Car Running Countdown

Thanks, RK, if I can stall it long enough to stay ahead of it - Mustang floorpan replacements are available (hehehe), and do fit the Fox wagons. then I can expect another 15 years or more from it.

By then, they might have figured a way to cap the driving age, at the top end. They're already passing the idea that at 80 years old, that drivers should get tested every 2 years. :banghead3:

 

Some states here already have that law where the elderly have to be tested every year or 2.

 

So at 80, you can't street race anymore? shucks. I was just getting warmed up to the idea. Where's Steve McQueen when you need him?

I built the house plans for those older years. All the stairways have a 220 Volt circuit for a rail ramp, and they're all wider (42"). The entrance is lowered to ground level and the inside steps are set up for a wheel chair too. And the kitchen is built to lower the countertops for access from a wheelchair.

Cars are the only issue here. My grandfather died getting into his car to go shopping at 88. Ex-Mountie. Both legs lost to gangreen. Like the Duracell bunny. Just couldn't take away his independence. He called himself "Stubby For Short", but real long on determination.

 

Your Grandfather had a lot of Spirit. I hope I can be as strong.

 

Yeah. My dad was the oldest son, but even he called him the patriarch, and dad was a savvy friend.

All you gotta do is build forward. You've heard of this idea of paying forward, right? Folks donate their time and energy to help others out? Well, build forward is the same, only Charity starts at home. Somehow the future opens the doors and lets you go through easier.

Planning forward is an insurance gimmick, building forward is yours 100%!

 

Speaker Radio Wiring

Fairmonts came with a few Interior courtesy lighting options. Each one had a different set of wiring harnesses for the radio options as well.

They came with AM or AM/FM or AM/FM 8-track or AM/FM/Cassette radios, and some had amplifiers.

Well, when we got mine, it had an aftermarket AM/FM/Cassette system, using slipshod wiring to the rear speakers (they were stock, but not through the optional wiring.) They wired them with lamp wire, even though the optional rear speaker wires were there. The problem was that some guy on the assemblyline had put an extra wiring package with the wrong connector, that wasn't connected to any courtesy lights. The factory connected this interior light to the rear speakers. I had to separate the underdash wiring harness and sort it out. PITA-PLUS!!!

Well, to make it more interesting, the donor car came with a nice Toshiba AM/FM/Cassette radio with both manual and digital tuner systems (2 knobs). I hate looking away from the road when I'm driving.

It had the wiring schematic on a sticker on the radio. My car had the old dried out middle speaker (4 watt speaker). I installed a pair of 50 watt units in the dash for the front, and I've got a pair of 100 watt units with tweeters in the cargo panels. Had to use new speaker covers, so I bought some with a wire-framed grille. The cargo panels were made with plastic grilles that had fallen apart, so I resized the cavities for these 6X9's from 4X6's.

Well the wiring was a ZOO! Different wire colors on the radio, the front speakers, radio light (to dash lights) and digital display with clock and station display. 3 power inputs.

Well, I hate taped connections, so I soldered them all, with Ford disconnects to the front speakers, another for the power connections, and one more for the stock rear speaker wires. Then tape up the exposed/unwrapped harnesses. Love those Ford connectors - easy to take the wire bayonettes out and reinstall.

Took about 5 hours to sort out and finish. Details tell the tale. This Toshiba system has extra connectors for a CD player or DVD player's sound system - hehehe! It was worth the effort to do it right.

 

New Improved countdown list!

Any major teardown and assembly leaves a lot of Round-to-its. So here's my updated list:

I've got the front seats all rebuilt (broken frame sheet metal at the seat springs is braised and the frames have been refinished.) I've got to reassemble the front seats and center armrests.
The reclining mechanisms are fine.

The rear seat back is a bit tricky. The wagon back rest is flat. The 4-door sedan seat back has nice side bolsters on each side, which means the fold down back will angle up about 1.5 inches more, maybe 2 inches. I've got to sew the side vinyl extensions and then fasten it to the hard panel that the fold-down side hinges and fit on. That's for an evening job, when antenna TV is crappy or when the wife is on the webcam with her family in Mexico.

I have to re-install the rear window wiper (tailgate) because the little rubber insulators (noise) slipped off, and while I'm at it, install the new watershield Andy gave me over the latch mechanism.

I have to do some final adjusting to the door latch rods and put the nylon sound anti-rattler covers over them.

Make templates of the new engine compartment splash shields and install them.

Add wiring to the dome light circuit for a future Map Light and the passenger visor vanity mirror (gotta keep the SWMBO happy. )

Install the new Cougar Wagon like air-dam under the front bumper. What's nice about this one is that it has aluminum reinforcements where the Fairmont ones usually break/crack, and it is more open to get more air into the rad.

Install headliner (its the Granada wagon hoop-type) and the cargo area mouldings and side panels, with new 150 watt 6 X 9 speakers and grilles. (I like my jazz with some clarity and base. Not too much. These speakers have tweeters too. )

Carpet and side floor moldings.

Front reclining seats (spoil me on a long trip. Yes!)

Door panels are done, except for cut outs for handles and winders. I had one broken return spring in an interior handle, which we picked up yesterday at the JY, and those rods to cover up.

I've had a heck of a time with the chrome/aluminum rain gutter trim. It fell off a few years ago, so I left it off. It wasn't until I took off the donor (2-door sedan, that I realised how it installed again, but I lost one clip and found it in the backyard about 2 weeks ago. So I have to remove and reinstall it.

I want to make leaf traps for under the cowl/fresh air intake from the old PVC fender liners. Fairmonts didn't have them, but most other Fords did. Maybe Cougar Wagons had them?

I have to install the transmission levers, tranny neutral switch and speedo cable to the tranny. Then fill it up with a quart or two, before I crank up the engine. Everything drained out when I swapped it into the engine bay.

Seat belts front and back. Got them all in the right gold colour, and made up the rear seat sets from my old front seat belts (same colour). Mine didn't come with rear belts, but Andy's has them, and the floor holes are there stock. The seatbelt bolts are self-tapping, and I've got lots of spares to get them in with.

The Battery Holder bolts in the base of the holder go into frame-mounted clips and I just have to find a good pair and pop them in. I'm gonna make a baking soda paste and soak a piece of canvas in the baking soda to absorb any battery acid that might ooze out.

I have put the power steering clamps on properly - Andy pointed out how I had one (just thumb-turned) on the wrong face of the frame.

I have a new 302 V8 exhaust (single muffler) with the 2.5" pipes. The Six donor had a new system too, but the six came with 2.25" pipes and the muffler was crushed in the accident just before I got it. So I got an adapter to connect the pipe from the manifold to mine, and just have to clamp it together.

And then the Dash frame and instrument panel.

And then the tune-up.

 

I see the burn down list has gotten smaller. Good job!

 

I've been busy with the interior stuff and my wife is really sensitive to chemicals, so I couldn't refinish or even glue the door panels inside the house. Frustrating is an understatement. Frothing at the bit is closer. But I didn't waste my down-time.

 

outstanding norm... almost there brudda.
whats a SWMBO?
plus it aint no -30 no more!

 

She Who Must Be Obeyed - La Fiera, la jefa, la vieja o la diosa, bella, ... anyway you put it, the BOSS!

 

Got the new driver's door adjustable mirror in that we picked up yesterday. And the rear door interior handle (driver's side). All the spares I had for that door had broken return springs on a metal pin, in a plastic handle. Too risky to break, even if I took another good handle apart. This one was perfect.

Splash shield templates are made.

Sorted out our Junkyard run for tomorrow with Andy, and we picked out some parts for both his little red wagons.

 

le jefa the off base commander.... JAJAJA!

 

She tries to knock me off base. I give her credit for trying. My advantage is that I stay focussed on the objective, while she distracts herself with tangent, unrelated arguments. I don't have to distract her at all.

I took a course in Logic in university. Its mainly a mathematical backdrop, so that you don't get lost in those long formulas you see in that Numbers TV program. But the one book I really enjoyed described the Logic Error Types, with examples from daily discussions and disagreements or conversations. There are 4 major types, which I can't recall right now, but the Type 4 error in using the science of Logic was distraction. If there's nothing else more distracting it's a woman's smile, tears, and figure, and with that, they come packaged with the most complex mental plumbing and convenient memory, that if a guy doesn't remind himself to stay focussed, we lose our position in the debate, and they wrap us into an emotional tornado.

Three marriages later, I got it.

 

to quote the homies in the hood.
TRUE DAT!