Stripping the Beast

Before we get to the tear down, we have a few more pics of the outside of the Stang. All those chrome plastics were removed. Metal tabs welded to the fill the holes and given the grind treatment to make the body straighter than... uh, straighter than .... straighter than an arrow. A Loose Arrow.






Alright, tearing into the skin here we have the body just about stripped down. As you are looking at these pics imagine the intense fear I felt as I was looking at her in real life. Ugh, it's like getting kicked in the gut with a combat boot. Takes your breath away and makes you want to barf in the same instant.











Well, made it to the end of this post! Congrats! See you next time!!

5 years ago to the day

(A little interruption in the middle of the Stang Restoration story)



5 years ago to the day
I met the little red haired girl of my dreams
She materialized before me like a vision
and her smile and eyes captivated me

She entered my life and I'll never
forget how she looked that very day
My heart was stolen with one fell
swoop of her voice

I've fallen more and more in love
with this red haired maiden
She's my everything, my all

I love you Mia, my little red haired girl

Interior Pre-Restoration

Continuing on with this restoration blog. Here are some pics of the interior (and a cute little red-haired girl). I took the modest stock interior and replaced it with the the Deluxe Pony interior. The seat upholstery was replaced, the carpet torn out, the foam in the trunk had to be scraped out with razor blades and adhesive remover. The door panels removed and replaced. The inside rear quarter panels were removed and covered with 1/4" padding and vinyl. I like the black on black interior so I decided to stay black on black.

The floor pan with the small rust hole was replaced and the entire floor was rust treated and coated with spray on bed liner. Then I installed some sound foil-backed sound deadener and yute-backed sound deadener to the floor pan.

That's about enough for now so check out the pics, leave a comment and see you later!

1966 Stang 3 Dimension Pre-Restoration

All right then. Here we have the Stang, all 3D and whatnot, for you to scroll over and rotate unto your hearts' desire! Simply move your mouse over the pic from left to right, sans clicking. Easy as pie. Or if you are from the UK: Nice as pie! Oh Yeah!

There she be, all orange and beautiful, rugged, rustic, antique-ish... the day she went down to the restoration facility. Tomorrow, or sometime between now and when I get er done, I will show pics of the interior pre-restoration for all you curious georges.

Thanks for looking, leave me a comment, share some thoughts, and as always, have a wonderful day!

Hold On Tight!

I was ready-ing my blog for some new updated pics of the StangBeast and decided I want to walk you through my restoration. Yes, I restored the Stang. Yes, it's sweet! Yes, it's pricey! Yes, I am happy I did it. Yes, you will be covetous.

So come along and walk with me, or ride with me, on this journey of renewing, self-discovery exploration. Taking something old and making it new. Quite a profound thing to do I must say.

I removed all the chrome accents, rust treated the floorpan, shaved the FM antenna, smoothed out all the dings and dents, replaced the windshield, new front and rear aprons, new pony interior, new seats, new carpet, new weather stripping and seals throughout, and yes a brand spanking, eye-blinding new paint job. Whew.

So grab your bib, cuz you will be drooling, and come back again to see pics and read the story about my 1966 Ford Mustang Restoration. Yee-Haw!

Midweek update

Great News, my peeps! All is well in the flushing arena! No leaks, no mess, no fuss, no muss, we are still rocking and rolling all the way across the street to the main sewer line! WooHoo!

You can learn a lot in a week

A week is fertile ground for learning stuff you never thought you would ever know. Let me describe this past week to you:
Friday January 16 - Sunday January 18
Major battle fought and won against vertigo
Fought off mild cold/sinus gunk

Saturday January 17 - Tuesday January 20
Removed, rebuilt autolite 2100 carburetor
Stripped jets in carb, ordered new ones
Removed 289 8 cylinder intake manifold and reinstalled with new gaskets

Wednesday January 21
Roto-rooted main sewer drain line only to discover major cloggage

Thursday January 22
Dug a 4 foot deep hole to access main sewer line blockage
Broke ancient pottery sewer line to discover a weeks' worth of backed up toilet flushings
Roto-snaked main line and retrieved hair, hair, hair, and papertowels
Enjoyed the beautiful sound of blub-blub-gurgle-blub revealing success

Friday January 23
Replaced ancient pottery sewer line with up-to-date 4 inch schedule 40 PVC
Installed previously non-existant sewer drain cleanout access point
Leak tested all joints to ensure that all was done perfectly.
Reburied new sewer line
New jets for carb arrived and installed
Reassembled and adjusted carb

Saturday January 24
Blogged about last week learnings!

So don't ever miss out on the opportunity to learn something new! As for me, I am happily relieved the week is over, whew.

Cheers.

Yes, that's me!

The picture below is me at White Sands, New Mexico taken about 5 years ago.

Waiting on the Lord

I move in repentance
I deny independence
I make no amendments
Waiting on you O Lord

I have succeeded in works
I have repeated in acts
I have deleted in haste
Waiting on you O Lord

An act of contrition
An inept petition
An unhealthy tradition
Waiting on you O Lord

All my strength promoted
All my mind devoted
All my heart exploded
Waiting on you O Lord

Filling dadda's shoes

Well Happy 2009 to everyone! It's been quite a while since my last post mainly because my laptop took a bit of a dive. Yeah crazy, a computer guy with a downed laptop is like a Nascar Driver with no steering wheel. Craze.

Nevertheless, my little red haired baby wonder has been walking for nearly a month now! She is getting very used to those little chub legs taking her wherever her heart desires! She is so excited to walk that she routinely brings me my shoes so that I can put them on her. Nevermind that she can't walk around with those boats, but she is happy and giddy to just stand there looking down at her huge feet!

I know it's only a matter of microseconds that she'll be running around with her own Sketchers so I am cherishing these times with her to the maximum.


I remember when Caleb grabbed my flamed boots, put them on, and walked around imitating his dadda. That was over 5 years ago and it seems like yesterday that I snapped this shot. I have to say he cruised around in my boots pretty good! I asked him, "You know the difference between you and me, hito?"
"No dad, what?"
"You make those boots look good!"



So welcome to 2009! I'll leave you with a little kiss! Ciao!