[Gregski]

Are you tired of this stupid car yet? Yeah it's me again, another month another project phase. Last time I force fed you some pictures, we were shooting primer on the car. Now four months later it's time to address the front end, front clip, engine bay, what ever you wanna call it. Yes this is a sister thread to the "1968 289 H2O" but I want to keep them separate, that one is mechanical and this one will be more on beautification and aesthetics. Divide and conquer baby, divide and conquer.

This will deal with rust removal, prep, and finally painting with a focus on product evaluation. I will be trying POR15, Metal Rescue, and maybe even dab with powder coating.

I will not be fixing or replacing the brakes, (I will not be explaining the difference between brakes and breaks, but I reserve the right to use it inappropriately now and then, lol) I will not be fixing or replacing the suspension, and I will not be fixing or replacing the steering, IN THIS PHASE.

OK, what the he11 will you be doing then, drinking beer? First having a blast, doing stuff with my hands, using power tools, learning how a car is put together. I will be painting all sheet metal semi gloss black, and most brackets and pulleys gloss black, some brackets will receive silver paint for additional contrast, ie, tie rods, anti-sway bars, strut rods, etc.

But I am here to ask questions too and hear your advice, I know some of you may not agree with my choice of color, so focus on the durability of the product or it's effectiveness in rust removal, etc, or just hang out for the jokes.

Thanks to Israel for the much needed encouragement, you know I am an introvert and a man of a few words!

[Gregski]

God created Mustangs, and then she created rust...

[Gregski]

that was then, this is now

... dude that looks almost the same, yes but if you squint just right you can see that now the cowl vent area is primed, one drum is almost rust free, and what would be the wheel wells are clean(er) so it's time to do the front

[mayosailor27]

Not bad work. But shit you have a lot to do. Keep it up and I look forward to seeing some more work. AND Keep drinking beer, ill open one now too.

[Gregski]

Standard operating procedure, I "allow" myself $100 bucks every month to spend on the car. If I ever spend more it's because I saved it from the month before or I robbed one of my kids piggy banks, (hey I told them a million times deposit that into your Roth IRAs, but do they listen, no)

[mayosailor27]

Haha. Whata jerk lol. I would do the same if I had kids. They should have listened. What kinds of plans you have for the whole car? I didnt feel like reading your novel up there (sorry please forgive) My eyes are tired and Gnagland is on netflix lol.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by mayosailor27 What kinds of plans you have for the whole car?

Silver metallic, black chrome, black interior, eventually EFI off of a 5.0, and possibly a GT500 front end, so just a daily driver, dime a dozen chic magnet.

Originally Posted by mayosailor27 I didnt feel like reading your novel up there (sorry please forgive)

No worries, I don't even read my own sh!t it's too wordy, jk.

[Countryboy_99]

If you get an EFI set up off of a 5.0 you will want to use a different cam. Specifically one with the 351 firing order. Otherwise the electronics/computer won't be quite right since 5.0's with efi used the 351 firing order. I could go into much more detail on this (I researched this extensively a while back) but that's not what this thread is about so I'll shut my pie hole at that, but when the time comes you start thinking about that hit me up with a pm or make a thread for it and I'll spew all of the what sounds likes nonsense I know.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Countryboy_99 If you get an EFI set up off of a 5.0 you will want to use a different cam. Specifically one with the 351 firing order.

Not exactly, only the HO had the different firing order, the dime a dozen 5.0's were the same firing order as the 289/302's, but I know what you mean because I do own the 5.0 HO EFI components already, but that's not what this thread is about so I'll shut my pie hole at that, but when the time comes and I'll start thinking about that I'll hit you up with a pm or make a thread for it and hopefully you will spew all of the what sounds likes nonsense you know. LOL

[Gregski]

All you need is some safety and basic tools, angle grinder although an electric drill with a brush attachment will suffice. A pair of gloves and of course eye protection because THE WIRE BRISTLES GO FLYING EVERYWHERE, I was using either goggles or a full face shield.

Note: The Tennessee Chrome on the angle grinder is strictly optional, lol.

[Gregski]

slow and steady wins the race, actually this stuff moves pretty quickly, I like this project way better than the last one, ie priming the entire car because this project gives you instant gratification, I started the day with a rusty radiator support and by nightfall it was semi gloss black (two coats mind you)...

The goal was to remove the rust and not to strip everything to bare metal. So if I ran the wire brush past the painted parts and the old paint would not come off easily I just moved on. However when I came across a rusted surface, that rust was coming off, you better believe it.

[Countryboy_99]

Originally Posted by Gregski Not exactly, only the HO had the different firing order, the dime a dozen 5.0's were the same firing order as the 289/302's, but I know what you mean because I do own the 5.0 HO EFI components already, but that's not what this thread is about so I'll shut my pie hole at that, but when the time comes and I'll start thinking about that I'll hit you up with a pm or make a thread for it and hopefully you will spew all of the what sounds likes nonsense you know. LOL

Yes, you're quite right. I forgot to add HO behind that 5.0 because when I wrote this that's what I had in mind, 5.0 HO's only. And yes I also assumed, quite possibly incorrectly, without precedent that you would be using an HO setup not just one of the as you call them dime a dozen 5.0 variety. All anyone ever talks about with these cars and EFI (especially when converting, swapping, etc) is the HO's EFI setup.

Btw nice work on the front removing the rust where you have.

[Gregski]

So 2 or 4 hours later by lunch time anyways the surface was rust free and ready for paint. That's because I did fart around and work on the passenger wheel well a little too. So I will be painting the front sheet metal and the top of the fender aprons only as this is the first go at it.

Notice I removed the hood latch middle bracket and the two small side brackets I don't know what they are called, I think the fender extensions bolt up to them. These will be painted later.

So why go through all that work if the POR15 process claims to paint right over rust, I don't know, it's just how I roll, it wouldn't seem right to me, it would be like sweeping things under the carpet, know what I mean?

I picked up the products: Marine Clean, Prep & Ready, and the star of the show, POR15 Rust Preventive Paint.

Couple initial observations, this stuff was expensive, $106 bucks for all three products. The guys at the store said I really didn't need the Clean or the Prep just the paint, but I didn't think it would be fair to evaluate a product and critique it and not follow the Tech Sheet, so I bought them all.

Note: I did vacuum the garage floor before starting the painting process, but I already took this first pic.

[1996 GT]

If i were you i would do a disk break conversion on the front end. IMO that is.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 1996 GT If i were you i would do a disk break conversion on the front end. IMO that is.

That is the plan but not in this phase.

[MustangOne]

POR 15 is for people that dont want to take the time to clean the parts first.

You have all your of parts already really clean.

When are you going to pull the motor?

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by MustangOne POR 15 is for people that dont want to take the time to clean the parts first. When are you going to pull the motor? This want mine look like. Por 15 will make it not look as good.

Notch it down bud, notch it down, not everyone has a professional paint booth or thousands of dollars for a paint job. We are at two opposite ends of the spectrum. Is your car superb? Absolutely! Is that what I am going for? No. I am trying to show people what can be done in a garage or their back yard with minimal hand tools and couple hundred bucks. There are thousands of Mustangs driving around in much worse shape then mine is going to be when done. Even if I had unlimited funds I still would not send my car out to get painted, where's the fun in that.

[StangGTR07]

Originally Posted by MustangOne POR 15 is for people that dont want to take the time to clean the parts first. When are you going to pull the motor? This want mine look like. Por 15 will make it not look as good.

+1

Originally Posted by Gregski Notch it down bud, notch it down, not everyone has a professional paint booth or thousands of dollars for a paint job. We are at two opposite ends of the spectrum. Is your car superb? Absolutely! Is that what I am going for? No. I am trying to show people what can be done in a garage or their back yard with minimal hand tools and couple hundred bucks. There are thousands of Mustangs driving around in much worse shape then mine is going to be when done. Even if I had unlimited funds I still would not send my car out to get painted, where's the fun in that.

Gregski, looking good. I think what MustangOne is getting at is with the amount of cleaning and rust removal you did, a coat of epoxy primer followed by a coat of semi gloss black paint would have been an option worth exploring. Didn't appear to be much rust if any at all left. And no you don't need a professional paint booth.

[MustangOne]

Originally Posted by Gregski Notch it down bud, notch it down,

I am trying to help you, You really don't need a paint booth,

With the amount of effort you have put out, there is very little more work need to make your engine compartment looking like mine. Greg you have a lot of people watch your threads like me. I hope to guild you & the many that are watching you. There is a lot of them in the same boat you are. If I can help show the things I have learned from my 30 years of building just Mustang, These other people watching can learn how to do it just like you are. I just like for you to the end up with the best car you can have for the limited money spent.

I really like for everyone to do as you are, Twist ever bolt them selfs. Trust me I think you are doing a great job. You are really trying to make a nice car. I am just trying to point out thing to save you money in the long run.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by MustangOne POR 15 is for people that dont want to take the time to clean the parts first.

That line pissed me off, I am working my bud off, I got sweat, blood, and beers spilling left and right, LOL, and a big purple bruise on the inside of my thigh for impelling myself on those damn front bumper bull horns sticking out, so when someone says I am using POR 15 because I don't want to take the time to clean the parts first that.... well you get the point

I don't like spraying stuff, because you have to dilute it to run it out of the gun, and you have to mask off stuff, and there are fumes everywhere, and you have to clean your equipment afterwards, and you have to shoot primer, then you have to shoot the paint. This POR 15 stuff you clean, prep, and brush on as you will see then toss the .99 cent brush in the dumpster, and it is durable as powder coating, some refer to it as poor man's powder coat, so that's why I chose it.