The truth about Santa Claus

One of the myths of modern times is Santa Claus. It is very common to believe that he lives in North Pole and that he uses Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer for the transportation purposes while delivering presents for the nice children. The truth lying behind these myths is that Santa actually lives in Finland, in Lapland in the place called Korvatunturi. And think about him flying with a reindeer-driven flying sleigh. Would it be possible to drop by in every house here and there with that kind of old-fashioned vehicle. No, instead he'll have to exploit something more rapid and modern type of transportation. The below live footage shot today shows the truth. So you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout , I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town...

Merry Christmas to all pony-riders !!!

Gaskets and pin bolts

Listening to the engine with stethoscope did not bring me new ideas where the clanking sound came from. So I decided to troubleshoot the easiest and cheapest things first. I took off the exhaust manifold (which by the way is one of the few parts that "Tom" - Destiny's owner from '96 to '06 - had replaced ).

 

The leakage can be seen in the opening of cylinder #5 and in the bigger opening of cylinders #3 and #4. The bolts hide behind the starter so it crucial to have them tightened well before installing the starter. Obviously I had missed this.

 

Obtained new Fel-Pro gasket from a local speed shop for € 8,60. I felt so lucky for them having the gasket in the shelf that I even forgot to claim 15% discount that they promise for members of FMOC .

 

This time I remembered to install the locking washers that I had purchased earlier from NPD. I paid special attention to tighten the manifold bolts little by little in cycles like you do when you tighten the cylinder head. But while torqueing the pin bolts which attach the exhaust pipe to manifold I broke the other one. Damn ! Where would I be able to find 7/16" bolt with course thread in one end and fine thread end in the other.

 

But thanks to internet I found this webshop. One business day later the bolts arrived in an envelope to my mail box. Total cost € 4,15 including VAT and postal costs. Cheap as soap. Installed exhaust pipe. Took a test drive. Destiny purrs like a kitten now.

The last day of the summer

Doesn't Destiny look inviting, does she ?

Another shot after the first time she was washed this summer. There was no need to wash her because for weeks and weeks there was no rain, only warm sunshine. Though I must admit that that not more than 500-600 miles has been added to the odometer so far. I simply have not had time to take her out as often as I had wanted. But every time I did I had enjoyable moments. You can see that there are emblems and mouldings still missing. I'll finish them later.

 

It was exactly two years ago when I started to break her apart. Is she better now ? For sure. I did not make any improvement to driveability, exept for the front Gas-a-just shocks. Their effect is clearly noticeable. Now I can do 55-60 mph on a highway and still steer her. Wheel alignment has not been checked by measurement, but it seems and feels to be near the specs. The body as a whole feels stiffer now as well.

But it's not only sunshine. First I had something with Holley 1940 carb. After disassembling, cleaning and re-assembling it started to work fine. Then appeared the tapping sound which I thought came from a leaking gasket betweet the exhaust manifold and pipe. I replaced it but obviously that was not the reason. So far checked oil quality and pressure. The valves get their share of oil and the clearance is ok. Timing, breaker points and Autolite 46 plugs checked. The sound is not such hard metallic clank as is the case if the crankshaft bearings are broken. Neither is it as rough as when caused by detonation. The sound can be heard with idle and while driving open throttle, but is most clear while reving.

So I still have to check manifold to head gasket and cylinder pressure leakage prior to deciding for stronger operations. A leaking exhaust valve echoing from the leakage in the exhaust pipe ? Maybe.  It's good to have a good analyze first. Soon the driving season is over and we'll have some six months to fix her before the start of the next season.

Inspected and approved

I've been quite busy since I brought Destiny home a couple of weeks ago. Except for the weekends (which I have dedicated to the family) I've spent all the evenings in the garage bolting parts together. I had prepared and cleaned the most of the parts in advance while Destiny was in the paint shop so now it was all about bolting. Though, there are a couple of parts which are easier to install with a friend. One of those is the windshield which was installed with a rope and with help from my 17-year-old daughter in less than an hour. (Remember to install the clips for the mouldings prior to the weatherstrip! I didn't. So we had to do it over). Little by little my spares shelf started to go empty. And finally the car was ready for the safety inspection.

She still misses rocker panel mouldings and all the emblems as well as door weatherstrips. But those are not needed in the inspection unlike windshield washer which is something you have to have. My car didn't so I purchased an OEM set for 10,90€. I think I'll have to use it only one a year when the car is checked. Or maybe I'll order an original set from the NPD later.

I was worried about the ride height earlier but now as all the parts are there it looks fine.

We are currently facing a heatwave with temperatures going up to 32°C so I don't envy the guys doing their job at the inspection. Above the inspection has been started and the VIN in checked first. He really did not have to spend much time checking the suspension and steering.

After the test drive Destiny was approved and is permissible to be driven until August 31st 2011.

 

I had my first day of summer vacation today so from now on this summer goes on by driving Destiny in every possible occasion. I'll keep on blogging every once in while but at this point I want to thank everyone supporting and encouraging me in this project and especially Alex for his really helpful blog which makes it easy for any average computer technician (or computer salesman like me) to rebuild a piece of crap into a daily driver.

Back home

This morning as I left for work the sun was shining high as it does here this time of the year. My garage door faces east so I couldn't resist opening it. This is what I did see. Destiny's repainted rear sun-bathing.

Yesterday afternoon we picked her up. She was driven out from the paint booth and up on my brother's trailer and soon Lil' red riding hood is safely returned home. But isn't there something horribly wrong in the below picture ?

Yes, you noticed it. The licence plate should be NOT-66 instead of YEP-66 [JOO means YEP or YEAH in Finnish].  If you register a new car you normally get long plates with six random digits selected by a computer. They also have EU's ring of stars like in this picture.

Or you have to pay 1000 € for special plates, if the string you want is available. I think these have been paid for. I didn't want to pay that much at the time of registration. But I was able to demand 5-digit plates due to the fact that the long ones don't fit. These are not delivered by the computer. They have a small supply of free 5-digit plates in every registration station. So I had about a minute to go through and make my selection and JOO-66 was the best I could get. I might consider investing on CID-200 if I win in the lottery.

But hey, it's summer and I'm driving my Mustang convertible. No roof, no windshield and no seat. Have you ever driven a car sitting on the bare sheet metal ? Fun but be careful. You have to take good hold with your left hand on the streering column while pushing the brake pedal if you don't want to find yourself in the rear of the cabin and your car hitting wall in the garage.

So how did the paint look like now ? First of all A LOT BETTER. Not even near to perfect, drips and orange peal. But it'll do for now. First half of the summer is soon gone and from now on it's only up to me and Destiny.

Some history in between

Every now and then I've e-mailed to "Tom", the latest owner of Destiny in Massachusetts to whom I got the contact through a detailed receipt of an antique radio repair shop. Tom's story of the history goes like this.

The car has been in a storage from 1985 until 1995 when someone whose name Tom could not recall purchased it. The guy sold the car to Tom in April 1996. At that time the car was red already.
Soon after Tom purchased the car  he replaced the shocks (rear only), tires and exhaust system. He also had to replace the exhaust manifold in 2005.  According to Tom, the engine and transmission have never been opened.

So it seems like the owner who had the car from '95 to '96 was the guy who performed the DIY restoration with rivets and bondo.

When I got the car in 2007 it had Goodyear Spectra M+S 195-75/14 tires with 1" white stripes. I wonder if these are the tires Tom bought fourteen years ago. They still are in good condition. This makes me think that Tom did not drive too many miles with Destiny.

But now it seems like this information well has dried out and if I want to solve the mystery of a first owner I'll have to turn to the authorities. Maybe they would be able to help with the first 20 years.

There are a couple of application forms to be filled. The request for personal information is needed for Title history search. The thing is that the request only costs $5 but can only be paid with a check, which I do not use. I e-mailed the Massachusetts RMV department and suggested the payment in advance with my credit card and here's what they replied:

"You can not pay for a title history search with a credit card by mail."

Awesome ! I almost thought I could. If anyone has good ideas how to obtain that history search, please contact. Maybe I'll have to attach a five dollar bill and see what happens.

The rumours in town tell me that Destiny might have gotten a coat of red today, so I have to go now.

Waiting for the next round

I felt so dissapointed in the bad paintjob that I totally lost my interest in blogging, nearly lost my interest over the project Destiny as well. As soon as the bodies were carried out from the battlefield I returned to the garage. Little by little the the parts started to go in again. The new gas tank was installed with a bead of sealer.

The brake master cylinder was restored, new brake tubing was bent and installed and all the wheel cylinders were replaced with new ones. I just wonder if the new ones (made in China) will last as long as the originals which still were there in the rear. At least I think they were originals. I did not bother to buy a new master cylinder. Instead, I ground the rust off, polished it and sprayed some clear over it. Here are a couple of pics before and after.

 

After the brake tubing was done, I dismantled the the rest of the braking system, cleaned, greased and repleced the wheel cylinders with the new ones ( made in China ). I wonder if they will last as long as the previous which I think might have been the originals. I put the brakes back together, poured some fluid in, and with a help from my wife (experienced with "pressure-bottom technique" ) pressing the pedal bleeded the brakes and tuned them. Sorry, no pics but she looks great. The parking brake handle was cleaned and painted and installed.

The fuel lined had been replaced earlier, by the Swede obviously, so I reused them with new flexible hoses and clamps.

I had fixed the heater two years ago when I prepared Destiny for the first driving season. During that summer it dripped every once in a while. The examination showed that it had a puncture, so I replaced the core with new aluminium type, painted the shell and put it back in.

Then I installed the front valance and the rest of the front metal parts, headlights, parking lamps, bumber brackets and front bumper, horns and engine bay wiring. It appeared that I have two pieces of right hand side front parking lamps. I had not noticed that earlier and will have to order new for left hand side.

Seems like the the guy who restored this car back in the US had a donor car with a working right hand lamp.

When all this was done I installed door latch mechanism and striker plates, then was the time to install wiper motor and arms. As soon as this was done I cleaned, fixed and installed the under-dash wiring, light switch, wiper switch, ignition switch and the meter panel. (Should I have known that there is a cheap bezel available, I would have replaced it.). Then the shifter for the transmission and the car is ready to be started.

The oil pressure sending unit appeared dead and a new one will have to be ordered. The neutral safety switch did not work either. So order to save time, not the money (you propably find it easier for get one from NPD for less than $30) I drilled out the two rivets, cleaned it and piled back together with small screws and nuts. Works fine now.

Then I cleaned the tail lights, installed and tested them, installed the steering wheel and cranked the engine, drove the car out of the garage and back in. Works fine, exept for the oil pressure warning light.
What a feeling, what a feeeeeliiiiing !

What next ? Yes ! I deinstalled the tail lights, drilled out the tail light panel and welded in the new one.

 

Now Destiny was ready for the Round #2 at the paintshop. I delivered her back a week ago and have spent the last days cleaning the garage for her return. I'll be back as soon as that happens.

Paintwork done ?

I picked Destiny up from the paint shop on April 1st. Here a shot of her after the Easter with hood and fenders assembled and the front valance panel loosely bolted in. Looks good, doen't it. No fooling or photoshopping done here. I really like this phase. Things start to take shape at last and the clean parts can be attached so that this time they'll stay there.

BUT... What does not look good can be seen in the picture below with some daylight. The rear taillight panel doesn't look good and the driver side quarted panel looks horrible. A major failure during the filler work for sure. Maybe I just should have followed James' advice and done this myself.

 

Once this was realized it was too late to turn the trailer immediately back to the paint shop. Damn it, what a mess is will be solve this. A convertible which can only be driven at night ? Shit.

Also visited this years Easter show. I'm not sure whether it increased or decreased my frustrationbut here is one nice '66 convertible this time. For sale for 39.000 €, if someone is interested.

But my favorite of all was this classy Norwegian restored '57 T-Bird. Only thing missing is Barbie Doll sitting there behind the steering wheel.

Off she goes

Mr. #5 gave me such a reasonable estimate of the cost for prepping and painting Destiny that I decided quickly. He had moved his shop a while ago and was ready take my project in right away. So I attached the hood latch and on the trailer she went.

Some fifteen minutes later she was rolled in. I wish she'll stay there until Easter at least. Now I have a couple of weeks to prepare the remaining parts in my garage. I started my "vacation" with dusting and cleaning. Then I carried all the parts in from my shed where I have stored them for two winters. I'll be having a nice busy time to prepare them for the assebly before Destiny will return.

 

But first I'll have a real vacation with my family under the sun in the Canary Islands.

EDIT: Remember my entry in December about the Winter War. Today we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the end of that one.

Preparing for the paint job

There are two kinds of tasks in a restoration of a Mustang, the easy and the difficult. It is easy to weld in new replacement sheet metal. It's easy to bolt in new ball joints for the suspension. A little more difficult is to replace inner rockers of a convertible. Just prepare for it and you'll do it. It's easy to get any of the replacement spares shipped overseas in a week. It's easy to earn the money for paying any of them parts. It's tough but still possible to spend ten days under your car grinding, sanding and eating the dust. What seems to be the most diffucult portion of the project is to get two things agreed with a paint shop guy,  the schedule and the total price.

The car is here, ready and willing to be painted. I did the normal procedures for the front end sheet metal and she's all dressed  to be delivered.

I have consulted with five of them and here is how it looks so far.

#1 I'll do one only project during the winter. Get your car ready by January and I'll do it. The car was ready but he wasn't. Meanwhile he did two other projects.

#2 I'll do this in March, I'll spend 100-150 hours or more  @20€ per hour on it. Plus You buy the paints and filler. After this I've contacted him three times to agree for the schedule, but he never showed up.

#3 Bring it over tomorrow. The price is 4000 € or more. This was told on phone without even seeing the car.

#4 I can start it next week. I'll do six weeks nothing but your car. 4000 €.

#5 We'll do it for 2000 € , no receipt. We can start in a week. I offered him 2300 € ( note I offered him more because I assumed he had made a faulty estimate. ) The day after this he called and wanted to raise the price because he - as he said - had made a faulty estimate.  At this point he was still unable to give me a correct estimation.

So my conclusion is that either I'm stupid or they are. I make a salary above the average but I do not make 4000 € in a month after the taxes. So I just refuse to pay such an amount for the paint job, knowing that the material can be purchased with less than 1000 €. It's not about the money, it's about the price.

So while waiting for Mr #5 to give me the exact price, we deciced to give Destiny some gas and sparks.

The battery was charged, the drive shaft went in, some hoses and water as well, followed by lubricants for the transmission and the engine. And finally we were able to lead 12 DC for the starter.

The engine cranked and fired up with no leaks, no special noise. The smoke from exhaust manifold paint burning filled the carage with the sweetest sound I've heard for 18 months.

The doors

No it wasn't The Doors, it was Rolling Stones who sang I see a red door and I want it painted black .

These weren't even red but I still had to paint them black along with some smaller parts.

No colors anymore, I want them to turn black.

But I can not see any girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes. Not yet.

Steering column

Steering shaft is there already and a new grommet goes in followed by the ring. These are the first parts to install to the inside of the firewall.

The old insulation pad was the slid in place and attached with new pins. Don't forget to place shifter light's voltage wire at this point. I do not have or plan to install the console. If I would, it's wiring should also be installed between the pad and firewall.

The brake pedal and support had been cleaned and painted earlier. Note that I needed a box of french red wine to assemle them. The support seemed like it left the factory unpainted.

The steering column tube was then pushed through the grommet...

...and bolted with the bracket to the brake pedal support.

Sponsored by the Fire Dept.

I think I'll have to start negotiating with the local fire department about sponsoring my project because I'm offering them some positive visibility here. Destiny is starting to resemble chief's car now. Here is a set of pics after I mixed a liter of Spies-Hecker Permacron 630 and sprayed it over Destiny.

My old spray gun broke down a while ago and I had to invest 29,90 € on a new one. Though it's cheap, it works a lot better, with a lower pressure. But a good spray gun does not guarantee a good result. There is orange peal and drips here and there. 

I gave her two coats of paint. The second coat is always more difficult to me. For some reason I end up ruining the good result of the first coat. Maybe I'll have to excercise the technique so that I'll concentrate on only one good coat at a time.

This one below is my favorite. It's a shame that all this will (hopefully soon) be covered with by a carpet and seats. Zinnoberrot 138 really looks good on the seat platform.

Date Code 23A

Destiny's Date Code on the door data plate is 23A meaning it was supposed to roll out of the factory on Saturday 23rd January 1965. No-one knows if it did, but I spent her 45th Anniversary today. During the passed week I spent a couple of evenings sanding the epoxy primer gray. Then I applied seam sealer to each and every seam I could imagine would benefit of it.

It took two tubes of Dinitrol seam sealer which was brushed smooth after being squeezed out of the tube.

I decided to spray one more coat of primer. This time I spent some time to figure out the correct and the most efficient way to penetrate the primer into every gap. I managed fine as I started from the most difficult areas like the bottom of the trunk drop-off and the gap between wheel well and quarter panel behind the trunk lid hinges. In order to be sure hand-brushing some primer prior to spraying might be wise.

But I managed fine. Now you can hardly find a spot which would not be covered with primer or paint. I've decided the color for Destiny. She'll become Zinnoberrot 138 ( cinnabar red, that is ), which can be found from BMW's color scheme.

So, after admiring her for two days like this, I grabbed my sanding papers again and got her gray again. Had I been wise, would I have applied the last coat with red epoxy primer. In the next episode we'll see if Zinnoberrot 138 will beat the black-gray primer.

The final patch

Time to start the new decade. Today I welded in the very last piece of sheet metal. This honourable final patch was somenthing I had forgotten to do earlier. It is situated in the left-most edge in the corner of firewall and cowl side panel just above the torque-box's upper end and is about 1" x ½".

I've used two bottles of CO2-Argon and about 8 kilograms of welding-wire while knitting this vehicle back to the current status. Here is a picture of my old but faithful Kemppi 180C Mig-welder which I bought used years ago for 100 €. I still may need it with this project but hopefully only for minor jobs, not for patching or re-doing my earlier welds.

Looking at my welds which were done a year ago, in the beginning of the restoration, one might say that they could have been done better. I think I've gotten better and better and even might be able to restore a more challenging project one day. The question is where to find such a project ? From here maybe. There are three things a man does not forget once he has learned them. 1. How to ride a bicycle. 2. How to make love to a woman and 3. How to weld.

Destiny is now covered with primer and most of the body parts are being fit, almost ready for painter. I think I finally found a guy who'll perform the paint-job for her. He dropped by yesterday and estimated 100-150 hours of his work until the job is done. 20 € an hour and that'll be 2 - 3000 € plus the materials. We agreed this to be done in March. I just hope that there won't be slippery on the roads until that because all of the painters consider insurance companies better clients and in that case my project would be postponed. A couple of shot of how Destiny looks right now.

We agreed that I'll paint whatever is inside the car and he'll do everything that's on the outside plus the undersides of the hood and trunk lid. Next weekend Destiny is celebrating her 45th anniversary. I think I'll cheer her up with new coat of primer and seam sealer. So let's start sanding.