Details 67...

Well, another low productivity weekend... fueled the Fairlane and she would start and idle as before but still bog and die on acceleration. Popped the top off the carb (did you know you could start and run the engine with the top of the Autolite/Motorcraft 2 barrel carb off??) and have determined the issue is with the power valve, so I'll get a kit on order and then she should be good as new!!

On the Tomato, removed the earlier installed bracing and cut a piece of insulation to fit up against the cowl area and got it installed...

and then laid out my new firewall pad material and the old pad and template...

so I can get the new firewall pad cut and installed next weekend. Need to get my shears cleaned up and sharpened really well this week so they will cut the pad easily. A buddy with an upholstery shop said to bring them by and he would see what he could do for them.

I also installed the refurbished perimeter wiring retainer, the pedal pad and NOS stainless steel trim to the parking brake assembly...

The NOS brake release handle is due to arrive on Monday so I'll get that installed and the assembly greased up next weekend and ready to be rehung in the car.

Hope to also get the firewall pad cut and installed next weekend as well and perhaps have the Fairlane back up to normal!

Stay tuned to find out.....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Details 66....

Well got the new fuel pump installed on the Fairlane and she started up, ran for a minute then, just my luck, stumbled and died.... out of gas! Next weekend I'll get a can of gas and drop a line into the container and give her a drink of fresh gas and see how she runs.

Tomato wise, I got the parking brake assembly reassembled (minus the cables), masked off and reshot the foot pedal area. Give her a good coat of white lithium grease and it'll be ready to go back into the car.

My insulation also arrived last week so I need to get my heavy shears sharpened up so I can start recutting the necessary firewall pads.

Until next time....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Details 65...

Well this weekend I got the Tomato parking brake assembly cleaned up and cleared so it has that oily raw steel look...

Paint the pedal arm black and apply some white lithium grease to the mechanism and she'll be ready to go back together with new cables and a fresh pedal pad with stainless steel trim to match the ...other pedals.

Also located all the hardware to start rehanging the pedals and column. Got the first brace on...

and then was looking at my disassembly pics and realized the firewall pad needs to go on first, so I pulled my pad material out and laid it on the roof of the Fairlane wagon so the sun can heat it up and help flatten out the rolls where it has been boxed up. I'll lay my old pad and template on top of the material and mark it so I can get all the necessary openings cutout and then get it installed so I can keep moving forward.

Until next episode....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Details 64....

A wee bit more progress to report... all the underhood harnesses are now cleaned and rewrapped (I'll be looking at replacing the headlight connector housings and the horn plug housing as they are a bit brittle looking and have definitely seen better days!)...

started locating and setting out the braces, brackets and reinforcements to rehang the pedals, master cylinder and steering column....

pulled out the parking brake mechanism and broke it down for cleaning, detailing, reassembly and installation.

Ordered new upper and intermediate parking brake cables from RockAuto and will begin my search for a NOS/repop parking brake release handle assembly.

Stay tuned.....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Details 63....

Well January was another disappointing month! Not a lot to report being accomplished, but there was a few more baby steps....

Was bitterly cold upstairs at the dealership the first weekend of January, but I was able to pick up the powder coated collector and some touch up material...

got the transmission pan straightened, repainted and reinstalled

pulled the masking tape off the wheel houses

and removed the low temp convoluted harness wrap and started recovering the harnesses with the higher temp wrap... until my fingers got numb and I called it a day!

I took the engine harness home and finished rewrapping it....

then installed it back on the engine the following weekend.

I also got the main engine compartment harness wrapped that goes from the battery to the bulkhead connector...

and discovered how Ford was able to hit the harness mounting holes that were stamped into the sheetmetal.... the mounting clips were stapled to a plastic runner at the correct intervals!

The following weekend was another baby step weekend.... nothing major to report being completed but I did get the passenger side header powder coating touched up so I can FINALLY get the headers completed and tightened into place.

I pulled out the charcoal filter assembly and got it broken down so I can clean up the canister and the corrugated paper hose to the air cleaner (looks like the canister should clean up pretty nicely)

and started unwrapping and cleaning the driver side main harness in the engine compartment. I also fired up the Fiero and looked at getting the Fairlane started and running as she should.

The first weekend of February I was able to get the passenger side header completely installed...

the NOS wiper mechanism cowl drain mounted...

and started rewrapping the second engine compartment harness. Put the battery charger on the Fairlane wagon and spun her over a few times, but she wouldn't hit, so I'll try again next playday in two weeks (gotta work next weekend).

Until next installment.......

ZEBRA 3 OUT