So here's the story, back around 2004 or 2005 I was at the end of my lucrative manual labor career and was getting ready to make a change. I had purchased this 71 ford Thunderbird Hardtop a few years previous and, after a few years of being unable to work on it, it had degraded till the point it wasn't fit to be used in my new career. so it was parked. Now, after a few years, I am able to pull it back outta the tree line and attempt to resurrect it. This blog will follow along with the progress from rust bucket hoopty to a (once again) nice ride.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Stuff came



I mailed off an order to T-Bird Sanctuary at the very begining of January. I waited until mid January before contacting them about it.

Hello Bob,

I sent an order to you at the beginning of this month, I would have thought that I would have seen some bank activity with the check I mailed by this time.. I have not.. My name is T-Bird_Guy and the order would have been for three shift linkage bushings and a manual set all for the 71 Thunderbird.

Can you tell me if indeed the order has been received yet or not, perhaps I need to stop payment on that check and make other arrangements.

Thank you.
I got back
Sorry. We did not receive the order you described. Bob
I decided I would wait until that following weekend had elapsed before placing a stop payment order with my bank and resending the order with a new check.
Sent: Saturday, January 19, 2008 3:21 PM

Hey Bob,

I have cancelled that check it's number was 1418 if you do eventually receive that check please destroy it.

I am now resending my order.

Thanks Bob
And waited a while longer before....
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 1:28 PM
To: Bob Peters
Subject: Re: My order

HEY!

I see that check number 1419 got through. You have no idea how happy that makes me. I see that there is a period of time for the check to clear, it will, but I'll be patient. Looking forward to getting my order.

Thanks again.
Saturday, January 26, 2008 3:58 PM

Yes, we did receive your order. If fact we got both of them. On Wednesday, the 23rd, we received your order and assumed that IT was the replacement, so the check went in the bank. Then on the next day, the 24th, we received a duplicate order which you had marked as the replacement. Since I know you put a stop payment on the original check, I know your bank will send it back marked stopped payment, so I deposited the replacement check and will send out your order shortly. The post office really messed us up on this one. Bob
I got the package the middle of last week..(the 6th of Feb or so).. Why it took SOOO long for the first one to make it through I have no idea. What about it USPS?

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Chrome off

The surround that goes around the gauges was painted chrome around the outsides and black inside of the individual gauge pods. After 37 years this paint had largely worn away or became so affected by the elements that if you swiped it with your finger you came away with little pieces of alternating shiny/black crumbs.. So it was time to resurface it. I pulled the cluster out and began cleaning it. Sanding off the old finish with a green scuff pad. Toward the end of cleaning it I took it to the tub to make sure all sanding dust was off and as soon as the hot water started hitting the old surface It began coming away from the plastic like it was so much dirt. After that was done I was left with a basically in the raw plastic piece. So began my quest for the perfect "Chrome" paint.

  • 1. Duplicolor Chrome

  • 2. Krylon Metallic

  • 3. Rustoleum Metallic
    "New Brighter Finish"

  • 4. Rustoleum Bright Coat

  • 5. Plastic Coat Metallic
I purchased five different cans of metalic paint. I then found an old piece of plexiglass and taped off five separate areas. Each sections was then numbered and received two coats of each paint. Each coat was spayed heavy enough to 'pool' and loose it's orange peel.


The results:
Image recognition from best to worst.
4,1,5,3,2... The BEST image recognition came out of can 4 the Rustoleum Bright Coat followed pretty closely by the Duplicolor Chrome with finally the Plastic Coat Metallic trailing a little further back.. Numbers 2 and 3 weren't any better than a silver color. When referring to tint I suppose 2 and 3 could be considered a lighter color but for my purposes that doesn't nearly make up for the lack of image recognition. the over winner is number 4 the Rustoleum Bright Coat..