I got a call from the guy that was zinc phosphating my parts... for the second time.  This guy does the work knowing they are for auto restoration and knows what they should look like.  He called to tell me that they were finished and that they looked fantastic!  I was pumped.  Since his service is based in California I would have to wait at least a week before I would have my hands on them.  The week passed quickly and the parts arrived.  He wasn't kidding.  Every part was evenly coated and as consistent in color as you could ask.  Things were looking good.  With all the AirGrabber parts on the bench I set out to assemble everything and mount it on the car.

First, however, there was a little chore that needed to be done.  I kick myself in the ass for not doing this before the car went to the painter but I guess it just slipped my mind.  2 of the studs that hold the air box to the underside of the hood were broken off!  I needed to weld on some replacements.  Sounds pretty scary huh?  Welding on to a freshly painted car.  I wasn't too worried.  The surface that actually gets welded to is completely covered by the air box and there is an air gap between the frame that the studs are welded to and the hood outer skin.  So while I was a true dumb ass for no taking care of this repair before, I didn't feel I would have a problem now.  I found a couple of small diameter bolts that matched the studs thread and cut them to length.  I cleaned up the pieces of stud that was left on the hood by grinding what was left to a 45 degree angle.  My plan was to grind the new studs to a 45 also and fill in the total 90 degree splice point with weld... basically splicing the to together.  To hold the new stud in place I just took a piece of coat hanger and used an adjacent stud to form a "third hand".  This worked pretty well.  It took a couple of tries but I finally got the right setting and wire speed for this delicate fix.  I have learned that if you pre heat the area to weld a little, the weld will start penetrating the parts quicker.  I used a propane torch for this.  I was constantly feeling the outer skin of the hood behind the work to make sure I wasn't getting anything too hot.  It never got hot enough to where I couldn't put my hand on it... I made sure of that.  It took a good 2 hours to get that fix all set up and done.

I turned to the work bench and all the AirGrabber stuff.  One thing I was smart enough to do was take some very detailed pictures of how the parts all attached to the main pivoting rod.  Every piece could go on 2 ways and in a wrong order.  There was no way I would have ever remembered.  All the parts are held to the shaft with roll pins.  With a towel on the bench and a smallish ball peen hammer I had it all together in about an hour and mounted on the air box within another 30 minutes.  The only thing I had a problem with was the roll pin that went through the spring and into a hole in the flap.  This pin helps open the door fully when the AirGrabber is closed.  The pin that I removed was broken and I didn't realize how it worked.  I figured it out in time and got a new roll pin from the hardware store.  After mounting the air box to the hood I added the actuator mount and then the actuator itself.  I finally found the original return spring but have yet refinished it.  It is the last piece of the system.  My air box is NOS but it has several "shelf wear" scratched that need attention.  I will be whipping up some matching gray paint to brush into the scratches to hopefully keep the eye from being drawn to them. Also, I still need to install the scoop door itself. I cut and installed the seals at the bottom of the door to match the originals but the 3 holes that the mounting screws thread into are not in the best shape. I will have to fix the threads before mounting it on the car for good.

On to the front suspension.  I had bought a fancy upper control arm bushing installer off of eBay several months ago and thought now would be the time to give it a try.  It worked like a dream.  Maybe 15 minutes time and not the first scratch on my control arms.  A little research showed me that the extra sleeves go on the rear bushing so I used the bushing installer along with a big socket the right size to install them.  The upper control arm cam bolts were returned along with the rest of the zinc phosphated parts so I went ahead and stuck the uppers in place on the car.  As far as refinishing all the components... I had worked on that over a week or so period.  Here's a run down of what I have used so far-

• A Ford silver for the appearance of steel on the upper and lower control arms
• Eastwoods "Spray Gray" over a coat of POR15's "Metal Mask" on the ball joints, tie rod ends, steering knuckles and caliper brackets.
• POR15's "Metal Mask" on the sway bar, lower control arm struts and center link.
• Tie rod sleeves and clamps- Eastwoods gloss "Chassis Black"
• All bolts and nuts were blackened EXCEPT the strut nuts and the lower control arm nuts.  They are zinc plated (home kit)
• I had the big-ass washers at the strut bushings and the sway bar bushing brackets gold cad plated

I got out the sway bar to lower control arm bushing kits and checked to see what they were all about.  What I had was a complete rubber kit with new bolts, washers and everything.  I also had a package of new polygraphite bushings.  I pulled the original assemblies out to compare parts.  The new bolts are much longer that the originals so I have decided to reuse the originals.  I will blacken them as I think they were originally.  The "tube" spacers in the new kit are also longer.  I think I'll just cut the new ones down to the correct length because they have a real nice gold cad finish.  I will use the poly bushings along with the new washers... they too have a great gold cad finish.

I hope to have these small parts finished and installed shortly. I also need to clean up the steering box and purchase a pitman and idler arm... those weren't there when I reached for them.