FFO Prep

A Quick Evening's Work
Originally uploaded by The Put-Man.

The steering wheel was a piece of cake!

You just have to remove the "adapter" that bolts on for the later Momo style steering wheel. The "adapter" is about 3 inches thick - so, with that removed, the steering wheel is now FURTHER away from me! Putting on my old steering wheel is not my "permanent" plan, I just couldn't resist! My plan moving forward is to modify the "adapter" so that my Alfa Romeo Steering wheel will bolt right on. I truly LOVE this wheel! Not just because it putt's the steering wood 3.5 inches closer to me, but mostly because that wheel wood is so dang BEAUTIFUL! But this setup won't be ready for FFO, so my "retro" wheel will just have to substitute.

The mirrors are great - with a few small caveats.

The dash-mounted rear-view has a very small base, so it tends to vibrate just slightly, therefore it needs a better mounting surface. I plan to mount it to a silver-dollar sized wood disc, then mount THAT onto the dash. My dash is already terribly cracked, so it's perfect for experimentation! Besides, my cool new dash-mat will hide all sorts of sins.

The side-view "bullet-style" mirrors are of EXCELLENT quality. PITA to mount - the bracket has two screws that go into the body of the car, then the mirror fits to the bracket, has one screw to hold it on - and THIS screw in right under the main portion of the mirror, and there is NO clearance! PITA to adjust - I plan on getting them "just so", then putting small marks on each to show proper adjustment location. MAN, ARE THEY BEAUTIFUL. The only long-term drawback to these side mirrors...while doing engine work, they are RIGHT in the way! RIGHT in the middle of where I want to lay my belly across the fender! My plan - as I modify my hood for the old-style kick-stand...I want to figure out a quick-disconnect for the entire hood. Working on the car from the FRONT is AWESOME.

The wing-window is a work of art.

Jamming it INTO the car was a royal bitch. The bracket on the underside of the vent that holds the spring that keeps the vent open...well, the '83 didn't HAVE that, so you have to jam a 2.5 inch bit of stuff through a 1.75 inch opening. All while trying to line up the window glass and keep that aligned, don't pinch the wires, don't scratch the paint, don't BREAK the glass, all while trying to figure out how to HAMMER THE BITCH into place, which obviously one cannot do when GLASS is involved. Once done, I really wasn't sure the main window was aligned properly...so I hooked up the batter, turned on the car...only to have ZERO power. At that point, I called it a night.

The sad situation regarding my sad lack of Electropnuematic Horns.

My current, and very very STOCK horn sounds like the depressed, and mournful mating wail of a lonely Chrysler. An online source wrote me June 25th, saying he was putting together a set of the old-style horns for me, but even after two follow-up emails I have not heard back from him. Another source had "just" sold their last set when I asked, my least favorite source won't even answer me, and then, even E-Bay has been dry. I'm hoping something will come up at FFO, being offered out of someone's trunk, or on a table full of junk. Once I find them, I'll need to sign up for the "how to paint old stuff" class.