65 T-Bird Project

Lots of discovery's since the last post, found the right side inner fender rusted out at the battery location, the car has been repainted Gold ( original color was Medium  Beige Metallic), a poor paint job with  some minor body work done. The heating, A/C and cooling systems had been worked on and left unpaired or disconnected. All the hoses and vacuum lines must be replaced and the vacuum tank repaired or replaced. The previous owner (that was the second owner) had tried to get the car running and replaced the starter, solenoid,cap, rotor and spark plugs however he broke the starter flange and two of the plugs while installing them. The engine and transmission will be rebuilt.

 Before I moved the car over to the center bay where the electric overhead hoist is I wanted to service the  rear end while it was still on the 2 post hoist. When the center section was removed, the only way to change the oil (no drain plug in a Ford 9"), the 90-W oil had turned to goo like gel that had to be scooped out by hand. So I removed the rear end from the car as there was no way to clean it along with the leaf springs & shocks.

 A close up of the 1/2 full housing of goo. You can see above the pinion gear is completely caked - what a mess.

 I soaked it in grease cleaner, pressured washed it and it still was not clean, so it had to be taken a part.

 The ring and pinion bearings and races were badly pitted and one of the roller bearings from the pinion had come out of the case and was worn in half - left lower side of photo.

 The ring and pinion gears were good and not worn. All new bearings, seals and gaskets were ordered along with the axle bearings & seals then the rear end was rebuilt. When the breaks were removed the wheel cylinders were leaking and replaced. The break shoes looked like new and reused.

 All the parts were sand blasted after the rear end had been sealed up - above & below photos.

 Everything was primed then painted semi gloss black. 2" lowering blocks  were bought and installed to give the car a better stance, the front will be lowered 2 1/2' to 3".

 From the back of the transmission to the back bumper was scraped and pressured washed, bare areas primed & painted then a new coat of under coating applied. Above is looking back from the transmission, below looking forward from the back.

 The break line on the rear end was crushed a new one fabricated & installed. This along with the new gas tank and sending unit should take care of the bottom rear of the car.

 I thought the next system that would be easily fixed would be the brake system since the back was taken care of. WRONG. I pulled the master cylinder to find the gasket assembly had disintegrated  and was lying in the bottom of the master cylinder. The break fluid had also turned to goo.

 The break booster unit had fallen apart internally but I could not remove the bottom inside nut until the engine was removed. The push rod and plunger are hanging out of the front.

 The engine and transmission came out fairly easy and did not look to bad other than being caked with grease and dirt.The water outlet at the thermostat housing and bypass hose were plugged with rust.

 Every thing else was taken off  except the trunk lid and glass.

 This is a uni-body car (no frame) so this is as far apart as I can get it.

I am waiting for the grease, under coating and rust removal products to get here  then I can finish pressure washing and cleaning.

 In order to get the heater core out the dash had to be removed which is OK because I want to repair or replace any of the vacuum lines that need it, replace the padded dash top, have instrument cluster rebuilt & re-chrome the dash parts. All the wiring inside the car looks to be in good shape.

This is the right front inner fender battery area with a completely rusted out bottom.

Well I wanted a project car I think this one will keep me busy for a while.