July 25, 2005 - The axle housing is painted, along with most of the brackets, etc. that came off with it. I used Eastwood's Spray Gray on the 6.75" diff housing which makes for a nice cast iron color, but their Detail Gray on the diff cover and axle tubes didn't have enough color difference to be worth the effort. Nice paint tho'. I have heard that the pitiful 'chrome' paint sold in most auto sections makes a better approximation of fresh steel, so I might try that later. I'll probably have to clear coat it for longevity.
The brake backing plates were painted gloss black to simulate their original color. I didn't use a high-heat paint, so we'll see how long they last.
Next in the prep stages is cleaning the bottom of the car after the rear axle and cutting out the 4-5 square inches of rust in the driver's rear fenderwell. I'm hoping to cut a matching bit from my '76 parts car and weld it in. Now we'll see if there is any fenderwell difference between a '76 hatch and a '78 coupe other than the seatbelt clearance bump in the '78.
The only remaining task is to remove the bushings from the leaf spring eyes, have the springs sandblasted, and paint them. Then I can start re-assembling the rear end after 2 years! Pictures are coming.
I'll be attending the Magic City Mustangs club meeting Friday night at the Barber Motorsports Park, and have tickets for the entire weekend of Porche 250/Rolex GrandAm Series race. I should have some pics to post of that also.
No recent work done on the Ghia, but I have posted some pics from the restoration work I've done on various parts this year. See the Restoration Pages for more detail.
I have taken more pictures of restored parts and posted them.