Nice start and that is really good.I am holding my cards right now on mine.I am working on my 87 mazda truck 1st before I dig into finishing my rear end resto part2.I will say this year I am focused on my OWN rides instead of everyone else's stuff (family) rides.Keep on the updates were all watching.
Loving progress. Mine isn't far behind.
Great Progress!!
The hard efforts you put into this , this year, will be rewarded with many more years to come. Take lots of personal photos and enjoy them several years from now.
Also great workshop! Wish I had such a wonderful spot to work my magic in!!
This is a perfect time to pop off the outside air door assembly and blower fan - clean out that passenger side cowl drain too.
You going with the same or a different color?
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Not trying to be a jerk here, but take those front jack stands and throw them away!
They are super weak. You can get a pair of the ones you are using on the rear of your car for $25 from Harbor freight.
The reason I know those jack stands are junk is because I had one fail on me about 20 years ago. Fortunately, I wasn't under the car at the time, but it cost me a couple hundred bucks to repair the damage that had occurred because of the failure.
~ Mike ~
Looking good and I like the red oil pan. Keep us up to date with pictures!
update on the vert, i took Orlens advice and cleaned out that infamous cowl drain. there was a lot of crud in there and i even found a long lost hood bumper i was missing. before and after pics
i also put in that new radiator
after installing the radiator the cooling fan is running all the time. i did remove the ac since i was never going to have it repaired anyway. i did the same on my hawk and didnt have any issues with the fan. also the coolant level sensor that plugs into the front of the radiator is a little suspect. anyone have an idea?
Being your fan runs constant based on MY experience and my factory shop manual says check and or replace your cooling fan relay.It is mounted on the LHS fender near your strut tower in front of it to be exact towards the battery.Unless your coolant temp sender at the thermostat is NOT grounding registering the temp to the ecm go new relay.You still might want to remove the connector on the temp sensor and clean the connection to ensure a good ground.I am pretty tired and dug out my shop manual to only reaffirm my thoughts prior to commenting.IF the fan did not run that leads down a longer list of checks.Go easy and just swap the relay and if no good,coolant temp sender as I doubt you have the gauge for coolant temp (right).R btw I like the progess so far.
It amazed me how much crud can get in that cowl drain!! I had the '86 Ranger tore down when I was painting it and discovered a big mess in cowl too, but unfortunately the cowl on them is welded and I I had to run water from one side of the truck to the other - with both fenders removed non the less - so I really appreciate the J-Bodies' accessability!
Very nice Vert you have and looking forward to future updates along the way!
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the fan issue was just an oversight. i forgot that the fan will constantly run if the ac pressure switch is unpluged. ijust cut that piece out of the ac line i removed and plugged it back in and now all is well.
Nice update and door holder.I have seen the cradles they sell to hold doors which are not too costly,but heck when saving money counts on the end result go for it.
Sometimes progress seems to crawl and the journey so so long, but in the end you folks will truly enjoy all the effort you are putting in to this together. Keep working together and sharing your work with us!
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Glad to see you replaced those jack stands !
The work really looks solid and those door cradles are a great idea !
Looking forward to following the progress on this project !
~ Mike ~
last two days work,
painted the inside of new door and hung on car,
cleaned and painted trunk and spare tire rim.
reconditioned armrests and steering wheel,,(could not find good match so i went with black.
sorry pics are not in order
What kind of paint did you use on the steering wheel? My concern with painting the wheel is that it would rub off too easily.
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Mike
i used dupli-color vinyl & fabric coating i picked up at auto zone. i bought a can of red,gloss black and flat black. i had an extra armrest to expermint on. i first scrubbed it down with fast-orange hand cleaner to remove all the dirt and oils. this is a must for any paint project. bad prep means bad results. i then let it dry throughly, another must. i first tried the red giving it about 3 light coats giving it about 20 minutes between coats. it went on great and looked awsoume but it was not a good match, i tried the flat black next. the flat black was just too dull so on to the gloss black the gloss black turned out great. it came out more of a satin black and i am very pleased with the results. it doesnt feel sticky like some of the restored steering wheels i have seen being sold at the swap meets. only time will tell but it looks 100 times better than it did.
we finnished off the trunk today. we cleaned and sprayed the inner wheel well covers and the back panel thathides the hydraulics for the convertable top with that dupli-colar fabric coating. the trunk mat was shot, so we bought a piece of indoor-outdoor carpeting for 12 bucks and cut to fit. i also installed new door lock cylinders with new keys.we are almost done with the inner door panels and i will post pics of those later, but here is one of the trunk. it really came out great. happy 4rth everyone.
Pretty red! Nice job John.. Love the pictures.
Just awesome and like the prep work in shop to reduce the mess!!!!! I am 100% clean freak about keeping my garage stupid clean after any auto work period.Oh like the color too.
Super Job!!
I smell a car show or two in this 'Verts future!!
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But it looks like you painted the key locks!
Very cool, John. Hopefully some day I can do the same. It's turning out very nice and can't wait to see the finished product.
