Holiday Fun - part 3

Being off the week between Christmas and New Year allowed for a few more play days, but like all good things, they were over before I knew it. I did however make some decent progress on the Tomato….

First order of business was to get the shifter assembly out so the hump and floor could get painted with POR-15. Once it was removed it became obvious the shifter hump would also have to be pulled to allow for the shifter cavity to get cleaned and painted as well…

Next step was to remove the sheet metal screws and break the shifter hump free of the floor…

clean up the floor…

then clean up the hump….

and the reinforcement plate…

With those parts ready for paint, I turned my attention to the driver side firewall and floor. I once again removed the dash reinforcement and pedal/column support and finished removing the speedometer cable and cruise speed sensor. I then cleaned the insulation adhesive from the cowl and wiped down the inside of the firewall, cowl and floor with thinner and applied a coat of POR-15…

as well as painting the shifter hump and backing plate…

I also wiped down the dash reinforcement, braces and pedal/column support with thinner and shot them with a coat of Eastwood's DIAMOND CLEAR for bare metal to protect the raw metal. I also repainted the black portion of the brake pedal…

With the interior painting out of the way, I focused on getting the engine side of the firewall cleared off so I could begin prepping it for paint as well. I pulled the start/charge wiring harness, vacuum lines, wiper assembly and cruise control servo and laid the engine/front lighting wiring harness aside.

Next installment, I hope to be pulling the radiator support and components in preparation for removing the engine/transmission and putting the car on a rotisserie to allow for final cleaning and painting of the undercarriage.

Stay tuned….

ZEBRA 3 OUT