Back at it again - Front Fenders

"Now is the winter of our discontent."  Shakespeare was on to something.  Or maybe not.  I can't blame the unbelievably harsh winter in the Midwest for my lack of progress on the fastback.  However, I have had my excuses or diversions.  Some of them are legitimate.  Others may not be considered so by the nature of the diversion.

As many of you know, I'm a private pilot.  I have shared some of my flights on this blog.  I  can't explain what it's like to bore through the sky from 125 to 170 miles per hour depending upon what club airplane is available.  This extravagance is what allows my wife and me to be able to visit our kids and grandkids long distances away from where we live in central Indiana.  Our youngest and her husband are soon to be residents in the DC area as my son-in-law will be a resident pathologist at Georgetown University Hospital in July. (Can you hear my buttons bursting in pride?!?!)

So now I will have two out of three of my children's family living 450 nautical miles away from where I live.   Did you notice the distance reference?  Nautical miles?  Yeah.  We're talking flying miles.  So how can I afford to do trips east and west as often as I want to...and my wife as well?  It's an easy answer.

Become a commercial pilot...a pilot who gets paid to fly aircraft.

Yup.  I have started my training in February since January was colder than any person or mechanical device was meant to endure.  The reason?  To become a flight instructor on the side and to help subsidize the cost of visiting our far away family.  I Can't drive from Indianapolis to DC in 3 hours and 30 minutes.

But I can't afford financially or time-wise to spend it all in the air.   I need to be able to enjoy the ride to the airport and back home, not to mention the Sunday-go-to-church drive, right? 

Enter the fastback. She's been a part of our family for far too long to cast aside for the likes of flying.  After all, that is the reason I bought her 9 years ago.  But that's another story.

So let's get down to the business at hand.

I went through a basic garage arranging/cleaning yesterday in preparation for the work today.  The lawn and other household duties were completed as well.  After arriving home from my Sunday obligations from church, I took time to grab a bite to eat while watching the 27th Spring Fling Mecum Auction in Indy this weekend to drool over some of the muscle machines crossing the auction block.  Some if not most of them were way outside of the budget.  Others were tempting.  But I already have a jewel in the rough in my own garage.  Why buy another vehicle that doesn't have the connection I have with my Eleanor?

I was determined that today I was going to get back to productive work on her.  She's been patient with me.  The least I can do is show her some love.

The plan is to get all the body panels prepped for repair.  That includes fenders, hood, and trunk lid with the goal of finishing up any body work and then primer.  You already know the trunk lid story.  The right front fender was prepped--at least on the outside surface.   I have been contemplating how to deal with the inside surface that has a combination of surface rust and factory undercoating that's harder than nails.  Part of me though if it's that firmly attached, don't mess with it.  Another part of me said take it off and don't scrimp.  That part won.

It was a beautiful clear and calm day.  I elected to dig out my media blaster and use that for the dirty deed.  I also got out the left front fender figuring that if I was going through all the set up for one fender I might as well do them both.  It's that killing two birds with one stone but fenders instead of birds.

First thing was to get the media ready.  I have a bag of  fine grain "Black Beauty" and a 5 gallon bucket of the same that I swept up from the body shell blasting.  I did my old trick of using a screen to filter out the large crud and reuse it.

After filtering the media, I loaded up my pressure blaster and set up in the driveway.  I spread an old sheet out to keep from doing any more damage to the fender. 

Then it was time to attach the air hose, put on my blasting hood and mask, and have at it.  I had the material flow choked down and angled the spray nozzle at a 45 degree angle and kept it moving so there was no heat buildup that could damage or warp the fender.  It cleaned up nicely, but there was still some of that undercoating that wouldn't budge.  I'll deal with that later.

 The blasting got into some of the nooks and crannies around the headlight bucket that would otherwise be hard to get to.  I also have a relatively clean surface to apply Zero Rust when the time comes.

I elected to go ahead and blast the outside of the fender instead of using the stripper on my 4" grinder as I did on the right fender.  Again, I was careful not to cause any heat buildup.

As you can see below, it cleaned up nicely.  Some of the surface rust didn't completely come off.  I'll use either my stripper or DA sander to clean it up.

The top rear and edge of the fender had some of the more stubborn surface rust. 

Now it was on to the right front fender.  I had already stripped the outside as my previous post described. 

I previously started cleaning the inside of the fender with a braided wire brush, but it was a messy process creating black flecks of the undercoating that flew all over the place.  So the inside of this fender became a media blasting candidate, especially around the headlight bucket and the top inside.



After the process, it cleaned up fairly well but still left some undercoating on the top inside surface.  And just like the left fender, there is surface rust that has the scale cleaned off, but it will need to dealt with.

The headlight bucket has residual undercoating as well.

Overall, I'm fairly satisfied with the results and both fenders are much cleaner than I could have done with any other mechanical method.   Now it's on to removing the undercoating.

I recall from one of my fellow Mustang bloggers that a heat gun would work well to heat the undercoating up and then scrape it off with a puddy knife.   I picked up one at Menards that was on sale.  I figured I didn't need one with all the bells and whistles.  With the left front fender on the body panel stand, the heat gun in my left hand and the puddy knife in my right hand, I began the task.

I was pleased with how quick and easy it came off.  I was not so pleased with the residue left behind.

I tried laquer thinner to remove it.  It didn't work well and it would have taken quite a bit of time.  I was out of acetone.  Bug and Tar remover didn't even put a dent in it...no pun intended.  I got out my 9" grinder with the nylon brush and it cut through it.  

 However, I noticed that with the black undercoating removed, the pattern was still visible.  Upon closer inspection, I discovered it wasn't more residual undercoating but rust that formed under it.

I am now convinced that ALL undercoating has to come off all the body and panels.  Otherwise, there will be this dormant rust waiting to rear its ugly head down the road.  I used my 4" grinder with the stripping pad on it to see how well it would work to clean up surface.

That is what you call clean metal.   So this will be the process though a bit tedious to clean up the rest of this fender and the right front one as well.   I'll have to do the same thing on the inner fender and wheel wells on the body.

I continued removing all the undercoating with the heat gun.  The rest of it came off without a hitch.

The headlight bucket was a little tricky because of the rounded surface and it had some between the bucket and fender surfaces.

 After that, and upon closer inspection, I noticed that all was not well in fenderland.   Wanna guess?

Yup.  Rust.  Pinhole rust.

And of course it had to be in a difficult location to repair.  A view from the inside of the bucket with the back lighting shows the half dozen spots.  Bugger.

It was time to do a closer inspection of both fenders.  I got them off a 68 convertible a guy was parting out.  I paid $90 for the pair that included literally everything... headlights, trim, bezels, etc.  So I can't really complain.   But I would hate to have to abandon one or both for a replacement panel.

My major concern was rust back behind the bucket and fender.  If the bucket was rusted on the back, there could be more elsewhere.  I was relieved to discover that there wasn't any other rust that would need to be cut out and replaced.  It was really clean around the bucket to fender flange on the side of the fender.

Along the top of the fender, there is some pitting, but it's not severe.  The flange there also looks good.  you can just make out one of the pin holes in the photo below.

 I'll come back and sort out how I'm going to repair the left front fender.  The right one was OK.

I wanted to see how that surface rust left after blasting would clean up.  I got my DA sander out and gave it a quick once over.  The coarsest pad I had was 80 grit.  It took some time and finesse, but it cleaned up pretty good.  I also discovered a few more small dents and dings that will need to be worked out.

 I also found rust on the rear lower corner of the left fender on both the inside and outside.  The inside will be a little tricky especially since it will involve prying up the flange of the outside skin.

 The outside will be more of a straight-forward patch.  That will be the first one I'll do so that it will allow me to inspect the back side to determine how extensive that repair will be.

 I've had lots of practice making weld patches and repairs.  So this will not be anything I haven't had to do before.  I hung both fenders on the panel stand.  The right front is definitely more solid in the headlight bucket area.  The left doesn't look so bad here, but I can't leave it that way.

That was all the work I was going to get done, especially since I had a blasting mess to clean up out in the driveway.  While doing that, a thought hit me about the left fender repair.   I still have the original fender that came on the car.   Granted it's got a tear in the wheel lip, and a dent in the lower front wheel lip, but the rest of the fender is solid.   I realized I have my patch panels already made!

I don't know if I'm going to go through the effort to drill out all the spot welds and remove the entire bucket, or just cut out the rusty section and put a patch in it.  I'll have to take a look at it to find out how many welds there are and more important, how the access will be to plug weld the whole bucket in.

That's for another day.   Until then....

A 9 Year Relationship

I look at the calendar.  And then I look at my fastback...still on the rotisserie...still not finished.

It was 9 years ago today that this little lady moved in to my garage.  It's hard to imagine it's been that long.  But then again, it's hard to imagine I've been married for as long as I have.  I guess it's true when it's said, "Time flies when you're having fun."

I suppose like many relationships, they all have their ups and downs.  They develop over time and in many ways become stronger and more attached...not that I can realistically compare the fastback to my marriage, but the similarities are...well...similar.

I drive by the Ford dealer in town at least a couple of times a week.  Depending upon how they've rearranged the lot, I occasionally see a Mustang, like the race red 2013 Boss 302, and think, "Hmmmm.  I could probably get a pretty good price for the fastback and apply those funds to the Boss.  I could be on the road cruising around tomorrow.  But then I think, "As much fun as a new Boss would be, it wouldn't be the same."  We have no history...no bond.  It would be just another pretty face in the garage.  I probably wouldn't have any sore muscles or scars from working on it.  I would have no investment of time other than an occasional wash, wax, and fluid change.   It wouldn't be a head turner since there are a number of Bosses in the area (but not race red!).    My relationship with the Boss would not mean as much to me since not only would I not have to work at it...or on it...to the same level I have with the fastback, it would not  be as meaningful.   We would probably get "divorced" in a few years because there would be another Mustang that would come along and catch my fancy.

Why wax poetic and philosophy on a day like today?   Because even after 9 years...even after lulls in working on her...even after all the blood (literally), sweat (literally), and tears (literally) she has become part of me.  And I just can't let go of that part for something much less satisfying.

So happy anniversary Eleanor.  You not only have a spot in my garage, but one in my heart.  One day, together, we will be one on the road.  And that will be another day to celebrate a new anniversary.

1096 Days

1096 days...or 3 years ago (one of them "leap" year), yours truly started this blog.   As many of you followers know, the work on the fastback at times has made great progress...and at other times been painstakingly long in between work sessions.   So far, 2014 hasn't been one of the years where a ton of progress was made.  That's obvious since it's been 46 days since my last substantial post, and even then, it wasn't must progress on the car itself moving forward.  I suppose getting a good trunk lid to fit could count, but there wasn't any moving, shaping, filling, sanding, dinging, hammering, or grinding going on.   With today being "April Fools" day, I hope in the next few months progress can be chronicled in future posts.

However, in my defense, it hasn't been like nothing has been going on in my life.  Between spending hours in snow removal in January and February, I started a major project on our house.   Throw into the mix a family health crisis with one of my children and all the stuff going on at work, the "time keeps slipping, slipping, slipping into the future," as Steve Miller sang.  Oh...did I mention in there was flight training to get my complex aircraft endorsement and begin my commercial pilot certificate?  (The flying club had 10% off the hourly rate from January thru March).   Yeah.  Not much going on in my life.

Y'all will laugh when I say a project that I thought would take a week or two turned into a major deal.   Remember my post from the fall about the "weekend" project to repair my deck?  Yeah.  It turned into one of those projects.  It was supposed to be a simple remove the living room carpet and replace it with flooring.  But then the scope changed as we realized that the hand-scraped hickory flooring was not going to compliment the oak hardwood floor in the dining room.   See where this is going?

So the first step was to remove all the quarter-round molding and transitions.   Then came the task of demolition of the oak floor.

This was much more difficult than expected both physically and emotionally.  I installed this floor when we built the house.  All tongue and groove solid oak nailed to the sub-floor.  Not a piece could be salvaged.  Oh well.

After 3 hours of demo and hauling it out to the garage, the task of cutting out 470 square feet of carpet and padding began that came out in three sections due to limited working room around furniture.   I started on the outside wall of the house.  There were a few obstacles to go around like the fireplace hearth.  Trying to calculate where to start and then keeping the floor straight was a challenge since even a 10 year old house isn't totally square.

Two days later, this was the progress.  Not what I was expecting....

As the floor went in, furniture was moved onto the new floor so the carpet and pad could be removed.  But then you get to the "fun" part when you have to go around doorways and into closets, an area that was far from fun...

By this time I could barely move around in the garage.  Since all the old flooring had been removed, I loaded up the truck and headed off to the landfill.   The garage looks like the sawdust fairy went ballistic, even using a shop vac connected to the table saw.  Another huge mess to deal with later.

Fast forward 2-1/2 weeks and more hours....

The majority of the floor was in.  there were still all the transitions from wood to tile, wood to vinyl, and wood to carpet, not to mention all the trim quarter-round.   But at least it was functional.

Of course, my wife said we needed area rugs in the living room and dining room, especially since all that hard surface created a huge noise and echo problem.  After a handful of visits to look at carpet, we ended up at all places, Lowes.   We got this Frank Lloyd Wright style rug for the dining room....

...And then this cool Native American "Pueblo" rug that matches our museum of Native American art work by Sattler, Julie Kramer Cole, and Bev Dolittle...

Work continued much, much longer on the transitions since I used porcelean tile that is thicker and the transition "kit" wasn't made for the 14mm thick flooring.  So I had to make custom shims for everything.  That took as much, if not more time than putting down the flooring!   Then came the cutting of all the quarter-round that also had to bridge two transitions in the kitchen and one in the entrance.   With two air hoses connected to my big compressor and a brad gun in hand, I got the trim installed.  I didn't paint the final coat on it because the rest of the baseboards would look out of place without a fresh coat of paint.  So I masked off the floor and began the tedious process.

That brings me up to last night.  It's all done.  Done, done, done.  "Ding dong!  The floor is done...the wicked floor...the floor is Done."  Opps.  Sorry for the foray into The Wizard of Oz variant for flooring.  But it's done...not to mention making the house look like new.

So this is the post for the 3 year anniversary of this blog.  By the way....what was this blog supposed to be about?  Oh!  The fastback!   I have good news, sort of.  Tonight is the start of garage recovery.   All remnant of flooring and support materials and tools will be pitched and put away respectively.  The sawdust will be blown out and the space ready for work to start anew on the fastback.  I'm hoping in the coming weeks to be able to post progress on Eleanor.   I'm not making any predictions, but the rest of the year looks hopeful...not a complete car by any means, but hopefully turning the corner from replace and repair to finishing and possibly assembly.   Hopefully my prediction will not backfire and be my April Fools.

I do have to remember where I was with the fastback when I entered into the world of blogging.  I started with this...

... and now I'm here...

Until the next time....

The Trunk Lid - Part 3 - Quick Followup

Nothing fancy about this post.  It's just an update on the Dynacorn trunk lid.  I did contact Year One and they gave me an RA number.   They scheduled a UPS pickup day.  I repacked it so it was just like I got it.   UPS got it on this last Tuesday and today my credit card alert told me I had received a credit.   I checked.   Low and behold it was for the full amount I paid including shipping!  That was a pleasant surprise.  So my kudo's to Year One for their 5 star customer service.

Now on to the next task...the inside of the right front fender and the left fender strip and repair.

The Trunk Lid - Part 2, Fortunately

After dealing with the effects of "trunkliditis", that is finding that the original was beyond reasonable repair... and then getting a Dynacorn deck lid... and finding out that the fit was horrid, it was time to reassess the situation.  My options were...

1.  Keep the Dynacorn trunk lid and go through the pains of modifying it to make it fit correctly.
2.  Search for an original trunk lid and send the Dynacorn lid packing to Year One or eBay.
3.  Cut up the Dynacorn lid and use it to repair the original.

I was talking with my wife about said crappy reproduction lid.   She said it would be worth the extra money to get a good original considering my time and effort involved to make the Dynacorn one work to my satisfaction.  (How blessed I am to have a supportive wife!).   With that said, option 2 would be the first to pursue.

I send an email to Gregg Cly, the Mustang guru from Texas I met last summer, asking if he could find a trunk lid through his sources.   He emailed back saying he would see what he could find for me.   I then started thinking about the cost of a nice trunk lid and the shipping on top of that and figured I'd be north of $450-$550 to get it here.  What was on eBay was junk.  Craigslist was a bust as well.   And then I thought, "What about Vail's?"

For those unfamiliar with them, Vail's Classic Cars in Greenfield, Indiana is a nationally renown restoration shop.  They do restoration to concours level, higher end hot rods, and have done some outstanding tribute cars.  They have a killer collection of their own Mustangs including a 69 and 70 Boss 302, one that's a survivor.  They have a 66 K code GT convertible, a 67 Shelby GT500 and a 68-1/2 one-of-one Cobrajet.   Mustangs are their specialty but they have done other makes such as tri-five Chevys, T-Birds,  a host of Mopars.  You can check them out here at Vail's Classic Cars

I gave them a call and Kenny told me he had 3 deck lids, one that he though had some rust in it from a mouse nest, one that had some surface rust, and another that was a very nice.   So I decided to venture over there during lunch.   Kenny and one of the Mustang restorers took be back to their rack of parts.  Holy mackerel!!!  They must have had a dozen trunk lids for 69-70 sportroofs, hoods galore for all years, doors, and just about any original and some aftermarket sheetmetal you could imagine.  And that was just one warehouse rack!

They got down all three trunk lids.  The very nice original came off a California car.  It was spotless...and priceless... at the tune of $600!  Definitely more than I wanted to spend.   The next one was another original but it had rust that was causing the outer skin that's folded over to the under structure at the lower middle of the rear to push out.  That would require some cutting and patching.  The rest of it was very good with a ding or two that would need repairing.  The price?  $250.   And then there was the one that Kenny thought had a rust hole in it from a mouse nest.   It wasn't a hole but surface rust...but... it was an aftermarket piece.   It had been around quite a while judging from the condition of it.  I mentioned my reluctance to get another reproduction and expressed my disappointment with the Dynacorn part.  The Mustang guy said he thought they were pretty good and could be modified easily.   Maybe for him because he works on Mustangs for a living.  He's talking about separating the inner structure and modifying the outer skin, etc. etc.   Not for me.   The old reproduction lid was in OK condition and could be cleaned up easily.   I was told that it wasn't a Dynacorn part and I can't remember who he said was the manufacturer.   The price?  $160.   But Kenny said since I drove out to see them, he'd do it for $140.

Hmmmm.....     I was tempted to walk away and pursue my other options.  But before I did that, I took the nice California part and thought I'd compare it with the repro like I did with my original trunk lid.

I was surprised because it actually was really close.   Then Kenny said, "If you get it home and it doesn't work, bring it back and I'll refund your money."    Sold.   I figured the worse that could happen is that I'm out an hour's worth of drive time and $10 in gas.   If it didn't pan out, I'll be back to looking at option 1 or 3.

After all my obligations were over at church for the evening, I hauled reproduction lid #2 into the garage and set up my body stand to do the comparison of this one with the original.   The results were surprising.


The corners and the reveal line in the repro were almost dead on!

 The center raised rib was lined up and had a slightly sharper form than the Dynacorn lid...

The opposite end of the deck lid was the same as the other...too close to call with key body lines spot on...

The stamping marks, location-wise, were also really good.  The "knock-outs" were still in place on the repro compared to the Dynacorn that had them punched out.   I know those areas are under the hinge, but it does speak to the attempt at actually reproducing the original part.

The reproduction even had some of the wrinkles from the the drawing of the part during stamping like the original.

The corners were again lining up perfectly.   This was turning out much better than I ever imagined.

The rust on the reproduction lid is surface rust and should clean up easily

The forming of the upper corners was virtually the same, especially the contour that needs to match the body lines...

When it came to the rear lip match and forming, it was fairly close...not perfect, but workable...

The proof in the pudding would be how it fit on the body.  I grabbed a roll of masking tape to lay down the form line on the repro trunk lid on both sides.   The fit on the drivers side was very good.  The gap was not as tight as the Dynacorn lid.  And the body contour from the top of the quarter up to the bottom of the rear window was excellent.  Things are looking up...

Now to the right side that was the glaring problem before.  Wow!  Much better alignment!....

 ...and the contour match with the body and gap was much improved....

I think we have a winner.  The old reproduction trunk lid will work with very little tweaking.  And it's cleaner from a paint and surface rust standpoint than the $250 original.

I couldn't help but compare the Dynacorn lid with this old reproduction.   The results were interesting.  The Dynacorn is on the left and the reproduction on the right.   Immediately I could see all the form lines were sharper in the older reproduction.   Not only that, the corner and the body reveal lines on the Dynacorn lid didn't match at all, just like it was with my original.  you can also see how weak the form line is on the body reveal line running through the trunk.  Unbelievable.

The corner at the other end was off, but the body lines were on target...

Again, the Dynacorn is on the left and the old repro on the right.  The corners didn't line up vertically on this side....

...and it wasn't much better on the other end, if not worse....

So, I would have to say, I have a good trunk lid to work with.  I'll email Gregg and let him know I got one so he won't be looking for one.   And I'll give Year One a call and get an RMA to return the POC that I got.   They will take it back, but they may not pay for return shipping.  I'll have to find out.  Anyway...

With this little "hiccup" behind me, I can move on to other parts of the body, like finishing up the inside of the right front fender and starting on the left front fender stripping and cleaning.   The weather is supposed to start warming up next week, that is, if you call a high temperature in the low 30's warm.  With almost three weeks with the temps here below freezing, I'll take what I can get.

Until the next time...

The Trunk Lid - Part 1 unfortunately

Everyone has hopes and dreams.  And sometime those dreams don't turn out as expected.  In fact, dreams can be a disappointment if not a nightmare.  Such is the life of the Mustang restorer, or any classic car restorer for that matter.

After deciding to abandon my original trunk lid due to copious amounts of rust, I began a search for a different one to replace it.  The prices for original trunk lids on eBay was what I call "stupid money" especially looking at rusted out lids that were as bad as mine or worst for $150 or more like this one here on eBay. .  Original, rust-free trunk lids were far and few between and then going for even more stupid money to the tune of $400.   Some of them were in primer that made me wonder how much bondo was applied to cover up rust.  The last thing I wanted to do was drop big bucks on a lid that was junk.   What's a person to do?  The only reasonable option was to go aftermarket.

Year One to the rescue.  After the first of the year, they had a 25% off on everything sale.  So I checked out the price on a Dynacorn deck lid and could get it for $200 including shipping.  Not bad considering what the regular price was and what used rusty deck lids were going for.  Beside, Dynacorn parts are supposed to be the best of the aftermarket reproduction parts, right?   So I pulled the trigger on one, and waited.  Three and a half weeks later I have a ginormous box sitting by my front door when I got home.  I've hadn't opened it since it's cold and snowy in central Indiana which means my wife's car was in the garage, not to mention my evening meeting schedules.

So last night, before my wife got home, I decided to pull out the box and open it up.  The box was actually packed inside another larger box.  So it was well protected.

The first thing I wanted to do was compare the old with the new...or more accurately, the original with the reproduction.   I got out my body stand and put the original on it.  Then I got out the Dynacorn lid and put it next to it...

At first blush, the repro looks pretty good.  I noticed that the new one felt heavier, tho' I didn't weigh either one.  I've heard Dynacorn uses heavier gauge material than factory.  So that could explain the difference.   After putting them side-by-side, the dream bubbles started to pop.  

The first one burst when comparing them back lip-to-back lip.  Below you can see that the internal support stamping has a knock-out missing and the forming lines and contours of the support structure bevels are larger than factory.  That's not as bad as the corners.  The Dynacorn lid definitely missed on the corner because it doesn't extend out as much as the original...

Can you hear the bubbles starting to burst?  Let's move on to the other end.  Same thing in addition to the punched holes for the hinge mounting points are misaligned...

More bubble pop.   OK.  Let's flip the parts over and compare.   The corners line up but...the flat transition in the reveal lines don't....

There goes a few more bubbles bursting.   What about the other end?  The reveals line up, but not the corners.  Another bubble bites the dust. Hmmmm.... 

This is starting to get discouraging.    So...  What about the parting line that runs down the middle of the deck lid?  It "almost" lines up, but the sharpness of the form leaves something to be desired.  In fact, all the forming lines on the reproduction are softer and not as defined as the original...

Pop goes more bubbles.   The next thing was to place it on the body and see how well it fit.  I positioned it so the center form line of the deck lid matched that of the body below the back window.   Then it was checking the fit.  The driver's side gaps were consistent, but tight--less than a 1/16".   Another bubble bursting.  The reveal lines running down the roof were pretty close to the deck lid...

The passenger side is a different story. The reveal lines are off about an 1/8".  The contour of the lid and body (in the circle below) are off, and the gap in the rear quarter and lid is about 1/8"-3/16" compared to less than 1/16" on the driver's side... 

Moving the lid to the passenger side to equalize the gaps only made the other contours on both sides worse.   Bubbles are bursting all over.   I can't repeat here all the "colorful metaphors" running through my mind.  Yeah, I may be a pastor, but I'm also a human being like everyone else.  We all have our moments and this isn't an especially good one for me and the fastback.

So now I'm questioning my decision to buy the "good" Dynacorn part.  I can't imagine how bad a cheaper Canadian or Chinese part would be.   I'm guessing I'll have 2-3 hours at the minimum with hammers and dollies to fix some of the contour and panel matching issues.  I even thought about cutting out the pieces from this lid and welding them into the original.  But I would be asking for more trouble and probably hours upon hours of  metal work.   Then again, I could repackage this and flip it on eBay to try and recoup what I spent on it and seek out an original for stupid money and hope for the best.  I suppose I could contact Year One and ask for an RMA number and return it, but then I'd be in Dutch for the shipping.

Of course, I shouldn't have had such high expectations on even a so-called "quality" Dynacorn aftermarket part consider my experience on previously purchased parts and their "out of the box" fit.  

So I guess it will be another round of fixing yet one more non-conforming aftermarket part...that is unless you know someone who would like a Dynacorn deck lid for $200 plus shipping.

The saga continues...