June 2009 - Summer is here, and its hot and humid again...and don't forget the mosquitoes! Some additional cleanup was done in the engine compartment, including cleaning of some of the removed engine accessories. Several cleaning sessions have resulted in the suspension crossmember "almost" being clean enough to paint.
July 2009 - I managed another afternoon cleaning the engine compartment, then took off for a long weekend at the beach!
July 18th - I finally got a good weekend in on cleaning the rear wheelwells! I went through 4 cans of brake cleaner wearing rubber chemical gloves with plastic wrap on my arms for additional protection while using a wire brush. Of course I ended up breathing the fumes anyway. I removed the aftermarket undercoating and Ford's abrasion protection wherever it was cracked (mostly along seams), then sanded any rust that was present. There is still a little undercoating in the top of the fenderwells after all of this, but Ive decided to let the "rough-end drag", and just paint and re-undercoat the bare spots. I finished the painting and just have to spray on the replacement undercoating...maybe this week!
Next job is to complete the engine and engine compartment resto. Spraying the engine Ford blue will be first, then it will be covered and the engine compartment will be sprayed gloss black.
Then onto installing the brake and fuel lines, then the rear suspension, then the fuel tank...
August 2009 - A weekend of camping this month, but I have to push on to get some assembly done...
August 15th - Installed a NEW gas tank! Its a prototype from Spectra Premium and it looks great! I'm going to remove it and clean it for clear coating. I want to keep that "new tank" look for a while.
Next up is partial undercoating of the rear wheel wells and cleaning and painting the front subframe, suspension, and engine. Then the reassembly starts!