Prepping for Paint

This is a tech-only entry. Body guy says I should prep the engine compartment before I send the car for paint. In order to do this, I wanted to unbolt everything that penetrates into the engine compartment, so there won't be bolt heads or screw threads that would get painted over, and also to make sanding easier.

So, I needed to remove the ventilation ducts from inside the fenders. Here they are on the floor between some assorted engine parts and my freshly rebuilt transmission (wrapped in plastic, since it will be a while before I can use it).

I also had to remove the firewall insulation from under the dashboard. The fasteners stuck through into the engine compartment. It was extremely brittle, and didn't come out in one piece.

Here is a drivers eye view of the progress, with a clear view of the steering box in the engine compartment.

I also pulled the wiring harness into the cabin, and started working on sanding the horrid green paint in the engine compartment. Here's what it looked like when I started:

Using lacquer thinner, scrubbing pads, and a multi tool with a small sanding head, here's how far I got in about 3 hours. I made a whole lot of dust!

Another weekend of work, and the car should be ready for the body shop!

One thing that I did to the car when I owned it 40 years ago was play some games with the chrome insignia on the front fender. Here's the stock fender insignia on a '55 t-bird. Check out the hashmarks... Ford designers wanted something to emphasize (or maybe rationalize) the start of the break line on the fender, leading back to the rear tail fin. Aft of the hashmarks, Ford used the traditional y-block V-8 emblem.

I don't like fake stuff on my cars. Two tailpipes should only appear on cars with dual exhaust, and any hood scoop should be required to pass a useful amount of air. The hashmarks... gills, fake louvers, whatever... annoy me. They are blatantly non-functional, and I'm thinking that they clutter the simple, clean lines. They have no real meaning or significance. What would the car look like without them? The y-block V-8 emblem was widely seen on 50's Ford cars and trucks, but it only appeared on t-birds in 1955. It is an emblem that has meaning, as opposed to the hashmarks, and I definitely want to keep it! So, last time I had this car, I filled the original holes, and drilled new ones to move the V-8 forward.

In most respects, I'd prefer to keep the car looking stock. In this case, I think I like my modification. It may look good with my choice of non-stock blue paint!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad. I typed this using a bluetooth keyboard in Dvorak mode.