With Far From Factory on board to handle body and paint, the ball was in my court to get a few tasks wrapped up so they can come and pick up the Tomato and get started. The little odds and ends I had to take care of are to get the isolation pads duplicated for the roof ribs, paint the roof structure and underside of the roof skin, finish removing the excess material from the donor parts and get all the body panels ready for the guys to take with the car.
The first order of business was to paint the roof structure. I first masked of the areas where the roof skin will be welded in place and then shot the ribs and window headers black.
Next was to paint the underside of the roof skin, but before I could shoot the bottom of the roof black, I wanted to strip off the POR-15 from the lip that will get welded to the roof frame. To cut the POR-15 quickly, I pressed the old bucket sand blaster into play, but as luck would have it, I ran out of sand about 3/4 of the way around the lip. So I will stop and get another bag or two of BLACK BEAUTY blasting medium this week to finish up the skin as well as having the material ready when the car comes back so I can blast the rest of the frame and underbody.
To replicate the roof isolation padding, I sandwiched three layers of 15# roofing felt together using black spray Plastic Dip. I found a roll at the dealership that had been there for YEARS! I was sure all the tar smell had been burned out of it during the summers because temps can reach well over 100 degrees on the second floor of the dealership. The three layers of 15# felt were a perfect replica for the OEM material used to keep the roof skin from vibrating against the roof skin.
With the replacement material at the ready, I laid the original pieces on top and traced around them using a sharpened welding flat soap stone. I then took my utility knife and a metal yardstick and cut out the pieces. To cut the 6 round clearance holes in two of the pads, I used a 1 3/4” hole saw and worked the saw thru the felt by hand and before long I had all my pads replicated.
The final step will be to “staple” them back onto the roof ribs. My plan is to lay them in place and, using a tiny drill bit, drill thru the material from below using the original staple holes as my guide. I will then use short pieces of mig welding wire to imitate the round factory staples and insert the new staples in from above and bend the tabs over to keep everything in place.
So this weekend will involve installing the roof pads, finishing up the roof skin, removing the excess material from the donor wheelhouse and getting everything lined up for the guys at Far From Factory to come and take my baby away for a few weeks.
STAY TUNED……
ZEBRA 3 OUT
