The Snowball Saga - '68 Standard Revitalization Project by Blitz

4 minute(s) of a 767 minute read

Short update, not a whole lot to report, but here ya go.

One of the things I had to button up was the parking brake cables. I found the various pieces and cleaned them up, except for the original front cable, which I never removed. That's one of the few things on the car that's still old and ugly. Not worried about it... I did get a new adjustment rod because I couldn't find mine. And yes, I did install the rubber plug for the leaf spring bolt after the 3rd pic was taken. The adjuster / equalizer touches the exhaust a little so I'm not sure if that's going to be a problem, it's something to keep an eye on. My exhaust system was done by a shop about 10 years ago and I just left it alone. A correct H pipe would probably solve this but I don't think I'll mess with it unless it becomes a problem.

Next a small update on the sill plate saga. We got in the Scott Drake version of the stainless steel sill plates and decided to switch over to that version. On the pro side, they have a better / more correct cutout for the windlace and therefore fit better. As a small con, they have some stamping wrinkles near the outer corners, so they aren't as "perfect" looking as the Dynacorn ones, which are very flat. But in reality, I think the SD ones look more factory correct, with the added benefit of being stainless steel.

Fit is better, though admittedly still not perfect on the DS. For some reason the PS fit better in my case.

Of course the finishing touch was to add the Ford decals.

Lastly and probably most significantly, today I took the car on its first real maiden voyage! Drove it to the nearby small town to get the front end aligned. It needs it badly, camber is off and the steering wheel is way to the right. I told them to just get the geometry right, and if I need to pull the steering wheel off to re-center it, I can take care of that. But she ran pretty well overall and it was pretty cool (and a little surreal) to actually drive it a meaningful distance on the road. It will take some getting used to, but will feel better once aligned and tuned.

My to-do list is getting shorter all the time! Some things I still need to address in no particular order:

- Source and clean up good original horns, install
- Dash re-do (waiting for vacuum plated bezels, should arrive next week)
- Repair dash face pad crack if possible, reinstall
- Install radio, glove box, ashtray
- Clean up spare tire jack, find appropriate spare wheel & tire
- Install taillight protectors
- Black out paint for pinch welds / lower body
- Touch up white overspray on undercarriage (fog over with chassis black paint...)
- Get exterior paint final detailed / wetsanded / buffed
- Get pinstripes done
- Install restored wheel lip mouldings
- Install stainless vinyl top retainer strips
- Install heater hoses (currently just looped off)
- Get carb and timing dialed in by someone who knows what they're doing

...and that's about all I can think of right now. Not bad! The timing with the season is pretty good, looks like I'll actually be able to enjoy it a bit this year.