previously
budget spent: 1449.53
recoup: 894.75
new money
camber bolts, ac drier, brake hoses, and rear parking brake shoes from rockauto:38.07
1 more can rustoleum satin black spray paint:5.98
can rustoleum hammered paint (matches galvanized) 6.98
can rustoleum bare steel looking paint 6.98
can of cast coat iron duplicolor engine paint 7.99
sold 17s for 180 (can only claim 106 to max out recoup)
two stainless band clamps and flex pipe from amazon 35.67
two tubes urethane from amazon 30.68
roll of butyl tape 17.99
koni stickers from ebay 5.00
New total: 1832.46
recoup: 1000
so, we've been cleaning, painting and reassembling.
First things first, though, we had to finish the underside and get it prepared to go back together permanently. I pulled all the stuff off, taped up the car, and shot it with rustoleum satin black from lowes. 2.5 cans on the underside. Came out nice and sanitary, the way we like it.
20200602_175810 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200602_175815 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200602_175823 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200602_175836 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200602_180012 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Then it was time to start going back together. Looking at the crusty lines from the ACR, and the minty ones on the lemons RT, it was decided that the next step should be to gut the RT for all its worth. Which I did. With extreme prejudice. Got all the good, and some of the bad out of it.
20200605_072519 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
First parts to go back in the ACR was the taillight harness and such from the RT. (later bit me in the ass, as all the connectors are different at the kick panel). It also had a trunk light. Which will be nice to have. I tossed the black springs, trunk weatherstripping, and rear speakers in as well. Seemed like the thing to do.
20200602_143353 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200602_143407 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200603_112839 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Cleaned up the lines, got them in. then looked at the two plastic tank setups on hand, chose the best parts (all the RT stuff way better than the ACR) cleaned it up, painted the straps with hammered rustoleum that mimics galvanizing. The heat shield and other parts came out perfect with an sos pad and purple power. Same with the exhaust heat shield on the trans tunnel.
20200604_142057 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200604_083550 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200605_201329 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200605_201356 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Pulled the borla stainless exhaust out of storage, selected the three best hangars from the neon pile, greased the hanger studs to reduce squeaking. Cleaned the exhaust with purple power and a brown scotchbrite, and ordered replacement stuff for the mangled flex section.
20200606_144856 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200606_154112 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
On the inside, we began to rebuild the firewall from the steel out. I wound up using the whole roll of peel and seal on the firewall and interior holes. Figured id NEVER get to the firewall again, and would do it now and not regret it later. I also used a piece of the bubble wrap insulation that I pulled during antmageddon that I missed putting in the truck for the dump. Then used the best firewall pad I had, with the best of the little plastic hangers. Never did take a picture, and I'm not going to pull it back apart to take one.
After that, I took apart both HVAC boxes, used the best parts from both, cleaned everything and re-greased it, and hung it.
20200605_132546 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200605_134612 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
I also disassembled the pedal box, painted it with satin black and hammered finish, used the best pedal pads, greased everything, and put it back in.
20200605_075355 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200605_102829 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200607_080649 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
booster got cleaned and painted, master cylinder just got cleaned. Got that all re-hung. A trick I recently learned is to use PB blaster and a rag to restore black plastic cables. It does truly work amazingly so far. Jury still out on longevity though. It's not greasy or anything, and I can expect that it wont attract much dirt like armor all would.
20200607_081508 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
Then to reduce the giant pile of parts, I went ahead and put the cleaned carpet in. this carpet came from the lemons R/T. It was bad. Really bad.
20200529_071205 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200529_074824 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
to clean, we hit it with purple power and a pressure washer. Then, purple power, a concrete brush, tough stuff with the bristles on the can, more purple power, and the pressure washer again. Turned out pretty ok.
20200607_174729 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
we went ahead and scrubbed the headliner as well. Wife made a vinegar/dawn/warm water solution in a spray bottle, used a microfiber towel, and it came out AWESOME.
20200606_145507 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200607_095116 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
then munchkin and I put the dash in.
20200608_120432 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
she wired up the stereo harness, and then assembled the best parts of multiple glove box doors and installed that.
20200608_183102 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200609_171659 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
brother dustin came, as well as art that night. We hung the doors to get them out of harms way in the shed, and hopefully get closer to getting the mower put away.
20200609_181018 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200609_181034 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
art showed us wetsanding and buffing. 100, 2500, 2000 grit wet, then 3m yellow goo, then meguires 205, then machine glaze. Lot of work, but buffed out beautiful.
20200609_195614 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
I quickly remembered that the stuff from this goes EVERYWHERE. So, sheets, painters tape, and get to working the rest of the paint with paper. And compounds. And sweat.
20200610_083032 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200612_133634 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200612_182121 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200613_095756 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200613_114731 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200613_111717 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
unfortunately, I found a spot on the roof that will require repair. We pretty much missed it with base, and then coated the spot with clear. Not sure how we didn't notice before now, but we didn't. Im actively choosing to ignore it right now, as repainting the roof is not something I want to contemplate.
20200612_173855 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
while all this has been going on, im still cleaning and painting stuff. The rack from the lemons R/T was pressed into service. The original ACR rack was pretty hammered, and this one looked brand new after some scrubbing. Thankfully they are the same ratio. I also went ahead and painted the crossmember, rear suspension arms, and rear disc brake backing plates gloss black. Rear spindles are cast coat iron, and all the hardware is some random can of silver touch up paint. I have all poly bushings, and am deciding which ones I want to run. Still have a TON of parts and hardware to clean and paint before this thing is a roller again. But, a start is a start. And this start looks GOOD so far.
20200611_134246 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200611_142218 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200613_133755 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
I also started getting glass ready to go back in, weatherstripping hung, seatbelts, package tray, etc. the exterior plastics are being restored with light coats of satin black. Takes a bit of time, and a light touch with the paint, but works well!
20200613_133839 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200613_133845 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
thats all for this week folks. Hopefully next installment will see the glass back in it, and a roller that has been smoke tested with a battery and full electrical system.
tonight we pour one out for my dead homie. 
