Hood scoop

 When I started this project, I had no intentions of adding a hood scoop. Honestly. First off, to look right, it would have to be a pretty huge scoop. Second, I wanted to keep this looking more stock. Well, the choices you make sometime have consequences. In my case, that was moving to the serpentine setup on the front of the 429.

As it turns out, the A/C compressor sits very high. This wasn't an issue in the pickup truck it was pulled from, but passenger cars don't have near the same clearances under the hood. After spending a lot of time trying to figure out how I could get the compressor down under the hood, I came up empty handed. Even with cutting down the mounting bracket and rotating the compressor, it just wasn't going to fit. I'd already sold the original front end pulley and accessory setup, so I couldn't go back to that even if I wanted to, which I didn't. So, I finally had to commit to a hood scoop.

I cut a hole, and then took some measurements to get a feel for what size scoop I would need. After establishing some minimum dimensions I started the hunt for a huge scoop that I could modify to work. Nothing. I looked at cowl scoops that I could turn around backward, but they just wouldn't look right. So I sketched up roughly what I was looking for and started the hunt for someone who could make what I wanted at a decent price.

I wanted something simple, that looked like it could have come on the car, and be as low profile as possible. After more than a month of calling around chasing down fiberglass people, I found a guy a couple of hours away who could do the work for $200. Done!

After literally months of waiting for him to make the scoop I got the call that it would be ready. I drove more than 2 hours away to pick it up, and when I arrived it was the biggest turd you ever saw. It weighed around 15 lbs and was more than 1/2" thick in places. Nothing was flat. The ridge was crooked, thick, and off-center. It didn't even meet amateur quality. No charge, but months wasted waiting, and 4 hours of driving for nothing.

The search continued and I returned to one scoop that I had considered previously but opted not use. It was just barely wide enough, and not quite as long as I was thinking. And, it's about 4.5" tall! This was WAY more scoop than I wanted.

I decided to give it a shot. After some trimming to get the height down, and some shaping work on the back to match the profile of the hood, I got something that I think will work. I still need to add a blank to fill the opening as this will not be a functional scoop, but I'm pleased with how it fits.

I had to cut the studs off and remount them after trimming it down, but the fit is good and secure. Over winter I will finish up the details on the hood, blocking out the primer, touching up a few small spots that need attention, and have everything ready to go for paint in the spring.

Lots of Sanding

Still moving forward, but slowly. House projects and a new pool this year which have required a ton of landscaping pulled me away from getting to paint this year, but I will be ready come springtime to put color down.

It will also give me time to finish recovering the '67 bucket seats I picked up to replace the '68s I was going to use. I very much prefer them to the '68s, so I will get pictures posted once i have finished them. One of the unexpected delays I ran into when changing to the '67 seats was a lack of the seat buttons. I thought I had more, but it turns out the others I had were longer. Thankfully, after a few months of searching, I was able to secure what I needed along with several extras. Now I just need to take a few measurements off of the position on the backseat and I will be able to move forward.

Seat pictures to follow soon!

Finally in primer!

 Well, clearly I've set the wagon aside and distracted myself with a number of other projects, both car and home, but this weekend, thanks to some uncharacteristic warm weather, the Commuter is in primer.

Earlier this year I purchased supplies to prime it, and about 6 weeks ago, an inflatable spray booth. After waiting a couple of months for a hood scoop, it arrived and was complete junk. So, I will have to make my own at this point, but decided to move forward with applying the Ultimate 2K primer.

I've never sprayed before, and got the help from a buddy who has done very limited spraying. It took a little bit to get the gun set up right, but once it was, the primer went down nicely, and I was able to get everything covered with just under a gallon of primer.

Things learned:

1) The booth has a greenhouse affect, and with it being a sunny day, it was about 15 degrees warmer inside than outside. I will be able to better adjust for this next time.

2) I used a fast catalyst, and probably should have had a normal one. I think this resulted in a more pebbly finish and overspray dusting.

3) There was a bit of wind. While I did tie down the booth using the D-rings, and had the good idea to clip them on with snap clips (carabiners) instead of tying and untying, the wind would blow under the booth and lift the floor. Adding a couple of landscape blocks to the inside corners helped with this, but so did having the fresh air blower running to create positive pressure in the booth.

4) Be sure to remove the filter covers in the "prep room" before spraying. The fresh air is fed through this room and into the booth through the filters.

5) a 6' folding table fit nicely at a slight angle in the prep room. This was very nice for mixing, and left the other side of the mixing room open for any other supplies, trash, and easy egress.

6) I love the booth. It was expensive ($1,300 off of eBay), and one of the blowers arrive broken, but I tested them the day they arrived, so I was able to have a replacement sent out right away, and the seller was easy to work with. For painting my full size wagon, I'm so glad I spent the extra money for the larger booth. Knowing what I know now, even if I was only painting something smaller like a Mustang, I would still spend the extra money and get the larger booth without hesitation. BUT...make sure you have the space to set this up and get air and power to it. This thing is huge! The ladder was REQUIRED to unzip the front as it's 33' long, 16' wide, and 13' tall. The basketball court is 30' long so we actually had to have the booth hang off the edge a bit on the front and the back, and make sure we kept if from hitting the gutters or the rim on the backboard since it is taller than both, and I have 12' ceilings in my outbuilding!

This was fun, and I can't wait to touch up a couple of imperfections we notice in the bodywork (really, not bad at all given where this started) and put it into paint, but that will have to wait for next year when the weather warms up again.

Next up, upholstering the '67 bucket seats I purchased to replace the '68s!

Way too long...

Been super busy since the move and no time for working on the wagon or updates. But, I will be back at it shortly. To come: pics on the completed workshop now that it has been framed, wired, insulated, drywalled and heat has been added! Also, I have a new daily driver Merkur XR4Ti that I am completing some upgrades on prior to painting the wagon. Anyone remember the XR4Ti?

Here are a couple of pictures of why I need to do some work on it.

Back at the wagon very soon...I promise!

A new home for my projects...

Very excited about the move to our new home that comes with a outbuilding for my car projects!

It's a 30' x 40' outbuilding with power, 12' ceilings, a 16' wide door on the front and a 9' wide x 10' high door on the side. It also included 5-12' high x 9' wide x 4' deep industrial racks. I will be moving the 4-post lift from our current home as well.

I finally have the space I need to do the paint on the wagon! Primer will be done once we complete the move and get settled in.