The Resurrection of Vixen

Quote of the Week:
"DeLorean... that's made by GM, right?" - Pep Boys employee

I figured out that for anything to be worthwhile, there has to be some sort of 12-step plan to do it, am I right? =)

Here's my plan:

step one: suspension & steering linkage
step two: running all the lines/wires along the frame
step three: reattaching the pontoon
step four: radiator
step five: fuel tank
step six: interior air box assemblies & dash reassembly
step seven: transmission and linkage
step eight: engine block
step nine: engine bolt-ons & turbos
step ten: body
step eleven: interior, windshield, rear glass
step twelve: tuning, safety checks, final touches

I'm halfway done with steps one and two. I made myself a progress chart to make myself feel better as I go. Something like those thermometers you see where they color in the red until someone reaches a goal. Mine is the outline of the letters D-E-L-O-R-E-A-N-D-O-N-E. I've got half of the first "D" and "E" filled in.

Anyway, this whole experience is going to make me a shoe-in for the "name that part" competition at the nats, as every single piece on the car is getting, cleaned, polished, tapped, died, rustproofed, painted and/or otherwise treated for both appearance and functionality as I go.

Here's a few things I've done these last few weeks:

- grind, wire-brush, wire-wheel, & scrape all cracked/broken epoxy from the frame, degrease, rustproof (Extend rust spray) and repaint the damaged areas with Rustoleum Dark Machine Gray (35 hours)
- heat, hack, PB, liquid wrench, impact wrench and sledgehammer all of the suspension bolts apart from the control arms (16 hrs)
- prepare all new/used suspension bolts for use (buffing, etc.) (2 hrs)
- clean & repaint control arms (1 hr)
- Dremel the heck out of the rear hub carriers until they shined like a new nickel (4 hrs)
- paint the hub carriers with a coat of clear satin lacquer to stop oxidation (5 minutes)
- remove and repress two new wheel bearings into the hub carriers (2 hrs - the old ones were seized)
- wire-wheel and repaint the front spindles with Cast Iron Spray (1 hr)
- sandblast upper and lower front control arms, repaint with Rustoleum Painter's Touch Semi-Gloss Black (3 hrs)
- install 4 new ball joints (and PJ Grady stiffener on lowers) (3 hrs)
- grind, wire-brush, wire-wheel, & scrape all cracked/broken epoxy from the trailing arms, rustproof (Extend rust spray) and repaint the damaged areas with Rustoleum Dark Machine Gray (6 hrs)
- clean, repaint, install new bushings in steering rack assembly mounts (2 hrs)
- install steering rack (1 hr)
- run the interior wiring harness in the body... It was so tangled it took 6 patient hours to get it all straightened out (8hrs total)
- hack out a broken body mounting bolt (3 hrs)
- straighten, clean, paint rear brake lines & T fitting (3 hrs)
- disassemble master cylinder. It had stuff inside that looked like gray cottage cheese. The rest was rust. It's totally toast. (2 hrs)
- clean, repaint rear spring seats (1 hr)
- clean, wire-brush, paint rear axle assemblies with clear satin (2 hours)
- clean, wire-brush, paint rear hubs with Cast Iron Spray (2 hrs)
- install adjustable clutch link (5 minutes. I don't even have a clutch yet, but someday...)
- install windshield wiper assembly (1 hr)
- complain, swear, and generally get angry because I forgot the Silastic sealer (dumb!) (5 min)
- install windshield wiper assembly w/silastic (1 hr)
- install pedal box assembly (30 min)
- clean package shelf carpet (1 hr)
- clean, wire-brush, and repaint power brake booster (1.5 hrs)
- heli-arc weld new large fitting on evaporator core (1 hr)
- remove, identify, inspect, evaluate, sort, tag, bag and shelve all parts from 11 boxes (25 hours)
- 3 trips to All-Foreign Auto Parts (1 hour)
- 4 trips to NAPA (4 hours)
- 7 trips to AutoZone (5 hours)
- 14 trips to Pep-Boys (12 hours)

Well, that accounts for about 125 hours right there... out of the around 300 that I've put in up to this point. I think a lot of the rest of the time was spent by eating, drinking Dr. Pepper,
vaccuming/cleaning/organizing the garage each night, trying to find parts I've misplaced, and other various and sundry tasks. I've installed a 5 CD changer, and TV with cable to help break up the monotonous sound of the air compressor.

There was a huge chunk taken out of the windshield frame. A regular fiberglass repair kit was able to fix the damage with great ease.

You just keep layering on the fiberglass until it's filled the damaged area, then you sand it down into the desired shape.

I like to finish with a 'gel coat' of clear resin.

Most of the bolts on the access covers were stripped. I had to grind the heads off of them with a Dremel tool, and then replace the rivnuts.

The old ones twist out with a little patience, and the new ones twist right back in easily. I secured them in place with fiberglass resin.

The polished hub carriers after a coat of clear satin paint to preserve the aluminum finish. I put the new bearings in place at this time also.

My engine is actually disassembled, but I kind of 'test fit' the parts back together in order to get them out of the way.

A rare view of the back of the shop. I have a tv with cable on a computer monitor swing arm. It allows me to watch tv from pretty much anywhere in the garage.

I live for tv.

Besides, I learn while I work... it's always History Channel, TLC, Discovery, A&E, or PBS.

We don't have the SpeedVision channel here unfortunately.

On the shelf under the cans is a 5-disc CD changer for when there's nothing good on TV.

The reason the webcam moves a lot at times is because it sits on top of one of the speakers...

Costs for Week 5:

Date	Purchase	Store	Price
22-Nov-99	Dot-4 Brake Fluid	Pep Boys	4.49
22-Nov-99	Dot-4 Brake Fluid	Pep Boys	4.49
22-Nov-99	Washers	Pep Boys	0.99
22-Nov-99	Bolts	Pep Boys	11.00
22-Nov-99	Halogen Headlight	Pep Boys	6.99
22-Nov-99	Halogen Headlight	Pep Boys	6.99
26-Nov-99	Fiberglass resin	K-Mart	9.99
26-Nov-99	Tools	K-Mart	13.39
26-Nov-99	Bondo cloth	K-Mart	4.59
		Week 5 Total	$62.92

		Running Total	$4541.62

Year One:
Week 1	Week 8	Week 15	Week 22	Week 29	Week 36	Week 43	Week 50
Week 2	Week 9	Week 16	Week 23	Week 30	Week 37	Week 44	Week 51
Week 3	Week 10	Week 17	Week 24	Week 31	Week 38	Week 45	Week 52
Week 4	Week 11	Week 18	Week 25	Week 32	Week 39	Week 46	-
Week 5	Week 12	Week 19	Week 26	Week 33	Week 40	Week 47	-
Week 6	Week 13	Week 20	Week 27	Week 34	Week 41	Week 48	-
Week 7	Week 14	Week 21	Week 28	Week 35	Week 42	Week 49	-
Year Two:
Week 53	Week 60	Week 67	Week 74	Week 81	Week 88	Week 95	Week 102
Week 54	Week 61	Week 68	Week 75	Week 82	Week 89	Week 96	Week 103
Week 55	Week 62	Week 69	Week 76	Week 83	Week 90	Week 97	Week 104
Week 56	Week 63	Week 70	Week 77	Week 84	Week 91	Week 98	-
Week 57	Week 64	Week 71	Week 78	Week 85	Week 92	Week 99	-
Week 58	Week 65	Week 72	Week 79	Week 86	Week 93	Week 100	-
Week 59	Week 66	Week 73	Week 80	Week 87	Week 94	Week 101	-
Year Three:
Week 105	Week 112	Week 119	Week 126	Week 133	Week 140	Week 147	Week 154
Week 106	Week 113	Week 120	Week 127	Week 134	Week 141	Week 148	Week 155
Week 107	Week 114	Week 121	Week 128	Week 135	Week 142	Week 149	Week 156
Week 108	Week 115	Week 122	Week 129	Week 136	Week 143	Week 150	-
Week 109	Week 116	Week 123	Week 130	Week 137	Week 144	Week 151	-
Week 110	Week 117	Week 124	Week 131	Week 138	Week 145	Week 152	-
Week 111	Week 118	Week 125	Week 132	Week 139	Week 146	Week 153	-
Year Four:
Week 157	Week 164	Week 171	Week 178	Week 185	Week 192	Week 199	Week 206
Week 158	Week 165	Week 172	Week 179	Week 186	Week 193	Week 200	Week 207
Week 159	Week 166	Week 173	Week 180	Week 187	Week 194	Week 201	Week 208
Week 160	Week 167	Week 174	Week 181	Week 188	Week 195	Week 202	-
Week 161	Week 168	Week 175	Week 182	Week 189	Week 196	Week 203	-
Week 162	Week 169	Week 176	Week 183	Week 190	Week 197	Week 204	-
Week 163	Week 170	Week 177	Week 184	Week 191	Week 198	Week 205	-
Year Five:
Week 209	Week 216	Week 223	Week 230	Week 237	Week 244
Week 210	Week 217	Week 224	Week 231	Week 238
Week 211	Week 218	Week 225	Week 232	Week 239
Week 212	Week 219	Week 226	Week 233	Week 240
Week 213	Week 220	Week 227	Week 234	Week 241
Week 214	Week 221	Week 228	Week 235	Week 242
Week 215	Week 222	Week 229	Week 236	Week 243

Search This Site