vapor08GT500 Posted August 29, 2012 Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 Well, like the title says, since finishing the build on Rick's Super Snake, we are now doing a build on his 40th. When he picked up his SS, he dropped off his 40th. We went for a ride as he complained it was riding rough and tracking all over the road while driving it to me. On our test drive, the car turned 1000 miles. We took a picture of this milestone and I will post it when I find what computer I loaded it on. So in 6 years, the car has only 1k miles. It is a very unique car. It is the 18th GT500 built, and one of the first 40th anniversary conversions done by Shelby. Being its uniqueness of such an early car, the low miles, and the fact it has a huge amount of early production features and signatures, we are doing a different kind of build on this one, focusing on preserving all bare metal components and using a matte finish clear on it all. Any parts that are being changed that can be seen, are being saved such as the original Pirelli tires (part of the 40th package) that are very hard and out of round (causing the car to ride rough and track all over the road), and the stock upper and lower control arms that we are changing for better hook up and less wheel hop. At any time, the car can easily be put back to stock. As far as the clear coating of bare metal components...it has been like a science project the last month. I had several rusty take off driveshafts that I experimented with several different neutralizers, then several different types of matte finishe clears. I then placed the driveshafts outside in the sun, rain, spinklers, heat etc and watched to see what product did what over the past month. I now have a clear coat I am happy with that makes the bare metal look untreated and is not discoloring. I also used felt pen on another driveshaft and cleared over it with my chosen clear, to make sure it did not smear the markings. Now, I know how it will turn out on Rick's actual parts as it is a one time shot getting it right. Here is the the new Spec Twin SS being installed: trans coming out: stock driveshaft out....this one barly had rust, but the rear end did. starter removed...notice the rusty exhaust manifolds...they are coming out to be ceramic coated with a cast iron ceramic coat to look like natural bare, unrusted metal and they will take the heat. I have used this process on many concours cars I have done over the years where the manifold still look new, years later. Trans out... Stock CSC that was never replaced with the TSB and was making noise... Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapor08GT500 Posted August 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 New Twin SS SPEC 10.5" clutch and flywheel assembly... New CSC and the old CSC side by side... Stock flywheel...shows evidence of dragging, even with around 500 miles on it since the TSB!!! Bolts ( for the flywheel) chased and Loctited... New SPEC flywheel... Backside of block cleaned, new pilot bearing installed, and bolt holes in crankshaft chases and cleaned... New flywheel installed and bolts torqued to spec... and now the twin disc set up and billet pressure plate installed... stock ( KR shifter for 40th package) shifter cleaned and lubed and trans tunnel cleaned before trans goes back in... New tires ready to get mounted and balanced... More to come...5:20 am...need to get some sleep now...will post more soon.. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY500SS Posted August 29, 2012 Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 Great stuff Alex............how you find time to post pics I'll never know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapor08GT500 Posted August 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 Thanks Dan...Its called very little sleep...hehe... Today, I finally got pretty much caught up with the rest of my emails, phone calls, parts orders, drop ships, Team Shelby, etc from being gone to Monterey and Galpin events....This week more things will be done to Rick's 40th, then next week I will be doing some things to the new Chuckwalla " driving school" 13 GT's as they need cages and a few tweeks. They got 5 cars delivered today. Have a huge amount of goodies for the 71 Mach 1 I will need to find time to install, and got one of my long term 68 Big Block Mustangs back yesterday from paint shop that I have owned for 20 years back together in between. Also have an '88 GT Vert that Dinah Shore drove in the '88 Dinah Shore Classic that one of my customers bought right after and I bought from her Estate when she passed back together to get ready to sell. I have enough of my own projects alone to keep me busy the rest of my life...LOL Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapor08GT500 Posted September 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 Here's some more from this weekend. Next we got the stock exhaust manifold removed. Not a hard, job, but very tight and time consuming. We remove them all the time to install headers, but rarely re-install them!! Here they are removed. Not nearly as rusty as most, but remember, this car only has 1K miles on it, is not stored in humid area, and has never been in the rain. I have seen some that are worse on brand new 13's already!! Here's one after ceramic coating next to an NOS original (already starting to rust, even in the Ford box)...you can see the ceramic coating is almost identical to the uncoated original... and now the pair of originals after ceramic coating, ready to go back on... Back in...for those of you that are wondering why I just didn't have another set coated in advance to save time? The date codes on these are earlier than any of the other used and NOS sets I have, so I wanted to keep the original date codes correct for this car. Now for the battery box. Rick had a battery that exploded a while ago so we had to clean all the acid and will have my painter blend the areas where the paint was etched and missing... Back to the suspension. Here is all the stock Shelby and 40th parts... and the 40th spring adjusters. Any one that owns a 40th can relate to the clunk these make, so these will be safely stored away and replaced with H&R rear springs that don't clunk. New Steeda lower billet arms.. and the H&R rear springs, no drill hood struts to eliminate the measly prop rod, and Tokico adjustable rear shocks... More in a bit... Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapor08GT500 Posted September 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 Stock upper control arm and bracket... Rear end out... New Steeda upper adjustable control arm and bracket installed. On the early 07's, like this car, the gas tank has to be removed and the upper bracket ground as the lips on the early tanks don't clear the new bracket... Steeda billet lowers installed.. Then we took about 6 hours to clean the stock cats, X-pipe and midpipes of the exhaust as they were discolored and stained. We used a full box of red Scotchbrites and almost a full bottle of purple 3M compound, and now the exhaust is like new again!! Before... After... More pictures loading in Photobucket... Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapor08GT500 Posted September 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 Here's the exhaust installed... In the pictures, it is hard to tell how clean the exhaust is now, but it is spotless... Rear end and driveshaft out. Several areas have been cleaned and neutralized of rust already while in the car, but areas around markings haven't been touched yet...I don't want to ruin any markings or signatures and felt to do it perfectly, the rear should come out. The clear coat I have used on test driveshafts has been chosen now over the others that didn't hold up in my tests that give a natural appearance while providing rust protection. Rear end and remaining bare metal components should be done this week, then we will get back to the body color sanding and buffing. Although it was Labor Day today, my workers and myself worked all day until 8pm as there are many projects we have going on right now at the same time. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown Away Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 Wow, polishing the entire exhaust system, you just created a new pinnacle for the RBST...lol Rick's 40th is an amazing car deserving of your over the top service Alex! It's nice to see you take your time and make sure things are done right the first time. See ya in Santa Monica, Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapor08GT500 Posted September 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 Thanks Dan!! Don't think I will make this bare metal treatment or exhaust polishing something we do often as it is VERY time consuming!! I don't want to make it such a showpiece that Rick never wants to drive it again...LOL One of my friends (has a 65 Shelby we restored in the mid 90's that he still owns) stopped by the shop today and joked, " Wow, you're doing a concours restoration on a 5 year old car?" I said, "Nope, Just preserving and cleaning it, so it can be driven and stay looking brand new" Needless to say, he thought I was crazy! He kidded with me that his 65 has less than 300 miles since we restored it and still looks new but is afraid to drive it because of all the bad elderly driver's we have here!! His wife wants him to sell it and I have been convincing her for years, NO!! Keep it!!, as his dad bought it new. When the cars hit the $75K range, he considered, well now, it is worth probably $200K+ and he won't part with it...that makes me happy, but honestly, I think I have driven the car more than he has the past 15 years..LOL..I've had to take him out several times when we do maintenance or adjust the solid lifters as he is scared of it when the Detroit Locker "pops and bangs" It is hilarious... Can't wait to see you and Laura at the Santa Monica show...maybe Rick will bring this car. Don't know if he is back from his vacation yet. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Saute Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 Hello Alex, I have been gone and back twice now. The car looks great in photos, and I'm sure is better in person. I don't know when the Santa Monica show is, but I will probably not make it. I've got weekends booked until Terlingua. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY500SS Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 Rick's 40th is looking fantastic Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobra567 Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 Holy crap! You have taken this one to a new level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapor08GT500 Posted September 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 LOL...this one has gone beyond what I have ever done. 15 years ago, I did a 68 GT500 KR with 3K original miles from CA and always in CA. Was in a humidity controlled facility for at least 20 years that I knew of.It did not have the markings this car has. I counted them today on Rick's car....87 markings!! I added 2 more, that were faint, but somehwat visable, so I did my best to duplicate. There is more crayon, paint sticks, and daubs on this car that I have ever seen!! I went to 4 separate art stores to find the most accurate ink marking to duplicate the faded marking that I had to duplicate. No one will be able to tell. I even faded them with metal prep to make them authentic looking. Those of you that have emailed and PM'ed wanting to do this to you car? Sorry, not to be rude, but NO WAY. There are 48 hours of my worker's time, materials, and then my time in this underside!! No one in the right mind would want to spend the $$ to do this again. Don't worry Rick, I didn't charge you by the hour!! LOL. I hope I didn't just make this car something Rick won't drive. There is enough clear coat on the underside it can probably be driven in salt/snow and won't bother it!! My love and OCD just reached a new level on this car!! Here are some more pics.... Notice the Pig Spit and Red Bull...I kept Chris out late (for him) last night going to LA to look (I wanted to buy it) at a 68 GT/CS that was a rolling wreck, so today he was very tired... he was pretty tired today to say the least....this is the finished rear and driveshaft....I will take better pictures myself when I can, as I was not about to complain to Chris about the picture quantity/quality after keeping him out until midnight when he usually goes to sleep at 9pm to be at my shop my 6-7 am.!! More underside....rear Eibach sway bar had multiple scratches'gouges in it, If I had it re-powdercoated, the original silk screening would have been lost and would have had had to be re-duplicated. I had another Eibach sway bar upstairs in my loft that was almost as bad, so I used it to duplicate the color. Every 40th I have had in, the sway bars have had scrapes/gouges in them, so I had my painter match the color of the sway bars and blended the color where the blems were with out disrupting the silk-screened part # and Eibach logo. In 100 years when we are all dead, collectors will really be scratching their heads on this car!! The rest of the underside was hand rubbed with 3M finishing compound, then protected with 3 coats of Pig Spit. Gas tank shield which is specific to the first 100 or so GT500's (GT and V6's had a different shield which all the later 500's ended up getting) is porous and absorbs dirt, water etc, was glass beaded (this one looked aweful before), and clear coated with 3 coats of Ditzler matte finish clear to look natural while not allowed to accept impurities...Shelby's after the first 100 or so, have a cosmoline type ( kind of like vasaline) coating on them already. Like I explained before in this thread, I was not about to grind the shield to accept the Steeda upper arm and bracket as they (early gas tank shield) are impossible to find. H&R rear springs that actually make the car enjoyable to drive, ride wise...all specific 40th parts have been kept, cleaned, and wrapped up to go on a shelf where they belong as they seriously are not roadworthy for a car that is actually driven. Eibach shocks off and replaced with Tokico D-Spec adjustibles where you can adjust your stiffness in less than 3 minutes.. Driveshaft back in...I have NEVER appreciated a stock driveshaft as this one...it belongs on a wall.....hehe one underside brace....unlike later convertible GT500 and Mustangs, this car did not have semi gloss black braces!! I had my painter duplicate the exact color...it is kind of like "slop gray" used on the Dearborn and Metuchen 71-73 cars but not really the same. Color has been matched and duplicated.... and a backtrack shot....gas tank brackets before rear end was put back in...this picture shows the re-furbished exhaust, gas tank shield, and the mounting brackets done in Ditzler semi gloss black with 20% flattening agent (same as 65-73 Mustang engine boxes!!) There was a marking on the passenger's side bracket that I will do my best to duplicate next week. Don't blame Rick for this!!! This is me and MY OCD...all he asked for was "do your thing". He would have been happy with just painting the rear black like I usually do with my RBST. I suggested to him I wanted to do it different with this car, because of the heritage. Even on the cars I do my RBST treatment on (several 100 now), when there are markings on the center section on the rear, I do not paint over markings when there are any, but the actual tubes and axles are usually so rusted, I just neutralize, prime and paint those areas. It was my in-saneness that did all this, so please don't PM him or me with comments on all this craziness. I never thought I would do what I did to this car, but there was just too many one off scribbles, markings, signatures, etc on this car to not keep. If you have an early car and your underside isn't a mess already, get out some WD-40 and spray it!! I will post more when I can...stay tuned... Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Saute Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Very cool Alex. This is exactly why you have this car. Your OCD works for me! (Sounds like a title for a song) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapor08GT500 Posted September 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 LOL...it does!! It was great talking to you the other day, Rick, as always. . Glad the vacation was great and that you are back. I can't wait for you to see your car in person!! Underside completely done now and running and driving again, but back to my other shop covered as Rick can't pick it up until after Terlingua, so other projects have been on and off the lift this week. Just new tires need to be installed and finish color sanding and buffing, some paint and stripe fixes, then some more pictures and the car is done. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapor08GT500 Posted January 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 I pulled the 40th out of storage a few weeks ago as we completed some other projects, and my painter was ready to get going on the car. With Rick's schedule and my schedule the last few months, the 40th went into on of my storage warehouses, parked on plastic, and Battery Tender hooked up, patiently waiting for us to get back to her. I pulled her out a few weeks ago for my painter to do some blending from a previous battery exploding when Rick started the car up one day. The battery acid etched multiple areas of the engine box, underside of hood, top of the hood, and front passenger's fender. All of those areas have been taken care of, and now you can't tell there was even any issues. We have since spent the last 8 days color sanding and buffing the whole car, panel by panel with three different grits of sand paper, finally finishing with 2000 grit, then wool padding the whole car, then foam padding it. Car looks like a $10K+ paint job now...it is like glass and you can literally use the car as a mirror to shave in...Follow along...this process is not for the faint at heart or people that don't want to spent a good chunk on money. The results speak for themselves.... battery box had some corrosion. All metal parts were removed, bead blasted, primed and repainted... if you look close, you can see the acid etching of the paint...it went through the clear coat into the base, so we refinished those areas... Hood getting put back together, battery box back in.... Now for the color sanding process. Whole car is masked off to avoid over sanding edges and making a mess (or sanding) of moldings, convertible top, and engine box, stripes, etc. . I prefer to do hoods on a stand rather than on the car for the first sanding. We use 4 sheets of wet and dry sand paper per panel of each grit. Starting with 1500 grit, we use a flexible block and knock down the high spots even with the low spots. 1500 is coarser than 1800...the lower the # the coarser it is. Anything over 1200 is considered pretty fine, however, with factory Ford paint jobs I have found in the past that 1200 is too aggressive. On my 2010 Shelby that we did this process on in 2010, we sanded through 2 areas!! After the 1500, we move onto 4 sheets of 1800 in the same manner. We use a special attachment to the hose that drips fresh water on the panel we are working on. This process keeps fresh water on the panel, rather than dipping the sand paper in a bucket of water and risk getting impurities in the paper that will scratch or groove the paint. After whole car is done in 1500 panel by panel, and then 1800 panel by panel, we unmask the car, wash it, re-mask it, then do a light buff with a NEW wool pad. You always want to use a NEW wool pad, not a used one which will swirl the paint or scratch it. This is the car after the 1500, then 1800 before tape and paper removed ....not a pretty sight!!! After tape and paper removed....again, not pretty, or for the weak.... Re- paper and taped ( if trying yourself, don't be cheap and try and re-use the old tape and paper!! You will just make more work for yourself!!), then first buff with new wool pad. You can see the shine is starting to show.... and paper and tape removed AGAIN... After this I then personally go over the whole car with my worker that has been color sanding and buffing for 50+ years and circle any areas with a colored marker that still have peel or imperfections. This usually takes a few hours in itself. We use the shop lights in the shop, then move the car outside to see if anything was missed in different light ....then paper and tape again for 2000 grit final sanding. At this point we use a new flexible sanding pad. Again 4 sheets of paper per panel is usually the norm to do it right... He is the final result now with yet another NEW wool pad. Why? Like I said before, you pick up compound and dirt, plus the pad wears down...I do keep the usable pad though for cars that have oxidized paint for later use. Look at the wet look, paint depth, and shine!!! Next, car will get foam padded (another new pad)...LOL...stay tuned....paint should be done Tuesday afternoon, then car is going for the new tires on Wednesday....then final detail of whole car, final pictures, then covered in plastic as Rick is going to pick up the car and bring another on Saturday... Stay tuned for all done pictures.... Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY500SS Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 I'm exhausted just reading the process. I can only imagine how beautiful Rick's 40th is gonna look once finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mywickedshelby Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 unbelievabily fantastic! incredible paint finish. cudos Alex and team! Rick is going to be KING OF THE ROAD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Saute Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 I really look forward to seeing the car Alex. Who knows I might even shave :eek5: (doubtfull since I've only shaved off my beard twice). Dan & Michael thanks for the encoragement! I look forward to seeing you both again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapor08GT500 Posted February 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Thank you Dan, Michael and Rick!!! Wow....that could be a video we could post Rick...you getting here and shaving your beard off in your paint...LOL!! Here are some pictures from Wednesday of the car all foam padded now, but not the final detail yet....look at the reflections, in one you can see my poor Boss 302 just waiting to be driven, sitting under plastic... More of the tires being put on today (Thursday) after I get some emails done... Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
07REDGT500 Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Looks amazing Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapor08GT500 Posted February 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Well, fell asleep doing emails...will get to the rest later, now it is 7 am....Every time I go on TS, I mess up my sleep schedule it seems...LOL....and you wonder why I don't come on here as much as I have the last 5 years... Here are the pics from today (yesterday now, Thursday) of the tires being put on as the original Pirelli tires that were part of the 40th package were hard as a rock, causing the car to track all over the road and be incredibly harsh. Not only that they were flat spotted from not being driven or moved often enough. Rick, at least move this car every two weeks please...hehe ....6 years old with 1K miles...those of you with your 20 mile jems that you think you are doing well preserving, unless you are keeping it on jack stands or moving it often, you will have the same issues. Anyway, I didn't really want to drive the car 11 miles each way today to get the tires put on, but I forgot that I sold all my trucks to tow my trailer!! I don't trust just anyone else to mount my wheels and tires, other than the shop I have used for 19 years for tire mountings, balancing, and alignments. My friend that owns the shop is a Mustang freak and has several, My supercharged little Ranger probably wouldn't want to tow it, so instead, I put the top down on the 40th, 2 tires in the back seats, making sure that they didn't rub the front seats using double ply Charmin toilet paper, one in the trunk with the lid open, and the other on the top of the convertible top assembly while it was down. Worked great and got many thumbs up on the way!! The tire in the trunk fell out, after racing a Honda (got beat), so after being run over by a Dodge duelly, I picked it up and put it between the cowl and the windshield. About half way through the trek I got cut off, so turned I on the windshield wipers, knowing how powerful Ford wipers are, and the darn tire flew off into the next lane, getting run over again by a Prius!! Gotta love those Hybrids!! Made it to the alignment shop with out further incident. Really cool car and makes a perfect fancy truck that you can see yourself in!! Anyway, Here are some more pictures, as promised from Thursday: Shop towels placed where car was lifted from. This is why I personally take each car myself for alignments and tire installs, although it takes at least 3 hours of my time... Look at the reflections in the paint, like I have said before, it is like a mirror.. So you sharp eyed viewers probably saw the fastback in the reflection of Rick's paint? It is pretty much a mirror now...LOL..It's a 1967 GT390 GT fastback, wood wheel, wide ratio 4 speed, traction lock, tachometer, clock, styled steel wheels (not on the car now, but I still have them) and exterior decor group. I restored it 15 years ago for my friend that owns the alignment shop. He purchased the car in 1974 with 55K miles for $400 when he was 16 years old in Utah. He is one of the people that focused me as a young one, to focus with Mustangs which were my passion since I can remember. It is funny how years later, he brought the car to me to complete his vision of the car. Although the Shelby Razor wheels have always looked great, most that have ever owned them are well aware how they are typically out of round and blemed they are. 2 of the 4 of these were out of round!! 50 ounces of weights balanced them out, Also, I found cosmetic blems on 2 wheels. When we mount and balance any wheel, Shelby or not, I watch like a hawk. These are correct for the 40th, so they were left on. Notice the plastic covers used on the edges of each rim (purple) front jacking area on 4 post lift with shop towels.... New tires.... new vs old...new on top, very similar tread pattern. These are Falken Avenis, My new favorites now, same as on 4 of my cars...quiet, smooth , and last a good while...also handle very well. after a trip around the block wheels were re-torqued... Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapor08GT500 Posted February 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Thanks Bob!! I shall post the remaining pictures then I need to get some sleep... Some more pictures in different lighting... As I was taking the pictures of Rick's 40th, I was also trying to get pictures of my Boss for my insurance company. I have been charged double for the Boss as a daily driver by my insurance company as I have not had the time to get pictures of it to coincide with their agreed value. Since SEMA, I haven't driven the car 1X until today, around the block. Of course, the shipping company picking up the Mach 1 going back east showed up 2 hours early, messing up my sun light. At the same time, I had a friend with his 93 Cobra, multiple phone calls, and was attempting to get all the documents to send the buyer of the Mach all together for the shipper... I am going to sleep now...have to get up early and it is almost 8 am now... Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapor08GT500 Posted February 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2013 Apparently a few didn't get that I was kidding in post 22 paragraph 3...I got a few phone calls and emails thinking I was serious...LOL Rick finally found the time to pick up his beautiful car this afternoon. I am sure he will pipe in when he gets some time. I loved the expression on his face when he saw it for the first time, and of course, his famous smile!!! Here are some pictures.... First picture blurry and overexposed, just because Rick loves blurry pictures...LOL Now, being serious, here are some nice ones. Car is stunning in any light... And last but not least...Rick and his famous smile in his 40th!! Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Saute Posted February 11, 2013 Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 Alex is correct. Stunning in any light... I took it into my warehouse where we have "daylight" florecent bulbs and took a good look at her. It really does look great. The underside I saw at Alexs shop. And it does look like new! I couldn't be happier with all the detail put into this car. Chris and Tom did an amazing job. Thanks guys. I started on the next thousand miles by taking it out of the trailer and into the shop. It didn't even register. What's a guy to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapor08GT500 Posted February 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2013 Thanks for the feedback, Rick!! I like your new Signature picture of the Super Snake...now you need to get some a nice pic of the 40th to add!! I will update your Super Snake build thread as we did the paint blending and got the rebuilt radio back in this week. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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