered the K member being shifted and even loosened the 6 bolts to relieve pressure to see if it would help - no dice.

Spindle replaced, both A arms and the upper A arm mount replaced - still no luck. Granted, the upper A arm looked a little bent, but it’s stamped steel so I wasn’t even sure if it was just flex from 25 years of driving LOL.

 

It doesn't answer the spacing but could rear suspension be loaded and causing the height to be off in the front.

Good way to check that would be to undo the panhard bar with the wheels on the ground.

 

Thanks for the kind words. Just realized you replied! I use CarPro's CQuartz and have liked it so far! Was tempted to try the Gyeon line next but might go the KC route - it looks like their stuff gets pretty good reviews.

And nope , no rotary work on this one! The most agressive I went was with the Rupes DA Coarse on a MF cutting pad for the wet sanded quarter and a couple spots on the hood. Everything else got cut with foam cutting pad and then full car polished with UNO 1-step on a white Adam's pad.

 

Looks really good, making a lot of progress.

When I had my spoiler off I thought it reminded me of the old Ford Probes.

 

Either those or the Tauruses from the late 90s lol.

 

Rupes coarse is some good stuff. UNO is a great compound as well. I really like the Koch Chemie line of compounds and pads for foam. Meguiars is what I use for my microfibers. Rupes is the best machine out there. That is all I use.