Nice work Royce - thanks for posting all the details and pics.
I sent the brake booster to The Booster Exchange in Portland, Oregon a couple weeks before Christmas. It came back on February 16. I took a couple pictures showing the new filter in the vent spacer, and with the new Master Cylinder from Dead Nuts On.
The instrument bezels went to Vacuum Orna Metal in suburban Detroit area. We had dashes from three 1968 XR-7’s and used the best parts from each in order to have perfect woodgrain and original instrument faces from a Michigan car. The wood grain pieces were given a good cleaning then an application of brown shoe polish. Some lighter pieces got several coats to darken the color.
The black metal trim rings around each instrument were scotch brited and then repainted semi gloss black before reassembly.
Bill Basore calibrated the fuel sender, fuel gage and AMP gage. The plastic rechrome / repaint took about 90 days but the quality was excellent.
Nice job on the instrument panel - looks brand new.
Royce, did you have a better experience with Vacuum Orna Metal than the outfit you used recently in Rhode Island ?
Royce, did you have a better experience with Vacuum Orna Metal than the outfit you used recently in Rhode Island ? Instrument specialties ?
Yes. Cheaper, faster, fantastic quality.
The steering link was preassembled with rebuilt components and new hoses. Lots easier to put it together on the workbench.
Very smart Royce. I hadn’t thought about putting all the pieces with the hoses together and then install the whole thing. I’m working on the steering of a local club member’s cat right now and I’m going to do what you’ve done here. Even an old dog can learn something new.
The design of the pump allows you to do the same thing on that end. That means you can join the pump pressure and return hoses at the junction below the frame rails as the only hose connections in the whole build that need to be done on the car.
I’m loving this whole thread, great job Royce & Co. What a neat car. When I saw the title “R Code GTE” I figured it was a 4 speed.
Makes you wonder about the motivation behind the original order. At first I thought It was driven by a need for A/C, but the car doesn’t have it. They clearly wanted a GTE w/an automatic, but did they:
- prefer the CJ over the 427?
- prefer the style and/or function of the R Code hood scoop over the GTE unit?
- other?
The world may never know.
That works for the two piece big block hoses that run under the frame, but not for the small block version that runs down the apron between the steering box and exhaust manifold. The good news is that the car I’m working on is a big block, so I can take advantage of this. 
Good idea Royce, I will try it out on my 70 Cougar tomorrow 
Yesterday the RH rear quarter was looking good. Still a lot of blocking remaining on the roof and C pillars but getting closer to paint.
The hood and the deck lid (behind it) have been block sanded several times.
Here they are with yet another guide coat about to be block sanded.
A few days ago I stripped the seat upholstery from the front and rear seat springs. I took photos showing where the wires go, then stripped all of the wires and burlap from each spring assembly. They were all rusty in places so they went off to be wet media blasted.
I rebuilt most of the front suspension last month but the upper A arms were still left to go because one of them was cracked at a rivet hole. I talked Scott at WCCC into finding me a good used one with the “cut back” end found only on some late 1968 - 1969 arms. After wet media blasting I drilled out the rivets and separated the old ball joint from the arm.
The upper shaft came out after a brief struggle involving the flame wrench, penetrating oil, and a 36" breaker bar.
