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Just a little more work today. I started digging out some of the NOS stuff for the front of the car. I have NOS headlight housings, grills, washer jar, parking light assemblies, bumper guards, and other little odds and ends. Hard to believe how dirty NOS parts get from years of storage even in the boxes. Had to take the parking light assemblies apart and detail them. Also had to polish the lenses. Also installed the tank and fluid bottle holder. Still waiting on a few things before I can put the float in the tank. Going to try to get the front bumper brackets painted later today and install it tomorrow.
The bumper does not fit that great but it will work. I don't have it done yet but it will not be perfect. You will not be able to tell after the headlight housings are on. The black looks gloss in the picture but it is not.
You jack that thing up and set it on the ramps like that? Opposed is a neat idea for those.
I never get under it with these ramps. They are for my lawn mower. I also have the e brake set. I do run them opposite directions to help keep it from rolling off. I lift it so I don't have to bend over as much but didn't want it on jack stands while lining up the sheet metal. It will flex to much on jack stands and make the gaps all wrong. Not that they are perfect on these cars anyway.
I think the bumper looks fine. How does it mount with those body painted pieces at the bottom. The more I see this thread, the more cool a Jetfire becomes. Nice job.
I think the bumper looks fine. How does it mount with those body painted pieces at the bottom. The more I see this thread, the more cool a Jetfire becomes. Nice job.
There must be an easier way to do it that I did. This bumper is a royal pain to mount. There are 4 brackets that go in through the openings. The problem is that there is nearly no room to tighten the bolts on the back of the bumper after you have it in place. I tried to mount the brackets to the bumper first but much of the adjustment is on these bolts. I didn't get any good pictures of how that all mounts but here I had everything covered to prevent scratching anything while adjusting.
On these 61-63 cars the hood hinges were painted instead of the coating in the later cars. All the nice originals I have found are a low gloss hinge and a gloss spring. I put the springs on another set of hinges and then collapsed the hinge to paint them. This way I got paint all around the coils. I mounted the hinge to the side of the work bench and then used my makeshift spring removal tool to switch them to the other hinges.
You jack that thing up and set it on the ramps like that? Opposed is a neat idea for those.
It depends on the ramp. Years ago, I gave away my good ones, thinking that I will never own another car, as long as I'm residing in Germany. After I had indeed owned several since then, I went out and bought Chinesium ramps of which didn't have the safety bump featured on the European ones. If I hadn't been dumping a load of money into my Audi, before it had to pass inspection, I would have forked out for some decent ones which costed about double that of the fakes. I also found that reversing one of them would prevent the vehicle from rolling off. It just was a pain to set them up in a way where the reversed one wouldn't damage the vehicle during jacking
Installed the grill, headlight housings, and finished the side trim and front bumper. Also blead the brakes this morning. Still a little air in them. I have a soft pedal for the first pump after it sits.
Almost the entire front of the car is NOS parts. Grill, headlight housings, parking lights, bumper guards, Jetfire grill emblem, driver side fender, Valance, the 62 fender extensions and the chrome trim along the extensions.
Looks great! Are those originals seat covers? Just so wild to see the colors and patterns. Finish line is in sight for you!
Yes, they are the originals to the car. The driver seat has a few really little cracks starting that in time will get worse but they have not gotten worse since I got it in 2015. I am looking for a mint back seat o that I have have a front cover made from it.
Been working on loose ends and little details this week. Spent lots of time working on the sill plates. These took some time to get this nice and still far from perfect. I have another set coming repop for another model and see how they fit. I will likely use these just because they are "correct" for the car.
Installed the passenger door panel and door weatherstrip, trunk Jetfire emblem, details under the hood and working on the wipers now. I need another nice used right side wiper arm if I can find one. All my rights have pitting on the base
I decided to use the original trunk jack instruction decal instead of the reproduction. This original has turned yellow from age but I am ok with it. The original trunk mat is also stained really bad. Still not sure on this stuff, I may end up replacing the trunk mat with material from SMS that is really close.
Got my hood back. It had some places that looked like cracks in the paint. You couldn't see it unless you were in the light just right. He said it was not actually any cracks and was just that the clear had shrunk causing what I was seeing. The hood is the only thing that had done it. He said he had to clear it again and then buff because he was scared he would buff through the other clear. I know very little about paint and may have quoted him wrong some. I know he said the problem was shrinkage though. Looks great now.
I have not been working on the car much because of the cold. I have a heater in the garage but our electric company has raised rates and don't want to spend the money to heat it. In the mean time I started organizing and cleaning in the basement. It was a disaster from parts storage and projects. Here are many of my extra turbo systems and parts. Other than these I have 4 other extra systems and two more carburetors on top of that. Many of them are only good for parts but some of them are REALLY good cores. One I believe only has a few original miles on it.
These are easier to find than many of the other Jetfire parts. These NOS parts are made of unobtanium for sure. I would really be surprised if another NOS tank ever surfaces.
Had to move the cars again so I can work on the driver side door glass tomorrow. Figured I would take more pictures with the hood on. I still have some rework to do. Need to pull the starter and have a second look at it, it does not engage every time. I need to pull the radiator and repaint the top rail. Adjust the clutch slightly tighter. The manual choke needs adjusted just a little. Exhaust and alinement and that will about wrap it up. Can't wait to put the dog dish and trim rings on but waiting till after the alignment. I may wait and make them the VERY last thing to put on.
Sincerely hope to see this car at the Homecoming in June.
Thanks! I am actually not sure I can make it to Homecoming this year. We will be at the nationals and MCACN this year and plan to go to Homecoming and AACA in Auburn Indiana in 2022
Truly a beautiful example of a Jetfire and meticulous resto. Well done!
Makes me want to drive that car.
What goes on the wheels?
Thanks. I have NOS dog dish caps and the original trim rings that will go on it but not installing them till after the front end alignment. This is what it will look like except the center emblem will be red. This picture was the day I got the car.
Last edited by jensenracing77; Feb 27, 2021 at 07:14 AM.
He took out the dings and imperfections and polished them for $80. I'll let you know the total when I get the shipping costs. I guess USPS is OK? How much insurance do you want?
