Detailing is an art form in which most anyone can express themselves. All it really takes is some paint and someone to steer you toward what to use for color. We have gone out, bought the colors, and now know what closely mimics the original finishes. Suffice it to say, the cabinet that houses our paint collection is stuffed full of grays, silvers, and blacks, not to mention reds, yellows, and other trifling colors.
We proceed with the detailing of our front suspension as with everything else. If there wasn't a mark on the part, we didn't put one it. Once again, as in the article "How To Detail and Assemble Front Disc Brakes" (Jan. 2000, p. 66), we used parts from many different sources. National Parts Depot supplied some of our suspension, AutoKrafters gave us the tie-rod boots, Inline Tube provided us with the correct brake lines, while AMK's excellent body-bolt kit helped us return our project to the factory look. For our new front springs, we turned to Eaton Detroit Spring. Now that the car is a rolling chassis again, we can move on to the color sanding, and buffing of the car.
We mounted our upper control...
We mounted our upper control arm first and tightened the bolts. After these were secured, we painted them with several coats of detail gray that we sprayed into a paint can cap.
We cleaned the springs with...
We cleaned the springs with lacquer thinner to remove the box debris. The original coil on our Mach 1 appeared to be black so we just left the finish on the new coil.
We used our spring compressor...
We used our spring compressor to get the new coil mounted on the upper control arm. This arm-and-spring perch was painted black from the factory and had to be refinished to match the original bare metal that these cars used on the two mounts. To achieve this look, we used Eastwood's detail gray on the body of the upper control arm and spray gray on the rivets. This color closely matches the correct heated steel color of the rivets.
A good tip to keep you from...
A good tip to keep you from getting frustrated while removing the spring compressor from the extremely tight upper opening is to screw the head (shown) in until the spring clasps can be more closely pulled together. This will allow for passage through the tight opening.
We couldn't stand to keep...
We couldn't stand to keep the AMK kit closed so we popped it open and mounted the spring shield just to see how it would look. When we ordered the springs from Eaton Detroit, we asked the company to set the ride height to match a Mach 1 that we measured. This way, there won't be any surprises when the springs are in place and finally supporting the full weight of the Mach 1.
Next on the agenda was the...
Next on the agenda was the paint stripe on the spring. Our originals had a single gold stripe that was reproduced on the new spring. Testors Paints gave us a shade of gold that was quite close to the original. Note the Inline Tube brake lines in the background. The brake lines are held on with clips that were originally a light phosphate color. We got as close as we could by spraying a coat of flat black, and then covering that with Rust-Oleum gray primer. The bolts were dark phosphate, so for them we used some Martin Senour flat black.
Our shocks are KYBs that we...
Our shocks are KYBs that we received from National Parts Depot. We removed the label and the glue using Goo Gone. Goo Gone is available at most home centers. We painted our shocks with Martin Senour semigloss black, and then splotched them with a dot of Testors white. If we had wanted to, we could have hidden our subterfuge by using body filler to hide the part numbers on the shocks. Use some 400-600-grit sandpaper to rough the surface, and then clean the part with precleaner. Follow that with the semigloss.
We had to bolt our steering...
We had to bolt our steering box in at the body shop, so a spate of hurried detailing was in order. The top is Eastwood detail gray, the bolts are painted Martin Senour semigloss black, and the body of the box is spray gray. After it was finished, we used Testors silver to hit the machined surfaces and Testors yellow (arrow) and white to paint it up as original.
Incredibly, our steering knuckle...
Incredibly, our steering knuckle was original and in good shape. We cleaned it with MP-7 and discovered two paint marks. We reused the knuckle and painted it spray gray, and reapplied the pink (arrow) and light-blue stripes. The bolt that retains the knuckle is detail gray and the stud it mounts to is pink (not shown).