Wagon build

[Jeff W]

Here is the wagon fresh back from the paint shop and home in the $175 Harbor Freight garage.

It's pretty small but when the sun is out it is easy to roll up the side tarp and go to it.

oh.. the 2 x 12s are using the weight of the car to hold down the tent. You are supposed to stake or bolt it down to the ground so it doesn't end up in your neighbors yard. I thought it was a good temporary solution and helps my wife believe it will be taken down someday... a hard sell if I'm out there with the rotohammer and concrete bolts.

[doghows]

Looks great Jeff. i hope mine gets to that stage some day..... Send me pics of those parts you need, or just stop by for a visit... By the way if you go back to when I first posted on Sedan delivery pics, it has a good shot of the roof rack on my car. I will get som closer measurements tonight if I don't forget....
Keep up the great work it is keeping me inspired right now.... Body work sucks...

[Luva65wagon]

Very nice Jeff. And the wagon looks pretty good too.

[redfalken]

It looks even shinier up close!

[Jeff W]

Kenny says, "Do one thing a day".

Lao Tzo said "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".

Here are my "steps" last week:

1) Rebuilt both vent windows: Fifty years of California Sun can really do a number on those rubber seals. It's hard to believe that all those black chunks of ceramic looking material next to the bare window frame used to be pliable. It was quite a chore getting it removed from the frame.

2) Install the new hood to cowl seal and align the hood.

3) Strip the dash naked in preparation for paint. Whomever installed the Instrument Cluster at the factory must have been amazingly flexible. To remove one of the screws that hold a wire harness bracket I had my arm stuck through the speaker hole in the top of the dash. There was a moment of panic when I couldn't easily remove my arm from the hole... I had a flash of the recent movie where the lone hiker wedged his arm between two rocks and used his leatherman to amputate. I am not looking forward to the reinstallation.

4) Mount primary hood latch. I am pleased the painter did a nice job cleaning and spraying the underside of the hood. It was pretty rough when I brought it in.

[Jeff W]

Tomorrow's project: machine the division bars. These mount behind the vent windows and provide a fuzzy channel for the door glass to ride in. I chose the less expensive generic bars so I need to make the two on the left look like the two on the right.

Easy to do with a Bridgeport Mill. Not so easy with a hand held Dremmel. Guess which method I'm stuck with.

[Luva65wagon]

Jeff - are you going with Palomino again on the dash - and paint the doors that color too? Or do two colors? Looks like the doors are the green now.

[Jeff W]

Yes, I will be going with the original color on the dash, doors, tailgate and all around the window trim. The body shop sanded all the ugly green off the inside of the doors and shot them when they jambed it. I thing I can just do a scuff and squirt on the doors.

It was a bit of a learning experience with the Palomino. After buying five cans of the expensive Falcon Palomino from Dearborn, I rudely discovered it does not match my original color. The Dearborn paint would be a match for your 64-65 Falcon Palomino. My 63 color is the same as 64-65 Mustang "Medium Palomino Metallic".

I just ordered eight cans of paint and three cans of vinyl dye in the correct color. It's a bit darker and... Umm, metallic. Thanks for the tip on National Parts Depot. Their paint is about half the cost of anywhere else I found.

[BillP 98201]

Automotive Supply can match paint colors to be sprayed from a can....... They supply paint to alot of local body shops.

[Luva65wagon]

Jeff, I couldn't find paint in a rattle can that exactly matched my color from Dearborn. I did get some of the NPD stuff and it was great - but I had more painting to do that I wanted to do with rattle cans, so that's why I mixed up my own. But that was a pain....

[Jeff W]

Couple more items checked off the list.

1) Cleaned up and painted the Instrument Cluster. It's not chrome but silver paint is good enough for me.

2) Mounted the Jaguar Gas Filler for the last time.

3) I noticed the gas tank was slanted when I bought the car and never took the time to dig deeper. Yesterday I climbed under and found the PO used the wrong mounting holes so the tank would not nestle into the frame relief... simple fix. Before and after picts below.

[SmithKid]

Sorry it took me so long to try to get you a picture of the rear bumper/body seal on my Ranchero. It turns out it is very difficult to get a decent picture with the bumper in place, but here it is for what it's worth. it is taken from the floor looking up. the roundish circle is the license plate light that hasn't been cut out yet. the seal is tucked into the "ledge" created byt the license plate area in the bumper (probably self explanatory) and it is kinda wrinkled, but will do the job untile the correct piece can be found.

[Jeff W]

Thanks for the photo Gene. I cut the corners off my piece so it would lay flat... I think it will work okay.

Here are pictures from the last weekend. Kenny brought over a little propane heater and it brought my tarp tent up to 70 degrees. I painted the dash and the rear area. I didn't do it all, that can wait until warmer weather, i just wanted to get enough done to allow window installation.

[Jeff W]

I was only able to squeeze in a few hours this weekend.

Finished up the headlights. Blasted and painted the buckets, installed new three prong plugs (the old guys were cracked), and one adjuster with plastic nut. It's almost street legal (if sitting on a milk crate while driving is considered legal).

NEW bulbs and dielectric grease all the way around.

Installed the Instrument Cluster and a couple of the repop knobs. This involves breaking off the molded on knobs with a Vice Grip and tapping some threads on the shaft.

Installed the new defrost cones and tubes.

It is extremely rewarding to be clearing some of these boxes off the bench.

[Luva65wagon]

Nice work Jeff. Such dedication in the cold out-of-doors!

Question about the gas cap. Where did you get it and was the bracket you welded in something that came with - or did you have to cut it out from a donor car? Do you have any pictures of the underside connected to the tank? Rick's site (you link'd to elsewhere) seems to indicate he cut it out using tin-snips or something and they have two height versions. Maybe you have a few more pictures of it you can post?

Gracias.