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Winter Project - ‘69 GTX Engine Compartment Rehab

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NSS harness in place…

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Garage goal for tonight:
pull the driver side header back off
tweak the dipstick tube a little so it’s not contacting the header
install the starter
reinstall the header
install the trans dipstick tube
install torque converter bolts and dust shield
plug wires

Friday night I’ll check everything one last time and fill the engine oil, transmission fluid and power steering fluid. A new trans mount should be here by then, I’ll get that on too.

Saturday it can go back in the car...
 
Didn’t get the trans dipstick in because I forgot to get a new o-ring. I didn’t get the converter bolts in either, just because. I’ll get that stuff done tonight and it’ll be ready to go in the car tomorrow…
 
The circle of life of these cars, you’re getting ready to put an engine in this weekend, I’m getting ready to pull one out :rofl:

Good luck!
 
The circle of life of these cars, you’re getting ready to put an engine in this weekend, I’m getting ready to pull one out :rofl:

Good luck!

Before too long you’ll be putting your GTX back together...

I’m ready for tomorrow, my brother in law Ron is coming at 9 to assist. I bought the GTX from him back in ‘82 so he’s almost as excited as I am. Everything is good to go except for the trans mount on its way from Mancini. I can use the old one until it gets here. I’m going to be under the car a lot anyway.

The trans dipstick tube is in, static timing is set and I spent a couple hours hand polishing the headers. I still need to adjust the KD so the throttle pressure lever is all the way back @ WOT.

Some detail shots…


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Thanks, got the passenger side header in without a scratch. Now all that’s left is everything…
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Before
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After
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It took us about 2 hours, start to finish.
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Ronnie
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Yours truly
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Done for the day, most of the wiring is done, heater hoses and fuel lines are connected.

Tomorrow I can reinstall the driveshaft and bolt up the converter. Then it will be time to start installing the front suspension and make this thing a roller again…

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Starting the day with science, this morning I’ll be treating some front suspension hardware with Caswell Black Oxide Concentrate. I’ve never done this before, but I’ll post the process and the end results.

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The parts need to be clean and rust free, these have been wire wheeled since I don’t have access to blasting equipment. According to online tutorials this will result in a glossier finish than blasting due to the surface texture.

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The parts also need to be free of grease and oil so they will get submerged in solvent. While they soak, I’ll mix up the concentrate with distilled water. Ratio is 8:1

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So I mixed the concentrate and distilled water in the correct proportions in a plastic container and poured distilled water in the rinse container. When I put a single nut in the mix, it started to change color almost immediately.

I added the rest of the hardware and waited, instructions say 5 minutes max. I pulled at 3 minutes and put everything in the rinse water. No pictures of this step, but it’s as simple as it sounds.

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I took the parts out of the rinse and dried them with compressed air.

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The final step is a sealer, a liberal amount of Krown KL73 was applied and left to soak into the oxide.

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I’m pretty pleased with the results…
 
Amazing, I wiped off the excess oil and here’s the final result. Yesterday these were rusty old nuts and bolts…
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