yeh I told my paint guy to just scuff and spray the Idaho car roof white. That turned into fender aprons, core support, and a complete strip and paint job....... been there.

You WILL be much happier now that you are taking it down all the way and doing it right.

You are 100% correct on that, Jim. I wasn't planning to get this "involved" with the SMPV at this time, but I cannot see doing things half-@ssed when the car is at this stage. It will take a bit more time (and money), but in the end I will be much happier with the final result.

The new (used) passenger engine apron from FMR will be delivered tomorrow, which should be installed later this week. The car is almost done being sanded, and should be in primer shortly. The roof hole for the original antenna location was being welded up yesterday. That hole will not be needed for the SMPV because the antenna was moved to the trunklid.

Kris found an interesting small hole in the roof. It is located near the roofline edge above the driver's side window jam. Here it is to the left of the $1 piece, used for perspective:

http://images57.fotki.com/v139/photo...Shop21a-vi.jpg


There is also an indentation to the left edge of the photo. I am not sure why that was drilled. It looks like a slide hammer hole to pull a dent, but there doesn't appear to be any repairs in the area. I will take more photos as the car comes apart and back together.

Can't wait to see this come together :-)

Is there identical holes on the passenger side, same area ?
Wonder if before it became an SMPV it had a lightbar ?
OR... they WERE going to put a lightbar on the vehicle then changed their minds and patched the holes ?

Just a thought.

I'm not sure, John. I do not remember seeing holes on the passenger side of the roof, but I will check again.

I received a few parts today from FMR. The first is a used LX nose that will need to be stripped and prepped (I will replicate the CHP hole on the driver's side using mine as a template):

http://images51.fotki.com/v102/photo...Shop22a-vi.jpg


The second item is a used passenger side apron:

http://images59.fotki.com/v1579/phot...Shop23a-vi.jpg


Kris just came by my office and picked up the parts. I will go down to his shop on Thursday (with my camera) to see how far along he's gotten with the apron. Does anybody have some recommendations for sourcing front suspension pieces? I have a good used rack for it, but everything else needs to be replaced. Ford parts preferred...

Keep 'em coming Bill...photos are good! :yes:

Despite my best intentions to get down to the shop to take more pictures, I didn't quite make it there. Yesterday, I ran my 66 Mustang through DMV inspection to renew the tags for 2 years. The car had been at my parent's place all winter, and I just had all of the fluids changed and a few little items fixed. While tooling down I-95 yesterday, the car started acting up. I got it onto the shoulder before it shut down completely. There is an electrical issue because the battery would barely turn the engine over - bad alternator most likely. I called Kris and he came with a trailer. One guy in a Dodge truck stopped, and a DelDOT worker stayed with me with his emergency lights on until we got the car winched onto the trailer. We headed home and unloaded the car in the driveway.

Upon closer inspection in the safety of our driveway, there was no fuel in the clear in-line fuel filter cartridge. So it is either a bad sender in the fuel tank (and I ran it outa gas), the fuel pump went bad after sitting so long (it is about 25 years old now), or there is crud in the line that plugged it up. But the car and I made it home safely (with Kris's help!). So it's all good. :)

Given the circumstances, this is the only picture I have from yesterday...

Wow....that's Delaware traffic? Are you sure you weren't really in downtown L.A.?? Haha....

Glad you made it home safely! ;)

Between I-95, I-495 (Wilmington by-pass), and I-295 (the split to New Jersey), the entire state of Delaware has an estimated 40 miles of Interstate. By itself, I-95 runs about 24 miles through the northern county in Delaware (there are only three counties in Delaware too). At times, we pack a lot of cars onto a tiny section of road. :rolleyes: