February 4, '24 update

Well I actually made a little bit of progress on the Tomato this weekend!

I got the front engine accessories and bracketry all cleaned up....

A few pieces are going to need a fresh coat of paint, but all in all they came out pretty nicely!

Next Saturday, I start tackling the engine.

More to come....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Jan 16 '24 quickie update

I've been focusing on repairing an Aussie splash apron for my LiteningBolt Fairlane build....

Gotta make this.....

Look like this....

To install in this....

So sadly not much progress on the Tomato thus far in 2024.... But never fear, progress will once again be commencing very soon!

ZEBRA 3 OUT

December 17 '23 - UPDATE

A wee bit of progress on the Tomato this weekend. Pulled all the accessories off the front of the 460 so I could get it ready for a bit of cleaning and repainting of several pieces that no longer look as nice as they once did.

Hope to get to put in a little elbow grease next weekend but will have to wait and see since it's a holiday weekend.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

ZEBRA 3 OUT

December 10, '23 UPDATE

Well this Saturday I finished up the underside of the chassis from the firewall forward and the driver side suspension components (passenger side were done earlier). Next weekend I'll pull the stuff off the engine and get those and the engine cleaned up a bit, then I'll start on the core support and radiator.

I also had a bodyshop owner stop in the weekend before Thanksgiving and he looked her over very closely. He said he had no problem assembling the panels to set gaps and do the final blocking to insure everything is straight and level, spraying the car in white sealer, applying the black around the stripe area, using the templates to layout the stripe, apply the fine line tape for the pinstripe, then blowing the body apart to continue the stripe into the door jamb areas like I want and then apply the white and the then the 2B red.

He said currently he was covered up but would love to take her on if he could work it into his schedule. He said he would prefer to do restorations over collision repair but the moneys in the crank 'em out panel replacements and spray jobs. I told him I'm well aware of that problem but would love for him to consider it and let me know something after the first of the year when I hope to have her ready for the next foray into a shop for final bodywork and paint.

FINGERS CROSSED AGAIN!!

MORE TO COME....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

November 19, '23 UPDATE

Altho I've not posted any Tomato progress reports for a while, I have gotten the undercarriage all cleaned up from the tail panel to the firewall. Need to do the underside of the chassis below the engine and then cleanup the front disc and rear brake components. Several areas I'm not able to get to so I'll have to wait and address them when I pull the engine and transmission again. Still need to cleanup the core support and the engine as best I can then start putting things back together to get ready for the journey to the next body shop.... hopefully right after the holidays!!!

STAY TUNED.....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

October 1, '23 UPDATE

Well, closed out September on a somewhat productive note, but nothing really to brag about....

I made a front fender template so I could locate and mark the body side molding and GRAN TORINO emblems on my driver side front fender....

I placed the passenger side fender up on the padded hood setting on a couple saw horses and then stretched a piece of Saran Wrap along the fender and taped it into place to act as my base material...

Next I applied two layers of marking tape, applied in opposing directions, to try and minimize the stretch of the clear plastic and to capture the contour of the fender....

I took a broad tipped Sharpie and marked the edges of the fender at the door and wheel openings and then took a small flat file and filed along the edge of those openings to better transfer the panel edges onto the tape so I would have a more accurate cut line....

I next used the round tapered end of the Sharpie to press the template into the mounting holes to form a depression of their location....

and I then removed the template from the fender....

Took the template over to the work bench and first trimmed it along the edge lines and then cut of the excess along the top and bottom of the piece. Got out my gasket punch kit and found two punches the size of the openings in the fender and punched out the holes on the template....

I set the driver side fender onto the padded hood and then flipped over and dry fit the template to the  fender. Once I had it positioned correctly, I taped it down to the fender....

I once again again used the Sharpie to mark the hole locations onto the fender. For the GRAN TORINO emblem holes, I marked the first and last hole and then removed and flipped the template back over so I had the smaller pattern closest to the wheel opening so the emblems would be in the correct order...

With the template made and the fender marked, I turned my attention back to the car and applied a coat of POR-15 followed by an initial coat of Eastwood Satin Chassis Black to the pass thru plate I made to allow the rear seat arm rest access panel to open into the trunk like it did on the donor car.....

So next on the agenda is to crawl under the car and get the underbody, chassis and suspension cleaned back up.

Hoping to have the underside of the car and the core support assembly all clean up as well and ready to rehang onto the car by the end of the month.

Stay tuned....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

September 17, '23 Update

Boy, July, August and September have been non-productive months for the Tomato. 

After getting her up in the air, I did roll under her for a look see and evaluate my next course of action and discovered the majority of the underside should clean up nicely as did the interior, trunk and front end.

I got both rear wheelhouses cleaned up after having some mud slung up into them during my short jaunts up and down the ramp while the alley was being worked on and need to do the inside of the front fenders next.

The only real work underneath will be knocking the primer overspray off the rear suspension pieces with a bit of rubbing/polishing compound and respraying the oversprayed areas on the chassis with another coat of Eastwood Chassis Black.

I had a couple local body shops come in to look at the car and hear how I wanted to apply the colors and neither shop thought my method of paint application was unorthodox, so not really sure what happened in the previous shop. As soon as I get the numbers back from the second shop, I'll request a tour of both facilities and ask to see some of their previous work so I can get a feel for which shop I feel most comfortable turning the Tomato over to.

I told both shops I would be ready to turn the vehicle over to them once I get the undercarriage, core support and front wheelhouses recleaned and repainted as necessary before the upcoming holiday season.

Fingers crossed I'm successful in finding a local shop to do the work!!