Getting the big Fairlane back on the road.... Going the whole 9 inches

[RC10th]

My kind of marriage.....

Ready to go in

[RC10th]

I left the car outside locked up over winter, which has been quite wet. Needless to say the interior started to get a bit of mildew on it from the carpet being wet and unable to dry. I got it in time as everything is savable, just needs a good clean. Seats, carpet, jute padding, plastic trim, door panels, seatbelts, console etc have all been taken out. Not everything really needed to come out but considering the car is close to 40 years old I thought it could do with a good and proper clean.

While I was at it I cut out a filler panel from a donor car to replace the console shifter hump. This gives me a bit more clearance to fit a ratchet shifter under the factory console.

Most everything is ready to go back in, just need to give the "bare shell" a good scrub before everthing goes in. I'll also have to get the windsheild channel fixed as soon as the car is back on the road.

Doing everything by yourself kinda sucks, it takes ages and sometimes some clever thinking without an extra pair of hands.

[RC10th]

Finally got the shifter mounted which was way harder then I had hoped....

[slotcarrod]

Looking good! Thought you would have cleaned and touched up the floor first though?

[RC10th]

I can still do the floors but don't know if it's worth it. They are still solid for now. Bolting the shifter in was pretty major but the console has to come back out to install padding and carpet.

[DaveM]

Hi RJ,

Any surface rust on the floor pan use a product called Wattyl Rust Converter.

One that is similar,

http://www.rust-converter.com.au/

Please disregard if you know this.

Cheers, Dave.

[RC10th]

I've used rust converters before but have never seen that one. I've gone this far so why not do a bit of preventative maintenance? The car isn't really worth saving but..... The floors look worse in the photos then real life.

[DaveM]

Hi RJ,

Have you used fish oil before?

I had a HT 350 Monaro which I fish oiled, stopped the rust dead but stank for a couple of weeks.

The car stayed solid.

I used a Kerosine gun to spray it and long bits of hose on the Kerosine gun for hard to reach places.

I think I bought 4 lts but sprayed as much as I could, didn't skimp.

I did make sure all drain holes were clean and some of them I did open up larger, just with a screw

driver.

The excess seeps out the drain holes, so watch where you park for a couple of days.

Cheers, Dave.

[RC10th]

I modified the passenger side engine mount with a little old school drag racer trick. I bolted the rubber mount together which should still offer some cushion but wont allow the mount to completely seperate.

Broken engine mounts suck as the fan takes out the radiator shroud, upper radiator hose and in my case the air cleaner will hit the hood.

[RC10th]

Made a bit more progress, I pulled all the broken moisture barriers off the doors and cleaned off all the mastic. It was quite a messy job but now the doors are ready for new sealer to be applied. Unfortunately I rang all over the state trying to find a non hardening or skinning butyl sealant. I finally found some quite a distance away, about a 2 hr round trip and a 1/4 tank of gas. I also cut out some new moisture barries which came out better then expected, so once I get the sealant I can install the barriers and door panels. I cleaned out the inner doors, vacuumed and fish oiled them.

I also installed the rear insulation, jute padding, rear carpet, seatbelts, rear trim panels and rear seats


Getting there...... It's a lot of work doing everything by yourself.

[scr8p]

Progess is good.

[jwscab]

I have been using some simple double sided 3M tape to reinstall moisture barriers, and using sheet plastic film instead of the butyl cord and asphalt paper. seems to work as well or better. certainly easier to apply.

[RC10th]

The gear indicator has been puzzling me for a couple of days trying to figure out how to modify it so it works properly with the factory PRND21. Not that it matters to me but not having a clear indication of what gear the car is in is a defectable offence (stupid nanny state)

I can see how it is somewhat important if someone unfamiliar drives it. I had a new exhaust put on my pickup truck some time ago and they couldn't figure out how to put it in park even with an indicator, needless to say the truck almost rolled off the hoist !!!

Anyways, trying to figure out how to make a LHD shifter indicator work on a RHD vehicle without modifying the console fascia in any way is tricky. I also had to figure out a way to turn 1 7/8" total shifter movement into about 4" - 4 1/8" for the indicator.

I think I figured it out quite well and will pick up some more supplies to tackle it tomorrow, every day that goes by I seem to come up with better ideas. Since the stick doesn't quite line up with all the gear locations (D is the same stick position as 2nd and 1st) I will use a standard red LED to iluminate the proper letter. Since the standard bulb was only hooked up to the light switch I will hook the LED up to an ignition switched source, so it will illuminate the letter both day or night.

[RC10th]

More progress to update. I got front carpet, padding and drivers seat in. Component 6 3/4" speakers mounted, you couldn't fit any larger speakers if you tried. I just need to make 2 small brackets to mount the tweeters.

Also glued all the moisture barriers and mounted all the door panels and handles.

I picked up a couple of LED's to test and they will work perfectly, you cant tell the difference between the LED and the incandescent bulb. I'll have to make up an indicator slide next and work out tbe final dimensions before bolting it down. Once that's done I can bolt the console in one last time and passenger seat

Then onto the engine swap......

[RC10th]

I made some little incognito mounts for the tweeters, I didn't want them in your face so I chose to mount them under the dash. From the seats you can't see them.